Is Norwood 3 + actually the end?

[Dav7]

Are hair transplants that can restore an original NW1 hairline still possible after you go out beyond a NW3, or can even a NW7 get a hair transplant to restore a NW1 hairline? You will have to forgive me for my complete lack of knowledge, I am still not very familiar with hair loss treatments.

Also do any combinations of medications, creams etc. maintain hair after a transplant, or are MPB sufferers ultimately doomed to their faith of continuing balding as they age?

[Kayman]

Are hair transplants that can restore an original NW1 hairline still possible after you go out beyond a NW3, or can even a NW7 get a hair transplant to restore a NW1 hairline? You will have to forgive me for my complete lack of knowledge, I am still not very familiar with hair loss treatments.

Also do any combinations of medications, creams etc. maintain hair after a transplant, or are MPB sufferers ultimately doomed to their faith of continuing balding as they age?

I could be wrong on this one and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am, but I think you can achieve pretty decent coverage through hair transplantation right up until NW5 depending on the donor area, so I would think that at NW3 or slightly beyond you could restore yourself to a NW1 or very close to it if you had enough donor hair and your doc was decent.
As for maintaining the best bet is finasteride (obviously there is the potential for side effects) and fin will maintain for a period of anything from 5 years and on, some people have been taking it for over 10 years with no further loss, some people like myself found it to lose effectiveness after a 5 or 6 year period and very slowly began to lose ground again. That's not to say that would happen to you. With Histogen just around the corner that might not even be an issue anymore.

[Kirby_]

some people like myself found it to lose effectiveness after a 5 or 6 year period and very slowly began to lose ground again.

Do you still use fin? Have you ended up bald or near bald after it stopped working?

With Histogen just around the corner that might not even be an issue anymore.

I HOPE that is the case. Something like that would be the only way to really reverse the visibly balding look I have developed. TBH though, I would be able to relax a lot more about hair loss if there were some real hard facts about Histogen, I mean hypothetically speaking if we knew for certain it did XX% amount of regrowth and would be available in the year 201X and would cost £XXXX, I'd be a lot more settled in my mind. We don't even know at this point if it will ever be available. Hair loss trauma is much worse when you think of it as an endless treadmill of fin/dut/minox until they stop working.

[Aames]

Kayman is right. As long as you don't slip past a NW3, restoration to a NW1 is definitely possible. See chrisis' log; he was approaching a NW3 and now, once his scarring heals, he will have a great head of hair (providing he can maintain his non-transplanted hair).

[Dav7]

Kayman is right. As long as you don't slip past a NW3, restoration to a NW1 is definitely possible. See chrisis' log; he was approaching a NW3 and now, once his scarring heals, he will have a great head of hair (providing he can maintain his non-transplanted hair).

So a man with say a 3 NW + can never again hope for a NW1 hairline, even with an hair transplant? Would that be NW3 on the spot btw, or more a NW3.5 and up?

[TheLaughingCow]

Dav7, baldness is ambiguous. Think of it in terms of possibilities and "maybe"s. There's no set point where a transplant won't work for you; just as people bald at different rates, drugs and transplants vary in their effectiveness.

[Aames]

So a man with say a 3 NW + can never again hope for a NW1 hairline, even with an hair transplant? Would that be NW3 on the spot btw, or more a NW3.5 and up?

It's difficult to establish any hard and fast rules. But the farther up the NW scale you are, the more difficult it is to get back to a NW1. Donor hair is limited and if you try to make a NW7 into a NW1, it'll be very thin and not look good. You need to find a balance between density and how nice of a hairline you want.

[itsmyhairs]

In general, if you want the hair you restore with a procedure to look 'thick' and decent then the maximum you could do is three Norwood levels.

From a NW3/4 - NW1 or a NW6 - NW3

I've seen people go from NW6 - NW2 'ish' with very aggressive procedures by very good doctors, but it will always look thin and swept over.

I've also seen people go from NW3 (receded temples and crown loss) to near perfect NW1's.