Mav1729

I have heard of Dr Ameiya Prasad's clinic offering this treatment. I am very curious to know more about it. Is it a complete alternative to using Fin & Minoxidil or does it work well in conjunction with these drugs? I am not aware of any controlled clinical studies or any testimonials indicating that this treatment is better (in terms of regrowth & economy). I would be very interested to hear what the Doctors on this forum think.

Hi Guys, I wanted to hear your experience with combination of Rogaine & Propecia. I was reading through some posts on Bernestein medical page Propecia Rogaine Results Before After Photos | Bernstein Medical and found the results to be quite remarkable. Do majority of patients experience similar kind of results ? Does the combination work better than individual treatments ? Also, how long can you keep these results, in the sense of medications losing their efficacy in the long run. What is a realistic timeline to experience some regrowth with this combination treatment? Sorry about a lot of questions all at once. Would really appreciate if you could share some personal experience and advise. Cheers

@HTSoon , thanks a lot for your answers. Clarified a lot of my questions.

Thanks all for your replies. @HTsoon : I am 30 and a few months into meds. I have been on Fin and Rogaine for about 5 months. I can already see some benefits from it. I think I have some regrowth and hair loss has completely stopped. I just see very few hair in the sink which I think is natural. Besides that I have been rotating between Nioxin 2 and Nizoral 1% shampoo. Both of them are pretty great and just give the scalp a good feeling, so I have continued with both. I saw some of your pics and it seems like you have had an amazing HT, especially the results after the second one. Congratulations on a successful surgery. We do seem to have a very similar hair loss pattern. I have a few questions for you 1. How many grafts did you get in your first surgery? And overall? 2. How many do you think I would need overall (split across multiple surgeries, including crown) to get results similar to yours 3. How many months after your first HT surgery did the hair started to grow? Cheers!

Hi Guys, I have attached a picture of the top of my scalp. Can you please give me an estimate from your experience of how many grafts I would need to get good scalp coverage? Would really appreciate your help. Cheers!

Hi Guys, Sorry for the naive question. I haven't been able to find a satisfactory answer to this question so I am just going to post it here. Any response is appreciated. I started using Rogaine about 2 months before a hair transplant. Now I understand that there is going to be shedding for the first few weeks. My questions is when there is hair loss for about 2 months due to Rogaine and when you go in for a hair transplant surgery, could the doctor not falsely think that the hair follicle which went dormant is dead and transplant new hair where there actually was you original native hair? My concern is this would actually be rather counter-productive and lead to sub optimal results. Please advise. Cheers!

Hi Guys, Recently I started using Nioxin 2 shampoo based on my stylist's recommendation. I have been on their website and done a little bit of internet research on it and I found out that they don't make any claims for regrowing hair per say, but indirectly through their cleansing mechanism. I have used it for about 3 weeks now and my experience with it has been pretty good so far. It leaves the scalp with a very fresh feel, kind of how mint feels in your mouth . I am using it 3 times weekly. While reading I also came across the Nizoral shampoo which contains ketoconazole which is proven to be effective against alopecia. However the 2% solution leaves the hair dry and should only be used only 2 times weekly. I wanted to get your opinion on how your experience has been with the Nioxin shampoo ? And which do you feel is the better of two ? Should I switch to Nizoral for the next one and which one (1% or 2%) to use? Thanks for sharing. Cheers!

Thanks for your response guys. @ Mav : You can be the primary Mav here ;-) @pkipling : Sorry I should have included some background with the post. I have had a few consultations and a few pending with Dr Gabel and Dr Hasson. ( Got recommendation for them from the forum members. Many thanks ) I have done quite a bit of research and have consulted with a dermatologist as well, and according to them I am a good candidate for a HT. I haven't gotten a good answer to my above question though. I just want to get one surgery and I don't really want to leave the vertex area for a later procedure mainly because the cost of HT is substantial. I am willing to wait a few months if its worth it, but I surely don't want the result of surgery to mask the benefits from these medicines. (beside maintaining existing hair) Have any of you guys noticed significant results from these medications alone, something like the pictures from Bernstein Group. (I know those might be corner cases but I am an optimistic guy ) Cheers!

Hi Guys, I am considering a hair transplant surgery soon. And I am only 2 weeks into the medication (1.25 mg Finesteride & Rogaine Foam twice daily). My questions to you is : Should I wait for the results to kick in from the use of these medications and then consider surgery ? If yes, then how long ? I am probably very naive here in assuming that if the results from these medications were good, they would be nullified by getting a hair transplant in those regions? Is that the case ? I saw some results on the Bernstein Medical page for patients who are only treated with the above medicines and show exceptional regrowth. Would greatly appreciate any advise on this topic. Cheers!

@lorenzo Thanks a lot for the detailed answer. This is very helpful !

Thanks all you guys for your response. I would definitely consult Hasson & Wong and Dr Gabel.

Thanks for your reply! I guess the place specialized in FUE and that's why they were pushing for it.

Hi Guys, I have been considering getting a hair transplant for a couple of months now. I am 30years old, close to Norwood 5A. And I am located in the Bellevue Seattle area. I wanted to share my first consultation experience with you guys at Advanced Hair Restoration Bellevue. Few days ago, I called AHR Bellevue and booked an appointment with a consultant named Joel. I specifically asked him to schedule a time when I could also meet the doctor (Dr Barry Weiss). He scheduled me for Monday evening at 5pm, which was a little strange because he told me the doctor usually stays till 7pm. Anyway, I went for my appointment and I met with Joel who immediately started telling me you need the laser-cap and you need Propecia and Minoxidil 2 minutes into the conversation. I read a lot of articles and they recommend going to a doctor who uses densitometer to measure your scalp laxity, density, miniaturization etc. He did none of that and just started making recommendations. I asked him that I wanted to see the doctor and he told me why would the doctor be around! ? Its 5 pm. The he told me that I was a Norwood 5A and would need about 2400 grafts to cover the front and mid sections. He kept on insisting that I buy the laser hat which would help keep existing hair in the front and mid areas and use Propecia and Minioxidil to keep hairs in the crown. He then told me that if you wanted to get the full hair restored it would be 3600 grafts which would be done in 2 sessions. And they would need to use FUE for that because you cannot harvest more than 2400 grafts using an FUT. I asked him if the doctor uses Single bladed knife to excise a donor strip. The answer was no and that they use a double bladed knife. Now I don't know the significance of that but during my research I read on WebMd that this is one of the questions to ask when selecting a Hair Transplant surgeon and that the answer should be Yes. Lastly I asked him to give me contact details and info of ex-patients and he told me that I should see the doctor first since I don't know anything! I think there were quite a few red flags during my meeting and I am just not sure that was it me or is the experience always like this ? Based on my above conversation I wanted to get opinion on some of the points above : 1. Does propecia and Rogaine work only on crown areas? And in what cases is the laser hat recommended? 2. If you want to go over 2400 grafts, can this not be done using an FUT? 3. Why does WebMd recommend that doctor's use single bladed knife for excising donor strip? 4. Did you guys also feel that the consultant was being a bit evasive or was it just me? I would love to hear opinions from you guys. Cheers!