New to this... 29 and losing my hair Ive been taking proscar for 2 years now, helped some..not enough.... getting really depressed over my hairloss not even wanting to leave the house at times. but cant afford to do anything about it...are there any cheaper options for transplants that are safe and done well such as thailand...?

Im in your boat. I looked at options that are cheaper than what its going to cost to get a good transplant. Im in college and wearing this damn cap all the time bothers me. Fortunately, I can wear it all the time without too much attention, because it is college and many people wear ballcaps.

It all boils down to this: you can go and get an HT in Taiwan, or Costa Rica, or wherever...but...

1) how hard is it going to be to get good references for your doctors, IF the references even speak English

2) once you get butchered by these people , there is nothing the American Government can do for you.

3) and when you get butchered by these people, youll undoubtedly feel worse about your bad HT than your current balding state. just ask all the guys on here that had bad "pluggy" systems

im saving and saving for mine, because in the long run, i know it will be worth it. is it easy saving up 10 to 15 grand while in college? HELL NO. but im doing it b/c i know the end result will be worth it.

just my thoughts.

DON'T EVER do it the cheap way: cheap HT = cheap results. I went to the Nobel Clinic in the UK because they were cheaper than the others, and got butchered. Now I understand the reason why they could "afford" being so cheap: there were no doctors, just nurses (but of course I didn't know), no microscopes were used, they told me they transplanted 2000 FUs whereas the actual number is closer to 800, & so on & so forth. Take some more time (I know it's hard to wait, I've been there), save some more $ & get a PROPER job with a PROPER & RECOMMENDED doc. Once you've been butchered it's too late: as drinker pointed out, a bad HT is far worse than no HT at all. Better to be bald than disfigured.

Vanguy,
I've just tried to post a detailed answer but got a message that "one of my words had triggered an alert" and needed moderator's approval....??? So it looks like it will not appear here just yet. Anyway to summarize my answer: DON'T DO IT.

I keep posting answers but they are not accepted due to "one of the words used"...???? Anyway, to summarize, DON'T DO IT!! Never choose the cheap way or you'll get cheap results. Better to be bald than disfigured.

vanguy

social drinker's on the right track. you definitely don't want to shop for bargains when it comes to an HT. As it is, the better quality HT doctors more often than not offer prices which are extremely competitive. You would run a high risk of a lousy HT by taking a chance with a bargain surgeon, and like social drinker said....the depression caused by a butchered HT can be far far worse than just depression over baldness.

I decided that I was going to have an HT at a point in time where I wasn't making the greatest money. I immersed myself in work, worked extra jobs on the side, overtime when I could get it. I spent so much time saving money and working that I really didn't have much time at all for feeling bad about baldness or even time to go out in public where the feeling bad would eventually go up a notch. My focus turned from being depressed about my hairloss to excitement about having a goal of a future procedure.

It may be a year of your life where you just work your ass off, but it could definitely be well worth it.

Alot of the top Drs. offer financing. Don't take a gamble with this procedure in a third world country. If you get butchered, it will cost you a whole hell of alot more to get repaired, then if you were to have it done right the first time. You get what you pay for, and if your cheap about it, you will surely regret it.

Mr. Hair

vanguy,

Dont do it, man! If you go cheap, you get cheap. Why risk god aweful results, bad instrumentation with potential for scarring, infection and the need for repair work in the future to save a few bucks...this will be much more expensive in the longrun. Dont do it, man!

Vanguy

I do not know what you consider cheap, maybe you can shed some light on what you are trying to achieve and your budget, this is a very competetive market and someone may be able to step up and help you.

Also as several posts have shown Dr. Lehr is advertising $3 per graft, also Dr. Distefano's claim is large transplants cost effectively.

You say you are "losing your hair." With that statement I'm assuming that you still have some to work with. Have you looked into concealers to get you through the short term? You have nothing but time and they are a cheap alternative for now. Plenty of posts in the concealer section on which ones work well. Oh...and I'd definitely see a doctor about Propecia if you haven't. Its not cheap either but its less than a HT by far and might slow down the loss. Lastly, I agree with the previous posts...if you have to do it save up your money and go to someone that will do it right.

Dart

Thanks everyone for your advice. I guess I really have no other option but to hold of for now. Thanks again!