AssaultedByDHT

On 12/27/2019 at 10:27 PM, LonelyGraft said:

Eh I’d beg to differ. Strips go high into the temporal areas. Check out cases from h&w 

H&W are operating almost always on individuals with a European headshape, which is a longer headshape. The Indian headshape is shorter. Way less safe space in the temporal areas, but it's made up for a wider donor area in the back.

On 12/7/2019 at 12:00 PM, LonelyGraft said:

I think the result is fantastic. I’m just wondering why the extractions are taken in such a limited area and do not extend more into the temporal zones? I’ve seen this in a lot of the eugenix cases

I'm not with eugenix, but any more into the temporal zone would be taking from outside the safe zone.

I considered SMP too, but most clinics will cost you 3500-5000 for temporary ink that could fade within 2 to 3 years. Touchups also cost money. Better off with using the beard as donor. 

I'm using it also. It's just oral minoxidil. 

 Dr Cinik's clinic is just something else. Great result

15 hours ago, StayFrosty said:

The last pictures you posted are a huge improvement.

Have you considered getting smp? 

I think smp into your entire scalp /donor/recipient/sides will push this over the line.

Yes. Do this.

Looks really clean. Eugenix keeps on impressing me. Hoping to see your growth updates!

On 11/29/2019 at 5:35 AM, hairlossPA said:

thanks man. 1.25mg per day

I have been on 5mg for a month. I'm sure it will kick in for you soon. You will soon experience the magic of oral minoxidil. Keep updating us.

On 11/23/2019 at 7:07 AM, hairlossPA said:

17 Month Update:

I am happy to announce that my hair is rebounding. Since August, I have seen significantly less shedding (if any at all), and my top is getting denser by the week. I will state that I started oral minoxidil August 1st. I am not sure if that is contributing to the regrowth/rebound or if its just a coincidence in timing of my finasteride shed ending. Personally I dont think its responsible for ending my shedding and giving me regrowth. I contribute it to the finasteride still and the hair growth cycle. I can't express how happy I am that things seem to be turning around. It really is an up and down roller coaster.

Pics attached below. 1 pic from July which was the worst point of the shedding. And some from before any medical treatment. You can really seem the improvement since July til now. I am still not where I was a year ago at the peak of my journey, but I am hoping I get there in the next couple months if this regrowth continues.

Looks great! What dose of oral minoxidil are you on?

The patient was Prince Harry? haha. This is a great result!

10 hours ago, hairman22 said:

meds slow down hair loss. Dont stop it especially not someone heading for nowood 6 or 7

 

 

If I can get just a decade of maintenance out of dutasteride and finasteride, in addition to a 2500 grafts to add density to the midscalp and the front, I will be very glad. I'm sure that some better treatment will be out there in 10 years.

Obviously a hair transplant is an illusion of density. Would the hairs on your head appear thinner or thicker once you get older and grey? That is taking into consideration that your skin is light and natural hair is dark.

Yeah. That's why I believe transplant without meds is way too risky.  If I ever get off my meds, I won't bother with caring about my hair anymore because I know for certain my future is NW6/NW7 (diffuse thinning).

You lost 4500 precious donor grafts and are left with a big scar. All you have to show for it is minimal density on top. One of the worst results I have seen. 

Holy shit! 

I have been using finasteride for 15 months. Most of my regrowth has been in the front and midscalp. The vertex hasnt responded yet. Last week Instarted adding dut 3 times a week because I read a study in which adding dut to fin enhances the effects. Since I have no side effects, I decided why not. 

For the past two months, I have been applying minoxidil to the back of my head, both the donor and where the crown dips.  I'm doing this in anticipation of my first transplant in the coming months. I can see some thickening in the region, but it might just be the finasteride. Anybody else on here applied minoxidil to the back of the head? 

24 minutes ago, pkipling said:

If your job/lifestyle allows you to wear a hat until the grafts start growing in, you might as well. Takes a lot of the stress off. I was able to wear a hat at work immediately following my procedure and it made things very easy. 

Oh I didn't get an HT bro. It's just diffuse thinning.

2 hours ago, Dr Blake Bloxham said:

Hi PA, 

So just to be clear: you started 1mg finasteride in July of 2018, and seemingly did not see any sort of initial shedding phase? By around 4.5 months post-op (November), your hair looked great and you appeared to be an excellent responder to finasteride. Then from November until now, you experienced gradual and worsening thinning to the point where you believe you have pretty much lost all gains? 

Typically people experience a shedding phase for the first 3-4 months; the follicles are somewhat "shocked" into a telogen phase (which lasts around 3-4) and then wake up and begin functioning better -- and growing stronger, healthier terminal hair as a result. If we presume that you did not experience an initial shedding phase but did experience one starting in November, it would likely end around March or so and should start exhibiting noticeable improvement by June or July. 

If you were my patient, I would probably tell you to wait 6 months from when the transition from Telogen (rest) to Anagen (growth) occurred. If we say the resting cycle ended in March, you would maybe want to wait until September before declaring that you have experienced no benefit from the finasteride. 

Now, how likely do I think this is? Probably not too likely. However, I have seen stranger things when it comes androgenic alopecia. 

I also think there is another possibility; and fair warning here: I do not think my experience and opinions when it comes to finasteride are necessarily as "main stream," but I feel pretty confident in what I have seen thus far interacting with thousands of hair loss patients over the past 5 years. 

I personally believe finasteride is a "kick the can down the road" type medication. In the end, androgenic alopecia is genetic. It is like your height, eye color, or any other inevitable physical trait based upon your genetic code. In the end, your genes are going to win out. You take a drug like finasteride and put someone on it while they still have a lot of their own native hair, and it may help them hold on to this hair or hold on to a greater portion of the hair for a longer period. In the end, however, they are still going to get to the same point. It just may take a little longer on finasteride. When you get to a certain point where you have already lost a good portion of hair or maybe the "horse is out of the barn" a bit, the drug tends to do less. You specifically may have been further along in the process, and there was just simply less that the drug could do. Maybe an initial "bump" was all that was possible before your body started making more DHT or expressing more DHT receptors in the follicles because that is its coded mission and there was not much you could do to slow it at this point in the mission. I know this is not the rosiest of theories, but I often find it holds water. While preventive medications are great and I always have a detailed discuss about using them with patients, they do have limitations and they cannot overcome what is hard-coded in your programming. Does this mean you should give up on it if you are not experiencing side effects? No, not necessarily. But it may be time to research other adjuncts (surgery possibly being one of them) to help. Just remember to play it safe and try to stick to tested and approved treatments. 

Again, the above is my educated opinion based upon my experience with the medication and hair loss patients. Other doctors may feel differently and they are absolutely entitled to their own conclusions based upon their experiences. I also say the above not to discourage anyone from using preventive medications; I do think they are useful adjuncts and recommend that all hair loss patients research and consider them. 

 

He is nowhere near baseline. His crown has pretty much filled in. And the density on the top is at least three times that of baseline.

@hairlossPA There was a study in which a person found that finasteride was losing effectiveness for him. He was prescribed 0.5mg dutasteride a week in addition to the finasteride, and that somehow turned things around for him. Within 3 months he was back to having thick hair. 

On 7/5/2019 at 4:46 PM, pkipling said:

Any chance you could use Toppik when it reaches the length that the thinness starts to look noticeable? Then once you have a couple week's worth of growth, you could try a thickening hair paste/pomade, which you would put in when your hair is wet and then blow dry it. I've found this to be a great trick to add density/volume, and it may even allow you to get the desired look without the Toppik. 

Currently at one month of growth, the thinness is most noticeable now. I'm gonna just wear a hat for another month and a half. 

There was that hyped Italian product called Brotzu potion, which came out marketed as Trinov. It was completely useless. 

Nioxin is also pretty much useless. I heard it had some efficacy before the company relocated and the formula changed.

10 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Yea well Caboki but same thing 

I have a few bottles of Caboki. Expensive but really, really effective. 

2 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot

You currently use Toppik, right?

3 hours ago, LaserCap said:

Sure! But it is somewhat expensive in relation to the powders you find out there.  And you have to repeat the process, perhaps in a year, as your body metabolizes the organic ink. 

Yeah, I was shocked to learn that clinics charge 3000 to 4000 to paint what are essentially dots on your head.