It will take you at least 6 months to know if it is shock loss, as that is the time it takes to reverse. Now (at 6 weeks) it is too early to tell what will happen. You have every reason to be concerned.
The doctors said this is fine and will grow to look good. Disregarding that its crooked… Does anyone have a similar experience and it turns out more symmetrical later?
It will always be out of balance. What you see is what you get; however, it is not as noticeable when the hair grows in, especially if you style it correctly. If you can’t live with it, this is something I have corrected many times.
I wish I had hair, but I don’t. I am a psychologist and I am trying to understand why being bald impacts my psyche. I spend too much time looking at forums, reading articles and websites to see if I am willing to have a hair transplant, but can’t quite bring myself to do that radical procedure. Lots of horror stories that catch my eye. Your thoughts?
I had a well-known psychologist who underwent 18 years of psychoanalysis to understand himself and his problem managing his balding. He came to me with a Class 6 balding pattern and was about 50 years old. I didn’t know about his hair struggle until he came back to see me 6-months after I performed his hair transplant. Then he told me that he had 18 years of psychoanalysis, and it never helped him. He said he could have saved 18 years of his life wasted worrying about his hair and the money he paid for it. He told me that his hair transplant was the most fantastic bargain of his life. He was very, very happy.
This is a remarkable acceleration of the early effects of topical minoxidil, which shows up in his before picture. Microneedling is most likely responsible for these good early results.
As you can imagine, I’m full bald. I usually shave my head a few times a week and overall I’m not completely unhappy about it. Though, I think it was more curiosity that maybe something amazing could happen and so I’m taking 1mg of fin, and I’ll be using topical minoxidil and I’ve been microneedling for the past month. I’ve also got tretinoin and I’ve been on a serious skin care journey.
I would want to probe your claim of hair loss onset at 12. Showing photos will help. There are hairline changes that occur in some men at 12, but that is not hair loss, but often a maturing hairline. Most men don’t see hair loss until their late teens. This is earmarked by miniaturization in certain impacted hairs, often in the Norwood Classification photos. See an expert to manage the process so that you have a clear idea as to what is happening to you. Do you have a long term plan? Are you considering hair transplants if what you are now doing doesn’t work out?
So I’ve been on finasteride for about 3 years and it’s been great, I also just had a hair transplant about 2 months ago. I started oral minoxidil right after the transplant. On my dad’s side every single man has a full beard, and I personally hate facial hair on me. I like to be well kept and plus I have a nice jawline, I just look better without facial hair. I shave almost twice a day already because of how fast it grows. And oh my lawd, I swear it’s even more thick and grows even more insanely fast ever since I started minoxidil. Actually all my body hair is just growing extremely fast. Will I have to deal with this as long as I’m taking oral minoxidil?
This is the way your body responds to oral minoxidil. It may be the cost you have to pay.
What if I try to enhance the enzyme activity in the scalp with Tretinoin and 1.5mm microneedling. If it still doesn’t respond after combining min tret and microneedling, then maybe I its time to think about oral.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with your logic. If your scalp doesn’t contain Sulfotransferases, then adding Tretinoin may increase some systemic absorption, but 1.5mm microneedling will not make the drug active in the scalp skin. Microneedling may help independently; however, as the liver contains the appropriate enzymes, minoxidil should be effective when taken orally.
I have written extensively on SMP, and it has its limitations: (1) there are significant variables results due to the operator’s skills, (2) variable results due to inks used, (3) fades and changes over time, especially when exposed to sun. SMP works great when used with a hair transplant, as the SMP background impact makes a hair transplant look fuller. I recommend it when my patient has fine hair. I had transplants, for example, and I have fine hair that developed as I got older, so I had SMP done to address this Age Related Thinning problem, see here: https://baldingblog.com/i-just-finished-my-smp-on-my-crown-area-today-see-before-and-after-photos/. Remember, SMP is not hair. The final decision is yours, of course. If you get SMP, ask the person doing it to allow you to meet someone like me who had SMP for 3 or more years. That will tell you if you like what you might be getting.