The photos suggests that your hairline filled in a bit, is that what you are seeing? If so, good job. Better lighting on the photos would make it easier to see the benefits
Just curious. You have had zero people with PFS, how many prescriptions have you given out over the years? I’m guessing in the thousands?
I have written thousands of Rx for finasteride since it first came out. Also many other doctors who are full time in this business compared notes and not one of them have seen PFS in their patients either. This is just sampling of other comparable quality doctors who do hair restoration. It’s not that I don’t believe that PFS happens, it is just not as common as portrayed. The following are two baldingblog posts reflecting Dr. Robert Haber’s experience with sexual dysfunction in his patient population compared to men not taking it: https://baldingblog.com/new-report-that-finasteride-does-not-cause-sexual-side-effects/ and https://baldingblog.com/finasteride-what-are-the-real-sexual-side-effects/
I appreciate all answers and am looking for multiple perspectives!
Does transplanted hair really remain forever, even without Fin/Min?
Is it possible to tell early on I’m the balding process, if I would be a good candidate for a hair transplant? I am 30.
What makes a good hair transplant candidate?
Is there such as thing as doing a transplant too early?
Is there a limit to how many transplants I can get?
Is there an optimal time to get a transplant?
Is it OK to get a transplant (or multiple) and not take Fin/Min?
Can I transplant from beard if beard hair is dense and thick?
1- Transplants remain forever in 95% of men provided the hair came from the donor area
2- Balding does show in most men unless they can style their hair to cover it
3- Right age (over 25), setting realistic expectations, good donor area, great surgeon and team
4- Transplants prior to 25 are not advisable. Be sure that no scalp skin diseases exist on the head
5- Transplantation in a single session has limits. Total lifetime supply of grafts is about 2/3rd of the donor supply provided that your hair is not fine in character
6- Over 25, with realistic expectations, sit down with a great surgeon and work out a Master Plan for our future
7- If you are over 30 and miniaturization is not a problem, then not using finasteride with the transplant may be ok. Remember, the risks of hair loss continue and even more so if you had recent hair loss when you had a hair transplant. Genetic hair loss is a progressive process, something you must remember
8- Beard hair is a secondary donor site if you run out of scalp hair. Scalp hair is the best hair because it has the same character of the hair you lost
I plan to stay on oral minoxidil but it gives me unwanted body hair. I know that in normal situation, a laser hair removal works after few session, but does it destroy the entire hair follicle?
So if i keep taking the minoxidil the unwanted hair, will it regrow despite the laser removal?
If you have a lot of unwanted hair from minoxidil, you might just stop using it. Have a discussion with your doctor about substitutes for minoxidil in your situation.
When will all of my hairs leave me bald?
The average scalp loses 100 hairs per day and regrows 100 hairs per day to keep the number of hairs on the head constant. The cycle determines how many hairs are lost per day. 365 Days * 100 hairs *3 years is the average cycle in a young man gives you a cycling of 109,500 hairs over 3 years (which is the average hair count for a Caucasian). That means every hair on the head is regrown in 3 years. If the cycle is shorter and you still shed 150 hairs per day, the non-balding man might just have a shorter cycle, like a two year hair cycle.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8287580/
Some doctors don’t agree with the conclusion in this article as finasteride only blocks 70% of DHT leaving 30% to produce beard growth. In other words, this is a controversial conclusion.
I’ve been on Fin for three months and I am shedding about 200 hairs daily…… I don’t know what to do and not sure if wasting more money in useless dermatologists who don’t care at all is a good idea, so before booking an appointment I would like to know what hair cycle I am in?
Each follicular unit (there are 50,000 on a human head) have their own hair cycle. That is why we lose hair each and every day and regrow hair each and every day as the hair are cycles from anagen to telogen
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9326711
The authors have proposed minoxidil as a topical inhibitor of wound contraction and proliferative scarring. This was never performed in people or animal studies, just invitro studies
Effectiveness and safety of low-dose oral minoxidil in male androgenetic alopecia (jaad.org)
This article shows the value of oral minoxidil in treating balding and thinning in the top and crown of the head with an effectiveness of 92%.
A simple question that I don’t I find very often an answer to it.
I have minor Fin side effects for some time now and I’m sure they won’t go away. My erection works and it gets fully hard, but it takes a bit longer than before. I do get morning wood, but I do not get random boners when I think about a girl or sex. I do need stimulation to get it fully hard tho. So my penis still works, but it feels less alive. Would this be considered libido issues or ED issues?
Is it okay to tolerate these side effects and just continue using Fin? Will there be any consequences?
The doctor in this thread once commented that if you continue using Fin while having side effects, you run the risk of having PFS. I know he’s a doctor, but I’m not 100% on the boat that sides are permanent. I actually took a break once from Finasteride after 6 months, and my sides dissapeared in like 3 days.
Already tried different doses and dropping Fin isn’t an option (at least I hope).
If there is something called Post Finasteride Syndrome (PFS), then the longer you hold onto significant sexual side effects, the more likely you could get this syndrome. Many doctors like myself, believe that prolonged severe sexual side effects on finasteride put you at risk for PFS (but many question the legitimacy of this syndrome)
On one hand, I really want to hop on fin. Because I’m not ready to lose my hair. Sure, taking a medication for 10+ years is not exactly jolly, but it’s better than losing my hair. I’ve seen much evidence pointing to the fact that finasteride is safe and effective. It’s a well tolerated medication and if you do experience side effects, it can be mitigated with titration adjustments. And discontinuation will most definitely end any side effects.
Here comes the issue:
On the OTHER hand, I do see a lot of compelling evidence against it. I’ve read about the effects on allopregnanolone, an important neurosteroid. Finasteride DOES kill this hormone off, since it relies on 5AR. However, we don’t see many side effects in most people anyway, so what the hell?
And to muddy the water even further, there are things such as Merck lying about other medications and the scandal with the FDA and finasteride. Can you chime in on this? Thank you
I tell my patients that it is worth trying if you really have genetic balding and it is active. The odds are 96% that you will not get sexual side effects. It has to do a lot with your state of mind. If you try it and you get any significant side effects (sexual of otherwise) then you can always stop it.
Dihydrotestosterone: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Clinical Implications of Elevated Blood Levels
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6459338/
This is a very good review of the relationships between DHT in the blood and in the hair follicle, Testosterone and the use of DHT blockers.
My natural hair is fine and wavy. After the hair transplant, the frontal area is now thicker but it is clear there are two types of hair there. One is super curly. Will this go away with time? Did my surgeon screw up? Will it happen for all subsequent transplants if I go that route?
The hair should mimic the hair from the back of the head in terms of thickness (not the frontal miniaturized hairs). The increased waviness is not an uncommon finding after a hair transplant. For those men who develop more wavy hair after the first hair transplant, the same is likely after a second hair transplant in my experience. I don’t know why it happens.
Return surgeries in good surgeon’s hands, are more a reflection of the thickness of the donor hair shafts. Those with medium or coarse hair are less likely to return for a second procedure while those with fine hair, are more likely because the hair bulk is just not there. This post explains it nicely: https://baldingblog.com/hair-thickness-vs-density/
For those of you who perform microneedling, you want to reach the area between the gland and the skin which is between 1 – 1.5 mm from the skin edge
