HelpfulFriend

6 hours ago, Cantstandya said:

Dr. Blake Bloxham basically only performs FUT and is great at it. Why are you only considering FUT? FUE is as good as FUT now. 

Hey mate,

Just based on the idea that it's best to start with FUT, and then move onto FUE for those of us that will need a few surgeries down the line, and who have very a aggressive family history of balding.

I had read this from a few surgeons in the past, but I'm not too sure if this is still the current approach.

2 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Very few surgeons still perform FUT. I would say Dr. Wong (Hasson does like 1 FUT per year), Dr. Cooley, Dr. Gabel, Dr. Rose, Dr. Nusbaum, Dr. Nadimi, Dr. Muresanu, Dr. Bernstein.

Hi Melvin,

Do you think that this is due to FUE becoming almost an equivalence by now?

Is the school of thought for those like myself (who need to be very conservative) still to start with FUT, and then move onto FUE to maximise donor?

Or has this gone the way of the past?

Cheers

2 hours ago, yesplease said:

Ahh ok

Well, if he can’t afford konior, he likely can’t afford Wong, either. 

Oh damn, I was under the impression that Wong was a bit cheaper? I think for my amount of grafts I'd be looking at about 35k USD for Konior, but someone said Hasson would be approx 15k. Perhaps they were mistaken. Do you know of his cost per grafts?

Hey all,

Looking for an FUT due to a really bad family history of balding. I'm currently 31 and NW3, on both fin and minox.

I've got konior at the top, but I was wondering if people know of/had been to any other docs who conduct really good FUT?

I know lots of places offer it, but I've heard that surgeons are often better at one or another (FUE or FUT)

Konior is probably too pricey for me, unfortunately. Hence the question. 

Thank you.

Hey all,

I've been on Finasteride and Minoxidil for about 6 years, and it held my baseline very well.

This was up until recently. About 6 months ago, I started noticing thinning in my frontal region, just on the exterior of my frontal lock.

It's thinned considerably over this time, whereas there was no visible thinning prior to this.

I go to a dermatologist every 6 months to get my photos taken, and there was never any visible instance of loss prior to this.

I find it odd that the meds would all of the sudden lose their potency, or that the DHT inhibition has suddenly grown too weak for my hair - but I've made no real lifestyle changes that could account for the lost ground.

I've added a photo that shows the temple regions, but it's occurring at the front now too.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience similar loss despite being on Fin and Minox, and if it was all down hill from here. Feeling pretty despondent about visible loss despite the meds.

Thanks all.

Here's a link to a recent topic I posted with phots, but I've only just thought about the dermarolling having caused an issue potentially

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/63018-hair-has-recently-began-to-thin-for-first-time-in-years-risky-to-get-a-ht/#comment-632975

I started microneedling my frontal lock/temple areas when I noticed they were a little thin, compared to the rest of my hair.

I used a Dr Pen, and went 1.5mm once every two weeks, for about 1.5 months. Since then, those regions have thinned dramatically.

It could simple be a coincidence, and my loss has recently accelerated, but I'm wondering if I could have induced a thinning/shed. Perhaps 1.5mm was too much for my scalp thickness?

For reference, been on Finasteride and oral minox for 5 years, dermarolling is the only new addition to the stack 

Cheers

Sounds like a solid idea mate, very keen to see how well it works. I've read very good things about topical DUT.

May I ask why the others didn't work? Was it because of sides, or simply not a lot of results?

My only suggestion would be to consult the most recent studies using DUT and mesotherapy, and see if there's elements of their methodology that are consistent.

All the best!

10 hours ago, NARMAK said:

I would say if you are on medication and Minoxidil alongside Microneedling and noticing it thinning, you might benefit from trying to now switch to Dutasteride 0.5mg on some days. Some people introduce it 1x to 2x a week alongside Finasteride. 

Firstly, what is your Finasteride dose? 1mg everyday? 

Microneedling also will take longer than 2 months to show up as effective. You need to really allow a similar timescale of 12+ months to let results fully manifest. 

Overall you look like a Norwood 2, very early stages of hair loss and since you been on medication and stuff for 5 years, you done well to catch it where you did. 

If you haven't been using 1mg of Finasteride every day, then increasing the dose might help and you should be able to check in 3-6 months time, but you may be ready to switch to Dutasteride. 

I was thinking about adding DUT, just a bit hesitant to be honest. I have no FIN sides, but I'm unsure about suppressing so much DHT. Have you tried it? I've seen people have amazing results on it 

The pictures are kind in a way, because I cut off most of my head you can't see, but I'm probably closer to a NW3.

If anything dermarolling seemed to have accelerated the loss on my temples, but I may have done it too hard and caused a mini shed. I started after I was told it was thinning.

9 hours ago, gillenator said:

Based on the pics, there is diffused loss taking place in those areas and the most obvious risk as it relates to surgery would be shock loss.

Hey Gill, when you say diffuse, does this mean something different to normal androgenic alopecia? Or just localised thinning?

8 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

How old are you?

6 hours ago, Ryan Daniel said:

Finasteride for 5 years? Hmmm. 

Would like to know how old you are....  

I was going to say give the medication another year and then pull the trigger for transplantation..

Forgot to mention, I just turned 31

Hey guys,

My hair has recently started to noticeably thin for the first time in a long time.

I've been on Finasteride and monoxidil for 5 years, and microneedling for a few months - but noticed the temples starting to go not too long ago.

Ive attached some photos. The thinning bits on the side used to be uniform like the rest of my hair, and my dermatologist confirmed under magnification it's thinning there.

My question: is it risky to undergo a HT when we're actively thinning?

Cheers.

Hey all,

I was thinking about this the other day, eager to hear your thoughts.

For those destined to be high NW's, i.e. 6/7, what are peoples thoughts about getting FUE dispersed mostly up front, and general coverage everywhere else - and then getting SMP all over?

Does anyone know if this creates a sort of illusion for a buzzed look?

Not in this stage yet myself, but thought it could be an option if all fails

You hide it really well, so it's definitely not urgent.

Definitely ask a lot of doctors, get a few opinions

On 2/9/2022 at 7:16 AM, BeHappy said:

I am a NW 7. I was taking finasteride for 11 years. The first few years I saw some minor improvement. The next few years I was probably stable. The last few years I was losing hair again. After 11 years I was at the point where I obviously had less hair than when I started. At that time I stopped using it.

 

This is my concern, to be honest.

That within 10 years or so I will be back to losing my hair, and if I follow my family history, I won't be able to cover it with transplants

Hey guys, 

Thanks so much for the great responses. 

This forum always gives me peace of mind.

I was considering dutasteride, even topically, but it's hard to find a lot of research on it. I believe the half life of DUT is a lot longer than fin, so would one potentially use it ever few days?

I might chat to my local HT surgeon about treatments.

I'm happy to go down the HT route, but I want my loss to stabilise a bit before I do.

Thanks again all.

Hey mate,

Hope everything ended up okay!

Went through a bad seasonal shed myself, really unenjoyable.

All the best 

Hey mate,

Absolutely fantastic write-up.

I'm in a similar boat, an Aussie, debating whether I make the journey to the US or not.

Your results look reeeaally clean, and it looks like it's going to be a fantastic result. You can already see the difference it will make aesthetically.

All the best!

Hey all,

Been on FIN for about 6 years myself.

My older brother and father are both NW6, Dad is almost NW7. My loss has been NW3 for about 5 years or so (due to fin, I'd assume).

My question, does anyone know if Finasteride is strong enough to slow down hairloss genetics that are this strong?

My concern: that even on meds, I will lose more and more hair, to the point that transplants cannot cover my losses.

I know this is really hard to say for sure, but interested to hear people's throughts.

12 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Dr. Arika is conservative, more so, than a lot of doctors. Dr. Sethi is aggressive, depends on the surgeon you choose. 

I've seen some of Dr Wong's results, and he makes grafts go a long way.

I also saw some of Dr Konior's results last night, he seems to do a lot with 2k grafts, and looks to take a very long-term approach

Hey all,

Little bit about me: 30 years old, NW3, been on fix and minox for 5+ years - and have an intense family history of balding on my father's side.

I'm looking to go super conservative, i.e. deal with a 5-head, and just fill in the temple regions. 

I wear my hair long, and always have, so I pretty much have it hanging over my frontal region anyway.

My question, are there any particular surgeons who spring to mind when taking a conservative approach? I.e. making the grafts go as far as possible?

I should mention that I will also be opting for FUT, for this reason.

Cheers!

Hey all,

I was wondering if any Aussies on here have ordered/got topical dutasteride? And if so, where from, and was it reliable in terms of shipping/time frame?

I've been on Finasteride and oral minox for about 5 years, and it's done a good job at slowing my progression, but I'm finally seeing thinning in my frontal lock (I'm roughly NW3) - so it appears as though the meds are giving up some ground to my genetics.

I had my derm check my hair under magnification, and she confirmed that it is thinning slightly up top. Which hasn't occurred since we started consulting.

Thinking about going solely on topical dut and minox, with microneedling.

Thanks in advance, fam.

I don't think there's any point in adding fin.

Minox, dut, and mixcroneedling is pretty much the best thing you can possibly do.

Im thinking about switching from oral fin to topical dut, just need a reliable supplier.

Hey mate, great write up, and great results so far. Congratulations!

I'm also in melbs, my story sounds like yours. Very extensive family history of loss on both sides, and I'm a bit hesitant about going overseas.

I didn't know we had many reputable surgeons on aus, but Vikram seems like he pumps out some solid procedures. 

Happy growing

Smp looks fantastic mate!