Future Hair Doc

As mentioned, both Dr. Konior and Dr. Panine are well regarded and are elite coalition members. Feel free to private message me as well if you'd like and please document your journey for the forum. All the best Adam.

Good post. I started noticing that I was balding in my early 20s as well with temporal hair loss that progressed to the crown and frontal aspect of my scalp. I should have started on finasteride/minoxidil MUCH earlier and could have salvaged that hair.

@Dr Blake Bloxham and @Dr. Vladimir Panine consistently produce amazing results.

Wow, simply stunning. An amazing transformation. Another homerun by @Dr. Carlos Wesley Thank you for sharing.

Very nice and refined work. The Pt's hair characteristics helped as well. Thank you for sharing.

Sublingual route goes into your bloodstream much more quickly and there's less degradation of the medicine so it's efficacy is increased. That's why we have patients carry sublingual nitroglycerin to take when they have chest pain (it relieves anginal chest pain).

I'm trying to find any published research on finasteride and any negative affects on kidneys and haven't found much. Please let us know if you come across this

"Conclusion: Oral minoxidil was found to be an effective and well-tolerated treatment alternative for healthy patients having difficulty with topical formulations." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32622136/ "Conclusion: Oral minoxidil 5 mg once daily effectively increased hair growth in our male patients with AGA and had a good safety profile in healthy subjects. However, oral minoxidil should be used carefully with men who have severe hypertension and increased risk for cardiovascular events." https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13555-020-00448-x

I've gotten 2 hair transplants and will be getting at least 1 more. I'm on topical finasteride/minoxidil, which has stabilized my hair loss and thickened my existing hairs. I probably have about 5k grafts left to use so will be using that for the crown, about 1k for the front 1/3 for further density, and the remaining for the back 2/3. I can relate to the toll it takes on your mental health since I went through it. You're lucky you found this forum. I wish I had known about it sooner and had gone to a recommended surgeon on here. Please feel free to reach out via private message if you'd like and all the best buddy.

That's around the same age I started having my hair loss. I wish I had hopped on finasteride and minoxidil sooner.

I haven't come across any patients having kidney issues while on oral finasteride.

It's good you've hopped on finasteride. Are you taking oral finasteride? Also, are you taking topical minoxidil?

FUE donor site holes close by a combination of scar tissue formation and the skin naturally closing in. It looks like the donor sites may have been too close together and consequently you might have subdermal fibrosis. Have you talked with your surgeon about this or seen another medical doctor? Feel free to private message me as well.

Great results. Looks completely natural and the work is ultra refined. The hairline frames his face well. Thank you for sharing

Interesting thought. Do you have a background in the biomedical sciences? Your posts are very well informed.

Thanks for sharing. There are other studies (including meta-analysis) showing dutasteride has a higher rate of side effects than finasteride, which makes sense since there's less circulating DHT with dutasteride versus finasteride. The question is basically is this higher rate of side effects STATISTICALLY significant. https://escholarship.org/content/qt24k8q743/qt24k8q743_noSplash_a1e8afffb231f05b00ab34aa7352f16a.pdf https://www.medicaljournals.se/acta/content/html/10.2340/00015555-3035 https://www.urologytimes.com/view/finasteride-had-fewer-sexual-side-effects-compared-dutasteride-men-bph

Drugs have half-lives because they're cleared by the body (whether it's by the liver through the cytochrome p450 pathway, kidneys, etc). Topical finasteride will not accumulate in our body to enough a significant degree to cause systemic side effects. Please share a study in a reputable journal that shows topical finasteride has systemic side effects. I'm sure there are RARE cases of hypersensitivity reactions, but thankfuly, I haven't come across any such cases in my patients. Every doctor with decades of more experience than me that I've talked to hasn't had a patient with systemic side effects. I'm a big proponent of science. If there's science behind your assertion, please share it.

I said systemic side effects, I didn't say NO side effects. That's a big difference. The only side effect I've seen is irritation/itching due to contact dermatitis.

Please post those studies so I can take a look. How would a local medicine reduce DHT more than a systemic medicine? That premise doesn't make any sense. It's like saying topical neosporin will kill more bacteria in your body than an IV antibiotic.

Dutasteride is a heavy hitter...works on 2 isoforms of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase so it is more effective than finasteride. Consequently, the chances of side effects are greater than finasteride.

PM sent. All the best buddy!

As others have mentioned, this is completely normal. Just be patient as this stage. I know it's easier said than done. But hang in there buddy

The general tightness feeling will last for about 4-6 months. It all depends on your scalp laxity and the the skills of the surgeon and your healing properties.

You'll need older pics to compare with current pics. From what you've shown us so far, I would say no.

You should be fine driving the day after the procedure. They may give you a benzodiazepine for anxiety prior to your procedure and reputable clinics will tell you not to drive the same day and it will be a low dose probably. You picked a great surgeon in @Dr. Robert Dorin Please keep the community posted on your journey and happy growing buddy!