NW6 - 5300 grafts, Eugenix, July 11th

[lazarus]

Firstly I would like to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this forum I wouldn’t have even dreamed this was possible or taken action to fix my hair if I didn’t stumble upon this resource.

I started losing my hair at around 25, tried Rogaine for a couple weeks and gave up on it.  I shaved my head almost every other day for years.  Now fast forward, im 34 and back in college for another degree and will probably be looking to get married in the next year or two.  Obviously I want to look my best for a potential interview and for the future mrs, so I looked at a couple of the top names thrown around here.  Eugenix seemed to be the right balance of cost and quality, having so many higher norwood cases like mine I felt that they would be best prepared to handle my case.

So I jumped right in, I booked the exclusive package as I was quoted a good amount of grafts.  I wouldve loved to see more results from the more budget friendly packages but I figured with all the experience Eugenix has it would be a safe bet.  

Now of course, I do have some concerns

I never took any medications, and started finasteride 1 month and a week before the surgery date, and I’m actually responding to finasteride pretty well, I wonder if minoxidil will help as well and if taking it longer would reduce the amount of grafts.  I also am concerned if my donor area is good enough and the quality of my hair.  Ideally I would’ve liked to wait maybe a year and then have this procedure but I also don’t have the time.  I’ll share some pictures and I’d love to hear any suggestions or concerns

Below is what I was quoted and also include approximately 1000 Beard grafts.

What should my goal be for this, I was quoted for a 3 day surgery.  Do you think this is enough for coverage or density in the front, should I just focus on the front or include the crown as well?  Is this too ambitious or unrealistic?

[Berba11]

To be honest I’m surprised you haven’t seriously considered starting with FUT. 

FUE will seek to maximise your entire donor area but that necessarily means testing the borders of the “safe zone”. In your case however, there’s some fairly advanced retrograde alopecia creeping up from the nape of the neck. It means your donor might continue to shrink in size and either the area you can take from is smaller (less grafts), or you take from near those areas but they may be more susceptible to DHT even after being transplanted. 
 

FUT would take from the strongest part of the donor, and would mean you can still do FUE later (and of course beard). 

[Fox243]

13 hours ago, Berba11 said:

To be honest I’m surprised you haven’t seriously considered starting with FUT. 

FUE will seek to maximise your entire donor area but that necessarily means testing the borders of the “safe zone”. In your case however, there’s some fairly advanced retrograde alopecia creeping up from the nape of the neck. It means your donor might continue to shrink in size and either the area you can take from is smaller (less grafts), or you take from near those areas but they may be more susceptible to DHT even after being transplanted. 
 

FUT would take from the strongest part of the donor, and would mean you can still do FUE later (and of course beard). 

FUT really limits the option to shave your head in the future, which IMO is an important out for NW7 with retrograde who may not even end up having enough of a donor for a look they want. FUE scars especially SMP’d can look normal while that isn’t the case for FUT. 

Edited Monday at 09:59 AM by Fox243

[A_4_Archan]

19 minutes ago, Fox243 said:

FUT really limits the option to shave your head in the future, which IMO is an important out for NW7 with retrograde who may not even end up having enough of a donor for a look they want. FUE scars especially SMP’d can look normal while that isn’t the case for FUT. 

What you're saying is correct: scalp micropigmentation will look better on people who have had FUE. However, FUT scars can also be concealed by implanting body hairs. Although hiding FUT scars can be more challenging than hiding FUE scars.

But i believe in this particular situation, the doctor might need to operate outside the safe zone due to retrograde alopecia. If the doctor remains within the safe zone, the number of grafts that can be harvested will be very limited.

So in my opinion, the primary focus in this specific case should be on harvesting rather than on scarring. 

Therefore, I agree with @Berba11 that FUT could be a viable option to start with in this specific case. However, the final decision should be made by the doctor and the patient after considering all concerns.

[mr_peanutbutter]

get a second opinion from @Dr. Felipe Pittella

Edited Monday at 10:28 AM by mr_peanutbutter

[Berba11]

49 minutes ago, Fox243 said:

FUT really limits the option to shave your head in the future, which IMO is an important out for NW7 with retrograde who may not even end up having enough of a donor for a look they want. FUE scars especially SMP’d can look normal while that isn’t the case for FUT. 

Sure but it’s fair to assume the OP doesn’t want to shave his head in the future, otherwise he’d not be getting a HT at this point. 
 

As @A_4_Archansays, FUT scars can be concealed, too. 
 

Both FUE and FUT are imperfect- there will always be some compromise somewhere. 

[Fox243]

47 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

Sure but it’s fair to assume the OP doesn’t want to shave his head in the future, otherwise he’d not be getting a HT at this point. 
 

As @A_4_Archansays, FUT scars can be concealed, too. 
 

Both FUE and FUT are imperfect- there will always be some compromise somewhere. 

I think it’s reasonable to want the ability for an “out” if the surgery doesn’t work well, which is important with higher risk surgeries (Ie a future NW7 with retrograde). There’s no right answer ofc, but I think this is a point that some people often neglect. SMP on FUE looks a lot better than SMP on FUT.