calvus

Ironically, last time I visited Australia I picked up a six-pack of Australian-made generic minoxidil ("Hair-A-Gain") and was allowed to bring it back with me on the plane home to NZ - when I asked the airline check-in counter they said it was OK as long as it was tightly-capped! There used to be a New Zealand-made generic minoxidil called Headway but it was discontinued some years ago. The only minoxidil sold here now is the overpriced Regaine (Rogaine). I'm surprised Hair Again is not available in NZ. We cannot get Restoria or Grecian 2000 here either, even the new "unleaded" formula. Some local entrepreneur should take advantage of this untapped market...

Their web site says "We are able to ship orders to the following countries. Unfortunately, if your country is NOT on this list we are unable to supply to you as your country's Customs Department prevents delivery" -- and New Zealand is not on their list of approved countries. Perhaps NZ Customs has tougher rules on importing flammable goods than Australia?

*bump* It is legal/possible for someone in New Zealand to order generic Minoxidil over the Internet from the USA (or whatever country)? I understand it's classified as a "flammable liquid" and therefore many postal services won't ship it internationally.

Same with Propecia - I took it for three years, then gave it up because it was expensive and I didn't notice any regrowth. (Not to mention the scary stories about possible side-effects of finasteride.) Obviously some men respond better than others. I am currently saving up for a hair transplant. Will keep using the Minox. and Nizoral in the meantime.

I've been using Minoxidil solution for nearly ten years. Can't say I've noticed any regrowth but it seems to have at least slowed down any further hair loss - I have much more hair than my younger brother, who has not been using any treatments. I also recently started experimenting with concealers like Toppik/Nanogen. Concealers are supposed to be applied to dry hair which is a bit tricky if you're running late for work in the morning and you've just rubbed minox. on your scalp. Some people have said they get around this by only applying minox. once a day (at night) instead of the recommended twice daily, but this might reduce the effectiveness of the minox. The alcohol content of minox. solution also makes the concealer fibres rub off when applying minox. at night time, so take care. (I put dark pillowcases on my pillows.) I've never used minox. foam, so I'm not sure whether it has the same effect on concealers.

Here in New Zealand the only brand of Minoxidil available in pharmacies is Regaine (Rogaine), which is very expensive. There used to be a local generic Minoxidil called Headway, but it was discontinued a few years ago. Australia manufactures its own generic called Hair-Again, but Australian online pharmacies won't ship it to New Zealand customers because it's "flammable." (Ironically, when I brought back a six-pack of Hair-Again from my last vacation to Australia I never had a problem when I declared it as a "flammable product" at the airport check-in!) Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Kirkland's Minoxidil is now available to order online through Fishpond.co.nz and Fishpond.com.au (the local equivalent of Amazon). It's a fraction of the price of Regaine, and even cheaper than Hair-Again.

The best-known fiber-concealers are Toppik (made in the USA) and Nanogen (made in Europe), which are both made of keratin (wool fibers). Both of them have their fans who insist that one is better than the other, but I was equally impressed with both products. There's also a cotton-based alternative called Caboki, which might come in handy if you find that wool fibers make your scalp itch. They will ship you a free sample from the USA to anywhere in the world (although you do have to pay for the shipping). Unfortunately I didn't find it as effective as Toppik/Nanogen. There are also plenty of cheaper clones and generics around. The only one I've tried has the rather unfortunate name of Beaver (I think it's Chinese). Again, I didn't think it was as good as Toppik or Nanogen.

I'm in Australia and although the Nizoral brand shampoo is available here, there is a much cheaper alternative shampoo called Sebizole, which contains exactly the same active ingredient (ketaconazole 2%).

For the record I'm a new member and am still getting this error message when posting a message using Firefox 18.0.1 on Mac 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). My posts still appear though. Posting this with Safari 5.1.7 to see what happens... EDIT: No problem with Safari so it must be a Firefox issue.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I wouldn't want to head overseas without travel insurance and many (most) travel insurance brokers won't touch you with a barge pole if you are going abroad for "medical or dental treatment or cosmetic surgery" - and I'm assuming a hair transplant qualifies as the latter! I've had a quick search online and found several insurers covering medical tourists who are US or European residents, but could only find one that seems to be open to residents of Australia - Seven Corners, which is US-based and not cheap - they want about $USD 1000 for a week's stay in Thailand! Are there any Australian insurers who will cover me if I travel overseas for an HT? (Obviously I don't expect to be covered for the HT per se, but I do want to be covered for other matters.)

Well, I've partly answered my own question ... today I asked my GP about Avodart (dutasteride) and he said he was reluctant to prescribe it for hair loss because he didn't know enough about it. He suggested I find a trichologist or hair specialist and see if they were prepared to prescribe it.

I see this study was conducted in Australia - which is where I've recently emigrated to. Are GPs in Australia currently willing to prescribe Avodart for hair loss? My new GP here didn't mention it, he just wrote me a prescription for generic finasteride 5mg with instructions to cut the tablets in quarters.

Well, I see there is at least one UK clinic on this site's list of "recommended physicians".

I was wondering about this myself. There are no recommended surgeons in New Zealand either, which is where I'm from originally. I recently moved to Australia and decided to look at having a hair transplant. Have been on Minoxidil and Finasteride for over five years (and have just started Nizoral shampoo) but they don't seem to be having much effect. Maybe they've stopped further loss, but the hair ain't growing back. I have visited National Hair Institute and Ashley & Martin here in Melbourne and both quoted me around $AUD 20,000 for about 3000 grafts. I see neither of those clinics are recommended on this Forum (just the opposite going by some of the posts here). Having read through the Forum I am wondering if the best option would be to do the "Medical Tourist" thing and see Dr Pathomvanich in Thailand who seems to be regarded as world-class surgeon. Does anyone know what he charges per graft?