TommyLucchese

I think you'll need it yes but maybe hold off a bit because of your age - I started finasteride just before I turned 21

I understand...I started minoxidil age 16! My parents spent a lot of money on lasers and expensive "supplements" but trust me: minoxidil, finasteride, dermarolling, and nizoral shampoo are the only things that can help you. Don't even consider transplants. Transplants are for when you have lost a lot of hair but your hair loss has stopped - either from the medication or naturally. For now, why don't you try growing your hair out a bit? Finasteride will probably be needed at some point but because you're young, just try minoxidil and dermarolling for now. Remember - when you do eventually try finasteride, don't take the full dose for the first 6 months. Start very slowly. Rogaine foam / minoxidil is good for the crown so definitely try that...

Agree with above. Step 1 - 5% rogaine foam and a 1mm dermaroller Step 2 - Add topical finasteride. I have 6% minoxidil and a 0.5mg finasteride combination that I rub into the scalp 3 or 4 times a week. It works really well. With finasteride be very careful not to use the full dose for 6 months. If you get a pill, cut it up into quarters and take one quarter every few days. If you get a topical solution, use much less than directed. Eventually you can work up to the full dose 4 or 5 times a week but start really slow. That's basically all you can do - finasteride, minoxidil, dermarolling and Nizoral 2% shampoo once a week. Be sure to take photos so you can track your progress. Be very careful - you are highly susceptible to the snakes of the industry right now. The only things that work are what are listed above, and you shouldn't really be spending any more than £400 a year. Minoxidil-direct is a great source for rogaine 5% foam Minoxidil Max is a great source for topical finasteride with the option of having minoxidil in there too The finasteride pill requires a subscription so do your research for reputable sellers near you - you can get them online but cost will vary You can get dermarollers on Amazon for £10

If it happens, does that make transplants nigh on perfect and viable for everyone....rather than replacing HTs?

I don't really get this. If the safe zone at 25 isn't the safe zone at 40... shouldn't we just refer to the safe zone at 40 as the safe zone?

Not saying this is the reason, but I think you need to be ultra conservative when starting any form of fin. I say this because a few years ago, after having not taken any fin for 6 months to a year, I bought a generic version and stupidly jumped into 1mg daily and I got terrible sides that persisted until just recently. This was 8 years after no problems on propecia or proscar. I am guessing you're talking about Maxogen-x from Minoxidil Max? I considered starting with that but I thought the 0.1% of fin plus 7% minox was a bit strong....so I started with the Essegen 6 plus which is 6% of minox and 0.05% of fin. I started with only one per week and even now 4 months later I only take it 3 times a week. Your fin is twice as strong as mine and you have been taking more of it....I don't think that's enough time for your body to slowly adjust. I would recommend leaving it for a month and then buying the Essegen 6 plus. Because it's weaker they say you should take it twice a day to get the dose but I only take it once and have had excellent results. I do have a bottle of the Maxogen too but plan to slowly work my way up to that.

Sometimes I wonder if I've just got really lucky or something, because I read people making a huge deal about FUT and the dreaded scar, but for me 9 years later it has caused 0 problems all this time and I don't even know it's there. I would prefer to get the extra 2-3k grafts with FUT before FUE and then still always have body hair to fall back on.

You're probably better off doing your market research with women😃

Try topical fin or a reduced dose - like taking half a pill on monday wednesday friday.

I have absolutely no idea... for me it's about doing research, choosing the right clinic and trusting their judgement/ability. The technicalities like that go way above my head.

Where can you get this in the UK?

A lot of people think of 80s and 90s "hair plugs" when they think about hair transplants. One way of convincing people is to push the blame onto FUT with the big scar and the bad plugs, in favour of the bright new shiny FUE that "leaves no scars" and has a quicker recovery time.

I got that point from a consultation for my 2nd HT. I had a 2,000 graft FUT and have now been quoted 1,500 for the crown, and the doctor said FUE would be better because he doesn't want to waste my elasticity for a smaller procedure....the doctor said to keep that elasticity for a large FUT session if it's needed down the road. I've always expected to stay on the FUT path though since I was 23 when I had that first HT. What do you think about FUT to FUE and then back to FUT again? I got you mixed up with kramer in my post yesterday - yes I definitely think you should talk to Dr Wong again and find out why he thinks a large FUE session is right for you over FUT. Oh man that makes my head spin 🤮🤮 please God no I really hope that doesn't happen. Your point makes complete sense and I have always thought that too....I trust the doctor who said FUE would be better for my 2nd HT to save elasticity for a large session down the road...but what do you think? How many FUTs do you think are possible? What do you think about going back to FUT after FUE? I don't want to hijack the thread but it's all healthy FUE or FUT discussion.

Yeah go big or go home, basically. If you're going to lose that best elasticity, do so for a big number of grafts. For my potential 2nd HT - 1,500 grafts to the crown - he said it didn't make sense to go through the trauma of a second FUT for such few grafts. He said to keep that elasticity there for if I ever need 3,000 or more down the line if my loss my progresses. My age (31) and the fact I began losing hair at 16 played a big part in this thinking. Dr Wong has been such an outstanding FUT performer for all these years, so if he recommends FUE for your case then he probably has very good reasons. You have a difficult choice, your level of loss usually means a large FUT case is best....why don't you go back to Dr Wong again and find out why he recommends FUE for you? [edit] just realised kramer isn't OP!

I can't be sure but I think so yeah - the timing seems to fit and this seems to be a regular anecdote on the forums about liquid minox. I hadn't taken liquid minoxidil since early 2010 before starting this in October... the flaky forehead and red marks on cheeks/forehead kicked in within a few weeks. I'm going to take a month off and see if it improves. To be fair I did a lot of moisturising yesterday and it seems to have made a big difference....I used to moisturise daily until lockdown so maybe that has played a part? The dark undereye might have been there before but these wrinkles definitely weren't like this

I had FUT first (my only HT so far) 9 years ago and it has caused no problems at all. There is a "classic" piece of advice that gets handed down here where you should do as many FUTs as possible until your scalp can no longer accommodate another strip procedure, and then you always have FUE to fall back on. This method can maximise your lifetime grafts. I have since received some advice from a different doctor when consulting for my 2nd HT, who believes that FUT should only be done in the 3,000 and above cases because it diminishes your elasticity. FUT seems like a good fit for you, although Dr Wong knows a hell of a lot more than me.

Update for anyone following this (now or in the future) who is curious about topical fin/minox and or minoxidil max... I'm seeing great results on my hair but my face is paying the price. Have noticed bags under my eyes since Christmas and today I am noticing wrinkles around my eyes, especially when I smile. These definitely weren't there before. I got ID'd for a lottery ticket last year at age 30 and the girl behind the checkout couldn't believe my age. No chance I'd get ID'd right now. I'm also getting very flaky forehead and red marks on my cheeks... I think it's time to look into the non propylene glycol version. [edit] I might just get minoxidil max's fin-only topical (essegen F) and go back to rogaine 5% foam from minoxidil direct because that doesn't have the propylene glycol.

Yeah maybe just throw in one half pill into that MWF cycle per week, and gradually phase out the 0.25. Avoid going to the higher doses too fast - just gradually step it up over time.

Looks like a classic 2,000 - 2,500 graft hairline case to me. For such a low quote amount of grafts it also seems expensive - I paid around $6,500 USD for 2,000 grafts from a proven top surgeon. It's good you're willing to let the money go. I would say you should get back to the drawing board and research here for another year.

No problem, are you thinking of trying topical?

Sure... I usually part the hair to expose my crown, fill up the dropper thing with as much as possible (usually 0.75ml comes in with one squeeze) and I just started "dropping" all the way into the crown every CM across and down or so. This will usually start running down a bit into the donor. Then I fill it back up and start dropping along the hairline into my HT, and purposely onto the bald temples and into the side donor. Then I repeat into the mid scalp. Then depending on how I feel, I might get an extra bit 0.25ml - 0.5ml and just slide it into my main donor regions and "drop" while moving the dropper around. Then I rub it all in making sure the entire scalp has got covered. Now I think about it, I might use as much as 3.5ml per go... I do have the Essengen 6 which is 0.5mg fin per 1ml and supposed to be done twice a day. Hopefully that balances out how much I use, my next bottle is the 7% minox and the 1mg fin combo though so we'll see how that goes. I basically pay no mind to the measurements and just make sure it's all wet and sticky. Then I dry with a hairdryer and go back every 5 mins or so to dry it a little bit more. There's no science to back me up, maybe I'm doing it completely wrong, but it seems to be working. I've had only positive changes from this product and method (better hair and no more sides from oral) so.....so far so good. If anything changes I'll definitely post about it. [edit] Sorry, I didn't answer all of your questions. I leave it on for the rest of the day and rinse the next morning. I am pretty haphazard with the way I do it - sometimes it's 9am sometimes it's 2pm and sometimes it's 9pm. Sometimes if it's like 9pm I only do the 1ml on the crown rather than doing the whole scalp. I also don't have any set days I do it.........it's usually 3 times per week but this month it's only been once per week. Over the years with fin I have never had a set schedule beyond the first year......I might take it 5 times per week for 6 months and then drop down to 3 times a week for a year and then not take it at all for 6 months. This is part laziness and part strategy to never let my body get too used to it, which will hopefully mean it always stays effective. Again, no science behind that but it seems to be working well so far. I can always see a difference when I take these extended breaks, the crown looks wider and patchier, but 3 months of regular always brings me back to the point where I feel that it's thick and healthy. Never seem to get shedding for some reason, it's more like thinning and patchiness.

I ditched fin tablets after 10 years and got on topical fin/minox from Minoxidil Max in October 2020. My hair has got thicker and 2 months without a fin pill is also reversing the side effects I got from an off-brand Propecia called Aindeem in 2018. It's been 2 months without a pill now (I didn't jump straight off oral and onto topical, it was more of a staggered approach) and the numbness that's affected my entire body seems to have almost gone. The thicker hair could be dermarolling but it could also be because I use about 2ml of topical fin/minox to completely cover my entire scalp (including donor area).

Looks great for such a short amount of time. I saw a lot of improvement between 12 and 18 months so you are really ahead of things! I had a Skype consultation with Dr S Muresanu recently and I was as impressed with him as you were. Very knowledgeable and welcoming, I also like that he's a bit more cautious and thinks about the long term. Hattingen is definitely my top choice for my next HT so it's great to see people like you posting your write up and updating with pics, thank you. Be patient - you're in for a great result.

I agree with Melvin. I had a HT on my frontal third when I was 23 but this was after over 2 years of finasteride and minoxidil, which had (and has) stopped and reversed some of my loss to an extent. You should get on fin (oral or topical) and see where you are in a few years. If that works, maybe you could then rebuild your hairline conservatively to get you through the next decade into your mid 30s. I would say you should forget about the crown and learn to live with it for the next 10 years or more. Maybe grow your hair longer and use some concealer? It's a tough spot but the advice I've given you is what I have followed over the last 11 years and so far so good.

On the first night, I came out of a deep sleep into a light one where you're sort of half aware, and I slapped myself on the top of the forehead. First and only time it's ever happened. I also hit my head on the compartment thing above the seats on the flight back. Luckily no damage but it's definitely a stressful time making sure you protect your grafts.