Diffuse patterned thinning as you have here, is best treated with minoxidil and finasteride as you did successfully. You avoided a surgery for hopefully as long as you stay on these drugs.
Probably a stupid question but if you started balding at an early age (let’s say early 20s) does it just continue until nothing is left or does it stop at some point?
Men continue to bald to their final genetically inherited pattern. That is often evident by age 26-30 but it may go into decades of slow progressive loss in some men.
Does dutasteride cause permanent fertility though? I want to stop a month before trying to get a child, will this be okay?
Stop it and get a sperm count with your doctor. The half life of this drug is 5-6 weeks so it will take many months for it to be out of your body, Dutasteride is known to reduce sperm count.
Hi, if i use an syringe and inject finasteride into scalp is it dangerous?
I would not inject finasteride unless it is prepared by a pharmacy specifically for injection. I don’t know why you would want to do this as it may be dangerous.
Do you know if topical fin is effective for AGA in females? I am struggling to find a study
AGA is a different condition in women than it is in men. Women are often protected by their estrogens at least until they get to menopause. Finasteride may work in women who are post menopausal.
So I’ve been on fin for about a week and a half now. For the first week I noticed that the only side effect I experienced was a lack of morning wood. I was slightly concerned about this but I still used fin because it wasn’t a big deal to me. I think it’s subsided, because now I get morning wood again but there’s a few sides I didn’t expect. I feel like my libido has exponentially increased and the morning wood I experience is much more intense than it used to be. Is this normal? Will it subside eventually?
I have seen men who claimed a reduced sex drive in the first few weeks and found that this symptom disappeared within a month.
I’m in my mid 20s and I got a hair transplant done 6 weeks ago. I have started to notice a lot more white hair on my head after the transplant. Significantly more than before. Am I just aging? Or have the hairs temporarily turned white as a result of the physical trauma of the surgery?
We have performed over 17,000 surgeries over 31 years and I don’t remember anyone’s hair turning white immediately after a hair transplant. I have seen significant changes in hair texture, a few men developed kinky hair but not white hair.
spot came very fast, maybe within a month? My hair is still thick and i have full hair everywhere around my hair including temples. I also added one picture without hair pulled back so you can see that its only noticeable when i pull my hair. I take daily all vitamins which are important for hair health so it cant be vitamin defiency. Also, i can see some very little regrowth (but only like small amount of what it used to be, maybe like 20 hair which are 1mm long and looks very thin) there which isnt probably visible in picture. The last picture (where i am wearing black shirt) is taken 2-3 months ago when it wasnt there. Any help is very very appreciated. I hope i wrote everything important, if not, then tell me and I will add more information.
An experienced doctor needs to look at the bald spot as it could be one of many things including early genetic balding, atypical alopecia areata, etc… See a dermatologist
Hey Dr. Rassman, so was just wondering on some advice , i’m considering getting a transplant as i’ve thinned fairly in the back and towards the front how ever have somewhat density there so i’m considering getting a transplant to give back some thickened and a hairline ! However like most people i’m worried about the sides of Fin , I have never taken fin before so don’t know i’m prone to side affect and don’t want to spend 1000s on a HT to find out i can’t take the fin to maintain is there a way to find out if i’d be prone to sides or should i just take sone before i got the th transplant and if so how long should i take it for to be sure ?
If you are in your 20s, it is likely that a hair transplant performed on you, might accelerate your hair loss. It almost always kicks out miniaturized hair and many of those hair may not look miniaturized but may be extensive where you think that you are thinning in the back and towards the front. Be careful at jumping the gun on hair transplant. Finasteride is a good way to stabilize the hair loss. Get a good doctor who will work with you. Go slow on your decision for a hair transplant especially if you are under 25
Side effects include lightheadedness, headache, allergy are most common. Rare heart effects such a cardiac tamponade (life threatening) are found with doses above 2.5mgs but is rare.
Other side effects (taken from Mayo Clinic) for topical applications include:
- Acne at site of application
- burning of scalp
- facial hair growth
- increased hair loss
- inflammation or soreness at root of hair
- reddened skin
- swelling of face
Particularly with systemic absorption either orally or too high a topical dose these side effects include:
- Blurred vision or other changes in vision
- chest pain
- dizziness
- fainting
- fast or irregular heartbeat
- flushing
- headache
- lightheadedness
- numbness or tingling of hands, feet, or face
- swelling of face, hands, feet, or lower legs
- weight gain (rapid)
- Cardiac tamponade
Yes, it can be both bloody and painful. I am amazed how many men do this, but it seems to work far better than medications alone.
Hi Dr. Rassman i have been using the minoxidil foam for a couple of weeks now. I have a question, whenever I apply it and massage my hair, I see like a ton of hair on my hands. Is this alright? I try to use just my tips to massage
Some people get an initial shed when they start with minoxidil. Also, the goal is not to put it on your hair but on your scalp. If you are roughly applying minoxidil foam to your hair, you can pull out your hair.
Only part of my my hairs are white — the tip is black, the root is black, only 2-3mm of the hair near the tip is white. It’s odd. I assume it’s the part of the hair that was growing from the root around the time of the transplant. Does that make sense?
Yes, I believe your analysis is probable.
You can see (arrows show it) the growth coming out. These hairs will grow longer and longer at a rate of 1/2 inch per month. Good job.
I’m a 22 year old male and when I started taking fin I felt like I was getting some results in the first 6 months but now it’s clear that it’s been getting way worse. There are days where I forget to take it for sure so do you think maybe the inconsistency is what is messing me up?
If you are committed, then you should establish a plan and stick to it. If the plan is not working, you and your doctor should revisit the plan