A while ago, Men’s Fitness ran an article about men with hair. The article noted there is a perception that men without hair were not as trustworthy as men with hair. This article was written at the time of the primaries for a US presidential election. They noted that, since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, there has never been a bald president.  A while ago, I had a radio program called ‘The Inner Man”, and one of the programs focused on hair loss. I remember a call from the Vice President of marketing for a multi-million dollar company. He called in and said, “I would never hire a bald man because balding men can’t be trusted”. He did tell me that he was the exception to that rule, as he was bald himself.

Looking at Elon Musk, I would then ask: Would you loan this man money to start a business (looking at his 1999 photo)? Of course, we all know that it is not the outside of a man that is important, but the inside of the man. Elon Musk has to be one of the greatest men in the US today and his new look reflects and matches the outer man with the inner man, a man with a brilliant mind and one of the few 20 and 21st-century geniuses and great visionaries.

These two drugs work differently, and when properly managed, they can work together, complementing the value of each drug. Your response to Minoxidil sounds great, so it may be reasonable to expect that you may not get the same effect on Finasteride without going back on Minoxidil.

Thank you for your insightful and informative posts on Reddit. You are a beacon of light in what is otherwise sometimes a hell hole of a subreddit, and I really think they should just give you the keys to the kingdom! I wondered if I could seek your advice. I am based in Europe, so I am unfortunately unable to visit your clinic. I do not know who else I can directly contact and trust, though. I was given bad advice 3 years ago, and was told there “wasn’t really much you could do”. Three years later, and six months of Finasteride later, I am left wishing I had started taking this stuff when I was a NW1, not a NW4. Now that I know there are options, I am considering a hair transplant. I think I should take the plunge and buzz it off first though, so I can learn to accept myself. I understand from your posts that hair transplants at an early age are ill-advised and not in a patient’s best interests. I am now 23. My hair loss has progressed very slowly but surely since I was 18. What should I consider before exploring a hair transplant? Do I need to stay on Fin long enough to be sure that it has stopped my hair loss? Thank you for your counsel. I hardly even know the questions I should ask here, and I am not sure my family doctor will have the answers.

Finasteride is a great drug to either stop or slow down the hair loss in someone of your age. If you have progressed to a NW Class 4 now, you need to develop a Master Plan for your future. Get your donor density analyzed to see what you have for future hair transplants, and then you can make the proper plans. I would, of course, love to see you, but there are good doctors in Europe.

I am a 23 y.o male thinking about trying Fin. Actually, I am open to all options, be it Minoxidil or Keto shampoo or whatever. Currently, I think I should wait until the 14th to see the results of the Brotzu trial everyone is raving about. In the meantime, I want to speak with some doctors to see their perspective on the drug. So, is there any way of telling the likelihood of Fin side effects?  I read by some other posters on this subreddit that there is a 1 in 100,000 chance of ED. I was just wondering what your perspective might be?  What would the procedure be with ensuring the highest chance of keeping my dick if I chose to use Fin?  What about peppermint oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil, and other herbal remedies? Do you have any insight on these? Also, I just wanted to thank you for all your contributions to this subreddit. I have learned a great deal reading your comments.

There is no way to determine if you will get side effects, but people who are primed mentally are the ones that mostly get it. In reality, the risks are about 3%, and if you happen to be the 3%, there are ways to reduce the dose to address side effects that work in half of the men on the drug.  Remember, if you believe this will happen to you, it will happen to you. When my son went on it, he thought he was taking his daily vitamin P, he told me. His sex drive went down, so he called me and asked if that was a side effect. I told him it was for about 3% of people.

There are two types of procedures for lowering a hairline. One is a surgical excision of the upper forehead, followed by the downward advancement of the hairline up to an inch from where it was prior to the surgery. To accomplish this, the entire scalp from the frontal hairline to the very back of the crown is lifted up and pulled forward. When this is done by an experienced surgeon, the hairline can often be advanced about 2/3rds – 1 inch, if there is enough looseness when this lifting process is done. This procedure is often completed in one surgical session; however, it may not address receded corners of the hairline if the corner recession is significant. A great advantage of this surgical approach is the immediate impact of the procedure on hairline location, with healing usually complete in a week or so. Sometimes, this procedure produces a scar in front of the hairline, and if this is the case, a hair transplant in front of the hairline can address the scar. If there is corner hair loss, or if you are a male, a hair transplant lowering surgery is better, because the risk of recession in men with genetic balding is very high. A recession will always reveal the scar from a hairline advancement surgery. The only disadvantage to the transplant is that it takes 6-8 months to fully grow out. For men, a hair transplant is a better procedure because the risk of hair loss is high, and hairline recession will show the scar from a hairline advancement surgery.

The second type of hairline lowering procedure is done through hair transplantation. The number of sessions varies by the thickness of the hair. For women with other than fine hair, they might do this in a single session. With fine hair, it often takes two sessions. The time to see the impact of a hairline lowering hair transplant procedure is 5-7 months after the surgery date, and if a second session is required, it will take another 5-7 month wait for full growth. See web references below for photos of this process on women we treated. When done properly, a transition zone is created that makes the frontal leading edge of the hairline soft – what I call a no-hairline hairline. See here:  https://newhair.com/female-hairline-lowering/

How long will Finasteride maintain my hairline if taken consistently? I was a Norwood 1.5 – 2 at 20 years old, and I have been using Finasteride consistently for 13 months now. My hairline definitely maintained, and I see a little bit of regrowth in my temples. My question is: can Finasteride maintain my hair for another 5 or maybe even 10 years? My dermatologist said yesterday that Finasteride should maintain my hair for life if I use it consistently after seeing my one year of progress. But what do you think?

In many men who take Finasteride for life, they might maintain their hair if the drug continues to be effective as they get older; however, as man’s testosterone often drops with age, the effectiveness of the DHT blocker on the hair follicles may become less effective. One never knows what would happen if they did not take the drug when they are over 60. I had one patient who was 58, and he decided to stop the Finasteride after being on the drug for almost 2 decades. Within one month, he started to lose a great deal of hair, suggesting that the drug was holding on to his hair.  At least their risk of prostate cancer is probably less.

Hats have nothing to do with hair loss for men – it is just purely genetics.

If my hairline is receeding, should I stop wearing caps? from tressless