There Are So Many Variables with Hair Transplant

[hanginginthewire]

I don't understand how people can make a decision.

I am 36, very slowly have been receding since I was like 21 maybe. Very slowly. Wouldn't the slow rate of loss bode well for a transplant? I am also totally willing to take fin. I currently take Finpecia from online because i couldnt Get a prescription for legit propecia. I also will pay up to 15K or more. As of right now I pretty much just have temple recession and some overall thinning up top. Is overall thinning up top what you all call "diffuse thinning?" The average person would not consider me bald (certainly not) and most laypeople wouldn't even consider me balding (yet.) My older brother by seven years who i have always resembled is starting to look straight up balding though. My donor area should be pretty good. I have thick Irish hair and barbers used to comment on how thick the back of my hair is. (I think that's one reason I never really realized the extent of my recession/thinning.. Anyway, is it true that hair transplants are always a multi operation endeavor? If I knew I could have a good result from one transplant that would last maybe fifteen years or so id book a surgery tomorrow. Like always in life though there are so many variables and you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[JoeTillman]

I don't understand how people can make a decision.

I am 36, very slowly have been receding since I was like 21 maybe. Very slowly. Wouldn't the slow rate of loss bode well for a transplant? I am also totally willing to take fin. I currently take Finpecia from online because i couldnt Get a prescription for legit propecia. I also will pay up to 15K or more. As of right now I pretty much just have temple recession and some overall thinning up top. Is overall thinning up top what you all call "diffuse thinning?" The average person would not consider me bald (certainly not) and most laypeople wouldn't even consider me balding (yet.) My older brother by seven years who i have always resembled is starting to look straight up balding though. My donor area should be pretty good. I have thick Irish hair and barbers used to comment on how thick the back of my hair is. (I think that's one reason I never really realized the extent of my recession/thinning.. Anyway, is it true that hair transplants are always a multi operation endeavor? If I knew I could have a good result from one transplant that would last maybe fifteen years or so id book a surgery tomorrow. Like always in life though there are so many variables and you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

If you are not at a point where one would look at you and consider you to be a hair loss sufferer then you are in a great position. Kudos for being proactive at this point as you stand the best chance of succeeding in your fight.

However I think that you should not make assumptions about your loss and speak to a few IAHRS doctors about your situation. Send the best photos possible and shoot a video as well if you can. Skype consultations are great if you can't see doctors in person. One word of advice is to not let anyone know upfront what you are willing to spend as this keeps the budget from influencing the assessment (it happens). Just send in your information and tell the doctor that you are concerned about your loss and would like to address it but you would like their recommendation. Take the recommendations and evaluate each very closely.

The question I'd like to ask you is; if you don't look like you need a hair transplant, should you actually get one? My inclination is to say "no" because that is the whole point of surgical hair restoration, to give you the appearance of more hair but if there is no cosmetic need at this point then it is a waste of money to have one.

[hanginginthewire]

Well I meant to the average Joe on the street - they are not going to say "that guy is balding". But I have a distinct m shaped hairline, thinning behind the hairline, some thinning in the crown/overall top. I had thicky, dark, wavy Irish hair so it hid a lot of the loss. I assume I would be Norwood 2. This hair loss issue is kind of the straw that broke the camel's back for me - I feel like if I don't sort it out its going to ruin whatever was left of my life.

What really kills me is how I didn't even realize I was balding for all these years. I figured I just had shitty hair. I cannot believe I have been saddled with this though. I see guys my age and much older with non disfigured hair and I feel so disheartened. Just heartbroken and despairing. I try to buck up and think hey you can bite the bullet and get a hair transplant! Which of course would be a huge financial and emotional commitment. But it sounds like even that's no solution either, I keep reading articles where dudes get a transplant and then need another one in less than two years! What the shit is that!!?? And I can't be sure that the finpecia I take is doing anything/is legit. Hairs from this ****ED up genetically susceptible zone continue to fall out as they have for years. Its just all too much.

[HTsoon]

If you can tell that you're balding more than likely others can tell as well, especially if you're thinning.

One and done surgeries almost never happen, since hairloss is progressive you'll likely need additional surgeries to compensate for the progressive hair loss. Could you post some pictures so we can see? I suggest buzzing your head for two reasons, one to see whether you're willing to live with a shaved head. Two to really see what your level of hairloss is really like, when you have long hair you may think you're just a Norwood II but when you shave and it starts growing back you may see miniaturization throughout the scalp. Knowing where your at currently and where your headed will allow you to plan your surgeries better assuming you have surgery.

[hanginginthewire]

I did shave my head to like a #.5 in Sept. I was pretty horrified by it. I saw a dermatologist a few months back, he said I had some slight recession at the temples and that was it. Although my head was pretty much shaved when He examined me, so i dont know if he could have picked up on thinning with The hair so short. Said "even a lot of women" get that (amount of recession). Wouldn't give a fin script. Its the "not knowing" nature of this that's making it so much worse and triggering my anxiety and depression. Don't know what to do and feel consumed by it, which I know is dumb.

And btw, if multiple transplants are the norm, what's the big deal about young 20 somethings getting a transplant? Its sounding like virtually everyone can expect to undergo multiple procedures anyway. At what age does the pattern of loss becoming more definite? Cause it sounds like never....

[hanginginthewire]

Also, is it never the case that people have a "mild" pattern of male baldness and could have a decent result with just one procedure? Are all these celebrities having multiple transplants? I wouldn't think they'd even have the time for it.

[HTsoon]

I did shave my head to like a #.5 in Sept. I was pretty horrified by it. I saw a dermatologist a few months back, he said I had some slight recession at the temples and that was it. Although my head was pretty much shaved when He examined me, so i dont know if he could have picked up on thinning with The hair so short. Said "even a lot of women" get that (amount of recession). Wouldn't give a fin script. Its the "not knowing" nature of this that's making it so much worse and triggering my anxiety and depression. Don't know what to do and feel consumed by it, which I know is dumb.

And btw, if multiple transplants are the norm, what's the big deal about young 20 somethings getting a transplant? Its sounding like virtually everyone can expect to undergo multiple procedures anyway. At what age does the pattern of loss becoming more definite? Cause it sounds like never....

The problem with young 20 year olds getting transplants is not necessarily the need to have multiple surgeries its more to do with graft placement, I myself went nearly completely bald by age 30, if I would have gotten a procedure when I was 21 when I just noticed some thinning in the hairline, I could've easily focused too many grafts on the front and not had enough to make up for the rest of the scalp, remember were only born with a certain amount of donor hair, we don't have infinite number of grafts so placement and strategy is very important. Typically it's easier to know where you'll end up when you're in your 30's, it's the 20's that hair loss can be ultra aggressive for some.

From my observation there are three categories, men with very mild hair loss who end up only being a norwood II to III even at the later stages of life.

Then there are the men who begin to notice hair loss mid to late 30's, these men typically don't go very bald until their late 50's to 60's, a good example of this is Ed O'neil otherwise known as Al Bundy, if you look at his hair in Married with Children he was about a norwood III, now in his 60's he's become a norwood VI. Another example of this is Matt Lauer their hair loss was severe but slow and not aggressive.

Then you have the men who go bald by age 30, you got your Patrick Stewart, Dr. Phil etc. These are typically the guys who end up being repaired, because their hair loss is so aggressive they end up not having a good long term strategy and end up chasing their hair loss with procedures in their 20's. These are the guys who are most at risk with having a procedure.

There is no age really in which hair loss stops, I think its safe to say that most men who develop hair loss at a younger age typically reach the end of their hair loss younger also, but I don't think you can ever really say your hair loss has completely stopped. I think you reach a point in which your hair loss slows down and the changes aren't visible until years and years.

I wouldn't worry too much If I were you, you're 36 so you're not that young, if people really can't tell your bald by this age I'd say its pretty safe to say you wont be going bald for a while maybe 20-30 years (generalization), if you get on meds now then you may never reach that stage. Be happy bro, I wish I was in your shoes, instead I lost almost all my hair and im 5 years younger than you.