Dr. John Cole's Comments
www.forhair.com

The best characteristic anyone can have with hair loss is the combination of a mature age with minimal hair loss. This means, you should never become a Norwood class 5.

The crown area is interesting. You must consider that this area can loose more hair in due course and you will also have a larger area of loss. Currently the area is about 20 to 30 square centimeters of hair loss in the crown area. You have not lost all the hair in the crown, it simply has become quite miniaturized. Therefore, I feel that you should shoot for a crown density between 15 to 30 grafts per sq. cm in the first procedure. This will augment the existing hair and may provide adequate coverage for the time being.

You must know that the original density in the crown averages 115 follicular units per sq. cm. You cannot ever reach this density. I generally tell everyone that it will take twice as much effort on my part to get every patient happy with the coverage in the crown. It is much easier in the frontal area because hairs tend to grow in similar directions. They do not do this in the crown.

It is far more difficult to tell about the frontal hair line area. Your photos do a very good job of conceal this region. I suspect you are a class 2, but you could be a 3. I can't tell due to the photos. I think that 1000 to 1500 grafts will be acceptable in the front.

I feel you have a 30% to 40% chance that you will want a second procedure in the front later on to simply fill in density. You certainly have plenty of hair in the donor area to keep up with your hair loss. This is due to your age and limited degree of loss. Of course it is always good for us to know your hair characteristics and density to say this for sure, but you should not have this problem.

I would also consider medications such as Propecia to limit your hair loss. The concealing agents such as Toppik may be all you need in the crown.

Typically we tell guys to simply forget about the crown area unless it is really bothering you. This is because we have concerns about your capacity to cover both area due to donor area limitations. In your case this is not going to be a factor.

How is the traffic in LA? I was there in June. I'd love to live there, but the traffic is a concern for me. Great shot of the palm trees.