HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

Thanks for the responses. I am trying not to worry about it or let it bother me, but i do find it upsetting and of course concerning. My hair doesnt look as thin when wet on the sides so i guess that means its bad news. I figure if i plan to be a nw5 then at least i can make the right HT choices. Ive seen a few people post their results who have come back from NW6 status and look very good now.

Hey johnr

thanks for the kind words. I do certainly feel lucky that i have access to this great online hair community. Without it id be clueless, and i feel im now educated tot he point were i can make the right choices.

btw what was the Helsinki Formula?

Code: Select all

thanks for the kind words. I do certainly feel lucky that i have access to this great online hair community. Without it id be clueless, and i feel im now educated tot he point were i can make the right choices.

Thanks horrible, i will take the chance to thank everyone for making this forum the way it is....informative, educational and without any BS.
We couldn't make it without you guys, Lets continue with the spirit
Unlike other forums many users here are just observing on the posts, less are registered, i'm calling them to be more active on the forums, you have a lot to give and help others

John R.
What is your hair loss like now? If you were losing your hair in 1987 in your twenties and you've kept most of it over the years, that's awesome. People jump to the conclusion that because you start losing your hair early, your will have complete horseshoe pattern one day, but I don't think this is the case all the time. It' good to know that the meds have kept alot of your hair and that you've watched other people surpass you, probably the same people that busted your chops years ago...

orrible is doing ok for now. he is very bothered about his hair loss, but he's doing extremely well. i would be very suprised, rather shocked if he had a significant amount of loss over his life time.

excessive signs of hair loss at a young age is a poor prognosticator. minimal loss at a young age is not typically as bad a sign. i've had patients who were a class 2 in their mid-twenties who came back to see me 12 years later and are still a class 2 without any medications.

growing hair is a complex topic. i suspect we will find that numerous factors are important to sustaining your hair or growing it back. some appear to grow hair with propecia or minoxidil, but most simply have a reduced hair loss. putting all the pieces of the puzzle together will help us better understand how to keep your hair.

one of the things we are looking at is how to keep grafts in the growing phase following hair transplantation. understanding this will hopefully help us better understand how to stimulate hair growth.

Thought id give this thread a bump and an update on my situation, as its been two years or more since I last posted my hairloss pictures. Also thought it might be interesting to see my hairloss progression as I'm not using any medications except for nizoral twice a week.

I did try DHT inhibitors but had to stop after 2 weeks due to the development of gynecomastia. I took natural Saw Palmetto and Beta Sisterol but within two weeks had complications. I was only actually taking these because I ordered proscar but had an email saying it would take 3 weeks to arrive. Having finally decided to try and medicate, I thought I would take these whilst waiting for the proscar. When it did finally arrive, id dropped the naturals and learned that I was unfortunately a bad responder. I subsequently never took proscar. I followed two weeks of naturals with a month of Nolvadex (anti-estrogen) but found this did nothing to relieve it and fortunately didn't affect my hairloss which I heard can happen with anti estrogens.

I know that hairloss and side effects can go hand in hand so here is my gynecomastia story for anybody interested with monthly pic updates before and after my surgery to remove it.. One thing I learned from that whole episode is that its better to be bald than have boobs (if your a man). Also as they leave some small amount of gland in to stop nipple inversion, if I took internals again my surgeon said the gland would likely be reactivated and gyne would probably come back. I therefore will be battling hairloss without meds.

http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.p ... 770.0.html

Anyway I have digressed but that would answer any what happened to orrible questions

I am still keen on getting FIT. I think if I wouldn't have had the side effects and subsequently had to spend my money and effort on that, then I would have scheduled for grafts sometime in 2005.

It seems that my hairloss is still proceeding slowly in the same direction. Frontal recession and crown loss. In 2005 I wasn't going out much as I was self conscious about my chest, so I thought It would be a good time to shave my head right down. I wet shaved it and noticed that my crown did have 2 small slick spots where the whirls are. I have always had two whirls in the crown.

Pics below to show hairloss from last update late 2004 pics to january 2007. Please note the 2004 pics have my photoshopped examples of what i want to achieve when i have fit, as you can see i havent touched the temples.

As ive now been losing hair for about 4 years and I can still get away without people commenting and still keep reasonable styles, is it likely that my loss does seem destined to be minimal? I read somewhere that if you start losing hair early and still have hair at 29 then you are very unlikely to progress to the higher norwood level. Im 26 so if ive still got most of my hair in 3 years would I be considered fairly safe? I am keen to lower my hairline before im 29 though ideally.

Also my eyebrows seem to have thinned out since my experience with naturals. My GP said they would thicken up again in early 2005, but the havent, im keenly following the eyebrow reconstruction through fit.

As always any comments appreciated.

i was really hoping for some feedback when i posted my update back in January. Could anybody from Dr Coles staff give me there opinion please?

many thanks

Or,

I have to say I agree with Dr. Cole. I would not expect very much hairloss. Still, if you are not able to take oral DHT inhibitors due to their systemic effects, perhaps you should investigate some topical anti-androgrens. I cannot imagine anyone commenting on your hair loss.
Regards,

thanks fitclub, i havent had any comments yet about my hair which is good considering ive been losing it for about 4 years. I really hope that i dont have much loss over my lifetime and hopefully i will be able to use fit to gain back some ground. Im considering topicals, have you any recommendations other than rogaine? thanks

Very Impressive results!

impressive results? not had any treatment yet. Just reviewed this thread as i want to update my pics shortly. I feel that my progression has been steady and now its getting noticed, will update soon.

So here are is my hair now from the top. I always thought when my hair was wet it looked like my pattern was like someone had put a clothes iron on the back of my head, its got that kind of shape. Anyway i have not used anything aside from Nizoral (cant used internals think i explained why earlier in thread ). Ive decided im starting rogaine foam tomorrow so hope that i might have some success with it. I would love to hear Dr Coles opinion on my loss now 7 years on. Im 30 now. My hair loss at the front which used to bother me a lot seems to have slowed down i still have a high hairline but its less of an issue for me now. How does my patttern look like its progressing? Thanks for any comments and anybody who reads this from page one dating back to 04 will see people said i was not losing my hair, so it shows that we know our own hairloss better than others and hope this helps someone see the natural progression untreated. Thanks for looking.

You have somewhat of a double whirl or spiral in your donor area. This is always going to make you look a bit thinner than someone who has a single spiral. When you add excessive light, it will make you look thinner. Of course you can always look to add some hair in the crown area, but recognize that the crown area can become thinner and have a larger area of hair loss over time so we always recommend that you avoid grafting it when possible.

I think your comments are noteworthy, however. I always try to tell patients that their hair loss in their earlier years may not bother them as much as they get older. Therefore, it is sometimes wise to put off hair transplant surgery as long as possible because you may find that surgery was not necessary. it's hard to say for sure if you hare having hair loss progression in the crown at this time as lighting can make anyone look like they are loosing hair especially when they have a double spiral. I'd try the Rogaine foam for now and hope for the best. As is said, it is impossible to say for sure if you are loosing your hair form a photo, but it does appear you are progressing to a NW class 3V, which is very treatable. i hope you respond to the Rogaine Foam. My fingers are crossed.

HI Dr Cole, its great to speak with you again regarding my situation. I have always had a double whirl, i remember hair dressers commented on it when i was young and also said i had so much hair i never needed to worry about going bald. I took the pics with the flash but even without the flash the pattern still seems promient. When you say im progressing towards a NW 3 V do you think this could be the final stop on my hairloss journey with the pattern presenting in the photos or might i still progress further with time. Id say i worry about my hair less now than i did at 23 but still think about it more than i would like and still feel about anxious about losing it and being in situations where people are looking at the top of my head, which is unavoidable in my office and people have commented about it before. I think that once you are concerned with your loss it probably never goes away unless you have successful restoration. I wanted to see where my pattern was headed before making the leap and will see where the rogaine takes me. Thanks again for your help. Do you have any plans to visit the UK for any seminars or consultations again in the future.

It is very good to catch up with you, as well. I think that a class 3v is very possible for you long term, but again it is not possible to evaluate your hair loss pattern in a photo when you have the double spiral. Double spirals always look thinner due to the many different directions of hair growth in the crown. I'd need to evaluate the area for miniturization. it may be that you really don't have any evidence of an evolving pattern of loss in your crown area.

Not only am i planning to visit London in the near future, i'm planning to open a clinic there soon. One of our staff physicians will be in charge of this clinic. Her name is Tyng Yuan Tan. She trained in London and now has a practice in Singapore. You can find her website at http://hairandlaserclinic.com/drtan.htm. She is an amazing physician and a delight to chat with. She's quite pretty too. Anyway, we'll get a look at you soon. Have a pleasant day. Don't worry too much about your hair loss or worry too much about what people say. Men always kid one another about their hair. It's really and aweful thing to do because most men don't realize that the things they say about hair loss to one another are so hurtful. If they knew how bad it affects others, they would not do it. For instance, you would never humiliate someone that was missing a leg. I feel so bad for men who have hair loss and are ridiculed by others for simply inheriting a gene.

Once again, I don't know that you have hair loss, my friend. I look forward to catching up with you in person.

Thanks Dr Cole I will look forward to meeting you both in London soon. I have noticed that my chest seems fuller again since staring on rogaine foam. I can't find this listed as a side effect anywhere but I'm sure that maybe it's holding water or something. Have you ever noted this side effect with any of your patients. I developed gyne a few years ago after taking interals and thought I had it beat having had it removed surgically. I was in good shape there but am noticing it's fuller again. Any ideas what could be going on. Thanks for your help.