I'm about to have hair transplant surgery in an hour and can be on my phone during whole procedure, AMA!

Can you post before - after pictures? I'm curious

Absolutely, I'll updated photos eventually on my original post so easy to follow.

Hour one is over; they took photos, Doctor drew line on my head, then starting numbing whole head which was a bit uncomfortable; the out something around your head that vibrates as they do the numbing injections so you feel it sell. After that, but a bunch of saline solution in my scalp, and now I am sitting here like this

https://imgur.com/gallery/VZHu1

Edit: trying to figure out why links don't work

https://imgur.com/L1D6zXG

Ready for grafts

https://imgur.com/gallery/9tWuY

27 year old bald guy here. It started going at 20. Why not just shave it? You look like you have a solid shaped head.

I have a huge head that shaped weird

I also have several large scars on my head from stitches.

-car accident when I was in middle school -got in fight with 6th grader when I was in kindergarten and he threw me head first against a cubby -a cyst that needs to get removed if I wanted to go bald

Hour one is done of putting grafts in....I basically feel nothing; just a bit of the pressure

https://imgur.com/gallery/5JAXH

What else do you need to do to have the HT? Do you need to take propecia forever after this procedure?

Do you need to shave your head for the procedure?

Will you need a second transplant in the future?

And how many grafts will this take?

You don't have to anything besides pay them :)

The surgeon highly highly recommends propecia; I am gonna give it a try after this...but I have always been weary of the idea of taking a pill for the rest of my life

I don't need to shave my head since its FUT, if was FUE I would have to

I have enough hair in my hair bank to do this two more times if i want...this doctor does not plant aggressively, so idea is if I never do it again, it will still look like a natural balding pattern as I age

I personally think I might end up doing one more many years down the road (depending on how this goes!)

1,800 grafts this time

Is this FUE or FUT? And why did you choose to do so..

FUT, will type a better response about this later post op

Yup; bron did fut

The theory is you have only a certain amount of hair in your "hair bank" which is the hair in back of your head that is genetically superior and doesn't fall out...so you want to use a procedure that is as most efficient and you lose less follicles

Yeah they charge per graft, so like this doctor charges $9 per graft

I would highly recommend you start rogaine today, and go get a script for propecia if you are comfortable with it

For example, my surgeon was saying during consult if I had started both in my early 20's, I would probably not be here right now

Are they taking the hair from a different part of the body?

No, from back of my head only.

I believe body is a last ditch effort

Did you evey try "hair in a can?" What were the results?

Never did, only rogaine

How's it going?

They took strip out the back, and just finished poking holes in my head

Warning, pic is a bloody

https://imgur.com/gallery/PfzTH

Why did you decide to go through with the procedure? What is the cost? Does your insurance cover any of the cost?

Been losing hair for a while, did rogaine for about 5 years, still lost hair. TBH, started getting self conscious about how my head was looking, like when I would see myself in certain pictures or in the mirror.

I ended up choosing a doctor who is more expensive than the standard for around this area, cost is $16k. Most others charge around 10-12k.

Insurance doesn't cover any as its cosmetic.

I started slowly losing my hair in my early twenties. It looked fine to me for many years. I started using Rogaine in my late twenties and didn't see any obvious results, other than stains on my pillow. I also took Propecia but had to stop as my sex drive decreased dramatically. I didn't notice any results anyway. I was a bit self conscious at the time and after seeing a picture of me from above, decided to shave it all off. I was gifted an awesome head of hair in my youth and just wasn't meant to have it forever. I have been shaving or buzzing it for over a decade and I wouldn't go back. I don't miss hair. Hair is expensive and time consuming to maintain. Once I accepted it was gone, I felt free. Some women will not date a bald guy, but I probably wouldn't want them long term either. In any case, being bald hasn't stopped me from having a healthy dating/sex life. I even had my mom offer to pay for the transplant after she saw Brian Urlacher's results. I could have afforded it myself, but just wasn't interested. Nope. I told her to donate the money to St. Jude Children's Hospital.

I'm a woman, and I don't know any women who wouldn't date a bald guy. Unfortunately for short guys, height is really the only common physical trait I can think of that can affect your chances with a lot of women. Not fair at all, but true :(

EDIT: a word

I would have gone bald if I could.

I got large scars on top my head from a car accident in middle school and then kindergarten I got my butt kicked by a 6th grader and thrown head first into a cubby.

[deleted]

Besides, 16k is not a lot of money.

In what kind of world is $16k "not a lot of money"? That's a metric fuck ton of money to millions upon millions of people. I don't know a single person who would consider that not a lot of money.

Finance and mafia, drug cartels. Upper management of big companies. Saudi princes. That's about it.

Also, tech workers in the Bay Area who make $250K. Granted, they tend to spend $4K/month on housing, but they're still left with a veritable fuck-tonne.

edit: to clarify, I'm not passing judgement.

I definitely agree that $16k is a lot of money, to anyone, in any tax bracket

It's hard to explain in words (and maybe that's because I'm behind excel all day) the quality life issue this is for me.....I wish I could shave my head, but as mentioned in a different response, it would look terrible.

Did you pay all at once or did they give you a payment plan? I can't afford to that much atm.

All at once, this guy doesn't do payment plans or any type of financing. (But many others do)

It certainly is an expensive way to end the month :)

That's cheap from what I've seen and barely makes a dent in thinning with most end up costing 2-3 times that much

There two types of methods, FUT (they take a strip) vs FUE

FUE is significantly more expensive than FUT, but is not the ideal way in all scenario.

And yeah, I am not going back to my 20 year old hairline; just filling in the bald spots...and this way as my hair continues to fall, hopefully stays looking natural. (If you get aggressive at my age, it will look real bad down the road)

Please keep us up to date, I'm 29 and am seriously consider doing it. I'd love to know how you feel after a few days or weeks. what is the recovery time?

The first 6 days I have to keep my hair covered in Vaseline and wear a hat all day, then a beanie when I sleep...I can't do rigorous physical activity (which sucks because I'm pretty active)

Then on day 7, the remove the stitches from back of my head, and my head should be looking how it did prior to surgery.

6-12 months later I will hopefully have a fuller head of hair

How did you style your hair for the last 10 years? Cause I have been starting to see my peaks go further back, hoping not to get that island too soon, also early 20s

I just combed to the side and found a great barber that cut in a way that made it look as best as possible given what he had to work with, like he would cut my hair unevenly in certain parts

are you going to be supplementing with finasteride, or bring out the big guns and try and keep as many "gains" as possible with dutasteride?

Def will do rogaine and still trying to convince myself to start finn

Honestly a hair transplant with no fin is a waste 90% of the time

Can you go into more detail?

The surgeon is very big on Finn too; the idea of being 30 yrs old, and take medication originally intended for prostrate problems for the rest of my life feels a bit unsettling

Although currently I am trying to convince myself I absolutely need to start Finn

Hey what does the doctor say to help maintain it after the surgery? My temples are receding but my hair is still quite thick at 28, and can still style it well - but it's getting there....oh so slowly.

Also any advice on how to slow it down, stop balding, etc for a guy like me where surgery is definitely overkill

Rogaine+propecia

He said if I had started both in my early 20's, I wouldn't be in this situation right now

I've heard Propecia kills sex drive though - which doesn't seem very good haha

Yup! A small percentage to experience libido issues.

I still haven't started propecia so I can't tell you from my personal experience.

I have one friend whose around 35 and is taking it with no side effects.

Then I have another friend who is my age (29) and took it, experienced libido issues, stopped taking it, and was back to normal in two weeks.

Pain level is barely anything, I feel discomfort after surgery gonna be worse than while actually getting procedure.

My head is completely numb and all I feel is a little pressure of the grafts once in a while

Going to dentist hurts way more than this.

My dad just shaved what little was left and sprayed his head down with bed liner. ever consider that?

Yeah, but I'm unfortunately allergic to bedliner and sharpie markers too

Why didn't you just shave your head?

Looking back, shaving my head was one of the best decisions I had ever made when it comes to personal grooming. No more hair products, hair cuts, worrying about what my hair looked like, keeping up with trends, etc...

some people don't look like jason statham with a shaved head

If you're gonna spend your days comparing yourself to action movie stars, you're gonna have a sad life

High-five. This entire thread has made me uncomfortably aware of how brittle and manipulable male self-image really is. I'm a woman in my 20s and find confidence a hell of a lot more attractive than hairplugs. Shave that shit and live your life; you weren't going to be Matt Damon anyway, and normal people don't expect (or want) you to be.

Don't jump to conclusions too quickly...as a woman, what would you do if you started balding like how my head looks?

Also, I mentioned in previous responses, I would have loved to shave my head, but I have two large scars on top of my head.

I mentioned it somewhere else on this thread too; I have a weird and big shaped head, plus several large scars

Who are you really trying to impress getting the procedure?

Myself...I have an amazing gf of six years who for some odd reason is very attracted to me

What's your thoughts on 'opt-out' legislation in relation to donating.

Do you know whether your transplant is coming from a live donor or a cadaver?

Do you think about your donor?

Do you know I understand it's actually just a hair transplant, best of luck.

Bonus inane question: Do woman often undergo moustache transplants?

Edit: haha, I've obviously hit a raw nerve with reddit and baldness - it doesn't wash with you, I'm conditioned to it I'm a braid but rest assured I'll get to the root of it don't you worry, it's been an interesting strand of comments to say the least and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself and I've played my part but I need to cut it out now.

Hair is generally transplanted from the back of the head where it isn't thinning, not from someone else.

Imgur won't let me see these photos from my iPhone can you post again or put up another link. I'm curious I'm gonna get this done too... I'm in the same boat 29yo male balding since early 20s about the same stage your at.

Try again, I was not linking correctly.

I can totally update throughout the first year if interested.