If you developed arm and chest hair with minoxidil and not scalp hair, that means that you are either taking it orally or absorbing a lot of the medication through your skin. I gather it is not working on your scalp hair?
I’ve seen a lot of your messages on reddit being very helpful for people combating baldness. If you have a moment I hope you could help me with a small question. In my mid 20’s I noticed my hairline begin to recede and went on Finastride. It seemed to work great. My hair recession slowed down significantly. However, when I turned 34. I began to notice my hair line was receding again. I’m aware that drugs like Finasride, more or less, just slow the process down. But I was alarmed at how quickly my hair seemed to be receding all of a sudden. It was like the drug simply stopped working. I panicked and with some research I found that Dutasteride was an alternative that’s been shown to be slightly more affective. So I switched, from 5MG of Fin(quartered) to 0.5 of Dutasteride. That was approximately 10 months ago and my hair continues to recede and thin, at what feels like an alarming pace.
So here is my question. Have I made a huge mistake in switching? Will I lose all the hair that I kept on Finastride even though I’ve switched to Dutasteride? I thought that if Dutasteride worked it would keep the hair that Fin was holding back. Or perhaps there was no slowing these effects any longer, whether it was Dut or Fin? I don’t know what to do.
Dutasteride and finasteride can be interchanged without negative effects. What you are describing is the inevitable changes in progressive hair loss and I doubt with the history you gave, that any medication will help you at this stage. If your hairline bothers you, a hair transplants is the only option.
Since they kept on growing for a month after the hair transplant, before the shedding period started, that should mean the grafts survived well, doesn’t it? If it is this way, then I know I have nothing to worry about, but I can’t seem to find any information to confirm this.
The normal state for grafts is that they appear to grow immediately after a hair transplant but are not actually growing because what looks like growth is really the body pushing out the hair from the grafts to their full length, usually between 5-8 mm plus the length of the hair above the skin at the time it was taken. So the apparent length depends on how long the surgeon kept your hair length when he did the FUE. After they shed, they restart growth in sometime between 2-4 months after the shed.
I’m planning to get scalp micropigmentation SMP on my FUE scars soon. I currently use minoxidil foam which is essentially just minoxidil dissolved in pure ethanol. Does ethanol applied to the skin longterm cause significant fading or blurring of the SMP dots?
The use of alcohol based lotions should be avoided for only the first 3 days after the SMP is done. After that the wounds heal so that the alcohol can’t get to the pigment to have an impact on it. The skin is an effective barrier to protect the SMP from everything except direct long-term sun exposure
Yield reports on graft/hair survival after a hair transplant reflect the growth of the recipient hairs in the transplanted grafts. Finasteride has nothing to do with the transplanted grafts as it doesn’t affect them, it just protects the native hair left behind.
Do Kimchi and Cheonggukjang Probiotics as a Functional Food Improve Androgenetic Alopecia? A Clinical Pilot Study.
PURPOSE: Probiotic supplementation demonstrates beneficial effects on serum lipid profiles. We hypothesized that probiotics could benefit patients presenting with alopecia, secondary to improved blood flow to the scalp.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included men with stage II to V patterns of hair loss based on the Hamilton-Norwood classification and women with stage I to III patterns of hair loss based on the Ludwig classification. All patients were administered 80 mL of Mogut® (a kimchi and cheonggukjang probiotic product) twice a day. Hair growth and numbers were measured using the Triple Scope System® (KC Technology, Korea) at baseline and after 1 and 4 months of administration of a kimchi and cheonggukjang probiotic product.
RESULTS: At baseline, the mean hair count was 85.98±20.54 hairs/cm² and the mean thickness was 0.062±0.011 mm in all patients (n=46). Hair count and thickness had significantly increased at 1 month (90.28±16.13 hairs/cm² and 0.068±0.008 mm, respectively) and at 4 months (91.54±16.29 hairs/cm² and 0.066±0.009 mm, respectively). In this study, we found that a kimchi and cheonggukjang probiotic product could promote hair growth and reverse hair loss without associated adverse effects such as diarrhea.
CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the observed improvements in hair count and thickness resulted from initiation of the anagen phase in hair follicles in response to probiotics.
The use of Bicalutamide and an Estradiol patch in this treatment plan is an extreme approach for men. The Bicalutamide and Estradiol are not in the Standard of Care so we don’t have a side effect profile on this drug in young men, but we do have side effects when used for prostate cancer. The Bicalutamide is a very strong anti-androgen which almost certainly will bring on ED and sexual dysfunction and the Estradiol is a feminizing hormone which might further impact a man’s sexual function. The minoxidil and dermaroller is standard in this approach. I would not recommend that the average guy go this direction in his treatment despite the remarkable results from these drugs. Do you have good sexual function? Is it worth giving up a sex life for the return of your hair?
There is never a substitute for persistence. This 24 y/o man made a plan and kept to the plan so that he got the results he wanted.
Why do MDs suggest taking finasteride post transplant to keep the hairs? Just for keeping the non-transplanted hairs from falling out and having lower density? Nothing to do with the new hairs, right?
Finasteride after a hair transplant prevents the miniaturized hairs from falling out permanently. This is particularly important in men under 30 when their hair loss is most active.The new hairs in the recipient area do not need the finasteride to grow, just a good surgical team.
This is a good example of what you might expect by using finasteride and minoxidil in combination
This man seemed to be responsive to the combination of finasteride and minoxidil working together to reverse crown hair loss; however, the photo qualitative difference alone could produce such changes
Is there scientific research behind this? I searched pubmed but couldn’t find anything
I have years of experience where patients developed stress and precipitated the balding process that they inherited. I have also seen acceleration of genetic hair loss with stress. I remember a man who lost a child and he went completely bald to his Class 7 pattern in a matter of months. He was 29 years old.
You are a great candidate for medications and microneedling. Your age means that the hair loss is recent and your chances of reversal of the hair loss are good.
Is it possible to transplant hair form other parts of the head so that it will eventually miniaturize once I get of finasteride? I want to avoid a bad hairline once I stop fin so would it be possible to use hairs from my scalp that would eventually miniaturize and disappear?
If the transplanted hair is taken from the 3 inch high donor area from the back and side of the head, it will not miniaturize and should be permanent unless the donor area produces a thinner hair as your get older and develop ‘Age Related Thinning’
So i started January 2019 with 0,5 mg finasteride until june 2019. Then upped to 1,25 since then. I am still shedding more than 100 hairs after showering (i shower every two days). My right temple area has receded. I do comb my hair so it is not visible. However, my question is will this receded area (so no hairs are there anymore) grow back or is it lost?
There is a good chance that the hair loss is slowing with the finasteride. IF you should stop it, you might even see it accelerate. Some men’s genes are just to strong for balding and even finasteride might not be able to reverse the process, only a hair transplant works.