thanatopsis_awry

I would guess it is some combination of the following: inherent hair charachteristics, lack of HT maturity (i.e. the hairs will "soften" in the coming months of the overaraching HT timeline), a hack doctor. At this point, only you know the quality of the doctor you went to, what your hair charachteristics are, and how far into the HT process yer at.

There are side-effects with propecia, but they are both rare and mild. Most importantly, they are rare and reversible -- you can always stop *if* you are the rare person to experience some side-effects. Propecia won't "aggravate" your MPB -- remember, it is MPB that you are fighting, and propecia does the best job at fighting this. What most likely happened to you, and this happens to some, is that you experience a heightened "shed". Basically, this is a *good* thing, and is a sign that the propecia *is* working; your hair will grow back, and it will grow back stronger. Propecia is a commitment, for sure; but, it is a simple and very effective commitment all things considered. Personally, I experienced some side-effects during my first few weeks (sexual), but they gradually subsided. I also experienced a shed when I first started, but the shed stopped and my hair grew back stronger -- much stronger. My personal experience with propecia is very good; but most important is that my experience is *not* unique. The unique experiences are the bad experiences.

Do you need to? No. Should you? Most likely, yes. Fin/propecia is often useful to take prior to your HT, as well. Did you discuss this with your doctor at all?

I just turned 23 myself and am/was a NW4. Believe me, I feel your pain. My advice regarding this area would be to look into concealers (nanogen and dermmatch) and/or buzz your head. Neither path is amazing, but when you are dealing with an affliction like this you need to focus on making as many *optimal* decisions that you can muster, even if they aren't *perfect* decisions. In the meantime, save up $, get on the treatments, then get a world-class HT that will satisfy you as much as can be done!

Abid, It's good to hear you will be starting the most effective and truly proven treatments -- this will be a huge boon for you! That said, given your age and loss, I imagine most any HT doc would want if not require you to be on finasteride for at least 6months. I say this because it may very well be the most optimal path for you *and* it could give you ample time to save up enough $ to make cost a less important variable for you!

A few general thoughts: We basically have the people who have (and will continue to) huddle around and fanatically embrace the "global cooling"s, the "epidemic of man-made global warming"s, the "LLLT"s, and those that know better but support the aforesaid because it impacts *their* bottomline. People flock around the mystical concepts for a variety reasons, and, perhaps, due to the lack of actual veracity within their brain are generally the most obnoxious -- and, importantly, outspoken. Possibly because of tact, possibly because of a tacit but impactful bullying effect, I don't believe "we" ever truly see which side is in the process of winning, slowly but surely approaching a "de facto" victory. But, much like pornography, people can and will define and see *true results* much like they can sense and define truth. In the pantheon of LLLC, regardless of what self-invested relativists and emotional fanatics espouse the truth has a sneaky way of finding its way to the entrance of people's consciousness.

You absolutely must go to the person and clinic that will deliver you the best possible result. You are both young and experiencing heavy MPB -- you have little to no room for error. Research well, choose wisely, let cost not be a factor until you have exhausted every other metric. Are you on propecia/proscar/fin?

I'll concur with everything already said. This is *the* best treatment and it is also relatively inexpensive. You are only 22 -- I'd hate to see you squander more bones on ineffectual treatments, all the while wasting your physical time and emotional energies. Also, keep in mind a "concealer" like nanogen and dermmatch as you move forward.

I've noticed this trend, as well. My only answer is a vauge one -- that the really sweet early growth is often a basic "symptom" (and prognosticator) of what will be an "exceptional result". By exceptional I mean that the HT will produce a look of truly robust density, acquired by some combination of #grafts/area + hair charachteristics, but moreso the former criteria. Not all HTs are destined to be "exceptional", though that doesn't mean that they can't all be perfectly fitting and excellent; likewise, not being an "early grower" (i.e. the #grafts/area and hair caliber aside, you simply sprout quicker by nature of your physiology) doesn't mean you can't get an "exceptional result".

Very nice, dude, and great pics! The continuing maturation should set you perfect.

Sweet jesus - for the love of all that is holy *do not* squander your money, and most importantly your precious hair w/ the donkeys at MHR. You live in or around New York I take it, which is excellent as you are at least somewhat close to getting a truly elite HT. My advice is to consult w/ at least 2-3 "coalition docs" in the NY-area. Take your time, research, ask lots of questions, consider the respective prognoses that you get.

1.) Diffuse thinning basically is that you don't get the prototypical "bald spot", but rather your hair thins (to varying degrees) over a given region. There is DUPA, which is diffuse *unpatterned*, which is no good, in that you can thin out in your donor region. Diffuse *patterned* alopecia is the more typical type of diffuse loss. There are many shades to diffusion. 2.) It sounds like you are going through "shockloss", which affects people to varying degrees. Ideally, all shockloss is "temporary shockloss", meaning the hairs eventually grow back, unless, perhaps, they were very weak hairs and destined to die soon; however, there is also a type of "permanent shockloss", where the hairs got transected by a shitty doctor, e.g. 3.) If I remember aright, you should have been cleansing the area, and massaging any crusts prior to 11 days out. Did your clinic discuss this with you? Your grafts should be quite secure by now. 4.) Propecia is often speculated to lose efficacy over time; this could be happening to you, combined with your MPB just being to powerful. Avodart, or Dutasteride, is prescribed by some very esteemed clinics, and while it isn't officially FDA approved for MPB, it is considered to be more powerful than propecia/finasteride, and if fin seems to be losing ground I think it is sound to look into it. 5.) HTs can be a blessing or a curse -- it really depends on a lot of factors. The good news is that either way, the truly elite clinics are *excellent* at "repair jobs", and can take a disgraceful HT (or HTs) and turn it into a sweet head of hair. Without seeing any of your pics it's impossible to even begin to gauge, but even in a worst-case scenario it isn't apocalyptic. 6.) Plastic surgeon would be my guess; I implore you to research it and research it well. Start by seeing a dermatologist, perhaps, or a GP, and getting a recco. 7.) Transplanted hairs do shed at varying rates, which begins their ultimate growth cycle. 8.) Minox (rogaine foam 5%) is solid addition, also ketacozonal shampoo, like Nizoral 2%. 9.) Really depends on a lot of factors; for me it took a couple weeks. 10.) You should be fine at this point, but 2x check -- better extra safe than a little sorry. Who was your doctor/clinic, btw? Also, any clear pics you can post would allow people to give you a better idea of where you stand, are headed, etc.

My scar is solid, and though it stretched a bit, it's no worse than I've seen a myriad of other scars on people who played it ultra-conservative; def no detriment to early growth; between a uniform buzz, Couvre/Nanogen I did no cover at all (I had planted seeds setting up a psoriasis breakout and a fighting injury to help mitigate any of my irregularities).

Looking totally fine, and, in fact, you are def ahead of the curve. Not to jinx you, but in another 3 months I'd bet you are going to be looking quite bushy!

There are a few variables that help to determine how good of a "candidate" you are for a HT -- one of them is going to an elite doctor and clinic, above all else. Unfortunately, MPB is quite progressive (i.e. it doesn't exactly stabalize at a point in time, for you then to determine your course of action); also, we have finite donor supplies (i.e. we each only have so much hair that we can safely take and transplant). What does this mean? It means that the quality of your donor (i.e. how much *you* happen to have, and how thick your individual hairs are), your specific loss (i.e. of what pattern, how much, at what age), and how stabalized your loss is (i.e. have you been on finasteride/propecia for a while and reacted well to it) help to paint the picture of how good (or bad) of decision it is. Also, be well aware that you most likely will *not* have hair that is as thick or robust as it once was in your prime. This isn't to say you can't get a great looking mop, but the *true* density will likely never be met; rather, you will get true density combined with *perceived* density, which correlates to your doctors skill in making the hairs appear to be more dense that they actual are (in terms of how many hairs/area). I got a HT at 22, I'm now 23 -- one of the best decisions I've ever made, though not an easy one.

Did nada for 12 days; once the staples came out resumed modest lifts and light cardio w/ no ab work; next week resumed boxing; after another week I started a more normal, robust schedule (including sparring, jiu-jitsu) and just cherry-picked certain exercises out if I felt a particular strain. The last thing that I felt OK in doing was running/sprinting. Kinda odd that some doctors recco 6 (if not more) months. It seems to me that there is randomness w/ regard to the variables that lead to a "perfect" scar, so being a bit more aggressive isn't like jeopardizing your shot at a sweet scar.

Looks good and you should be locked n' loaded for more growth and maturation to come.

I bet my political life that they won't be foaming at the mouth. Btw, of course they would be mat at you if you didn't like Obama: government is God, the party is the Bible, and the politician (in this case Obama) is the Messiah. Blasphemous. Too bad it isn't Romney Vs. Biden -- the contrast in hair alone would have tilted the election.

You guys saying you don't like a bloviating politician whose arrogance is only surpassed by his minute-by-minute spewing of falsities? His HT did look better during the debate, though; my guess is Master Armani injected him with 5000 Maximus FUE.

Any day now you to shall enter into the follicular-covenant reserved only for those souls with a passion -- nay, obsession -- with the follicle. The lust for the graft is strong, and like a less destructive version of a crack-pipe, it is difficult to resist once you've had your first taste. I trust in the coming days you will reach the 4-digit milestone and be officially knighted through the written word, which serves as an internet equivolent of a majestic sword w/ a blade constructed of cryo-freezed grafts.

Any day now you to shall enter into the follicular-covenant reserved only for those souls with a passion -- nay, obsession -- with the follicle. The lust for the graft is strong, and like a less destructive version of a crack-pipe, it is difficult to resist once you've had your first taste. I trust in the coming days you will reach the 4-digit milestone and be officially knighted through the written word, which serves as an internet equivolent of a majestic sword w/ a blade constructed of cryo-freezed grafts.

I'd 2nd what Dewayne has said....only thing I'd add is that when you shave your head -- just like any other defining physical choice (or change), it has certain ramifications associated it with, usually correlated to stigmas and stereotypes. So, you shave your head....IMO, this will intensify the effects of however you choose to dress...if that makes any sense....

I'm not sure I'd trust my word based upon those pics....but perception is reality so with that said I'm very happy you conquered your follicular goals.

Excellent decision, congrats! How many grafts are you shooting for? You have rather advanced MPB, but no doubt I think you are primed for a real, real big turn-around!

Some people have gotten HTs and even girlfriend's have never precisely known; for most, however, this simply cannot be the case, especially if your timetable is but a couple of days. A couple of weeks, however, is a different story. If you are shaven for the procedure, your best bet is to give yourself a uniform buzzcut when you get the staples/sutures removed, and then utilize a product like Couvre and/or Nanogen to conceal the scar. At the same time, everyone heals differently: some might have noticeable shockloss in the donor region (which aforesaid products can help with), some will have nagging redness in the recipient area. It is rather unpredictable, but if you are dilligent w/ post-op care I wouldn't classify the recovery as truly difficult. If you have very minor loss your best bet may be a session of FUE, which is an extraction method that in the right hands leaves pseudo-invisible scarring. If you are extremely concerned about someone finding out about the HT, and it isn't feasible to wear a hat and/or hole yourself up for a couple weeks this would be another advantage. The downside is that yield in FUE is extremely erratic and the field is wrought w/ unethical beasts hawking it for $$$$$ -- it's also a lot more expensive. H&W both do great hairlines; I've seen more from Hasson, but all of Wong's have looked nice.