Sickboy

Thanks Ciaus

Hi all.

I have been using minoxidil for 25 years or so  and together with propecia and one hair transplant feel I am in a really good place with my hair and very happy with it.

I have recently started using using either sea salt spray or a thickening cream as both add a great deal of volume to my hair. Both the sea salt spray and the thickener need to be added to wet hair and blow dried, where as ideally I believe minoxidil needs to be added to dry hair, with no product in.

So my question is in what order should I apply each product...........??

Should I apply the minoxidil to a wet scalp, massage it in, then apply the salt spray or thickener and then blow dry?? This goes against everything I was told about not applying to minoxidil to wet hair or using a blow drier after applying it.

Should I apply the minoxidil to a dry freshly washed scalp, then re-wet my hair to apply the sea salt spray or thickening cream, then blow dry my hair? I have tried both the salt spray and thickening cream on dry hair and neither works. Both leave my hair very greasy and it fails to add any volume.Does re wetting my hair risk washing off the minoxidil?

Should I apply the salt spray or thickening cream to wet hair, blow dry it then apply the minoxidil?  This seems to go against the advice of using minoxidil on hair with product in, although out of the 3 my thinking was that this was perhaps the best way to do it.

Does anyone follow a similar regime? If so any advice?

Thanks so much for all the responses guys. I checked with my Dr.(who checked with the pharmacist) and she said that there should be no problem with conceiving while on propecia. There have been no recorded instances of any probs. A bit of a relief as the drug is so effective and coming off would have been quite a bind : o )

Hi all

I have been on Finasteride since 2000, with no side effects, and along with minoxidil and an HT, have experienced hugely positive results. I know that potentially there is a risk of birth defects if a child is conceived whist I am using the drug, but my question would be is there an acknowledged safe period I would have to be off the drug for before my partner and I try for a child? i.e. how long would there be traces of it still in my system, particularly regarding the length of time I have been using it? I know the chance of birth defects are extremely slim even if I stayed on the drug, but this is something I wouldn't even think about doing.

As an aside if we did conceive would I be able to resume finasteride, and practice unprotected sex ( with my partner ) during the pregnancy??

Also if I came off the drug how long would it take for my hair to start to thin again, and does anyone have any recommendations to counter this?

Obv I will put all these questions to a doctor but I thought it wouldn't hurt to gage opinion on here, particularly as there are some real experts on this forum.........

Great news! A fantastic surgeon and team. Had my HT with him in September 2011 and am delighted with the results!!!

Thanks for the comments guys. I went with FUT on Dr .B's advice. Cost was a factor too. I can't find the scar at all even if I go to a grade 3. Have had no issues at all with it and reckon I could get away with a grade 2 without it being visible.

16 months and all done!! Delighted with it. Hair looks incredibly natural. No trace of a scar at all. Dr Bs rep Steve, who took the photos, took a look last week and couldn't find it. Have gone down to a grade3 and there is still no sign of it! Photos aren't great quality but should give you some idea of the result.

Hi Chris

I just had the stitches taken out at my local doctors.....only a few mins job by the nurse. I started using rogaine again once I had healed up...2 or 3 weeks post op if I remember correctly. Good luck...you won't regret it. Any questions drop me a line.

Thanks bud......am beyond happy with it. It has exceeded all my expectations. Big thanx to Dr.B.

These are finally the 10 month pics....... Anyway am delighted with where I am at....best money I have ever spent.

Thanks guys....hi alix. Density is great. Whether it is as thick as it was when I was 19 I don't know but wind and rain (which I used to avoid like the plague) are no probs. I used to just brush my hair forward all the times but can now actually mess it up a bit without worrying.......I reckon the density would even hold up to growing a bit of length on it too.

These photos have been taken between 8-8.5 months. am so happy with the results. I have completely forgotten what it felt like to be losing my hair.

All seems fine. Thickening up nicely.

Now we're cooking!!!!! Loads of growth in the last month. Had a 5 month consulatation with Dr Bisanga and Stephen from BHR. They seemed really happy and so am I..........they said I am still only at the 50% growth phase!!!......

Thanks Slickers.......am in the middle of the frustrating phase but hopefully things are begining to happen now!!! Was v impressed with the whole setup with Dr. B.......obviously can't comment on the final result yet but fingers crossed.

4 months!!!

quite a bit of growth now. The hairline has coome in beautifully......the hair is still quite thin behind it but loads more to come!!! Redness has finally cleared and the scar is fine.

Thanks Brad.......was going to ask about the tingling feeling......is that the new hair coming??? Damn i love that feeling : o )

Thanks Janna. There are a couple of small pimples...have emailed Dr Bisanga's rep and he didn't seem at all worried.......I will email him some photos too just to be sure....my skin is quite pale so the redness is still quite evident......The photos were taken immediately after washing my hair, using a flash so the it prob looks worse in the photos....have noticed quite a bit of growth n the last couple of days so am on my way!!!!

No too much to report.......defo getting some new hairs coming thu......am in the frustrating phase now...oh well...looks like things are going to start getting exciting real soon!!!!

Slow but steady progress......scar is invisible with hair about grade 5/6. Recipient area still a bit red. Hard to tell if there is any shock loss in recipient area as hair was quite thin there anyway but wore it a bit longer.....overall am where I should be......hopefully things should start to happen in the next couple of months.....

Hi all

Am posting on behalf of my mum who is in her mid 60's. A few years ago after some pretty major personal upheavals my mum noticed some mild thinning of her hair....I believe there is also some history of mild hair thinning among women in our family age 60 ish aswell.

She went to the Belgravia clinic in London and has recieved some supplements and minoxidl 5% as treatment. This was a few years ago and she seems very happy with the results. She pays the clinic ?700 a year for these treatments. I guess my main queston is, can she get the same benefits by buying treatments on line??

From what I can tell the nutrients are mainly vitamins that are in most multi vitamins, saw palmetto and biotin.

I am using both biotin and MSM tablets and they have both inproved the conditon of my hair. Would my mum be better off switching to generic multi vitamins, biotin and msm tablets and buying something like Kirkland minoxidil on line at a fraction of the cost.??

I can get Kirkland minoxidil 5% on line extremely cheaply, but it says it is not suitable for women.....she already recieves 5% minoxidil from the Belgravia clinic...anybody know why one is suitable for women and the other not??

My mum's issue is not really hair loss per se but a general thinning. She is happy enough with the results she is getting so far but ?700 a year is pretty hefty chunk of change,.....particularly if she can the same results at a fraction of the cost.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated........

Thanks guys...apreciate the comments. Hi Texaslonghairs.....yeah it was the 12th. How are you recovering?? Who did you go with? Yes this was my first op....

One month out......so far so good.....reciepent is still quite red but no discomfort what so ever ...think most of the grafts have shed the hair ..I want those little suckers back.....Scar is fine. It appears much better in reality than it looks in the photo. Am putting bio-oil on daily and has been fine. There seems to be a small scab still attached, that I hadn't noticed until I saw the photo, but other than that once the pinkness clears it should be fine. My hair is a grade 3 all over now which is a relief to be able to wear it all the same length finally. My skin is quite pale so I expect the pinkness to last a while but it's getting there!!!

Am 2 weeks out of 3000 FUT wit Bisanga...so far so good.....Very impressed with the setup there. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Day 13. Sutures came out 3 days ago. Loads of little hairs in the recipient area. Scar still very visible as I would have expected, with a few little scabs still visible on it. Back to work tomorrow...will be a challenge but don't reckon it will be too bad. Apologies for the poor photo quality.....photographing the back of your own head is harder than it sounds!!!! Am v happy with where I am overall.