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Still have small miniaturized hairs, HT or Rogaine? (pics)


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  • Regular Member

I am a in need of advice because I currently have no idea what to do.

 

I am 29 years old and have noticed hairloss for about two years now.

 

Current situation:

Receding hairline, started at 27

Scalp thinned out overall

possibly even less hair on vertex

 

Family history:

Mother's side:

Grandpa: always had a flawless very low hairline and I think he had less hair in the crown but not much less than I do now I think. Especially when he was 65 he definitely still had a very full head of hair.

Uncle 1: went completely bald at 20

Uncle 2: same perfect hair as his dad except he has a big bald patch in the crown at now 60.

 

Father's side:

Father: receding hairline like me but an inch higher up at 64. I will surely get there too. Thinner on top in general like me. Otherwise full head of hair. I feel like my vortex is worse than his.

Uncle: almost bald at 70, already severely balding at 50.

Grandpa: same hair as my father but less than my dad at the crown I think

 

I currently can still clearly see small hairs in my receding hairline which range from 1cm to 1mm in length.

They are clearly falling out, I see them everywhere.

 

I had two consultations so far.

 

Belgravia Hair Clinic:

 

At Belgravia they honestly didn't seem to care much and immediately wanted to put me on Finasteride and Minoxidil. I didn't feel comfortable there, it felt like they just give everyone the same short talk and same prescription and that's it.

I am very scared of Finasteride so I don't want to take that.

 

Harley Street Hair clinic:

 

There the Dermatologist (the person I spoke with at Belgravia wasn't a Doctor, this guy was) was surprised when I asked about Finasteride and said if he prescribed that he would lose his license and said if he had to give advice to his brother, family etc he would never prescribe it and said it's way too dangerous.

 

The doctor then prescribed me Minoxidil/Regaine/Rogaine.

 

 

What now?

Now I'm sitting here having purchased Regaine three days ago and I don't know what to do.

My dilemma is that I am scared of starting Regaine/Rogaine, because I'm worried about what happens if I stop.

For whatever reason. Say I need to have some unrelated surgery and need to stop taking any medication or what have you.

 

My concern is that I don't know if the Minoxidil also affects hair that might only have fallen out at say 60.

So if I started to take it now and stopped at 40, I understand I would shed all the hair that had improved before because of Minoxidil. But what I wonder is, will it also shed hair that would have otherwise been healthy until 60? Which hair does it shed? All the hair that is "touched" by the foam when applying it? Or all the hair that receives a boost from it even if it's just a very small boost because it's quite healthy anyway and not meant to fall out yet?

I hope this isn't too confusing.

 

I'm worried about unnecessarily going down a rabbit hole now by starting Minoxidil when maybe it would be better to just get a HT and not have to worry about what the Minoxidil will do?

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Edited by super64
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Thanks for your replies.

 

I have started taking Regaine 5% liquid now. I want to switch to the foam though because the foam supposedly doesn't make the hair greasy as the liquid does.

 

I have also gotten a haircut so I don't have to tie my hair together anymore.

 

And most importantly, I went to the Harley Street clinic in London for a consultation.

 

The person there that I spoke with (I'm not sure if he is a Doctor, I think so) rejected me as a patient. Saying that I still have too much hair in my crown and a transplant now would create shock loss.

 

He suggested to take Minoxidil and check back in one year.

 

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about that. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone that I'm balding. And now there doesn't seem to be any solution any time soon.

 

I suppose all I can do now is take Regaine and hope it gets better within one year, and not worse.

 

I am also talking to a representative of Dr. Basinga currently.

They suggested up to 1800 grafts for my crown.

They didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that I still have hair there. Which worries me a bit and makes me wonder about their ethics.

I'm not sure whom to trust.

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U need to try meds first before the transplant ..rogaine should help u regrow some of the miniaturized hairs u lost n make them look thicker on ur crown .. so it won’t look so bad.. but I be more worried about ur hairs all over ur scalp .. if u thinning hard on ur crown then u probably thinning all over ur scalp .. so u also need to stop the dht from making ur scalp from getting thinner / miniaturizing .. when it gets to a certain thinness they fall out easier .. n the more hair u lose n ur body is not able to regrow ur loss hairs.. u officially balding.. u still have hair on ur crown , but it’s going to get worse .. that’s why the doctor didn’t want to work on it yet .. there will sbockoss to existing hairs .. it’s surgery .. n ur hair is already weak .. of course it will accelerate ur hairloss when u add extra trauma like surgery .. rogAine to provide more blood to ur hair to help it grow .. finasteride to prevent the dht from further miniaturizing ur hair .. meds can only do so much however .. it only slows down the process .. I’m in the same boat, it’s a battle ..

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I agree,I was concerned about Dr. Bisanga wanting to do my surgery anyway, not about the Harley CStreet clinic not wanting to do it. If it's not time yet that's ok. I don't know why Dr. Bisanga wasn't concerned about that at all.

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I think most if not all doctors would tell you that it's too soon to go down the surgical route. Far too much hair remaining in your crown. It's well worth trying Rogaine as the crown can respond very well to it and the fact that you've caught it early will also work in your favour. I've seen guys with more crown loss than you have end up with what is, essentially, no visible hair loss after using Rogaine. You have to commit to it, but if you can do that then it's absolutely worth it.

I am a patient and representative of Dr Rahal.

 

My FUE Procedure With Dr Rahal - Awesome Hairline Result

 

I can be contacted for advice: matt@rahalhairline.com

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Thanks, I have started Rogaine two weeks ago now, with Belgravia Hair Clinik.

 

A word about Belgravia though.

I didn't feel comfortable there at all. The only reason I choose their treatment is because that way I have a professional to go to should anything go wrong or should I have any issues, rather than having to pay 200 Pounds every time for a dermatologist appointment.

If anyone cares I can go into further detail about my experience there.

 

As for the treatment, I'm now using a minoxidil solution which they apparently somehow produce themselves, which has Caffeine added to it. And with that a special shampoo which also appears to be their own product.

 

I have also realized now that I have a lot of dandruff.

 

This is something I never really understood. I never knew what kind of hair I had. For example if you look at shampoo bottles it says this is for dry hair or what not. I still can't tell if my hair is dry or what.

 

I used to think I had no dandruff, I thought dandruff implied having flakes coming out of your hair. I never had that. But during one dermatologist consultation I was told I had a lot of build up and dandruff on my skin.

 

And in hindsight that does make sense, my scalp actually is always itchy, not to the point that it drives me mad but I catch myself scratching myself a lot and I never see other people do that.

During the consultation I was also shown a magnification of my skin on top which showed a lot of bloody nicks. So it's evident I scratch myself a lot.

 

I actually have an identical twin who went for a consultation somewhere else where he was told that (and my brother is in the same situation as I) this actually isn't male pattern baldness but there's just too much buildup and the hair can't develop.

 

We don't really know if we should believe that.

 

He also went for a consultation with Dr. Hasson who right away said this was MPB and prescribed Finasteride.

 

So I'm confused about the different diagnoses.

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  • 2 months later...
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UPDATE: 

Ithas now been over 3 months since I have started taking Minoxidil. 

I'm certain now it is MPB, too. 

Minoxidil - does it work?

There is very noticable improvement on my temples. My right side temple used to be almost bald (just the small temple area of course) with only very small extremely thin hair remaining. Now there is plenty of 1cm long hair there, albeit still thin. The density is not great either but it is a clear improvement and I worry less about exposing these areas now.

On the left side it wasn't es bad as on the right side to begin with, it improved there as well. It's still noticable but I can actually part my hair right there for a side swept hairstyle and it wouldn't even be noticable currently unless you really looked carefully.

As for the crown I'm not that happy. I seem to be getting less results there. I don't know if that is because maybe the Minoxidil ist getting caught mostly in my semi long hair instead of my scalp or because it's progressing a lot and the Minoxidil isn't strong enough or if it actually did improve but I just don't see the difference that much.

I also feel like it's getting worse on top.

I'm applying the Minoxidil in the front in a line across the whole hairline and in the crown I'm applying it in a bit of a star or spokes shape radiating out from the center of the crown. Lastly I'm putting a line across the center, starting at the front in the center of my hairline and going back to my vortex. So I'm not covering my whole head. That's how they told me to do it at the belgravia center.

So I'm concerned about the rest of my head.

I would like to start fin also.

What would be my best approach for that?

I was told by one HT surgeon to wait until I have taken Minoxidil for 6 months and then take it from there.

But 6 months is a long time. And I'm definitely still losing hair I can tell in the shower. Thinner hair that is, so it's not the long still healthy hair.

I have also had a consultation with Dr. Bisanga and I am disappointed.

I had asked about Fin and he recommended I get on it asap. He told me he was taking it. I asked  if he will keep taking it and for how long he had taken it now. Then he told me he had actually stopped taking it. Uppon my inquiry as to why he said because he's getting older and realizing hair is not that important to him anymore. I didn't buy that so I asked him two more times during the course of our talk. Until he admitted that he actually stopped because there is a risk of severe prostate cancer associated with taking Fin and he is getting worried about that at his age.

Hiding this information is most likely downright criminal and I find that shocking.

Regardless of this I am still wanting to start taking Finasteride with a different doctor. So I still wonder what the best way to start would be, considering I am on Minoxidil and seing some results.

 

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I recommend starting a low dose of finasteride, I would personally start .5mg every other day and slowly go up to every day. I recommend giving finasteride and minoxidil a full year to see the full benefits.  They work synergistically so you may be very satisfied with the results alone especially if you’re a good responder which sounds like you may be. 

Warmest regards- Melvin


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

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So you would see no reason to wait for those 6 months to be over?

I think the way I understood it is that the idea of that would be to see if Minoxidil is working or what it is doing in general and not start two new med at the same time not being able to attribute any outcome, positive or negative to one specific medicine.

I get the point of that and I'm generally a very careful person who likes to be in control of things and would rather do one by one and be sure what's doing what.

 

But I'm just really worried about losing more and more hair on top. I think there may also be some miniatized hair on top now and I wouldn't want to lose that. Although I'm not sure of that.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I have some updated pictures here. First one is before, second one is after 3.5 months of Minoxidil from belgravia center.

 

I feel like it looks better than it is though. Not sure. I think the light is not the same in those pictures. The new ones being darker and therefore seemingly less contrast. But I'm not sure.

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There is a definite improvement.


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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I hope so. I'm not sure what to do about Finasteride now though. I do want to take it. I wonder how it will work with Minoxidil. I'd rather only use Finasteride. But what would happen if I used Finasteride and stopped using Minoxidil? Would I lose everything again? 

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If these are the results from Minoxidil alone, just imagine what Finasteride and Minoxidil combo could have done?

Never stop the medications if its working for you! If Minoxidil is working, don't stop! By adding Finasteride, you may see much more improvement!

 

Edited by Rawkerboi
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5 hours ago, super64 said:

I hope so. I'm not sure what to do about Finasteride now though. I do want to take it. I wonder how it will work with Minoxidil. I'd rather only use Finasteride. But what would happen if I used Finasteride and stopped using Minoxidil? Would I lose  again? 

 

5 hours ago, super64 said:

I hope so. I'm not sure what to do about Finasteride now though. I do want to take it. I wonder how it will work with Minoxidil. I'd rather only use Finasteride. But what would happen if I used Finasteride and stopped using Minoxidil? Would I lose everything again? 

Why would you want to stop a treatment that is working? Minoxidil and finasteride work synergistically.


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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U need u to do  ur research n understand what each medication does .. n see how it reacts to u.. 

basically minoxidAl works best to strengthen thin miniaturized hairs .. it makes them thicker n longer by giving it a boost of blood supply ,, which works really good on a balding crown Like u have .. because it’s easier to apply on the crown .. it penetrates the scalp better .. on balding areas .. so That’s what it’s job is .. making those mini hairs stronger n longer ..

finasteride gets to the root of the problem , it inhibits the dht from shrinking the root of ur hair follicle , so ur hair won’t fall out as easy .,  that’s why it works well together .. 

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The Dermatologist should lose his liscense for talking bu..shit. 

You are clearly a case for meds first and then wait for 1-2 years. This meds are minox and (!) FIN. Minox alone will 99 % not save your hair long term and it has quite a chance to make it worse long term withoun FIN.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Regular Member
On 7/28/2018 at 11:31 AM, Gasthoerer said:

The Dermatologist should lose his liscense for talking bu..shit. 

You are clearly a case for meds first and then wait for 1-2 years. This meds are minox and (!) FIN. Minox alone will 99 % not save your hair long term and it has quite a chance to make it worse long term withoun FIN.

Can you explain that? Why would it make it worse long term?

 

On 7/28/2018 at 7:16 AM, Melvin-Moderator said:

 

Why would you want to stop a treatment that is working? Minoxidil and finasteride work synergistically.

Because it's extremely annoying, obviously ;)

 

I have now taken Minoxidil for 5 months and to be honest I haven't seen any significant change.

In fact in the front it has gotten worse. It did get a bit better but after taking proper comparison pictures at the belgravia clinic I saw that it wasn't much.

I have therefore started taking FIN two weeks ago.

 

I also have the impression that I'm starting to shed small hairs again, more than I used to one month ago. And this started before taking FIN. Although I actually think I may hace reduced the dosage of Minoxidil slightly. Before I was using more than recommended by the Belgravia center. I then reduced it by around 20-25%% to the amount they recommended.

I'm not sure if that would cause this difference though, but I'm definitely seeing much more small hairs everywhere again. around 1 month ago I saw practically none falling out anymore.

And I have the impression that it's getting thinner again in the front, I don't know about the crown.

 

I am noticing I do have a lot of miniaturized hair in the front and in the crown. Does FIN make those big again? Or does it just stop them getting even smaller? Is that how FIN works? If it did that would be amazing.

I don't have much confidence in Minoxidil. It did help a little bit I think, in the crown it did at least not get worse and it did get a little bit better but really not much.

In the front I feel like it has gotten a bit better after 4 months but now after 5 it somehow has gotten worse again.

 

I just wish I could one day have a short, modern hairstyle again without seeing a bald spot.

Edited by super64
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  • 4 weeks later...
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Update:

I have started taking Finasteride as well additionally to Minoxidil now.

I have been on Minoxidil for about close to 6 months now and Finasteride about 6 weeks.

When I started Finasteride I lost all progress again and went through another shed.

I have also lost more density in the front area now. It is now definitely worse than it was 6 months ago.

I just hope that that's only due to the sheding and it will improve again.

As for side effects, I haven't noticed any with either drug so far.

 

I still have lots of miniaturized hair in the front at my hairline. I wonder if Finasteride will regrow this to healthy hair again. Or if it will just keep it the way it is?

Edited by super64
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Regular Member

Another month later:

I have taken Finasteride for just over 2 months now.

I have definitely had another shedding aber the Minoxidil one a few months ago.

My crown is looking pretty bad now.

I did notice though that in the front it does seem to start regrowing now. The hair is still very small and whispy but the miniaturized hair is now 7-10mm rather than just 5mm or so. So it does seem to be doing something.

I'm just concerned about my crown. It may be improving again there too but I can't tell.

 

I have no side effects luckily. I will continue taking Finasteride and Minoxidil. (Even though I hate taking Minoxidil, it's so annoying).

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My hair definitely worsened in the first few months of trying fin and never really improved back to the previous baseline. Many do seem to notice an initial shed followed by an improvement, though. Hopefully you’re in the latter camp. 

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