# Hair Transplants > Hair Transplant: Start Your Own Topic >  New Hair Transplant Recipient

## sebastien

I am new to this board and this will the first time I share my story about my hair loss. I am a 45 year old male and have been losing my hair since about the age of 22. I was "lucky" enough to have my hair loss happen slowly, I was able to cover it up for the most part, well at least it look covered enough to me. About 1 year ago I started noticing that despite my best efforts I could no longer cover it up. My hair loss was getting worse and quickly. It started showing more and more. Now, despite my attempts to do so I would always wear a baseball cap so as to "pretend" that I wasn't balding. I knew full well that it was not the case but it allowed me to forget about it while I was out with friends, etc. Finally, this past year I decided to either just accept it or to do something about it. I tried my best to accept it, tried to convince myself that this is natural and that many others share the same experience as I do. But, one morning I decided, ya know there has been enough progress in the field of hair restoration that it would be a good time to start doing some serious research. I didn't have to accept this. The more I researched the more the name Hasson and Wong appeared. Despite my best efforts I could not find any serious bad reviews regarding their clinic. The ones that I did find that were "bad" were usually due to unusual or very unfavorable circumstances of the recipient. It was not about the clinic per se, the doctors were informative and honest, but the client was not. I finally decided to send my pictures to Hasson and Wong to see what they had to say. They told me that I was an NW6, I didn't know what that was until I researched it and found that I was in the category of rather high hair loss. They sent me an email and told me that it they could transplant 4000 grafts with an additional 2000 at a later time. I reflected on this for quite some time and decided to go ahead and do it. They sent me an email with an outline of pre op instructions. I went ahead and did the scalp exercises in hopes that it would produce enough grafts so I wouldn't need a second procedure to cover the crown. After about 2 months of doing these exercises I finally was able to produce about 6300 grafts which covered the top and the crown. I was pleased with this result. Scalp exercises work!!!

I will post more details on the results of the hair transplant. But, let me tell you for anyone who is serious about getting their hair back and are thinking of getting a transplant consider Hasson and Wong! There may be other doctors out there than can do the job just fine but you just can't go wrong with Hasson and Wong. It's been 3 months now and my hair is really growing back fast. I can't tell you how pleased I am with the decision to get the transplant. I am looking forward to great results, already at this short juncture I can tell that this is going to be a great success. I have a lot of hair but it's relatively thin, this is to be expected at 3 months, but it will thicken over time.

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## mattj

Congrats. You're only in the early stage of growth so you ain't seen nothing yet!

Will you have any photos to share?

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## gillenator

Congrats on doing your homework and your procedure! :Wink:

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## sebastien

Thank you for your responses. I thought I would post a few pics for you just to give you an idea of what is happening. I realize that the pics aren't the greatest but this should give you an idea of how far I am progressing. Please note that I had basically no hair except for a few thin hairs before the procedure. I am still getting the odd "acne" or ingrown hair "pimple" but they usually only last a few days. I was told to pop them and I have in some cases, but I realize that if you wash your hair everyday and let the water run on your scalp for a bit longer than usual, they usually go away in a few days.

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## sebastien

Here is another pic i meant to add to the last post. This is one month post op. This would give you a better idea I think as to how far things are progressing.

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## VictimOfDHT

Congratulations. I hope you'll be happy with the new hair. 
This proves that for some -regardless of age- baldness is NOT something they can accept. No matter how much they try to convince themselves it's no big deal, it's ok to be bald like the other people... they will never accept it  and can never live with it. I wish people would understand this and just keep their mouths shut if they have nothing better to say other than BS like that, especially if they're not bald themselves.

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## sebastien

Thank you. Although I certainly can't speak for others I can tell you from my own experience that the best I could have done in regards to my hair loss is learn to "tolerate" it. I think the word "accepting" would have been a little too generous in my case, even if I decided to do nothing about it. I think there may be a small percentage of people out there that feel fine with being bald or balding, but I think it's a very small percentage. Honestly, of those who are if someone told them "I know of a way you can get your hair back" how many of those who have "accepted" their hair loss wouldn't go ahead and do it or at least seriously think about it. I don't think many wouldn't. I don't think there is anything noble about accepting something such as balding that you know down deep makes you feel self conscious, under-confident, etc. and let's face it, if you look good you feel good. Even if the world accepts it, you don't have to especially if you know that you would be much happier with a full head of hair.

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## VictimOfDHT

If a treatment for hair loss is discovered/invented I have no doubt that just about all those who have "accepted" baldness  will be waiting in line to get their hair restored.

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## DepressedByHairLoss

Amen to that.  'Acceptance' is such a dirty word to me.  'Acceptance' means living with something that you hate, and will therefore make you miserable.  And I personally would rather die than live a miserable life.  This smoking hot girl that I know has a that quote from some religious guy from the 1800's on her facebook page that says: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".  I think that quote is such a crock of shit.  I guarantee you that if she was suffering from pattern baldness, she sure as shit would not 'accept' it.  I will NEVER accept hair loss even though we have no cure for it.  I sure as shit will never accept something that causes me such misery and despair.  
I just wish we had more effective treatments to treat hair loss.  I have such a burning desire to fight hair loss except there is no mechanism out there for me to fight it with.  Rogaine is a joke and I've been on Propecia for years and it hasn't done much at all.  And it seems that all of these doctors are so focused on these goddamn hair transplants that they won't offer anything else.  Believe me, I don't begrudge people for getting hair transplants; anything is better than 'accepting' baldness.  However, I just don't want to pay thousands of dollars for a procedure that leaves permanent scarring and doesn't generate any new hair, just mechanically moves it from one place to another.  And then if got a transplant, I'd have to be on Propecia for life so that I won't lose any hair around the transplanted hair.  And then I don't want to be indebted to hair transplants for the rest of my life, having to get them now every time some more hair falls out.  But again, I don't begrudge people for getting hair transplants at all, since no one wants to be bald.
I've tried contacting several doctors about PRP and PRP+Acell, but every time, it's the same thing.  Either they don't convince me that it works well enough or they try their asses off to sell me on a hair transplant.  To all the doctors that read this board: WE REALLY NEED MUCH BETTER OPTIONS THAN ROGAINE, PROPECIA, AND HAIR TRANSPLANTS!!!!

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## southeast_eu

specx..God...10 ht ..wtf ...your are sick and is not your hairloss...
dont even think to have a ht under 35 or better never ..if all bald guys wd think like me this nurse bastarddds(or for you dc)  may try to find a way to come with a nice cure otherwise they will cut your head living a nice smilig there for life and a ilusion an ugly balding man..

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## sebastien

Hey, I know what you mean. I wish there was a better alternative out there that was much less expensive. I can only speak from my own experience and so far I am pleased with what I am seeing. I guess only time will tell. It takes about a year before you see the final product. I am excited so far but I am not unrealistic about it. I know it is not going perfect and I don't expect my hair to look like when I was 20, but this is definitely a good start. When you go from nothing to hair growing back again you first instinct is to jump up and down for joy, although I am pleased with what I am seeing up to this point I am reserving that for the 1 year mark. I wish there was a better alternative but right now this is it, it seems that this is the only thing that works for the moment. I hope that in the coming years there will be something much simpler and less expensive. 

The scar you are talking about in my case and from the others that I have seen that have chosen Hasson and Wong as their Hair Transplant clinic is barely visible and you would have to search to find it. Unless I chose to shave my head bald one day, which I wouldn't because that look just doesn't suit me, then I don't anticipate having to worry about it. I will continue to post pictures as the months go by so you can see for yourself how things are progressing. 

Hair Transplants though as expensive as they are, really seem to work. I have met others who have had them and they look great. I am also taking Finasteride which is supposed to help keep my existing hair healthy and the non transplanted hair from falling out, again, this will take some time to know if that's working, but I am encouraged by the results that I have researched. I tried Rogaine but all it did is give me a rash. The "positive" results from that product are minimal, they can produce tiny transparent hairs at best, hardly an improvement and certainly not worth paying the money for.

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## gillenator

Sebastien,

Were you a true Norwood class 6?

Hope to see your results as everything grows out.

Best wishes to you!

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## sebastien

I am not sure what a true NW 6 is honestly. This is what the doctor had classified me as. It might be that I was an early NW 6 as it appears from the diagrams that it might have been less pronounced as it appears on the chart, but hard to tell for sure. I went to see the surgeon for the first time since the surgery and was indicating that my hair should show dramatic changes in the next few months. The 3 month mark apparently is a milestone, here's hoping!!

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## gillenator

sebastien,

It appeared to me from your last progress pics that you are a Norwood 6, and especially related to your comments about not having much if any hair left on top.  I am asking you this because it's always possible that the use of finasteride (Propecia) may prevent you from progressing to a Norwood 7, though not probable IMHO.  Are there any Norwood 7s in your family history (on either side) or did the men only progress to class 6 like youself?

Your matured appearance can be evaluated by mostly three things.  First, the level of density per cm2 that was implanted.  Second, the degree of coarseness that your donor hair presents, and thirdly, the yield.  Ideally the transection rate was extremely low and possibly the grafts were pre-treated before implantation.

Keep us in the loop friend.  You are going to look amazingly different!

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## VictimOfDHT

> Amen to that.  'Acceptance' is such a dirty word to me.  'Acceptance' means living with something that you hate, and will therefore make you miserable.  And I personally would rather die than live a miserable life.  This smoking hot girl that I know has a that quote from some religious guy from the 1800's on her facebook page that says: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".  I think that quote is such a crock of shit.  I guarantee you that if she was suffering from pattern baldness, she sure as shit would not 'accept' it.  I will NEVER accept hair loss even though we have no cure for it.  I sure as shit will never accept something that causes me such misery and despair.  
> I just wish we had more effective treatments to treat hair loss.  I have such a burning desire to fight hair loss except there is no mechanism out there for me to fight it with.  Rogaine is a joke and I've been on Propecia for years and it hasn't done much at all.  And it seems that all of these doctors are so focused on these goddamn hair transplants that they won't offer anything else.  Believe me, I don't begrudge people for getting hair transplants; anything is better than 'accepting' baldness.  However, I just don't want to pay thousands of dollars for a procedure that leaves permanent scarring and doesn't generate any new hair, just mechanically moves it from one place to another.  And then if got a transplant, I'd have to be on Propecia for life so that I won't lose any hair around the transplanted hair.  And then I don't want to be indebted to hair transplants for the rest of my life, having to get them now every time some more hair falls out.  But again, I don't begrudge people for getting hair transplants at all, since no one wants to be bald.
> I've tried contacting several doctors about PRP and PRP+Acell, but every time, it's the same thing.  Either they don't convince me that it works well enough or they try their asses off to sell me on a hair transplant.  To all the doctors that read this board: WE REALLY NEED MUCH BETTER OPTIONS THAN ROGAINE, PROPECIA, AND HAIR TRANSPLANTS!!!!


 
About "accept what you can't change" crap that people always repeat like parrots, I know most people lack any real intelligence and I know it's almost always futile to try to reason with people. So, what I do in my attempts to make these idiots understand the -psychological- pain someone's feeling because of their hair loss or whatever is I ask them if they could live with a toothache or any kind of other physical pain, and they all say no. I tell them if you have a toothache and I keep telling you 24/7/365 to just accept it or to forget about it, does the pain actually go away ? Can you actually accept the pain and learn how to live with it ? Is there any ****ing thing under the sun that can make a bad toothache go away NO MATTER HOW ****ING HARD YOU TRY TO FORGET ABOUT IT ? The answer is -and should be- always NO. 

From my own experience -and I think any intelligent human will agree- psychological pain can be a million times worse than physical pain. Physical pain is usually confined to one part of the body and doesn't usually affect your mind, while psychological pain (depression, anxiety, sadness...) affects your mind, which WILL ultimately affect all of your body, which can literally destroy your whole life and leave you paralyzed.

Again, telling someone who's too concerned and worried about his hair loss to just "forget it" and "accept it..." and just get on with their life is like telling a paralyzed person to just get out of his wheelchair and to start walking. 

Sure, some people live with physical pain, but ask these people if they can enjoy their lives. Ask someone with joint pain if they enjoy a walk in the park or whatever, if they can walk at all. Ask someone with Arthritis how much they enjoy playing the piano....
You try to learn to manage how to live with it, but the bottom line is that your life has been changed and you're not able to do this or that, which again will make you miserable no matter how much you try to deny it or convince yourself that all is well.
And what pisses me off more than anything is that it's usually people who don't know shit about what I, you or he/they are suffering. It's the guy with the full head of hair telling the balding man it's ok. It's just hair ! Or the filthy rich guy telling a minimum wage guy money isn't important. It's the beautiful woman telling the ugly one beauty is only skin deep.....blah blah blah

People are just stupid.

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## sebastien

Thanks for your comments. Well, both my brother and I have been losing our hair at the same rate and about the same age, but slow and steady. I understand that we inherit the bald gene from our mother's side and from what I have seen on her end of things no men in her family are bald or balding. My brother being about 5 years older than me is steadily thinning but at a very slow rate, he doesn't look like he is close to being a NW 7, at least not yet. But the hair that he does have, assuming he is a NW 6 seems indicate more of a fully developed NW 6 and if i had left things as is I have little doubt that I would have reached that level. So, that being said I think I might eventually reach and NW7 but unless things really speed up in a short time I doubt that will be in the next 15 years or so. Hopefully, the finasteride will work and/or when the time comes perhaps I would return for a second HT. Right now, I am happy with what I am seeing and I'm looking forward to it looking even better in the next few months.

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## sebastien

hi Victim of DHT. I agree in principle with what you said. The most common argument I get from people is that it's natural to lose your hair, it's part of life. Well, sure it's part of life, well at least for some, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it. There are a lot of things that are natural, normal, etc but it's how this change affects the person inside, psychologically that in the end whether you learn to tolerate it or adjust to it, it never leaves you. I tried for 20 years to accept this, and I know that there are those out there that have, perhaps it suits them, but when there was a fix for it and I was convinced it worked, why not make that change. I have and so far no regrets. Life is too short, if you know you can be much happier by fixing the problem, then I don't think there are any strong arguments that someone could counter with.

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## VictimOfDHT

> hi Victim of DHT. I agree in principle with what you said. The most common argument I get from people is that it's natural to lose your hair, it's part of life. Well, sure it's part of life, well at least for some, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it. There are a lot of things that are natural, normal, etc but it's how this change affects the person inside, psychologically that in the end whether you learn to tolerate it or adjust to it, it never leaves you. I tried for 20 years to accept this, and I know that there are those out there that have, perhaps it suits them, but when there was a fix for it and I was convinced it worked, why not make that change. I have and so far no regrets. Life is too short, if you know you can be much happier by fixing the problem, then I don't think there are any strong arguments that someone could counter with.


 Thank you. Indeed, life is too short and if it is possible to change whatever that's making you miserable or preventing you from enjoying those few years on this damn planet then you should change them. The problem is that for many of the men with hair loss problems the limited fixes available these days are no fixes. So, for them there's nothing they can do but watch their hair continue to disappear while their unhappiness and misery continue to grow. I don't think hair loss is normal or natural and I don't think there is even one man on this planet who would voluntarily choose to lose his hair if he had a choice. Some men are lucky enough to have it in them not to care about their hair. It's not because they somehow made themselves that way. No. It's just the way they are. They're kind of blessed with that. For many others however, they just don't have it, and no matter how much they try to accept it they just won't be able to. For those, their hair loss will continue to be a source of misery, unhappiness, depression and sadness....

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## sebastien

Here is a pic of my hair at 4 months. It seems to be growing a little each day. I was told by the surgeon that growth should be moving faster now, at least the appearance will look more dramatic in the upcoming weeks and months. So far, I'm excited at what I am seeing and what will be coming. Now remember I just about had nothing on top before having the surgery, so this to me although it is not the final product, is encouraging.

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## VictimOfDHT

It must be a good feeling when you have hair were there was no hair. The way I see it, any amount of hair is better than no hair at all. You still have at least a couple of months of more (new) growth.

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## sebastien

> It must be a good feeling when you have hair were there was no hair. The way I see it, any amount of hair is better than no hair at all. You still have at least a couple of months of more (new) growth.


 Yes, indeed. If it stopped all of the sudden, which of course I wouldn't expect it to, I feel much much better about having hair there now than nothing at all. It is strange how even a little hair changes how you feel about yourself.  I basically had no hair line either, now I do, so that is something that is pretty nice too. But you are definitely right, even some hair makes you feel quite different about yourself, it's a nice feeling.

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## VictimOfDHT

I find it really amazing why hair has such a profound effect on us.  I believe it's the ONLY part of the body that has no physiological purpose, yet it affects us (especially mentally) in such a huge way. Having hair on your head makes you feel as if you're wearing a crown.

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## sebastien

> I find it really amazing why hair has such a profound effect on us.  I believe it's the ONLY part of the body that has no physiological purpose, yet it affects us (especially mentally) in such a huge way. Having hair on your head makes you feel as if you're wearing a crown.


 
Ultimately, you don't know what you have until you lose it. Hair is part of who you are, it's part of your identity, part of what makes you, you. You can't hide it, you can't go out without it being obvious, you can't just push it aside. Appearances matter, no doubt about it. When you feel unattractive it affects you deeply, to the core of who you are and affects every aspect of your life, to one degree or another. Life is too short. It cost me some money to change it but the short and long term positive effects can't be measured.

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## dgman21

How old are you sebastian?? Guys like myself in 20's and 30's are really bothered cause we cant enjoy are youth,especially with no wife or shit...

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## sebastien

> How old are you sebastian?? Guys like myself in 20's and 30's are really bothered cause we cant enjoy are youth,especially with no wife or shit...


 Hi dgman. I just turned 46 but started losing my hair at 21. I was lucky enough that it was a slow process, I know that for some it can happen suddenly. It was tough and I didn't expect to lose my hair as it was not in my family history and didn't think it would happen to me at such a young age. I understand how you feel. In my case I tried my best to accept it but was never able to. As I started to thin more and more I was no longer able to cover it up. I had to do something about it. I think that if you are able to live with it all the power to you, but there is nothing wrong either with wanting to look good and feel good about yourself and change it. I tried Rogaine and it didn't do much, in the end it gave me a rash. Didn't take the Propecia route either, I regret I didn't start on that right away. But, in the end the only viable solution for me was the hair transplant. Perhaps down the road they will come up with something less invasive and expensive, i hope they do. I am four months in and have a good 8 months to go before I see the final product, so far I am very happy with it.

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## sebastien

I did post some pics of my progression but I think to get a better idea of what I looked like before would give you a more complete picture. It's been just over 4 months now and it's looking good. The surgery took place on March 22, 2010.

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