Many times the transplant does not provide enough hair to cover an extensive balding pattern because the donor supply density is too low for the high demand of the balding pattern. When that happens, the surgeon who is skillful with both hair transplants and SMP will know how to use the transplants to form a good foundation so that the SMP will make the hair look much fuller.

Here is an example: The picture on the right has the exact same amount of hair as the picture on the left except that SMP was added to fill in the thinning hair.

I have had Chemotherapy and lost my hair. It has been a full year and still only some of the hair has not returned.

I quit finasteride 2 weeks ago because I noticed less libido. I’m in desperate need for reassurance that I could still get it back and that it didn’t do permanent damage. Any reply is appreciated especially from those who had similar experience.

4,500 FUE grafts is a high number of FUE grafts for anyone with a lower than average donor density.

If you are from India or South Asia, your donor density will not support that number of grafts and thus you have a depleted donor area.

Scalp Micropigmentation is the only solution to this problem (see: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/).

The reason a man under 25 should not have a hair transplant is because the hair loss patterns just starts appearing by the age of 25-26. So, for example, if you recede 1/2 inch of your frontal hairline at 20, got it transplanted, then by 21 you lost another 1/2 inch behind the transplant and then had to get it transplanted again, and then by 22, you lost another 1/2 of the hair behind the two transplants plus loss in your crown, then you would want to transplant in the frontal hairline and possibly the crown again and so on. By 25, your crown balding may have expanded and if you don’t transplant it, you will have hair in the center of the crown with a bald area surrounding it.  Sooner or later, you would run out of money if you were not rich or run out of donor hair (even if you were rich) and be stuck half transplanted with no recourse and nothing to do. If your doctor is sloppy, he would deplete all of your donor hair.  I have, in my 27 year career in doing hair transplants, many men caught in this trap, because the doctors make the money (often a lot of money) as they deplete the victim’s donor supply with repeated surgeries on the promise that this next surgery will be their last.

I am certain, that at 22, if your hairline is actively receding, that your future hair loss can’t yet be predicted. That is why I like to develop a Master Plan with my patients so that I can keep them with hair on their head as they continue to bald without depleting their donor supply or promising the impossible. If you were my son, I would not do it any differently. I would do a HAIRCHECK test, treat your balding with the non-surgical options, and then when you got to be 25, discuss a plan with you and what we can do together to keep you hairy and feeling better about yourself.

FUT Questions from tressless

Finnish researchers conducted a study involving women’s hair loss to determine if a high-glycemic diet and carbohydrates contribute to their balding. In the study, women who were more insulin resistant and ate more carbs had a higher risk of developing androgenic alopecia (AGA) hair loss. Aug 10, 2017. 

We also know that men with insulin resistance have more cardiac disease and many with such diseases seem to have more hair loss as well, male or female. 

You might have to wait out a full hair cycle before seeing improvement. Hair cycles in women run between 2-5 years. The older you are, the shorter the cycle. You are in between the cycles of an older and younger woman.

Blondes can lose 80% of their hair without detecting it readily. The best way to determine how much hair you are actually losing is to get a HAIRCHECK test and then you will know exactly where you stand. You may be losing more hair than you are seeing. For finasteride, only 2-4% of people get sexual side effects, so starting at the regular dose is okay. If you only take half the dose, it will be 80% as effective with some people reporting less sexual side effects.

If you are under 25 then the doctor you found who is willing to do a hair transplant on you, is not moral or reputable, just a guy who wants your money and doesn’t care about you.. No competent doctor will do a hair transplant on someone under the age of 25.

FUT Questions from tressless