Superfueled

I’ve been diagnosed by a dermatologist with alopecia areata, alopecia barbae, and sebhorric dermatitis. Oral minoxidil gave me palpitations, corticosteroids doesn’t seem to regrow the hair, and injectable dutasteride doesn’t seem to have really helped me. Is a hair transplant necessary? I’ve had to grow my hair out long to avoid displaying my bald spots and weak areas. It’s really disheartening. I’m split on finasteride because of the Libido stories as well. As far as I know, my hair loss is auto immune and mostly occurs during waves of inflammation on the scalp.
 

Please see photos below for reference. (About every 6 months, I have a flare-up and notice even more thinning spots) I’ve also attached a photo of a scar I have that I’m uncomfortable with that I’m wondering about a transplant for. Unfortunately the hair around the scar got worse since it was taken, as can be seen by my other photos. 
 

Can I please get some advice? Thank you

Bump

I think I was at 2.5 mg on oral minox

8 minutes ago, Shadman said:

Your donor actually looking good when you're growing out hair. In terms of time frame, what's the difference between these two set of photos ?

I’ve probably been growing out my hair for like 3-4 months since I got tapered with a 2’. 
 

The two scars in photo #1 (original post) are from childbirth, and the patchiness in the later photos are from SebDerm and Alopecia barbae. 

I tried doing oral minoxidil with my derm for 3 weeks but my heart couldn’t take it. I also feel scared about libido issues with finasteride

I have a scar on my hand and some emergency c-section scars (born with) on the back of my head. Would vorteporfin be able to regenerate hair on these scars? I’m fine testing on these areas. I just planned on having them removed/revised at some point.

5 hours ago, UKLad81 said:

I have a similar issue and i think it could be retrograde alopecia. I have noted the same kind of thinning above the ears and sideburn area and the nape region. Check with your doctor / dermatologist if Minox will help you. 

@UKLad81Interesting. I asked my dermatologist if it was retrograde alopecia and he adamantly feels that it’s a no. He’s told me I’m likely experiencing some minor hair loss from a combo of alopecia barbae (hence little circles on my beard and side burn areas). And him and I concluded that the hair loss around the nape, ears, and sideburns is from inflammations and scratching.

When my scalp loss was at its worst, I was scratching intensely, having minor shooting pains in the scalp region, and was experiencing redness. I’ll attach some photos of the swelling during peak inflammation. I had two dermatologists hypothesize that this is sebhorric dermatitis with hair loss from itching + untreated inflammation. 

You’ll also see some photos of what my hair looks like now grown out long. It provides full coverage for the most part, as long as I stick with either a wolfcut or gentlemen’s flow. Just not ideal. 
 

Would love to know how wrecked my donor area is.

Bumping. Please help

I might as well throw in some of my other photos too, since it’s a little more than just sideburns.

This has been happening over 6 months and my dermatologist seems to think I’m dealing with mild forms of alopecia areata and sebhorric dermatitis. I think it could be retrograde alopecia as well but I have no idea. I’ve grown my hair out in recent months to help hide the balding.

Strange thing is that I can sometimes go for as long as 3 months without symptoms or flareups, but my left sideburn just recently started itching and I noticed some more patchiness working it way up.

I’ve dug around online and the info on this subject is pretty bare bones.

About every 3 months I have to shave a little higher on my sideburns to keep them looking even. Unfortunately, it’s getting too high for my comfort level and I’m afraid I’m going to need a transplant to correct this. I have no idea why this is happening.

I also have a minor form of alopecia areata, and I notice that my sideburn hair loss accelerates when my diet becomes unhealthy. Eating clean is the only thing that seems to help. Otherwise, it gets inflamed/itches and leaves in little patchy areas.

Please help

edit: here are the two scars I was born with (c-section scars) before my SebDerm started flaring up.

Would any of the doctors he partners with in his office be good choices? I did some research on him and it looks like he gets booked back almost a year.

The photo in this post includes two scars that I’ve had since I was born. Apparently I was an emergency c-section and something happened, so I’ve had these my whole life. The rest of my head is fine. Can I get some feedback on who the best surgeons in my area would be for this type of job?

I had an eyebrow transplant done in 2020 with a subpar clinic in Hollywood, California. I am not satisfied with my results.
 

Problems

1. Many of the hairs grew out at wrong angles, and did not fill in the bald areas as promised during consultation. 

2. It dawned on me about 6 months after stitch removal that one was forgotten, and now it either needs to be dug out or left there since my skin has apparently grown over it.

3. The clinic recommended scar revision instead of a hair transplant for scarring that I was born with. I rejected the  recommended procedure since I didn’t have the money at the time for it. I found out this was actually a good thing I did.

MY GOALS

I am interested in pursuing Dr. Nadimi at the Chicago Hair Institute to fill-in the large scars in the back of my head (The ones I was born with + the one from the eyebrow transplant) and I would also like my eyebrows corrected the right way this time. We were supposed to meet last summer for a procedure, but covid threw off plans. 

More importantly, I would like to know if digging out a potential suture or abscess that has potentially had skin grow over it will complicate the procedure. 

I’ll attach some photos below of my problem areas in different lightings. 
 

[Again, I was born with the two scars on the back of my head. They are not from a transplant. I’m also a Norwood -1 and very hairy if donor hair is a concern]

Long story short, I went against the advice on this form some time ago and had an eyebrow transplant with Dr. Champagne. My eyebrows unfortunately did not come out as advertised during the consultation. Bald spots were leftover and angles of hair are off. The good news is that my trip to California  led to me finding love with my now partner, so all isn’t so bad.

I’m wondering what I should expect for two procedures in the same FUE surgery. Scar repair (I was born with these scars) and a small hair transplant. I will attach images below. 

Again: I was born with the two scars on the back of my head. Not from an FUT.

I probably should have asked this earlier but didn’t think about it.

Would I have to shave my hair with an FUE transplant? I sometimes wear my hair at around a 2 or 3, but I’ve seen photos where dudes shave down to a 0 for their transplant procedures.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I’m definitely leaning towards FUE now. My surgery is in Mid-June. Maybe I’ll make a post sometime around then about my scar repair journey.

What happens if I opt for scar revision? Do I get a pencil thin mark or is that unrealistic?

Hi. I don’t have a history of hair loss, but I have scars from a c-section mishap from when I was born. They almost look like FUT scars on the back of my head. (Images of my hairline below)
 

After a recent consultation with Dr. Nadimi, she strongly recommended I opt for an FUE transplant (Around 300-350) grafts. Although, she is fine doing revision as well. 
 

My question: Is her recommendation for FUE (About 300-350 grafts) the best choice if I want to wear a buzz cut and not have visible scars showing? Or should I opt for scar revision? I have seen debate on whether or not blood supply in scars is good enough for decent results, and I am worried about poor coverage if I simply opt for a FUE over a scar revision.

Aged 22 and Norwood 0.