FUT or wait for Histogen etc.?

[GeHairDo]

First I would like to thank you for a great hair loss forum, which has educated me and helped me a lot over the years.

I have never posted here before, but as I am seriously considering taking the hair transplant route now I have some questions I hope you guys will be able to help me with.

I am 29 years old, curently living in Belgium, and have been losing my hair for about 5-6 years. I have been taking propecia, minoxdil (foam once a day) and nizoral for the last 3-4 years and it has somewhat helped stabilizing my hair loss. My current hair loss is a NW3 pattern so it is basically "just" the temples and hairline that is of concern to me.

I have come to a point where I am now sick and tired of trying to style my hair and covering up my bald temples. I am constantly aware of my hairline and I hate windy weather (I guess some of you guys trying to cover your hair loss with the remaining hair can relate to this).

I tried just to buzz my head 4 years ago but unfortunately I don't look good with a buzzed head because of a tall and narrow freaking head which has a kind of "bump" on the crown. Consequently, buzzing my head and forgetting about my hair loss is a bit difficult for me.

I am considering having my hair line reestablished with FUT with Rahal or Shapiro. I have been told that I need approx. 2000-2500 grafts to address my concerns. I really feel that I have been doing my research over the years now and that my expectations are realistic.

The reason why I am considering FUT is mainly because I don't look good with a buzzed head so the FUE doesn't really make sense to me as I would not buzz my head in the future. Consequently, choosing a procedure which limits my donor hair and probably has lower yield than FUT does not seem like the best thing to do.

However, I am scared sh*tless of having a strip removed from my head. I am scared of the fact that even with a great doc you a never really guaranteed a pencil thin scar and high yield. There are so many uncertainties with hair transplantation (even with the best docs). And there are so many uncertainties with hair loss. I am now 29 with a NW3 pattern. Where will I end up? My father has all his hair (a NW1) but my grandfather (my father's side) was a NW6 (the only person in my family with hair loss – besides me). This is also why I am considering strip as I don't want to come short of donor hair (mine is above average) if/when I progress further down the NW scale. Going with FUE and coming short of donor hair I would have to buzz my head and reveal my oddly shaped head (which is of cause better than having no yield with FUT and revealing an oddly shaped head and a stretched smiley scar – this would be worst case scenario).

With all of the above mentioned concerns I am considering waiting 3-4 years for Histogen, Acell, etc. instead of having FUT procedure now (and scar on the back of my head for the rest of my life). I don't expect e.g. Histogen to restore my hairline completely. If Histogens works (and won't be delayed) I'm thinking of restoring the remaining hairline with FUE (maybe plucking with Acell if it works) at that time - after having seen what amount of hair Histogen may grow on my hairline and temples. FUE would then make more sense to me as I would hopefully not have to worry about coming short of donor hair.

Then again I hate my current hair loss situation. And I would hate to wait another 3-4 years (I truly believe or hope that this is the time frame - I know that we have been informed of "cures" within 5-10 years for 20 years now but I believe the companies are finally on to something - if not a cure then as least something to hold onto until a cure somes out) for a product (Histogen, Acell etc.) that may not even work and then have a FUT procedure anyway.

What do you guys think? Should I go with FUT now (and hope for good yield and a pencil thin scar) or should I wait given my above mentioned concerns?

Thank you so much hearing me out.