Will a Hair Transplant Increase Propecia Efficacy?
Dear Dr Rassman,
You’ve said before that Propecia and Rogaine work best where there is still some hair left, not in completely bald areas of the scalp. If that’s the case, can having a hair transplant to a previously bald area actually increase the efficiency of the medicines in that area too ?
I think you’re confused. It is true that Propecia and Rogaine do not work in completely bald areas, but drug impact and surgical results are independent of each other. In a person with a slick bald area, the difference will come from the hair transplant and not the medication. If the hair grafts were transplanted successfully and from the donor area, those grafts will not require medication to grow. Remember, the donor area is the back horseshoe-shaped area as seen in the diagram at right. This area is permanent in most men (unless disease is present) and that is why it is used in transplantation.
Propecia and/or Rogaine can compliment the transplant for those that still have thinning areas. Sometimes, the goal of Propecia or Rogaine is to slow down further balding in the areas that you still have some hair. So to answer your question — no.
Thanks for answering my question, I think I wasn’t very clear though.
You wrote before that there are changes to the scalp in a completely bald area – blood vessels that previously supplied blood to the hair disappear, fibrosis may occur etc..
When you have a hair transplant presumably these blood vessels return and other changes may be reversed, and I was wondering if it was this process that could increase the efficiency of the medications ? Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part!