Concidering Surgery... Concerns....

[syn]

hi, great site :D i've been learning alot reading thru the posts but i still have a few questions of my own...

ive been steadily balding since about age 19 or so and am now almost fully bald @ age 27. i think im probably almost to a norwood 6 (bad).. if i understand the rating correctly. Ive been happily wearing wigs for the past 4 years or so and im mostly content, but if possible i would prefer to have *real* hair again, someday...

first concern...
is there a timeline as to just how long you can wait to get a surgery done? does the area of your scalp/head get to a point where it has been too long since the loss of your real hair and grafting is thereby no longer possible?

secondly...
does the grafted hair fall out? can it be styled? is it bad to use hair gels and other products on your grafted hair? im just wondering if repeat procedures become necessary to replace lost grafted hair and how careful u have to be with it... is it delicate to take care of? or is it as strong as the rest of your hair?

i guess beyond that my only question is what would an average price range be for COMPLETE hair restoration, meaning the entire area?.. i know this would be alot more than just a simple widows peak fill in or something, but im losing it all... probably within the next year or two. my guess is i would have to spend some insane amount like 30-50grand or more(?!) to replace my hair :/ in which case, i will most likely be wearing wigs for the rest of my life. ha. now i wish i was rich, they should cover these surgeries under normal medical insurance :/ balding ruins a persons acceptability in the world.

[Mark]

hi, great site :D i've been learning alot reading thru the posts but i still have a few questions of my own...

ive been steadily balding since about age 19 or so and am now almost fully bald @ age 27. i think im probably almost to a norwood 6 (bad).. if i understand the rating correctly. Ive been happily wearing wigs for the past 4 years or so and im mostly content, but if possible i would prefer to have *real* hair again, someday...

first concern...
is there a timeline as to just how long you can wait to get a surgery done? does the area of your scalp/head get to a point where it has been too long since the loss of your real hair and grafting is thereby no longer possible?

Ideally you would get a transplant sooner rather than later, for the simple reason that there is less scalp to have to cover up. Normally what we do is put our patients on a regimen of finasteride to slow or stop their current hair loss, then we wait a few months to see how they react to that. Based upon how they react with the finasteride, we make a decision on how much hair would need to be transplanted to get the look that the patient desires.

So if you've lost a lot of hair (say a norwood class 7) then there is less of a chance that we would be able to get a good level of coverage on you, however it's not impossible. If you have an extremely dense donor area, it's possible that you may have a lot of hair to transplant.

secondly...
does the grafted hair fall out? can it be styled? is it bad to use hair gels and other products on your grafted hair? im just wondering if repeat procedures become necessary to replace lost grafted hair and how careful u have to be with it... is it delicate to take care of? or is it as strong as the rest of your hair?

Grafted hair is your regular hair. And because it is pulled from the areas of the scalp where Male Patterned Baldness does not affect the hair follicles, then they do not fall out. So however strong the hair is on the back of your head, that's how strong the transplanted hair is.

You of course need to be careful with it while it is healing, but after that healing period of about a month, you should be able to treat it the way you would normally style your hair.

i guess beyond that my only question is what would an average price range be for COMPLETE hair restoration, meaning the entire area?.. i know this would be alot more than just a simple widows peak fill in or something, but im losing it all... probably within the next year or two. my guess is i would have to spend some insane amount like 30-50grand or more(?!) to replace my hair :/ in which case, i will most likely be wearing wigs for the rest of my life. ha. now i wish i was rich, they should cover these surgeries under normal medical insurance :/ balding ruins a persons acceptability in the world.

There really isn't any way to accurately give you a price. You would need to sit down with a hair transplant surgeon and get their opinion in person. If you're anywhere near the LA or San Jose area in California, we would be happy to schedule a consult with you.

-Mark

[sherrybalesteros]

Is this guaranteed to permanently stop my hair loss?

[Mark]

Is this guaranteed to permanently stop my hair loss?

Absolutely not. Anyone guaranteeing you anything is being dishonest with you. There are SO many variables when it comes to this kind of surgery. Even if the doctor does everything right, there's a perfectly normal chance that some of the grafts might not grow. You also might not respond well to Finasteride which helps keep the hair you already have. There are just a lot of different things to consider.

There is no cure for baldness, just ways to cope.

Hope that helps.
-Mark

[namratasnv]

Absolutely not. Anyone guaranteeing you anything is being dishonest with you. There are SO many variables when it comes to this kind of surgery. Even if the doctor does everything right, there's a perfectly normal chance that some of the grafts might not grow. You also might not respond well to Finasteride which helps keep the hair you already have. There are just a lot of different things to consider.

There is no cure for baldness, just ways to cope.

Hope that helps.
-Mark

I totally agree with you Mark, as this is the case where you cannot guarantee any permanent solution but you can take some necessary precautions and medications that can be helpful to you, and what I strongly feel is taking medications are good but it is necessary that you have to take healthy diet and should keep yourself out of tension which will going to improve you from within, follows with the hair loss treatment you will take.