ciaus

Just get a loose fitting shirt and pull your arms into the body of the shirt so they can still easily move around/lay at your side.

Be careful about combining smp and hair transplants, one of our members here that's a reputable smp artist has said its better to go with just one or the other. Depending on how well you heal and the skill and tools of the doctor you choose, there could be some areas on your head that look uneven or raised after the hair transplant. "Cobblestoning", "ridging", "pitting" are some terms that are used to refer to these unwanted potential after effects of a hair transplant. Its usually not that big of a deal if you're going to grow your hair out long anyway, since the long hair helps to covers it up. But if you want to do a buzzed look SMP, the hair has to be kept very short to blend in with the smp dots.  

On 10/30/2022 at 7:34 PM, spiral said:

I've shaved my head before and don't absolutely hate it but I do prefer having hair.

Say 5-20 years after my 1st ht, I have some bad recession.

Could I shave my head and look okay or would weird balding patterns and fue scars make it look bad?

These screenshots below are taken from a patient that received verteporphin injections earlier this summer to help minimize scarring right before getting the hairs were removed. If nothing else you can see what the fue extraction scars look like on the left sides.

Verteporphin is an FDA approved drug for treating macular degeneration that has been recently discovered to also inhibit some of the unwanted scarring process that makes scars easier to see. This is still in the experimental phase and @DrTBarghouthi , a member here, is the only doctor known to be conducting actual trial work with a human patient currently. He's also documenting some re-growth of new hairs in the areas the hairs were extracted from, which is very exciting because it means the potential for more hairs to transplant again later on.  The left side screenshots are just normal scarring without any verteporfin, and the ones on the right did get verteporfin. 

From what I've read preventing cobblestoning comes down to the skill of the doctor and staff. Doing things right, not whether its FUE or FUT. If you use the forum search in the top right and put in 'cobblestoning' or 'cobblestone' you'll get alot of discussion results, from scalp to beard cases. Here's two that came back towards the top.

1 minute ago, Mikeyoh said:

do i have to take it all the time ? what happens if i stop ?  

Yes you have to take it every day for the rest of your life. If you stop you lose what you would have lost had you never started.  And it probably won't come back if you try to start it again later.

Yes its ok, you just have to be more careful and conservative about how much hair you get transplanted.  Nobody can tell you much hair you are ever going to lose, that's determined by each person's unique personal genetics. Finasteride can potentially slow down your hair loss rate alot, and for some lucky guys its enough to stop the loss completely. And that can make the difference between running out of hair down the road if your loss continues getting worse.

Since you're already worried about side effects, you're statistically more likely to get side effect-like symptoms even if you're body is able to handle the drug. Its called the nocebo effect. Most guys, myself included, have been taking it for years without any issues. There's a minority of guys that actually get side effects, along with the other guys that have some other underlying health issue or just end up worrying so much about side effects they end up causing similar symptoms.  

If you're willing to start cutting into your head and moving hair around, you owe it to yourself to give finasteride serious consideration. Don't let other people's personal stories that you can't verify, and wouldn't apply to you anyway because you have your own unique genetics, be the deciding factor. My advice is to ignore the online stories and bickering on forums like this, and go to your doctor and discuss it, and try to approach it with an open relaxed mind.

Great work, judging by the way this one likes the sun you'll be seeing him a bit more than the others down the road. Is it possible to get burned like that in Canada?

26 minutes ago, sunsurfhair said:

@Melvin- Moderator this is a sick man and he’s spreading severe disinformation which is bordering on criminal. There is much evidence of this across the forum and he actively attacks anyone who says anything negative against Finasteride. There is no doubt there is an ulterior motive here and I seriously suggest you consider banning him permanently as his completely illogical, uneducated and plain ignorant posts are physically dangerous to forum members and the broader community. 

Speaking of sickness and questionable motives, you've got 164 posts in your account history. If the ones related to finasteride were removed that number would probably drop to single digits, or low double digits. 

One of our members  @EnhancedScalpis a very talented SMP artist. Its been a few months since his last login. He's in the Toronto area and you can check him out here: https://www.enhancedscalp.com

3 hours ago, Viper1991 said:

Hi All,

I have had a FUE around 1.5 years, around the Hairline/temples, and little bit on the crown during covid. Post covid, now, we are called to office once in a while, and soon to be started on a daily basis. I was just wondering, if we should be telling our manager/colleagues that we have had a HT. The thoughts/these questions are distressing me. Am i going to be accepted telling them about the HT or will they judge me wrong. What if they look at my hairline and question me in front of many people? Will i be ridiculed in front of other team mates?

@Gatsby  @Melvin- Moderator @Karan Chawla @pkipling @ciaus@asterix0 @Berba11

@GaryStruthers 

I appreciate not wanting others noticing, doesn't necessarily mean you have serious self confidence issues. That's why I got smaller procedures instead of waiting to do one big one. 

Go get some honest opinions from random strangers in a nearby area store/etc, with similar lighting as your office. Just briefly introduce yourself, and ask for a second to get their quick opinion. But wait until they agree before you tell them what the opinion is about so they can look at you without knowing for sure you've had a hair transplant. When they say yes, in a friendly relaxed manner indicating you can handle the truth, tell them you had the procedure done during lockdown and you're looking for honest opinions on how detectable the work is. This could also help make you more comfortable and capable of talking about the hair transplant if someone at work asks you. Unless you get some opinions that its noticeable, you should be fine not telling anyone.

On 10/7/2022 at 4:58 PM, Bhl said:

I tried finastride about 10 years ago, for the duration of 2 years or so.

I had a bit of decreased sexual drive, and on some days my head would feel like "blank.." and get the sort of "brain-foggines" where I can't think clearly. After I stopped, these problems didn't surface again for 10+ years till now. 

I'm considering going back on it.. and I was just talking to a eugenix consultant where he suggested it's all psychological (where if we worry about side effects, more likely we get the side effects, so positive mindset is more important).

What do you guys think?

That's quite the trolling topic title you picked, way to stir the pot. Maybe its getting harder to bump older topics with older user accounts?

You say yourself in your post the eugenix consultant told you that you're more likely to get side effects if you worry. That's been proven in medical trials, where guys not even part of the groups given the drug started reporting side effect symptoms. And that's not just finasteride, but all drugs in general. Its called the Nocebo effect. But you probably know all this already. 

5 hours ago, Whipaway said:

Hi folks - 

how’s the best way to post a comb through video ?

does it need to be put on something like YouTube or can I add the file straight from my phone ?

thanks 

You mean a video of you combing through your hair to show your current hair loss situation? If you look below the area where you type replies by the paper clip attachment icon there is a list of acceptable file types you can upload directly to the forum. The only supported video file option is for the shorter .GIF format highlighted below. You can try that or youtube if you want to post something longer. But most guys don't do video, they just take some phone pics of their donor and thinning areas and upload those. 

I put aloe gel on it after moisturizing lotion after showers. Bear in mind I'm still buzzing my head down every few days since the covid lockdown started, so depending on hair length and styling that's not going to be something everyone will be able to do. 

22 minutes ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

Oh so like a selsum blue, then Nizoral, then Head and shoulder, then a day off with nothing but water then cycle back?

Yea thats it and I leave them on a few minutes before rinsing.

I use a rotation of shampoos, my dermatologist tells me that helps prevent the condition and my body from adapting to the same ingredient and losing effectiveness. So I'm doing 2% ketoconazole and two over the counter Head and Shoulders shampoos, one with 1% selenium sulfide and one with 1% pyrithione zinc. Two cycles each week (meaning I wash my hair each night with one of them) with one break day between the cycles.

9 minutes ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

Due to skin issues you just microneedle and don’t use minox? Wouldn’t 2mm needles be hard on sensitive skin as well?

No I have a scarring alopecia in remission and seborrheic dermatitis that could flare up if I did topical minox or microneedling. I just use medicated shampoos on my scalp skin to help make sure everything stays calm and take oral minox and oral finasteride.

1 minute ago, RTC said:

Used to do it but heard it can cause micro-scarring on the scalp long-term...

What prescription or magnifying glass strength would one need to even see a 'micro' scar? lol I'd be verifying that with a dermatologist instead of going by what you've heard, even if it was around here. 

On 9/24/2022 at 10:22 PM, BaldBobby said:

Who wants to microneedle for the rest of their lives? Not me. 

More importantly, who wants to be bald for the rest of their lives?

If running a little microneedler over my head for about a minute every few days helps the minoxidil absorb and work better, and maybe has some added benefits from the body repair processes generated from the micro wounds. That sounds like a relatively small price to pay to help maximize my hair shaft thickness and growth cycle synchronization.

My skin is too sensitive for topical minoxidil and microneedling because of some skin conditions. But from what I've seen online the .5 and .75 length ranges provide great results as well. I wouldn't bother going longer than .75 

He has really aged bad, not just in terms of hair. While the weight gain isn't healthy, it at least helps his face look better than it otherwise would if he was still lean.

There's a saying women have when they get older, a catch22 of aging. Can't remember the exact wording, but the jist is

Either having a sunken/deflated/face that comes with having a lean body  VS. fuller face that comes from an overweight body. Brendan is currently benefiting from the later, along with some cosmetic enhancements, I would imagine judging by the last picture below.

1 hour ago, Westview said:

I would listen to their advice and avoid any clinic who says otherwise, because Eugenix's results are excellent

The video linked by the original poster is from Eugenix. I don't speak Hindu and I'm guessing he doesn't either. 

If you look at the 6:15 mark he references below, and then about 15 seconds later the next marked photo with english, it indicates the beard hair is best placed in the midscalp where it will blend the best, instead of the central crown. Which makes sense. 

2 hours ago, NARMAK said:

Personally i think using beard hair in the peripheral areas just outside the recreated whorl is best because it can add density but not make it look weird if the whorl looks "off" if that makes sense. 

Outside the whirl is arguably the mid-section area of the head, at least in the forward facing direction. I think anybody wanting to use beard grafts should let their beard grow out for at least 6 months, if not a year, to see how it curls and kinks at various lengths. Most guys shave or trim to stay below a few months growth length and never get to really know what they're dealing with. Moustache wax exists for a reason, and its for more than holding neat twists at the edges of moustaches .  

On 9/12/2022 at 7:12 PM, Es1 said:

I know you're against it from what I've saw lol

I am too but feeling desperate! Anything you could suggest as I'm sure you'd say I'm too early as well

Melvin isn't against finasteride or minoxidil. Those are the big two, millions of guys have been taking them for decades to hang on to as much hair as possible. 

22 hours ago, Gokuhairline said:

why keep experimenting if you've had issues twice ? I don't understand why people are so adamant on this finasteride drug lol almost seems like an obsession. good luck tho.

Because its the only studied approved drug that actually addresses the root cause of hair loss and we don't all have endless amounts of donor hair and money to throw at hair transplants. 

Best of luck @Gatsby and make sure everything else is in your life is staying dialed in, good diet, sleep, stress management etc. Wish you could back to before you read any of the online stuff about finasteride and approach this with a more relaxed and open perspective. 

I know the first transplant is kind of like your first kid, making you overly concerned and cautious. But ultimately it comes down to putting in the time and research to find a good reputable hair transplant doctor with verified results. And trusting their expertise. The details that vary, at least among top doctors, are not going to be enough to make or break your final results. Give the most weight to your doctor's instructions, because if your results end up being subpar, or you have unexpected issues, you want to be able to honestly engage with the staff. You won't be able to do that if you're secretly following instructions you've read somewhere else instead of the ones you were given.

The front is usually the first hair to go for alot of guys, and the hardest to maintain even with finasteride. That's not to say all hope is lost, since you've lost it fairly recently you might get some re-growth. But even if you don't, hair loss is a lifelong battle over more than just the front of your head. You need to make some far-reaching decisions on whether you are going to accept the loss or do something about it. Alot of guys, even those of us taking finasteride, still often get hair transplants to address the frontal area while the finasteride helps protect the more resilient hair in the middle and crown areas in the back.   

12 months of finasteride will let you know where you stand, and it will help strengthen your existing vulnerable hairs to better survive the surgery traumas if you do get hair transplants.