Any reason to wait to get a hair transplant?

[greekgod]

I'm at a norwood 3 and have 2 bald spots on the back of my head. I've tried finasteride and the side effects sucked so I stopped taking it. I could try minox again but it gave me huge dark circles and wrinkles so I looked like a zombie.

Is there any reason to wait it out for 2018-2020 products? Or would it make more sense to live in the present and get a hair transplant and then use whatever products may come out in the future? Thanks.

[JeanlucBergman]

I'm at a norwood 3 and have 2 bald spots on the back of my head. I've tried finasteride and the side effects sucked so I stopped taking it. I could try minox again but it gave me huge dark circles and wrinkles so I looked like a zombie.

Is there any reason to wait it out for 2018-2020 products? Or would it make more sense to live in the present and get a hair transplant and then use whatever products may come out in the future? Thanks.

There are currently no products in the pipeline that appear to have the potential to better finasteride or minoxidil. The most viable and currently lab tested solution is hair cloning and then transplantation, but this is in the lab phase and expense is currently way out of commercial viability. The current products like Histogen likely won't finish FDA trials before 2022, and their efficacy is still contested.

Do you have photos of your hair? I would say that there is no reason to wait for a transplant if you have done your research on doctors and the risks involved as in terms of products coming out because as of yet there is nothing better on the horizon that will arrive within the next 5 years. However if you think you are going to get away with a transplant without fin or minox unfortunately you probably haven't done enough research as of yet.

You should at least try a half dose of fin and minox before you consider transplants further. Try retin a cream for your skin and taking collagen supplements for the minox sides.

[Tron]

I'm at a norwood 3 and have 2 bald spots on the back of my head. I've tried finasteride and the side effects sucked so I stopped taking it. I could try minox again but it gave me huge dark circles and wrinkles so I looked like a zombie.

Is there any reason to wait it out for 2018-2020 products? Or would it make more sense to live in the present and get a hair transplant and then use whatever products may come out in the future? Thanks.

How old are you and what Norwood are you?

I did Propecia in the late 90s for a few years ( in my early 20s) and just didn't like the idea of having to take any medicine for the rest of my life. I waited until nearly the age of 40 before I opted for a robotic HT to make certain my hair loss had pretty much stabilized.

I try and look at things from a cost benefit analyses as well (just my thing). If I payed an average of $200 for 3 months supply of propecia, from 1997 (though a 3 months supply was definitely more expensive back then) until now thats roughly $16,000. The ARTIS procedure I payed for a couple weeks ago represents a cost of 41% of that 20 year propecia prescription.

Even if I have another FUE procedure in a year, I would still be money ahead vs. having stayed on propecia. Not to mention, the cost of a HT is a fixed one time payment, while propecia would need to continue to be purchased for the rest of my foreseeable life.

[greekgod]

Norwood 3, so balding in front and 2 bald spots on the back. I don't have pictures atm of my hair but I'm 27 years old. I've shaved my head once but I'm honestly too skinny atm to pull it off. Most of my friends think its better with the hair. I see the decisions as work out and pull off the bald look better, get a transplant now, or wait and hope that replicel/histogen or w/e else comes out in the next year or two can bring some of my hair back until 2020s when we have something better hopefully.There's no doubt that my hair will continue to fall out so I'd have to get another transplant down the line as I'm not going to take fin. Side effects were too severe.

[JeanlucBergman]

Norwood 3, so balding in front and 2 bald spots on the back. I don't have pictures atm of my hair but I'm 27 years old. I've shaved my head once but I'm honestly too skinny atm to pull it off. Most of my friends think its better with the hair. I see the decisions as work out and pull off the bald look better, get a transplant now, or wait and hope that replicel/histogen or w/e else comes out in the next year or two can bring some of my hair back until 2020s when we have something better hopefully.There's no doubt that my hair will continue to fall out so I'd have to get another transplant down the line as I'm not going to take fin. Side effects were too severe.

Maybe you could try a minox like minox max 15% with topical finasteride. Nizoral shampoo is a mild anti-androgen which will also help you. If I were you I'd aim to try and get adequate regrowth and maintenance out of topical finasteride and minoxidil on the crown and mid section and get a transplant for the frontline. The crown is much easier to deal with in terms of regrowth and use of concealers like toppik.

Ultimately I would say check with a few local doctors how many grafts your donor area has available and what they think your final hairloss pattern will be. In the meantime, use a topical fin and minox solution to achieve maintenance on the top and crown and search for a good hairline doctor if you are considered a viable transplant candidate. Hit the gym too, the double whammy of getting your hair back and getting ripped is certainly not a bad idea.

Replicel/histogen aren't coming for a long while. Not worth the wait and not even guaranteed.