For smaller number of grafts I think no need to go fully bald, especially if you only do the frontal zone. Ladies hair transplant for example

Transplanted hair will stay permanent. More grafting needed once the remaining original hair on your head start to shed

Determine your baldness is Genetic heritage or scalp problem? Then only find solution.

Another cheaper alternative is to buy 100s tablet box.
Brand is Hirustin from Zonton, 100x 5mg for rm130, also from your major pharmacy chain that starts with a B.

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Since this is Serious Kopitiam, not sure if you did your research already....

I would say do your due diligence, go consult a derm first, find out if you're truly MPB or other issues causing your hair loss.
Also do a blood test to find out if you have high DHT in your blood. For traditional MPB, the main reason for hair loss is due to your Hair root sensitivity to DHT, causing the follicle to minimize at every cycle and eventually becoming thinner and finally becoming dormant.

Now back to the original thread topic, so why does Hair Transplant works. Different areas of your scalp have different sensitivity to DHT, typically the area at the back your head is the most resistant vs the front/crown. So thats why when you harvest the hair from there it remains growing. The root/follicle is resistant to DHT.

Understanding the drugs that you quoted.
Generally there's 2 types of drugs used for MPB.
Finasteride/Dutasteride (which is originally used to treat prostate BPH) that helps inhibit DHT. --> So it breaks the cycle where your Hair becomes thinner and thinner.
Minoxidil (which is a blood pressure medication) that was found to trigger the hair growth cycles. --> Forces your hair to grow again.