+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 23
  1. #1
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default Slowly growing more fed up, Hair transplant in a few years?

    Hey guys, I don't post on this forum much, though I'll probably make the switch as it seems to be the more lively community.

    First, I'll state that it's hard to capture things with photos/video, and it looks worse in the mirror/real life, but i'm sure everybody can relate to how certain lighting can be flattering or the opposite.
    I've been monitoring my hairline for maybe 4 years now, originally I had a problem with how high up it was and my ugly curved/receded temples, making me look less youthful, which is probably why I always wore a fringe/bangs down, however concealers gave me the confidence to try different hairstyles, and i've grown it out quite long over the last 18 months...

    My hairline is getting more and more chewed up though, I'm long past the panic stage of "oh my god, i'm losing my hair" and no longer try to bargain with the situation in my head, but recently i've noticed that it's becoming more difficult to conceal the hairline, and frankly i can't be bothered with it anymore. I don't mind using concealers, if it gives the illusion of a good hairline, but now that this option is disappearing gradually, i'm going to have to do something else.

    I'm 24 in just over a month, I earn a pretty good salary and save a lot, so I think I want to start looking into the most renowned, potential doctors.
    I'll hold it off for a while, but I'd like to have a transplant by the time i'm 26.

    Thoughts? Opinions? And also, I appreciate everybody's input, but I really don't want to hear "it's fine" or "theres nothing wrong" anymore. I've done years of observation to conculde that something IS wrong. I've lost over half an inch on my hairline, and it's looking more and more chewed up and ugly.
    Maybe if i had FUE, on the slightly generous side of conservative, I could have a decent hairline, and make it look even better with some concealer? I'd be more than cool with that, to keep me going into my 30s.

    Hairloss regime:
    I take minoxidil (kirkland) twice a day, as well as apply azelaic acid in the nights, via cream. I use a nizoral shampoo every 3 days for 10 minutes, and I've been on Finpecia for over a year now, though I was on and off many times before that. I currently take 1/3 of a 1mg tablet every 3 days, but i'm going to lower my dosage even further, as my side effects are becoming annoyingly intolerable, i'm sick of having to pass up sex with girls.

    Here's some photos from this morning, out of the shower:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_132946.jpg

Size:	91.2 KB
ID:	24737   Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_132948.jpg

Size:	88.7 KB
ID:	24738   Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_132950.jpg

Size:	90.3 KB
ID:	24741   Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_132956.jpg

Size:	89.1 KB
ID:	24742   Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_132959.jpg

Size:	90.7 KB
ID:	24743   Click image for larger version

Name:	20140119_133005.jpg

Size:	89.4 KB
ID:	24744  

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    402

    Default

    Well, I won't give you the "oh, you're fine, it's normal routine"--as you know, you're definitely receding. And you're experiencing one of the worst parts of receding, which is the "chewed up," ragged hairline, which makes it difficult to wear a "hair up" style with any confidence. I completely empathize. I had a transplant at 29 to address a similar type of thinning.

    But share some key details with us: do you plan on staying on finasteride? Have the treatments slowed and stabilized your loss? What does your family history look like? These are all factors that should inform your decision to get a transplant, and if so, with which doctor and with how many grafts. You've probably read enough to know that any age younger than, say, 28 is pretty young to get a transplant. Until you're roughly 30, it's pretty tough to predict what your loss is going to end up looking like.

    I would go ahead and consult with some top docs, though--preferably in person. They can evaluate your scalp, look for miniaturization, and give you a clearer picture of what you're dealing with. Any doctor that works on you at this age and with that stage of loss, though, should probably insist that you stay on finasteride. That's up to you as a patient, but most ethical docs should express strong misgivings about transplanting someone at 24/25/26 with your loss without a strong treatment regimen to mitigate further loss.

  3. #3
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by win200 View Post
    Well, I won't give you the "oh, you're fine, it's normal routine"--as you know, you're definitely receding. And you're experiencing one of the worst parts of receding, which is the "chewed up," ragged hairline, which makes it difficult to wear a "hair up" style with any confidence. I completely empathize. I had a transplant at 29 to address a similar type of thinning.

    But share some key details with us: do you plan on staying on finasteride? Have the treatments slowed and stabilized your loss? What does your family history look like? These are all factors that should inform your decision to get a transplant, and if so, with which doctor and with how many grafts. You've probably read enough to know that any age younger than, say, 28 is pretty young to get a transplant. Until you're roughly 30, it's pretty tough to predict what your loss is going to end up looking like.

    I would go ahead and consult with some top docs, though--preferably in person. They can evaluate your scalp, look for miniaturization, and give you a clearer picture of what you're dealing with. Any doctor that works on you at this age and with that stage of loss, though, should probably insist that you stay on finasteride. That's up to you as a patient, but most ethical docs should express strong misgivings about transplanting someone at 24/25/26 with your loss without a strong treatment regimen to mitigate further loss.
    Yeah it sucks.
    Well on my moms side of the family, there isn't really much history of hairloss. my grandfather is 82 and pretty much has a full (though fine) head of hair, similar type of texture to my own, as well as my moms. He just has a slightly receded hairline, i'd say nw2 or something, but it's not 'chewed up'.

    My dads side, i don't really know any other males in my dads family but i know his father was pretty bald, and my dad is around a nw5a and 56 years old. I actually did a video to show the males in my family, for this very reason:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgX...49F79&index=12 - sneaky filming, i know. had to be done though

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lP...49F79&index=13

    hopefully this will give a better idea. obviously my dad isn't on any hair meds, though looking at pictures i don't think he really started thinning until around 32 years old, and it was more of a diffuse thinning.

  4. #4
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default

    I plan on staying on finasteride, but i'm going to keep the dosage as low as possible. I can tolerate some sides, but wheres the point if I can't even have sex.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    402

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mynameisrich View Post
    Yeah it sucks.
    Well on my moms side of the family, there isn't really much history of hairloss. my grandfather is 82 and pretty much has a full (though fine) head of hair, similar type of texture to my own, as well as my moms. He just has a slightly receded hairline, i'd say nw2 or something, but it's not 'chewed up'.

    My dads side, i don't really know any other males in my dads family but i know his father was pretty bald, and my dad is around a nw5a and 56 years old. I actually did a video to show the males in my family, for this very reason:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgX...49F79&index=12 - sneaky filming, i know. had to be done though

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lP...49F79&index=13

    hopefully this will give a better idea. obviously my dad isn't on any hair meds, though looking at pictures i don't think he really started thinning until around 32 years old, and it was more of a diffuse thinning.
    Hmmm. So sort of a mixed family history. Your grandpa looks really great for 82, but your dad clearly hasn't had a hairline to speak of for a long time. With your hairline at your age, you might be pointed more toward your dad's territory. Again, at 30 you'll have a clearer picture; you could sort of plateau, or the loss could get more aggressive. Do you have any recollection of when your loss started to crop up?

  6. #6
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by win200 View Post
    Hmmm. So sort of a mixed family history. Your grandpa looks really great for 82, but your dad clearly hasn't had a hairline to speak of for a long time. With your hairline at your age, you might be pointed more toward your dad's territory. Again, at 30 you'll have a clearer picture; you could sort of plateau, or the loss could get more aggressive. Do you have any recollection of when your loss started to crop up?
    I first noticed that the very far corner of the right side of my hairline was a little more 'open' and thinner when i was 19, nearly 20. this was in a reflection under very bright lighting. i observed this ever since, and up until 21 I was convinced that the right side of my hairline was thinning. it was only very noticable. wasn't until late 2011 (nearly 22) that i saw the chewed up look appearing on the left.
    Heres some pictures of me September 2011 (21 years old), so you can get an indication to how fast/slow things have progressed:

    http://i51.tinypic.com/t8rlsn.jpg

    http://i51.tinypic.com/swg10i.jpg

    http://i56.tinypic.com/okc17l.jpg

    http://i52.tinypic.com/2njhh8g.jpg

    http://i54.tinypic.com/54hj0p.jpg

    http://i53.tinypic.com/eiwg7b.jpg

    http://i51.tinypic.com/30az3g3.jpg


    At this point, anybody i showed the images to online said "you're crazy, nothing is going on" and obviously this backs up my point that it's harder to see an issue in pictures alone.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    402

    Default

    Yeah, there's been a definite change. Not overwhelming, but the character and "feel" of your hairline is without a doubt very different from Sep. '11 to Jan. '14. The temples are growing higher and the hairline is getting uneven/ragged. But I think the biggest different is in the forelock--you've got that hole opening up at the center, and I'm pretty sure that the forelock has receded upwards more than the temples have come in. You had what looks like a fairly high mature hairline in 2011, but it's beyond that now.

    How's your density behind the hairline, BTW?

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    402

    Default

    Actually, look at this thread I started; I could really see you getting a transplant very similar to the work I had done when I was 29. My hairline was also a little ragged in the front, though it didn't have that some "hole." But a similar look. If you look at my "after" pictures, you can see what a conservative transplant can do in terms of giving you a clean, firm hairline. I wear my hair up every day now, whereas I used to try to hide the high temples.

    Totally up to you, of course, but I'd wait at least a few years to try this. You want to see if you can stabilize the loss.

  9. #9
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by win200 View Post
    Yeah, there's been a definite change. Not overwhelming, but the character and "feel" of your hairline is without a doubt very different from Sep. '11 to Jan. '14. The temples are growing higher and the hairline is getting uneven/ragged. But I think the biggest different is in the forelock--you've got that hole opening up at the center, and I'm pretty sure that the forelock has receded upwards more than the temples have come in. You had what looks like a fairly high mature hairline in 2011, but it's beyond that now.

    How's your density behind the hairline, BTW?
    I really don't really think that centre part has changed at all, personally, i've always been conscious of that, i noticed it back when i was 15 or so, and it's sort of noticable in a picture from when i was 13. don't think it's hairloss, just a spot of less hair. could be wrong though, but i don't think it's changed, myself.

    Behind the hairline, it's fine, i think. At least, to compare it to how it was when i was 18 or so, when i definitely didn't have any hairloss, it's no different, on top. If i style it down with bangs, i can see that it looks the same, coming from the center.

  10. #10
    Junior Member mynameisrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    29

    Default

    compare http://i52.tinypic.com/2njhh8g.jpg to http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/attachm...3&d=1390140717 i really don't think the centre is changing

Similar Threads

  1. growing hair faster
    By goldbondmafia in forum Hair Loss Treatments
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-09-2013, 09:55 AM
  2. I am growing my hair back !
    By DanielAsher in forum Introduce Yourself & Share Your Story
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 11-29-2012, 06:18 PM
  3. Minox does work on frontal balding...slowly.
    By melwou7245 in forum Introduce Yourself & Share Your Story
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 09-09-2011, 09:08 AM
  4. Minoxidil, growing hair on my forehead
    By KeepTheHair in forum Men's Hair Loss: Start Your Own Topic
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 05-10-2010, 04:01 PM
  5. Growing hair long after a transplant
    By kirribilli in forum Men's Hair Loss: Start Your Own Topic
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-28-2009, 07:15 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

» IAHRS

hair transplant surgeons

» The Bald Truth

» Recent Threads

1800 graft repair case results by Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Last Post By Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Navigating the German Job Market as a Kenyan Citizen
11-04-2023 06:31 AM
Last Post By Keegan212
Yesterday 03:51 AM
DR HAKAN DOGANAY/ 4500 GRAFTS / Implanter Pen+FUE
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
Last Post By Hakan Doganay, MD
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
The Mane Event for Thursday, June 15th, 2023
06-15-2023 02:59 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-26-2024 08:05 AM
Sun Exposure after Hair Transplant
02-26-2009 02:36 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-25-2024 08:24 PM