fitwhynot

I've been using Minoxidil topical and Finasteride oral since over 14 months. I have noticed some gains and improvement but my crown is still very thin; I don't have good coverage and the hairs that remain only grow to a certain length. I am wondering if I should switch to Dutasteride now because I've seen some stories of people switching and getting good regrowth. Has anyone done this? Is it recommended to do so?

Yes, he did. Unfortunately the only resolution Rahal can offer is to add more grafts to the hairline, or remove the remaining pluggy-looking grafts. I've seen a dermatologist to alleviate some of the redness with a yellow laser which helped some, but it is largely not an aesthetically great looking results in terms of the hairline.

I'm a reasonable person, and can fully understand this logic so I will wait. My disappointment however lies here: I was initially told during the online consult that my hairline and crown would be able to be filled during one hair transplant. When I arrived to the office the day before the surgery, I was told that only the frontal zones would receive grafts, and that I would have to come back for a second HT with Dr.Rahal for the crown. Now, I am being told that the crown is not a good candidate for a hair transplant. Additionally, grafts from a previous botche HT were removed and the hairline was designed higher (based on Dr.Rahal's advice). I was told the skin will heal and the previous hairline design / scar tissue will not be noticeable - but it is, and I've been treated by various Dermatologist with trentinoin, steroid cream and laser but the redness still remains. Can you understand the frustration on my part? Dr. Rahal is a great surgeon who does great work, I just wish there would have been more honesty about what is possible with my case, all factors considered.

Looks really good, but you also had a lot more hair than I have. I hope you have a great result, even if it takes longer (as the crown sometimes does, if I’m not mistaken?). Good luck!

Can you post pics of your HT?

I tried fibers a long time ago and didn’t quite like them. Don‘t they wash away if they get super wet or look unnatural in the sunlight? Additionally I would find it hard to find fibers to match my true hair color I think. Do you recommend a specific brand?

I've seen a stabilization in my hair-loss, improvement in hair quality, but not necessarily very much re-growth. (This applies to the crown as well)

Yours is in way better shape than mine lol, nice!

Can I see what yours looks like?

I'm 34 years old. I've been on oral finasteride since 7 months. I've been on topical minoxidil since 11 months. I derma-roll 1x every two weeks with 1.5 an automatic derma-stamper (hence the redness in some of the photos). I've seen a stabilization in my hair-loss, improvement in hair quality, but not necessarily very much re-growth. (Somehow my hair looks better in these photos than it does in person) Am a I good candidate for a crown transplant? I consulted with Dr. Rahal and he informed me that it's too early, due to potential shock-loss, I may not see much benefit. I'm partial to disagree though.

What does your dermatologist think of microneedle?

Who provides steroid injections, your dematologist?

What's your situation exactly? And do you have any progress pics? He removed the grafts because the hairline was initially designed too low by a terrible surgeon - as a result the hairline was designed higher, exposing the locations of the removed grafts.

Had a hair transplant done by Rahal and instead of retaining the initially established hairline set by my initial surgeon, Rahal decided to remove the grafts and place them elsewhere in the scalp - I agreed to this decision of course because he designs very good hairlines and his team does good work. Unfortunately after about 6 months I still have scar tissue and redness which renders my hairline to look pretty unnatural. I've posted about this before but I haven't received any decent feedback/advice yet. I've already seen a dermatologist and they prescribed a cream, but I have no seen an improvement in appearance over the last 4 months. What would you do?

Another set of pictures - seems I am still experiencing some slight improvement. Although, nothing earth shattering.

any results?

I'm currently using topical min, duta in combination with micro-needling, but would adding topical fin to this treatment be advised? Wondering if anyone else using topical fin/topical duta together. It looks like this study did just that: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2011/241953/

It’s okay. Hoping to fill in this crown without surgery, maybe after another 3 months I will have some serious progress :).

100 days of topical Minox (2x day), micro-needling (1x week) and topical Dutasteride (normally 3x week, .1% each time). existing hair quality appears to have improved. photo on left was taken before hair transplant surgery (no grafts were placed in the crown; notice the blue line drawn in the zone above my crown). i have a bald spot in the crown still, but it is becoming slowly recovering maybe? looking forward to the next few months.

Let us know when you start seeing improvements!

My thought is: how could DUT not go systemic if one is micro-needling immediately before applying it topically? I'm not a dermatologist but I would suspect my DHT would be significantly higher if I wasn't micro-needling immediately before application.

The grafts were removed and placed further back. As you can see, it’s noticeable.

Sorry, can you show your calculation?

Applying DUT without micro-needling will probably result in much less systemic absorption than what I am experiencing. I am applying DUT immediately after micro-needling, which will make it go systemic. For me, it's more so about how much goes systemic. Simply said: my DHT reduction is probably less than what it would be if I was using an oral DHT blocker (like fin or duta); I'm more than okay with 43% reduction of DHT from micro-needling and using duta; especially considering I have no sides. Check out this study regarding oral finasteride DHT reduction: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10495374/ "Scalp skin DHT levels declined significantly by 13.0% with placebo and by 14.9%, 61.6%, 56. 5%, 64.1%, and 69.4% with 0.01, 0.05, 0.2, 1, and 5 mg doses of finasteride, respectively. Serum DHT levels declined significantly (P <.001) by 49.5%, 68.6%, 71.4%, and 72.2% in the 0.05, 0.2, 1, and 5 mg finasteride treatment groups, respectively." Yes; practically all day to be honest.

Would you be willing to do a blood test for DHT and T? Would be interesting to know what your levels are at with your approach.