Sensigraft and Folligraft

Hello Dr. Rassman. I wanted to thank you for having this blog and answering questions.

Sorry this is long, but…I’m a 27 year old guy who’s been receeding for 6-7 years, it quickly became a Norwood 5 and stayed there. What’s worse is I have a preppy, young looking face and overall appearance (which I enjoy and would like to keep), so the baldness clashes even more. I currently wear a fairly good hairpiece, but want to find a relatively permanent and hassle free solution, which brings me to my main question.

Have you heard anything about the non-surgical hair replacements like Folligraft and Sensigraft? I haven’t been able to find much information online either way (I always look for other places not on their website, so I know it’s not a marketing scam). My main concern is if it “breathes” to where you can sweat without being uncomfortable or itching (that’s a slight drawback of the hairpiece). The other would be the approximate cost, since I can’t afford a good HT. I obviously don’t want to blow a couple thousand dollars I barely have on something that may not even completely work, but I’d like to be able to have something more versatile (i.e. different hairstyles or able to be more comfortably active).

If I want to have the friendly youthful look, would you recommend staying with the ‘piece and save up for a good HT, or for hair cloning if it (hopefully) becomes available in the future? Or are the cosmetic treatments an idea worth looking into?

There is a fair amount of material on these websites — Folligraft.com and Sensigraft.com. Both appear to be like a membrane that is glued to the scalp. The scalp must be shaved to apply the Folligraft membrane and the manufacturer claims that it is porous so that the membrane may cut down on the sweating. As the hair grows, it almost certainly will impact the security of the membrane. It sounds like it requires a great deal of maintenance, probably driving up the costs, but clearly you can check them out at their websites and go from there.

If anyone uses either of these, I welcome your comments… but I don’t have any personal experience with them.