NARMAK

Behave, wait till your 12 months 😛 Yours are still looking mighty good, but when you see what's possible eh, makes you want it too

Yeah, i do agree a bad temple point restoration will probably ruin a good hair transplant but they seem like they have shown a generally good track record and i hope to receive the same high quality temple point work we've come to expect here with the results posted for most. I will see how cheeky i can be in trying to get more grafts for really dense temple points and hairline. Ultimately i do not think anybody is getting anywhere close to the 380 and 390 grafts you got anytime soon lol. Although i truly do hope mine will look about half as good as yours probably will turn out with that many grafts.

Take it from a guy that basically spent over a decade avoiding it because of what people scaremongering on the Internet would say about it making your penis useless etc. and then doing his research to realise about 98% of guys on it are fine with tolerable side affects. 2% have more severe side affects that with tweaked dosage can continue or once they stopped, the issues did too. In fact, forget Finasteride. I went nuclear and straight to Dutasteride 0.5mg every day and after a few months, my body levelled out and the initial sides abated a lot. However even when i had them i was willing to tolerate them. If i could go back and start Finasteride 10 years ago, i 100% would have. Could have been in an even better position and probably needed half the amount of grafts i've been quoted by a clinic but it is what it is. I still feel fortunate i caught it early enough and am in a really solid position fortunately at around the Norwood i am. However i am 100% staying on the medication train for as long as possible. Long term 10 year studies from Japan showed the medication still working to help grow and thicken hair. I actually believe it can bring back some of the more heavily miniaturised areas and in some lucky cases, more dormant hair from the pictures i saw from the study. Ultimately i would advise anybody to start off 1mg Finasteride 3x a week for about a month. Ses how you get on. Then add a 4th pill for 2-3 weeks and evaluate. Keep going with tapered use till you manage 1mg every day. Topical Finasteride is designed to give less side affects but imo, if you can tolerate oral Finasteride i'd say its a little better and that's because adding chemicals to the scalp over time imo degrades it and the quality of some topical Finasteride is probably dubious compared to off brand Finasteride from reputable countries and pharmacies. Ultimately you have to make that choice. As Morpheus said, "I can only show you the door. You have to enter". Good luck whatever you decide.

Whilst i respect the opinion above as one take on things, from a visual perspective i think a low and more shallow hairline can be aesthetic and i do not like the hairline flaring out around the temporal areas. It's all personal preference imo but the poster above is in some ways correct that if you have more advanced hair loss, it's better to be a bit more conservative and with styling, visually the difference can be minimised and thus save grafts. Ultimately you have to realise that the most important thing is to choose the right clinic, take on board the doctors input but do not be afraid to also give your own input if it's informed and means a lot to you and you clearly understand the long term ramifications of what you're requesting. You look a Norwood 4/5, which means you're gonna need a fair bit of grafts. Don't blow them all on trying to get a 16 year old hairline. If you had been a Norwood 2/2.5ish, it's depending on age considered more acceptable to be a touch more aggressive but you are actually even more advanced. How old are you? You seem to be a younger guy in his 20s. Are you actively taking any medication and also where is the clinic from that you approached? Be careful to do your research abd not end up in a hair mill. Grafts are precious and finite. Donor management is key to making sure you're covered for down the road should you need an almost inevitable transplant whether for further hair loss or adding density.

Again, hair loss and transplants aren't perfect. Even the best surgeons can't fully anticipate which is why taking medication or having hair loss be stable for some time is usually recommended so much.

Because if a person hypothetically gets a transplant where their current hair is amongst the native hair, in 10 years if all those hair are lost to male pattern baldness, you have a bunch of weirdly placed areas where your hair is. It will stand out like a sore thumb Medication is recommended because it allows you to try my slow/halt the progression of male pattern baldness and the longer you are on it and can prove you have done the above, the more likely you can be considered for a hair transplant. If you aren't on medication and have aggressive hair loss in your 20s even if you were on medication, then you're still in a bad position. They would rather the hair loss be stable and stopped if possible whether on medication or not. That way any hair transplanted is likely to yield a much more long term result. Not add to your woes

That's looking great for 5 months. Bet you're constantly looking in the mirror now Man, looks like it's really got great coverage for how many grafts you got in that image.

Man, that beard looks great for 7 days post-op. The hairline and temple points look solid. Tbh, given your pre-op situation, it looks impressive and can't wait to see the 12 month results as i've said before. I still can't believe how dense they went with your temples. I think even though i'm considered a Norwood 2 compared to you, my temple points are completely faded much like yours were and i'm mainly choosing Eugenix to try help me restore those. I do genuinely believe they would offer the best aesthetic look to the framing of your face and enhancing the results of your hair transplant even if you do not have a super low hairline. Whereas not having them can make even a low hairline look higher. I'm due to go in May, so hopefully i get the Visa and in the meantime i am going to keep an eye on your results to see how good they get. I feel like i'm gonna put in a request for 300+ temple point grafts now lol

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, i assumed that would be the case tbh. Personally i think in the first pass, most top clinics would probably top out at around 50cm/2 on average. I'm going to see when the time comes about having that sort of discussion with the clinic about also trying to go for dense packing.

Sorry, i will clarify my question a bit further. When you said dense packing, did you mean aiming for a particular follicular units per CM/2? Like say his natural density is 80cm/2, then doing 50-60cm/2? That's why i was asking what constituted your idea of dense packing. I know some clinics are very loathe to mention anything above 50% in a single pass. Usually sticking between 30-50cm/2.

Do you mind just clarifying what you feel would constitute dense packing? Hoping to go for mine in a few months and i do want to make sure i get as dense as possible but wanting to also ensure it's considered realistic.

Dr Bicer seems to come very recommended on the forum but apologies, not sure on who the other person is personally. All the best with your new job and hopefully finding time for the procedure.

Here's my personal take on things. Stay on Finasteride and see if you can increase the dosage to 1mg every day sooner so you block the maximum DHT possible. The next thing i would urge you to do is add Minoxodil into your routine and Microneedling with a derma pen once a week at 1mm to 1.5mm. You should also maybe try use a 2% ketoconazole shampoo like Nizoral. If there's any inflammation on the scalp, seb derm, dandruff etc. You should take care of that too. Also do a blood test to make sure your vitamin levels are all okay. I would then tell you to save up money and research the clinics who deal with your hair type and ethnicity to put out the sort of results you want. Give the hair restoration at least 12 months to work its magic. The majority of the results are achieved then and hopefully puts you in a better position.

Take the lighting concept you used just for hair and apply it to taking pictures in general. The angle and direction of light is a HUGE factor in making things look better or worse, even your hair/face that haven't had any work done on em lol Personally i think we all wish we could get those unlimited hair grafts today that Stemson seem to be indicating are on the horizon but until then, i think we just have to manage with what we had. I do think that only a lucky few manage a second hair transplant for anything close to native density and usual much down the lane.

You should always check the agreements and travel advice on your countries government website. Information is regularly updated and even then they will tell you yo go double check on your intended countries website whether they require you to have a Visa. For example in the UK, before Brexit as members of the EU you could free travel on any EU member states passport without a Visa requirement. Now things are more difficult. The USA for example i think does allow an e-Visa to be applied from as a British Passport holder however, India for some reason does not.

Definitely a video a lot of people looking to travel for their hair transplants will benefit from. I think getting one is daunting enough, never mind the potential language barriers. Having some reassurance on what to expect both there and back helps.

Thanks for the honest reply. I'll have another look at the picture you posted to see if maybe some of your stuff said the density. Being blessed with thick hair is probably great for a hair transplant. Usually they say it also comes with it's own problems with trying to manage it when styling but hopefully those are now much better problems to have. All the best and thanks.

Man, i'm just like super laser focused on those temple points and how solid and compact they are looking. Can't wait to see them grow in but it's all around a definitely transformation and as the months roll by, really looking forwards to seeing the results. The beard has healed well too. No obvious signs of redness in the pics but difficult as always to see if there's been shock loss and some hair needs to regrow or if that's the extractions only.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I would honestly recommend if possible you start using Finasteride and see how it affects the thinning hair. Apparently diffuse thinning can benefit from the medication quite well. If it can save a lot of those hair currently you could end up needing less grafts in the future. I genuinely don't believe the laser 3x a week is benefitting you as much as blocking DHT would. You can also if you want add Microneedling but if they are going to implant into the thinning areas, you will need to stop until probably the first couple months if not more of the hair transplant. The wet hair probably makes the situation look even worse than it is tbh, but if i were in your position, i'd start Finasteride and Microneedling and give it 6-12 months to see how it helps before considering any hair transplant.

You're still young but seems like you did the smart thing with medication and being on it for a few years and what you described should help stand you in better light and eligibility for a hair transplant. You look closer to a Norwood 3 to my eyes but you should send on a consultation to the recommend clinics here and see what their plans are. I would suggest looking for clinics that show patients with fine Caucasian hair to get an idea of what results to expect. One of your temple points looks a bit more recessed (your left) and could potentially do with being rebuilt a bit. Eugenix are probably the most adept at that but they haven't shown a lot of fine hair Caucasian examples with your hair colour from what i recall. Depending on where you are and what you are willing to pay, there's a lot of options in North America and Europe.

The hairline design can be tweaked but usually they try to account a bit for age and sometimes i think being conservative. The picture shows you thinning. What is your current medication if any? If you are for example using Finasteride and Minoxodil how long have you been on them. Also, any further pictures you can share like a side quarter and donor area, as well as your crown with a more top down look?

I'd recommended you look at the forum list of recommended clinics and send out consultations. See what they advise and you can get an idea of grafts required and cost. Whilst i haven't had my procedure yet, there is a video on their YouTube that details what they provide. I believe you can purchase the Finasteride if you wish to do so whilst there and get a prescription from them. Likely the same with Minoxidil also being able to be purchased but just as a reference, you can buy Minoxidil without a prescription even probably in your own country. Most market it under the brand Rogaine/Regaine (UK). There's also generic versions like Kirkland etc.

I just wanna put this out there. Hair transplants are a bit of a fickle thing. They're probably the same as any other elective cosmetic procedure. You pay for the reputation of a clinic or in this case a particular doctor. There's never 100% guarantee everything will go as perfect for you as it did for others, but paying more and going to somebody with a good reputation will more than likely get you a positive outcome whereas going cheap, the opposite is true. That's not to say there's not options out there for people who are a little more constricted in budget but want to still have a better chance at a positive outcome. Those options can be found here on the forum too. Pricing seems to be like all things influenced by demand and that's sky high compared to the supply of quality reputable clinics and doctors. This issues probably only getting worse atm as Horror Mills are exploding in almost every country you can think of. Even the US, UK and Europe have issues but the sheer volume of them and popularity in Turkey usually deflects enough attention away from them. I think we are all well aware by now how we live in a highly image driven era with social media, marketing and all sorts making us feel self conscious about things people probably a hundred years ago didn't worry and focus on as much. On top of that, recent pressures probably mean disposable income with the rising cost of living is at a premium and that creates a HUGE pressure for young guys in particular but it's better to try and save for a quality option than getting butchered in a Horror Mill somewhere and regretting what you did. You usually live with that choice for 20-40+ years depending on when you got it.

If the hair loss has slowed down and probably at a much slower rate now then Finasteride can probably help you maintain. As a general average, most people who are experience hair loss do so in a pattern hence the term "Male Pattern Baldness" and that's what the Norwood Scale for hair loss. However, it isn't perfect and there's always a few real life examples that won't match exactly. The hair loss usually is thought of as more aggression in your teens, 20s and then slows a bit towards your 30s and by your 40s the kind of hair loss you have should be more slower but it will continue. Depending on how aggressive it can be and when you started with hair loss, Finasteride may or may not save you from things. It all comes down to genetics but it will at the very least slow it down as much as it possibly can. Just start Finasteride in your case, save what you have left and another benefit may be that it helps thicken the donor area. A lot of people overlook this key aspect. Donor area is DHT sensitive too. Whilst it may be more resistant, it's not immune to the effects and boosting a DHT block with Finasteride helps keep them much healthier for longer. Age will as always degrade our bodies and nothing will stop that i think, but there's a few things we can do. Just save up, do your research and decide the best clinic for you if you choose to get a hair transplant. Good luck.

Honestly it's difficult to say and nobody can give you a definitive but depending on your individual hair loss situation say even 10 years ago, there's a chance you may have been able to preserve more hair. Unfortunately Finasteride is not a magical remedy and there are those that despite taking it will still lose hair because their genetics are probe to aggressive hair loss but Finasteride does what it can and if they hadn't been on it, likely may have been even more aggressive. Personally i like to stick with an average example and that's that most people probably slow their hair loss down. So depending on how much hair you had say in mid 20s, early 30s etc. you may have kept more than you have now. Don't dwell on it and the past. Just do what you can from here. Thanks for telling about the beard. Has your hair loss been stable for a little while now? Taking Finasteride will probably still help but it just helps knowing if your hair loss has slowed down because if so, you might more easily be a hair transplant candidate unlike somebody say in their early 20s who's a Norwood 3 and still losing ground even with medication.