splitting hairs

This is going to be an amazing end result, consistent with the rest of dr hasson's work. You researched well, picked the best surgeon around and soon you will reap the benefits.

The next few months will be tough, but concentrate on other things and try not to look in the mirror too much. Good luck.

I think its difficult to say how efective propecia will be in slowing hair loss in a young guy. Generally, the younger you start to lose hair, the faster you lose it.

But the propecia trials showed the sooner you start propecia, the better it works for you, and it works for longer too.

I think that the earlier you start propecia, the better.

to be honest, hair loss is a side effect of lyrica, but if that was the case, the hair loss would NOT have the distinct male pattern baldness pattern. Hair loss is a side effect of quite a few drugs, but is very rare (except with chemotherapy).

I think its safe to say that if you've got recession at the temples and/or a thinning crown, the lyrica is not causing your hairloss.

I personally would go for strip. At 31, you'll probably lose more hair, whether you continue finasteride or not, although taking it will help.

Do you have a family history of advanced hairloss? If so, I would go for a strip session and subsequent strip sessions in the future as your hairloss progresses, use up your laxity, then go for FUE. You'll get more grafts this way.

Going for FUE first will reduce your donor density, making strip sessions in the future less productive. You have to think for the long term. Best of luck.

The truth is, hairloss is due to genetics, and DHT shortens the hair cycle, accelerating it - Quote from the new propecia leaflet. Genetics plays a massive role in hair loss, and truthfully we don't really understand it.

At this point, the only answer we can give is: it's because of your genes. And yeah, it sucks!!

I personally would steer clear of any therapy that hasn't been proven to be safe in humans. Effectiveness in a handful of animals doesn't mean it will work in humans.

Someone mentioned it won't be absorbed systemically - that's not the case at all. The drug is lipophilic - meaning it will cross the skin and be absorbed into the bloodstream.

In fact, with products like shampoos and the like, a surprising amount of active ingredient is absorbed.

If you do go ahead with an experimental drug - you risk doing more harm than good.

My advice, if you can't take Finasteride, is to look into topical finasteride. Someone mentioned on the forums recently that Hasson and Wong have a guy that compounds it for their patients who can't take the tablet. It's worth a shot.

Very nice work as always!!! Is this guy on Propecia to prevent further loss??

Jotronic, just out of interest, Have you had any patients come back to you for further work due to their hairloss progressing despite being on propecia??

Thanks.

Dr Mohmand, with a lot of your work being on local people from pakistan and india, do you feel that they have any hair characteristics that make a hair transplant better or worse. For example, thicker hair?? I am asking as although I am from the UK, my family is of indian origin.

I see DHI being advertised here in the UK all the time in newspapers and Menshealth magazines etc. To be honest, it looks as though its basically FUE. I wouldn't go anywhere near DHI though, go to a prescreened top doc recommended here. If you want FUE, you will have to look outside the UK - I would recommend Feller In New York and Shapiro Medical Group. You could also look at Devroye in Brussels.

DHI haven't got bad press for no reason. They've ruined peoples lives and luckily for you, those people have shared their story to help others. Listen to them.

Sorry pal, but I believe in evidence based medicine too. There are far too many people out there in the big bad world trying to make a living out of offering false hopes and promises to hairloss sufferers.

Like Bill said, if you've got proof - then show us it.

Don't get me wrong, the work itself is very good, but 7400 grafts!! It seems like overkill for such a small area and poor planning for the future. I can't help but feel a good result could have been achieved with 3000-3500 grafts.

Spex,

Is PRP up and running over here yet?

Performing A HT on a young guy is, in most cases not a good decision. The ONLY time when I personally feel that a HT is appropriate for a young guy is when his hair loss is more advanced (atleast a NW 3V) and a procedure would involve packing 3000 grafts into the front third. This means the surgery is a one pass procedure - that is, if his hairloss progresses, he will still be left with a natural appearance. He can then decide whether he wants further hair transplants. The guy should also be on Propecia and the new hairline should be reasonably mature.

The best example I have seen of this is with Thana.

This is my opinion which I have formed from my research. I am actually a NW 3 at 23, with my crown intact. Last year, I was desperate for a HT, but after thorough research on these forums, I decided to put off a transplant for now, so I'm not left with a tuft of hair at each temple.

For now, I'm on Propecia, use nanogen fibres when I go out and will probably give PRP a shot. I've decided that when my hairloss progresses I'm off to H&W.

I guess TC17 is right - I matured at 23 and made the informed decision.

IMO, I think a lot of young guys don't realise that propecia won't work forever - that in fact on average it's effectiveness begins to fade at year 5. This was my misconception.

Don't go anywhre near the wimpole clinic!! That Michael May knows less about good transplants than most of the members on this site. I've heard a quite a few stories of poor results from him. I went there for a consult, but luckily found this site.

Farjo is the best in the UK. But don't choose your surgeon on location - look around - consider the US and Canada.

Good luck.

Dr Jones has been doing PRP too, but is saying he's had pretty poor results with it.

http://www.drrobertjones.com/blog.html

Hey TomR, glad to see your back on the meds. Despite having a prp treatment, DHT was still always going to be one of the main underlying causes of hairloss, since the proposed mechanism of prp does nothing to prevent dht induced hairloss.

PRP is still experimental, so it's better if you stick with what you know works and use prp as an add on therapy - otherwise you risk losing ground

You seem to be on a pretty high dose of finasteride. I guess when you've been on it for as long as you have, the effectiveness fades, so you need a higher dose. What's with the twice daily dosing?? I thought a single dose of Fin suppressed 5 alpha reductase for 72 hours. Although the half life is short.

Originally posted by HairHope:

While I recognize the importance of staying postive, it is unclear to me what type of evidence is convincing you? Have you seen any data at all published? Have you seen pre-post hair count or hair diameter data?

 

I would love more than anyone for PRP to work, however - like any health issue, I'm not comfortable getting people's hopes up without at least some evidence. This is my opinion!

Hey hairhope, take a look at this:

http://www.grecohairrestoratio...loads/grantpaper.pdf

Vitamin supplements are good, but all these can be obtained through a healthy balanced diet.

The reality however, is that most cases of hairloss in men are due to male pattern baldness. Hairloss due to poor nutrition is very rare in developed countries.

By all means, take vitamin supplements, but you will almost certainly need a DHT blocker if you are experiencing male pattern baldness.

Only one is licenced for treating hairloss, and that is Propecia.

DHT has many roles in the body, including maintaining sex drive and is also implicated in hairloss.

Therefore, any treatment that reduces DHT (propecia decreases it by 65%) could potentially affect sex drive.

You could try a herbal supplement like saw palmetto, but please bear in mind that it is an unproven therapy and has not been tested on a large scale like propecia has.

Side effects with propecia only occurs in 2% of patients on propecia, and they go away on discontinuing treatment. Infact, some of those men who got sides decided to continue treatment and they went away.

You also need to remember that in the propecia study, 1.4% of patients getting the placebo (sugar pill) reported reduced sex drive.

Hey man, I started propecia last year when I was 22. I get it on private prescription from my Doctor, then get it from my local pharmacy.

It works out at ??30 a month, although some places charge ??50.

Spex's doctor should be fine, but I wouldn't get meds online from anyone else.

Well done for doing you research and you've found the right place now. From your pics, your hair looks ok. Yeah there is a slight recession on either side, but it's not as bad as mine and I'm four years younger than you.

You've done the right thing by getting on meds. I suspect the fine hairs you mention are a result of the rogaine. Please remember rogaine is a lifelong commitment and if you stop using it then the hair it is maintaining/growing will fall out if you stop.

So you basically have diffuse thinning over the top of your head. My biggest concern with you is the risk of shockloss if you undergo a HT. This is because hairs would be transplanted in amongst native hair - increasing risk of loss due to shockloss and transection of hairs.

Stay on the meds, consult with the top docs for an opinion: Feller, Hasson & Wong, Shapiro, Rahal etc.

You may also want to give Platelet rich plasma a shot. It is a new, and as yet unproven procedure, however, the results so far are promising and it is worth a shot if you cannot undergo a transplant yet.

Good luck.

Originally posted by spex:

He is not a hair transplant doctor, just a doctor. Near London Bridge.

I guess with PRP almost any Doc could do it. Even dermatologists and anti aging clinics do it so it should be fine.

cheers spex.

To be honest, I think this a while off. I think in the short term future, the newer approach to treatment will be with newer therapies such as the Cialis 5mg everyday.

Sounds interesting. But an in vitro study is on a bit of tissue in a test tube. There are far more issues regarding drug delivery and effectiveness in vivo, that is, in the human body.

It still however shows potential, but I take it in vitro appication would be equivalent to applying the compounds topically?

Is this Doctor a hair transplant surgeon from the UK. If so, what is his name?

Where abouts in London will the procedures take place?

Thanks.

To be honest there is a definite improvement between months 2 and 4. Your on the road to recovery now so just hang in there.

You've gone down this route now so you have no choice but to stick it out.

Take up a hobby, try and think about something else, But I can assure you that in 6 months time you'll know it was all worthwhile.

Good luck.