Seeking Opinions - am I a good candidate for a HT?

[Hairohair]

Hey guys,

I'm 30M from Australia and considering getting a HT from Thailand due to its proximity and how they'd be more used to working with Asian hair types. My dad is a NW7.

I've been on 2.5mg/daily fin for about a year and topical minoxidil for a couple of years.

I had a local consultation here in Australia and they said I'd make a good candidate - the doctor felt my donor area and said it was good/healthy and recommended 3.5k grafts to cover the crown

I spoke to Dr Patty @ HairTran and she said I wouldn't make a good candidate due to her starting to see thinning in the donor area - I think she's implying I might have DUPA but didn't mention it directly, thoughts?

Dr Ratchathron @ Absolute Hair Clinic said 4.5k grafts - limited donor area but enough for her to work with. She's posted up a few good cases of working with diffused thinning these past few months so was inclined to go through her.

Dr Pathomvanich @ DHT Clinic said 3.5k grafts - donor area looks average and limited but has to be assessed at consultation

It's $18k AUD (~12.2k USD) for 3.5k grafts if I do it locally or $16k AUD ($10.8k USD) for 4.5k grafts if I go through Dr Ratchathorn and a bit more for 3.5k grafts from Dr Path.

What do you guys think - is it worth perusing or am I just wasting my money?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Shadman]

@Hairohair  which one is your latest photo ? Your donor condition is different in the last photo and the second last photo you uploaded

[Aristos HDC H-T technician]

Hello, your donor area looks good but you need more than 3,500 grafts for sure to make all the area full because is not only the crown area. If you need any help or any other consultation please contact me. 

[Hairohair]

6 hours ago, Shadman said:

@Hairohair  which one is your latest photo ? Your donor condition is different in the last photo and the second last photo you uploaded

Hey Sharman, the pictures are only a day apart. I think it looks different because I had my hairdresser take the photos with a different angle and the ones I took was after I just woke up with maybe some bed hair? 
 

Here’s some photos I just took after a quick rinse and dry - I notice even in between these photos it looks slightly different, maybe based on focusing and white balance?

 

 

Edited September 24 by Hairohair

[Gatsby]

Hi @Hairohair. Can I ask which surgeon in Australia said that you would make a good candidate? I'm not a doctor but you are taking a high dose of finasteride (and you are also taking topical minoxidil) which is great. The problem I see is your donor. Even if your MPB is stabalized you appear to have strong retrograde alopecia and a diffuse donor area. What I worry about is if you have surgery now at 30 how will your results look at 40 or 50, etc? What you are attempting to do is hit a moving target. I'm not saying surgery is out of the question if you have realistic expectations. I just want you to be aware of all of the potential problems going into a hair transplant. Once you are cut there is no going back. I apologize if I sound bleak but I would hate for you to end up regretting the whole thing and being left with scars. All the best.

[Hairohair]

Hey @Gatsby,

 

Sorry, it was 1mg finasterdie daily - not 2.5mg. Hair loss  seems quite stable with 1mg. 

I had an assessment at Hairtran in Brisbane where Dr Ruk practices from but didn’t get an assessment by the doctors themselves, just the coordinator. 
 

I’ve seen the great work coming out of there but still a bit undecided if I should stay and do it here in Australia or in Thailand where Dr Ratchathorn seems to be doing some great stuff with diffused thinning even though it would probably be cheaper to do it in Australia after flights and accommodation but they quoted I only needed 3.5k grafts here. 
 

What are your thoughts? 

[Falling]

I've seen the results posted from Dr Ruk in this forum and they look impressive, to the point that I'm wondering if they're too good to be true.  Price is reasonable too.

[Doron Harati]

You need to post a video with a comb to reveal your donor roots, right now my impression is that you can have 1st surgery with about 3500 to cover frontal area and some of the top without the crown, the question is if your donor will be stable in 10 years from now, you should consider that even with a good job some of the transplanted hair may diffused over the years.

Right now I don't see the NW7 pattern, more like NW5 that may be develop to NW6 in the future, better to make video because your donor looks in different shape due do the photo angle and lighting.

[Hairohair]

Hey guys please see attached the comb over video: 

Hope that helps in the assessment! 

 

 

Edited September 25 by Hairohair

[Doron Harati]

1 hour ago, Hairohair said:

Hey guys please see attached the comb over video: 

Hope that helps in the assessment! 

 

 

Also sides head donor please.

I have some thoughts you might have retrograde alopecia behind your nape donor, yet some areas looks healthy for the moment.

[Hairohair]

Hi @Doron Harati

Here's my side head donor - sorry about the video. A bit harder to film single handed!

 

 

[Doron Harati]

I still think there is the chance of miniaturization.

If you interested in consultation with HDC you are welcome to pm or contact my WhatsApp, we had candidates in the same situation, while explaining them there is a risk the transplanted hair loose coverage effect from possible future miniaturization.

[Hairohair]

Thanks! Do you still think a HT is still worth looking into? Would there be enough donors to cover up the crown?

Do you think it is retrograde alopecia?