Senior Member Time to do something Posted February 26, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2010 I've been told that donor hair from the 'safe zone' is susceptible to MPB like the hair on the top of the head eventually. This subject has probably been addressed at some point on the forum before but if anyone could revisit this I'd appreciate it. If that is the case it is worrisome that we go through all of this only to lose the hair again later in life. I'm also being told that even if one takes finasteride to protect the hair from further loss that it loses its effect after about ten years. If these statements are true then hair transplantation seems to be a temporary fix that just postpones the inevitable. Please someone prove this is all wrong. NW5 Dr. Epstein July 4, 2007 2520 grafts 471 one hair grafts 1540 two hair grafts 505 three hair grafts 5070 Total hair count Dr. Epstein August 4, 2008 2384 grafts 870 one hair grafts 1150 two hair grafts 364 three and four hair grafts 4262 Total hair count Dr. Ron Shapiro November 18, 2009 1896 grafts 760 one hair grafts 852 two hair grafts 288 three hair grafts 46 four hair grafts 3362 total hair count Dr. Ron Shapiro July 1, 2011 1191 grafts 447 one hair grafts 580 two hair grafts 150 three hair grafts 14 four hair grafts 2113 total hair count Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Maxxy Posted February 26, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2010 Time to do something, I've been told that donor hair from the 'safe zone' is susceptible to MPB like the hair on the top of the head eventually This topic has been brought up a few times and where as it may be true, I personally don't believe so, there have been guys on this forum who have had work done in the 70's, 80's (Finasteride wasn't even around until 1992) and their work has stood the test of time. I'm also being told that even if one takes finasteride to protect the hair from further loss that it loses its effect after about ten years. Again, this may be true - at least for some, but there are guys who have been using it for more then 10 years with positive results. EDIT: Having said that, the "safe zone" is rather subjective; my grandafather who is now in his 80s had a fair amount of hair in what I would have considered the "safe zone" in his 60s. However, he currently has a strip of hair around an inch wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member MikeTheDane Posted February 27, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 27, 2010 I guess it varies. By the time you are 90, if you ever get to that point, there might be a chance that your safe zone has shrunk. I don't know, but if I do make it to old age, hair is probably not on the top of my list. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11/04-07 - 800-1600 ish grafts - danish clinic - poor results 12/02-08 - 2764 grafts - Dr. Devroye - good result but needs hairline density 03/12-10 - 1429 grafts - Dr. Mohmand - result pending Feel free to visit my picture thread My Hair Transplant Photos - Surgery with Dr. Devroye Young lads below 25 unite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TC17 Posted February 27, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 27, 2010 I have an uncle (not blood related) who had a very nice donor area until he was about 70, but in the past 15 years it has thinned to the point where he couldn't undergo any type of transplant. In addition to his donor thinning, he went from a NW 4 to a NW 6 in the past 15 years. I don't know how common that is, but I do know that I see a lot more men that are NW 6's and 7's than I think any of us would like to admit. Who knows what the future may bring, but I highly doubt that I would be OK with a visible scar at ANY age. Right now my dad is a NW 6.5, but he's only 58. I would say he is close to the patient that Dr. Panine just posted yesterday. His donor is absolutely fantastic, he has thick hair and it's pretty dense. But, his temple region and sides are thinner than the back, and he has lost hair from the neck up. Maybe he won't lose any more hair, maybe he will. If his sides keep thinning, and his back begins to thin, it would be disastrous for him to get a transplant. Only time will tell where his hair loss goes, and only time will tell whether I inherited his pattern. And FYI, he had hair in a NW 5 pattern up till his mid 40's, so his hair loss has been slow, steady, and progressive. Even if he had waited to his mid 30's or 40's to have a transplant (which is recommended by most physicians), he could have looked foolish if he had done ANYTHING to the crown, temple points, or anything other than what his current pattern would tolerate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Cam Simmons MD ABHRS Posted February 27, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 27, 2010 1. I know some patients who have taken Propecia since 1997 (before they met me) who feel that they haven't lost more hair and some who have had a slow decline. 2. Some hair follicles in the donor area may be affected by DHT but most aren't, in most men. Take a look at the seniors you meet or pass in a day. In a few, you can see through their hair on the sides but not in most. Some men can get generalized thinning of all of their hair in advanced age, called senile alopecia. That might be what affected TC17s uncle from age 70 to 85. I just did a touch-up hair transplant for a 68 year-old man who had 4 sessions from 1976 to 1980 and the transplanted hair was still there. His hair was about 2 inches long and his rows and rows of punch graft scars did not show. The punch graft scars made up about half of his 9 mm wide, 30 cm long donor strip and we still got 1408 grafts and he still had about 60% 2s, 25% 3s, and 15% 1s. Hair transplants look much more natural now but transplanted hair from decades ago has stood the test of time. Cam Simmons MD ABHRS Seager Medical Group, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Dr. Cam Simmons is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member windjc Posted February 28, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 28, 2010 Originally posted by Dr. Cam Simmons:1. I know some patients who have taken Propecia since 1997 (before they met me) who feel that they haven't lost more hair and some who have had a slow decline. 2. Some hair follicles in the donor area may be affected by DHT but most aren't, in most men. Take a look at the seniors you meet or pass in a day. In a few, you can see through their hair on the sides but not in most. Some men can get generalized thinning of all of their hair in advanced age, called senile alopecia. That might be what affected TC17s uncle from age 70 to 85. I just did a touch-up hair transplant for a 68 year-old man who had 4 sessions from 1976 to 1980 and the transplanted hair was still there. His hair was about 2 inches long and his rows and rows of punch graft scars did not show. The punch graft scars made up about half of his 9 mm wide, 30 cm long donor strip and we still got 1408 grafts and he still had about 60% 2s, 25% 3s, and 15% 1s. Hair transplants look much more natural now but transplanted hair from decades ago has stood the test of time. This is an interesting thread. I have wondered about late life hairloss (75+). I noticed in my grandfather who had a lot of hair at 75 (probably NW2), now at 97 he has severe diffuse thinning all over. Not many 95+ guys with a lot of hair. Now I know its called senile alopecia. That makes sense, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TC17 Posted February 28, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted February 28, 2010 I agree windjc, I think late life hair loss is A LOT more common than any of us would like to believe. Thanks a lot for your insight Dr. Simmons. I had never heard the term senile alopecia until you used it. On the other end of the spectrum are people like my grandfather, who is 90 years old and a super thick NW 2. I bet he could live to be 200 and never lose a hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Al - Moderator Posted February 28, 2010 Moderators Share Posted February 28, 2010 I am currently 42 years old and have been thinning in the so called safe area since my early 20's, perhaps even before that. Anyone who thinks it doesn't ever happen until a late age is wrong. My current donor hair shaft thickness (both what still remains in the donor site and what has been transplanted) is thin and wispy and maybe only half the thickness they used to be... and those are the ones that haven't gone. EDIT: I will add that my uncle back when he was in his early 40's who was NW 7 at the time had very thin see through hair on both sides of his head and only had some decent thickness at the very back. He was not old and did not have a HT that would have thinned it out. Al Forum Moderator (formerly BeHappy) I am a paid forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member FUE2014 Posted December 3, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted December 3, 2014 Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I would be interested to hear whether anyone has experienced hair in their safe zone thinning over the years, even if on fin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Angelino Posted December 3, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2014 This is an interesting topic. I'd still opt for a HT and for the the hair I have now and not worry about what might happen later. By that time, there could be new advances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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