Standbyme,

You have it correct... the hair transplants themselves look natural but as my native hair thins more each year the density is not as desirable. I now look as though I just have a normal head of thinning hair. If I had not had the transplants done I'd imagine that I'd be pretty bare on top. If the goal is just to frame the face and have a thin head of hair then transplants can be a good option for someone with advanced balding.

I did a ton of research before i went ahead with ht surgery and knew that I wouldn't be satisfied in the end with the final density that ht's alone could achieve. Because of that I always had the plan of eventually wearing a hp behind my transplants but I always thought I could get away with transplanting the front half and just wearing a piece in the crown. I have come to realize that the density in the front half will not be enough to do this effectively so I'm focusing on using about an inch of my own hairline and wearing behind that.

I had hoped to buy a little more time before i had to do this but my issue is that I was taking propecia to preserve the crown but had to stop recently due to undesirable side effects. I quit the propecia almost a year ago and I have to say that my crown has held up fine without the drug but I just know it won't last.

Hersute is correct when he states that judging ht's on pics isn't a good representation of how it actually looks in person. I also suspect that most of the pics of ht's are enhanced with a healthy dose of concealers.

So in summary I would say that ht's under the care of a qualified surgeon
(very important) can and do look very good and natural. The issue is one of density, if you have any level of balding that is over approx. a norwood 3 it is almost impossible to achieve a decent density.

This is why ht surgeons are always talking about "expectations"... If you would be happy having a full head of diffused thin hair then ht's are fine but if you desire a full head of hair they just don't cut the mustard. The pics you see of men with severe balding that look like they have restored a full head of hair are usually deceptive or the very rare exception to the rule.

Hope this helps