Mikey1970

5mgs per day finasteride is the dose for treating an enlarged prostate. As far as I know it offers no improved results for hair than 1mg or 1.25mgs which is the pill cut into quarters which plenty of us do. If you want the biggest bang medicinally, research dutasteride. Strangely enough, increased doses of dutasteride does seem to improve hair results. Dutasteride Info: Avodart Hair Loss Treatment | Bernstein Medical

Don't skimp or search for the cheapest with HT's. Sometimes cheap = nasty & you will not be able to reconcile a few saved $$$ from the pain of living with a botched job.

I had 500 grafts FUE (beard hair) to repair my strip scar, in addition to having my frontal third infilled with regular scalp FUE a month ago. The work on the strip scar seems to be fantastic. My GP has marvelled at the result & my hair is clipped down to a number 2 on the back at present. FUE by a top surgeon into the strip scar seems to be a very good way of treating it. My surgeon believes that beard hair is courser than most hair & therefore the best donor to use for repairing strip scars.

Here is the photo of my current shock loss.

Thanks Bill. I possibly wouldn't be so concerned if I hadn't been through such a bad experience a year ago - or if the shock loss was even but given both of those factors I am pretty uptight. I know I went with a top notch surgeon however, so have confidence there. Cheers.

I am 29 days post op now Dr Bloxham. The shock loss is still mainly on the right hand side only and has developed into a L shaped gap.

So the post op shock loss blues have well & truly set in. I am back to looking for signs of recovery with the magnifying glass from every angle & lighting possible. Just wondering, if the hair is shocked out in an area that the surgeon transplanted, should the recipient mark from the needle, slit blade or whatever still be visible? Am I right in thinking that the follicle from a transplant would be quite large & obvious given that only recently it was created by the surgeon? If the hairs cant be seen, at least the needle mark for the newly implanted follicle should be right?

Johnny, just one more thing for you to consider. From my experience small touch up surgeries can be risky. Have a read of what happened to me on this thread. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/180455-shock-loss-warning-against-frequent-procedures.html I got into real hot water trying to chase perfection - now if I am ever lucky enough to get back to a 95% result I will happily take it. A month ago I had more work done to try and repair what happened to me & now am hit hard by shock loss yet again & hoping it all pans out ok! Thing is, you seem to have a very good head of hair now and there could be more risk than reward if you try and improve it any more. When you find yourself playing the "chasie" game with HT's it really is a terrible place to be in. Remember, hair restoration surgery can never really give us back the density that we were born with - it may be worth you looking at where you have come from to where you are now and really think hard about your future plans. All the best.

Hell Ernie. That would have been terrifying. That's probably as bad a case of shock loss as I have seen. Kinda where I am at the moment haha. So glad I saw your experience with shock loss though, although ive been through it before your photo's give me hope. At what time did you notice your hair all coming back? Was it around the 3 month mark?

Hi Oliver. You are fortunate that from everything I have read online, you visited one of the best & most ethical surgeon's in the world. I would hate to think of what could have happened to you if you had seen a less ethical surgeon. You also wrote that you have thinned or miniaturized follicles but you haven't lost them completely. Do you believe you have any type of scalp condition that causes excessive itching, dandruff and/or psoriasis? If you do a tar based shampoo like Ionil T will greatly overcome those problems and I think can possibly assist in slowing further hair loss. It is possible that given your situation you could be a fantastic responder to medication. Dr Bernstein has a place on his website that gives before/after photo's of people that were good responders and treated ONLY with medication. Propecia Rogaine Results Before After Photos | Bernstein Medical Given that you say you have not yet lost follicles completely you could be really pleased how you go with the medication without having to go through the risks of surgery at this time. Good luck, I wish you the best.

Exactly. By no means am I singling out Johnny or any other individual on this forum but I do believe that the correlation between hair loss and mental health can be significant. If a person undertakes surgery then the outcome of the surgery can & often does magnify the link. In regards to hair restoration surgery I think it can be a fine line as to whether a perceived fault with the result is realistic or whether it is amplified in the mind of the patient. Obviously there are some disaster cases that would upset anybody but there are also cases that look very good to most people but the individual remains dissatisfied. I don't know the statistics but I would imagine that the rate of people undertaking hair restoration surgery & suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder is significant. That said, the suffering is undeniably real. Question is, when is the appropriate treatment a hair surgeon & when is it a psychiatrist?

I think your hair looks great Johnny. I'm sure most of us on this site would agree & love to have your head of hair. Without sounding insensitive it might be time to consult with a non hair Dr? I have had similar issues and consulted with my GP who was a big help and really assisted with putting things in a truer perspective. All the best with finding your peace of mind.

If you were a Norwood 6 to start with im not sure how good a result you can hope for with surgical hair restoration? A Norwood 6 is very advanced loss & to be honest sometimes there just isnt enough donor & i think you look quite good - especially from the front. If your donor is expired perhaps a surgeon very skilled with bht could help you with extra density?

Hey Erguson, You had your surgery one day before me! Im also experiencing shedding atm in a very similar pattern to you - the right side seems to be shedding more than the left! I will be interested to track your progress & see how you get on! Fingers crossed for a great result for both of us.

Congracts Ernie. Looks a great result.

Thanks Dr Bloxham. Appreciate the reply...

Just wondering what the general consensus is in regards to post op shedding unevenly across the frontal third & temporal region? I recently had 1000 grafts done, the left side still has minimal to no shedding but there are a couple of noticeable gaps now on the right side. Doubts beginning to set in - this stage does suck!!!

Here Here! Agree 100%

This seems very similar to Replicel's tech but they are strangely quiet on it. Perhaps most surprising was an article that reads as if Sheisedo could be progressing alone? Shiseido | The End of Hair Loss and Balding by 2020 Typical biotech that goes silent when facing hurdles! Also Replicel's stock price is floundering at record lows which is hardly an indication that things are progressing well. Japan are clearly reading as the frontrunners to me. With Sheisedo & Kyocera, Organ Technologies, RIKEN, Takashi Tsuji working on this I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. The prize should be huge for whoever wins the race.

Thanks Gill & everyone for your well wishes. My surgeon does 500 grafts per day Gill & he does all the work himself. His work is meticulous and painstaking, but from the patients perspective it is all laid out for us - including TV monitoring of every single extraction & placement of the grafts and a family member or friend is also welcome to sit in on the procedure. Having read quite a bit on the FUE technique I was surprised to see the quality of sheath & fatty material surrounding each and every follicle. I couldn't imagine a strip graft looking any healthier. As my procedure involved a fair bit of infilling, my surgeon ensured that he cherry picked plenty of triple haired grafts for extra density. I really am as confident as I can be that he has done a fantastic job. I know it is only early days - I am just over two weeks post op, but thus far it seems as though I have not lost a single graft to shedding even though the scabs are now gone and they even seem to be growing. Better still, no evidence of shock loss to the surrounding native hair. Fingers crossed its my turn to have some luck in regards to surgical hair restoration.

Perhaps consider trying a tar based shampoo. I use Ionil T shampoo virtually daily & it is great for the scalp & clearing dandruff/sebum. I think its similar to Nizoral which is one of "The Big 3".

Looks great!

I have been on FIN for 2.5 years. Still enjoy morning wood & sex three times a day if the lady is up for it. Only depression in recent times was hair loss related. When I acted upon that I felt a lot better. My experience with FIN has been very good & imho the fears are a beat up.

Great post Spanker. You echo my thoughts entirely. I strongly believe its more the hair loss or an existing pre-disposition that ties in to the depression, rather than FIN.

I had a horror experience with a tiny procedure once. It caused shock loss inches away from where the work was done & then I needed a much bigger procedure (which I have just had done) to try and fix it. My experience is that I have learnt to now be happy with a good result. Small procedures do have risks in my opinion. That said, it could pan out fantastic for you. Just make sure you are aware of the risks. For what its worth, I think your hairline looks great. Good luck.