Why don't you guys do a hair transplant?

[aceman]

I am just wondering for all of you here, why haven't you done a hair transplant? Most of you must really care about hair + how you look, that's why we are all here. And seems like everyone has tried most or all treatments, wasted a bunch of money, for years. Am I missing something?

Is it the cost? Sure it is expensive at around 8-10K, but it is generally a one time cost (maybe 2x) and doable if you save up. If you buy a ticket to another country, cost is only 4-5K all in.

Is it the risk of side effects? I know there is some initial shock loss, but from what I've heard it always grows back right? So far I have no heard of any HT with hair that doesn't grow back. If you go to a crappy doctor if might look weird, but so far no other sides I can think of?

Is it intrusive? Seems like fairly minor compared to other surgeries.

Is it recovery time? Seems like recovery is fairly painless and quick? I've heard of scars and what not being no longer noticeable after a few days, some people go back to work the next day? Am I wrong here? Do you have to shave your entire head?

Is it scarring? Seems like with FUE scarring is minimal? At least it's not noticeable?

Is it waiting for a better option/treatment/cure? From what I heard a transplant shouldn't interfere with future treatments right? Plus there is basically nothing promising on the horizon, I have been following new treatment news very closely for 10 YEARS and NOTHING. I would bet my left nut that NOTHING significantly better will come out in the NEXT 10 YEARS. This seems like the best option for guaranteed effects NOW.

Seems like half of hollywood men have done it, and they look great.

I would love to hear the reasons why people haven't done a hair transplant, which is basically a permanent, low maintenance, semi-cure.

My hair loss is getting aggressive, I plan on trying minox for 12 months and if that doesn't work I might just jump ahead to a hair transplant. Even minox gets me a bit worried about the sides.

Would love your thoughts, thanks.

[Dfaru94]

I can think of a few, it's not so much the cost I guess if we can afford the other treatments. It's also not the intrusiveness or the recovery time, both of which aren't bad as you say.

First and most important; not everyone actually can get a transplant. You only have so much hair on your head, and if you lose too much, you simply don't have enough hair left to transplant into the bald area. Also, because all a transplant does it take hair from the back of the head and put it into the top, it's not really possible to get a very thick full head of hair again from a transplant. For this reason, some men might choose a hair system instead, while that isn't permanent or a "cure" the results can look a lot better than a transplant. So really, a transplant is only a good option if you are a man who is not aggressively balding all over the top of the head, maybe if you're an older man who just has a receded/mature hairline with the hair at the crown still thick and intact.

Another issue is that some men have "diffuse thinning", which is gradual thinning and loss of density all over the top of the head, rather than your hairline simply receding with thick hair remaining behind it. Transplanting into areas with diffuse thinning isn't recommended, because it can cause shock loss (which actually can be permanent, I hear).

Also, again important, it's hard to know exactly to what extent you will go bald, especially while you are younger. You can get a transplant to fix your receding hairline, and then your hair can continue to recede behind the transplanted hair, and start thinning at the crown. If you lose too much hair after getting a transplant, you can end up with very weird looking patches of transplanted hair and that can't really be fixed or undone I don't think.

It's surprising how little we know about hair transplants, I was actually surprised to read all this myself when I first noticed I was losing my hair. I'd always heard "get a hair transplant" thrown around and, because I didn't know the process or the limitations of it, I always just assumed it was something anyone could have.

[thehatman]

I think allot of people on this forum are afraid or frightened of hair transplants, there are allot of horror storys on the web and allot of people on this forum have allot of negativity when it comes to FUT or FUE. It might got something to do with the hair loss radioshow, with the host that is afraid to do a hair transplant him self, but he cares about his hair so much he spend his days talking about it on radio and painting his head with color. LOL

[allTheGoodNamesAreTaken]

The answer is it's not the default solution because much of what you've said isn't necessarily true. There's still a big gamble involved in it.

If you get one transplant you might well find yourself needing to get another and another as loss continues.

If that happens, then there's only so many times you can have the procedure since you have a finite amount of hair at the back of your head, and the donor supply runs out, it's not enough to cover the whole top of your head.

Sometimes shock loss doesn't grow back. I'd only get transplants into an area that was already essentially dead anyway.

It's far from guaranteed to be undetectable after a few days either, the redness can stay for weeks and you might not see the grafts growing at all for months.

With FUE the scarring is way less than strip but you can still end up with loads of little circular scars and a moth-eaten look to the hair at the back of the head.

If you've been paying attention to the research lately, there are real reasons to think a decent treatment could be released a few years from now. Histogen is showing promise, Replicel's technique has been picked up by a major company, Follica is at least making some interesting noise lately after long silence (all three are pushing for a 2018 commercial release) and Tsuji is only really a cell multiplication fix away from growing working follicles from scratch, aiming for human trials by 2020.

[Pittdawg]

If you've been paying attention to the research lately, there are real reasons to think a decent treatment could be released a few years from now. Histogen is showing promise, Replicel's technique has been picked up by a major company, Follica is at least making some interesting noise lately after long silence (all three are pushing for a 2018 commercial release) and Tsuji is only really a cell multiplication fix away from growing working follicles from scratch, aiming for human trials by 2020.

I've been hearing this same line for 30 years, i.e. that the next big cure is just around the corner. I'll believe it when I see it.

[k9gatton]

Might have to bite the bullet and get a transplant to save my hairline. But even transplants can fail over time. I'm not optimistic at all about treatments, other than Histogen. But it's never going to be out, it seems.

[allTheGoodNamesAreTaken]

I've been hearing this same line for 30 years, i.e. that the next big cure is just around the corner. I'll believe it when I see it.

What were they actually trying 30 years ago though? Rubbing duck fat on your scalp?

[ThisSucksDude]

joe rogan, daniel negraneu, that soccer player, and many more celebs have gotten hair transplants and still like theyre balding. For me it's go big or go home.

[18bald]

lol this made me laugh, thanks needed it haha.

[InfamousBradley]

I can't afford it. It may not work. There are side effects for people like me who have sensitive skin. The scar may not heal right. It can trigger hair loss on other areas of the scalp.
I can keep going on and on but I think I gave the biggest reasons why I haven't done it.