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Really need help on what to do about my hair loss


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  • Regular Member

Hi all.

First time poster on the forum, been keeping tabs on the forum for a few months and thought it’s time to get feedback from others on what to do about my hair loss.

Im currently 27 years old and have been dealing with hair loss since around 23/24. It first started with my hairline receding but over the past year I’ve noticed thinning in the crown and thinning all through out the scalp. Thinning throughout the scalp and crown isn’t obvious to the ‘standard’ person and you’d only really be able to tell if you knew what to look out for. 

Initially I tried using minoxidil but didn’t do anything for me and I also tried using finasteride but got side effects from it. I tried a low dosage of finasteride every other day but still got sides. I want to get a hair transplant done but appreciate the fact my hair loss won’t stop. 

I really don’t know what to do about it and what I’ve read is to wait for hair loss to stabilise and then get a transplant but I feel like I’m wasting my best years and the hair loss is really taking it’s toll on me.

I’m struggling to work out what the best way to proceed would be and would welcome any kind of feedback.

Attached are photos of my hair loss and donor area. 

Sorry for the long post. Big thanks in advanced.

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89BED318-E63A-4EE0-BB01-03B553009E68.jpeg

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99C3D994-86A0-453B-80AF-05A1875DED37.jpeg

CEECE600-8EBC-42F1-B778-C3065DF4569F.jpeg

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  • Senior Member

Try lower amounts of fin.  0.25mg, Monday Wed Fri for example and re-evaluate in a year's time.

Donor looks decent though you maybe have quite fine hair.

You need to either lose more hair or manage to halt loss before considering a HT.  Maybe consider from age 30.

Edited by 1978matt

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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  • Regular Member

Hi @1978matt.

Thanks for the response. I’ve tried 0.25mg EOD too and unfortunately couldn’t tolerate it and at the same time I don’t really want to be taking a ‘drug’ for the rest of my life which may lose its effectiveness in x amount of years. Also regarding waiting till 30 I feel like I’m Just wasting my ‘best’ years just waiting for my hair to fall out. 

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  • Senior Member

Have you tried to get your hands on a topical anti androgen, like topical finasteride? Soon we should have access to Breezula as well. I'd personally wait until you find an anti-androgen that works for you or wait until your pattern is more evident before you consider a hair transplant.

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  • Regular Member
7 minutes ago, Ab93 said:

Hi @1978matt.

Thanks for the response. I’ve tried 0.25mg EOD too and unfortunately couldn’t tolerate it and at the same time I don’t really want to be taking a ‘drug’ for the rest of my life which may lose its effectiveness in x amount of years. Also regarding waiting till 30 I feel like I’m Just wasting my ‘best’ years just waiting for my hair to fall out. 

The risky thing about doing an HT at a young age is that you may end up "chasing" your progressing hair loss over the years if you're not on preventive medication. In my opinion, a hair transplant in your situation is not out of the question. I have a low amount of hairline recession like you and when I asked Dr. Bloxham (a highly regarded hair transplant surgeon) during my in-person consultation about whether it's prudent for someone in our shoes to get a hair transplant he said (paraphrasing) "It's not a bad idea because regardless of whether you get a HT now or later you will still need to rebuild your hairline first". As long as you are conservative in designing a hairline, I wouldn't say it's foolish to establish one now.

From a cost perspective, it costs much more to do multiple procedures (if say, you only wanted to do your hairline now and further revisions down the road) rather than waiting for a single larger procedure when your loss is established/stabilized.

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  • Senior Member
11 minutes ago, ADuckwithNoHair said:

The risky thing about doing an HT at a young age is that you may end up "chasing" your progressing hair loss over the years if you're not on preventive medication. In my opinion, a hair transplant in your situation is not out of the question. I have a low amount of hairline recession like you and when I asked Dr. Bloxham (a highly regarded hair transplant surgeon) during my in-person consultation about whether it's prudent for someone in our shoes to get a hair transplant he said (paraphrasing) "It's not a bad idea because regardless of whether you get a HT now or later you will still need to rebuild your hairline first". As long as you are conservative in designing a hairline, I wouldn't say it's foolish to establish one now.

From a cost perspective, it costs much more to do multiple procedures (if say, you only wanted to do your hairline now and further revisions down the road) rather than waiting for a single larger procedure when your loss is established/stabilized.

I would echo these sentiments.

You may get lucky and one Ht does the job for a few years, but most likely the operation causes other hair to fall out.  Then in a matter of 5 or 6 years you've chased the loss with 3 surgeries,  putting your 'life on hold', and waiting 12 months to see results each time.

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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  • Senior Member

You definitely want to stabilize things first, or wait until the smoke clears for a while. Don't give up hope on the medical front, the FDA just approved a topical DHT blocker that doesn't mess with your hormones like finasteride -it blocks the DHT up at the scalp hair follicle receptors -the current approved strength is for acne and there is work being doing to get the hair loss formulation called Breezula approved in the US within the next few years.

 

About your younger years being your best - don't overestimate them, alot of where that comes from is older people wishing they new now what they did when they were younger, as the song goes -which stems from one of the eternal truths of human nature -youth is wasted on the young! :DYour middle years -30s up into even your 50s are where its at, especially for guys, when you've had enough time to establish yourself in your career/finances, logged some general life experiences, and are still physically young enough to have a good time.

 

 

 

 

Edited by ciaus
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  • Regular Member

Thanks all for the input. All very useful information. In terms of hairline I’d be getting a conservative one as I’ve always had a forehead on the larger side. Everything mentioned is basically what I’m echoing in my head. The whole ‘chasing my hair part’. I guess I feel like I’m just wasting time waiting for my hair loss to happen. I don’t really want to commit to a lifetime of taking a drug whether that be finasteride or breezula as I don’t think I’ve got it in me to do it for so long. The thought of putting a hairline in place has crossed my mind but again I’m struggling on what to do next as I don’t want to make a rash decision.

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  • Senior Member

How long did you try finasteride for?  I got pretty bad ball ache for the first 2-3 weeks then it went away.  I've been on it for 14 years since with no issues. 

Dr. G: 1,000 grafts (FUT) 2008

Dr. Paul Shapiro: 2,348 grafts (FUT) 2009 ~ 1,999 grafts (FUT) 2011 ~ 300 grafts (Scar Reduction) 2013

Dr. Konior: 771 grafts (FUT) 2015 ~ 558 grafts (FUT) 2017 ~ 1,124 grafts (FUE) 2020

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

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Bummer, but at least you tried.  I would second what everyone else has been saying.  You might not like where your hair is right now, but a HT could make things worse.  It's quite possible you'll get a new hairline but simultaneously lose the native hair behind it with a transplant - that risk of that scenario goes up when you're not on fin.  You still have a good head of hair, tread carefully. 

Dr. G: 1,000 grafts (FUT) 2008

Dr. Paul Shapiro: 2,348 grafts (FUT) 2009 ~ 1,999 grafts (FUT) 2011 ~ 300 grafts (Scar Reduction) 2013

Dr. Konior: 771 grafts (FUT) 2015 ~ 558 grafts (FUT) 2017 ~ 1,124 grafts (FUE) 2020

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

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  • Senior Member

Still, might not hurt to get a doctor's opinion.  Just beware of the charlatans out there who would perform a transplant on anything that moves. 

Edited by aaron1234

Dr. G: 1,000 grafts (FUT) 2008

Dr. Paul Shapiro: 2,348 grafts (FUT) 2009 ~ 1,999 grafts (FUT) 2011 ~ 300 grafts (Scar Reduction) 2013

Dr. Konior: 771 grafts (FUT) 2015 ~ 558 grafts (FUT) 2017 ~ 1,124 grafts (FUE) 2020

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

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  • Regular Member

@aaron1234I have been in contact with some doctors and they’re willing to put in a new conservative hairline. I’ve been quoted between 1400 - 2000 grafts for a new hairline and some offered to put some in the crown. I’m just struggling on what to do next. 😞

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  • Senior Member
47 minutes ago, Ab93 said:

 I’m just struggling on what to do next. 😞

If that's the case, then just wait it out a bit.  Don't rush into anything when you have some uncertainty.  Maybe try out some concealer for the crown in the meantime.

Dr. G: 1,000 grafts (FUT) 2008

Dr. Paul Shapiro: 2,348 grafts (FUT) 2009 ~ 1,999 grafts (FUT) 2011 ~ 300 grafts (Scar Reduction) 2013

Dr. Konior: 771 grafts (FUT) 2015 ~ 558 grafts (FUT) 2017 ~ 1,124 grafts (FUE) 2020

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

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  • Valued Contributor

Hey Ab93. I totally understand where you're coming from. You want a hair transplant and your hair to look like it should by last Tuesday! That is perfectly normal and incredibly frustrating. It leaves you feeling depressed and as if you are just 'wasting your time to go bald.' That's the horrible thing about the psychology of hair loss. It happens to us when we are in our prime so to speak. But trust me on this. Time flies. You want the end result to be the best that you can possibly obtain because after that you are stuck with it for life! Everytime you look in the mirror that's what you will see each time. You don't want to risk a botched hair transplant because the planning was wrong (or non existent) or simply because your hair loss has changed, etc.

My advice is to start from the end and work backwards. If you are unable to tolerate finasteride then you have to realize that you, like so many of us here on this forum, will 'possibly' end up as a Norwood 6 over the years. And these years will seem as real to you as today does now. If you pull the trigger on undergoing surgery (and a hair transplant is just that) right now then you need to factor in so many variables for the future (donor availability, naturalness 'or lack of,' etc). There is a saying that you can always have a hair transplant 'tomorrow.' I would be discussing with all the top doctors your situation in 5, 10, 20 years from now and how do they plan to address your hair loss as time goes on? There are a couple of excellent NW 6/7 hair transplant surgeons. Perhaps you could discuss this issue with them. The last thing you want is to have a hair transplant that is marooned with the rest of your hair drifting away from it like 'Wilson.' Remember to plan for your hair loss over the life span. All the best!

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  • Regular Member

Thanks for the response @Gatsby. I am fully taking into consideration future loss, it’s also why I’m prepared to have a conservative hairline. What I’m trying to workout is when to best time my first procedure without waiting too long. Also can transplants be successes even without taking finasteride? I’ve seen many success with finasteride but not many mentions of hair transplants without finasteride.

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I suggest using a combo minoxidil/finasteride solution/foam ASAP (you won't get systemic side effects from this). Monitor your progress on this. It's been found to be as equally as efficacious as the oral form. Please feel free to PM me as well. Hang in there buddy

My advice does not constitute a patient-physician relationship nor as medical advice and all medical questions/concerns should be addressed to your medical provider. 

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  • Senior Member
On 9/18/2020 at 11:04 PM, Ab93 said:

Hi all.

First time poster on the forum, been keeping tabs on the forum for a few months and thought it’s time to get feedback from others on what to do about my hair loss.

Im currently 27 years old and have been dealing with hair loss since around 23/24. It first started with my hairline receding but over the past year I’ve noticed thinning in the crown and thinning all through out the scalp. Thinning throughout the scalp and crown isn’t obvious to the ‘standard’ person and you’d only really be able to tell if you knew what to look out for. 

Initially I tried using minoxidil but didn’t do anything for me and I also tried using finasteride but got side effects from it. I tried a low dosage of finasteride every other day but still got sides. I want to get a hair transplant done but appreciate the fact my hair loss won’t stop. 

I really don’t know what to do about it and what I’ve read is to wait for hair loss to stabilise and then get a transplant but I feel like I’m wasting my best years and the hair loss is really taking it’s toll on me.

I’m struggling to work out what the best way to proceed would be and would welcome any kind of feedback.

Attached are photos of my hair loss and donor area. 

Sorry for the long post. Big thanks in advanced.

F415BEF4-042E-4020-86A6-09AB1515307F.jpeg

4CA5020F-545F-443C-B837-899ABDA90EB6.jpeg

63C3E64A-E3F4-4583-92AE-567B541017A3.jpeg

EBFB0728-11D0-416E-A162-013916C98356.jpeg

0088B227-30C9-44BD-A3FB-DC9C2E4A4CCB.jpeg

56D2F61E-0806-470E-AF7D-C69D4CA19E23.jpeg

55322A1B-F746-447A-A01D-E7E5CB0B6F5A.jpeg

256E2DDA-E4F8-4A54-A060-7F58301ABFCE.jpeg

864827EB-3FFF-4B21-B346-798AD6CC4D80.jpeg

4153CE8B-0954-4CBD-B144-1E2599DC8257.jpeg

89BED318-E63A-4EE0-BB01-03B553009E68.jpeg

3F75708A-E619-43EF-8038-C83E7757C249.jpeg

99C3D994-86A0-453B-80AF-05A1875DED37.jpeg

CEECE600-8EBC-42F1-B778-C3065DF4569F.jpeg

Topical finasteride can help slow down baldness. 

Official representative of Eugenix Hair Sciences

Dr. Arika Bansal & Dr. Pradeep Sethi

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5crlGyTac2hlU1gHneADzQ

 

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Thanks for the response @Dr. Suhail Khokhar And @Gabreille Nelson Mukhia. I don’t think and don’t really want to commit to any type of drug to be honest whether that be oral or topical. There’s no guarantee topical will even work and just like with minoxidil I could start slacking With applying the topical finasteride which wouldn’t do me any favours. 

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  • Senior Member

At least you are being honest about your potential to slack on taking the drugs even if they work, some guys overestimate their ability to commit and after the initial HT and enthusiasm wears off, stop taking the drugs and have to run back for more HTs than would have otherwise been necessary.

Personally, I think if you are going to try to address your hair loss instead of just letting it run its course, you should have a level of commitment that enables you to execute on daily rituals that may involve pills, topical formulations, and even hair concealers.

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@ciausthanks for the response. I slacked off with minoxidil at times and I think the same could happen with topical fin especially when other aspects of life take over. Hair concealers will be used at some point but with a receding hairline it becomes increasingly difficult to use hair concealers. The initial plan I had in my mind was to get a conservative hairline put in and then to use hair concealers until I felt it was time to address mid scalp/crown. 

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  • Senior Member

If Minoxidil & Finasteride are legit for hair lossand the only drugs that approved by FDA for MALE hair loss only, for some paitents it won't do any effect so topical formula won't help either.

In general I don't recommend Finasteride, it's hurting the libido, some pharmacist told me if the topical don't hurt the libido it's probably won't effect the hair loss either, Minoxidil I do recommend but since both don't help you I suggest you to wait more years for your 1st hair transplant, you got an amazing donor, but you are 27 years old and barely NW2, I suggest you'll wait till you reach NW3.

Doron Harati - Patient coordinator for HDC Hair Clinic, HT procedures are done by MD Doctors with Microscope FUE.

For consultation contact me: WhatsApp +972526542654

Mail:doronhdc@gmail.com

HDC Instegram: https://instagram.com/doronhairadvisor_hdc?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

* All comments from this account should not be taken or construed as medical advice, all comments are only the personal opinions of the poster.

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  • Senior Member
7 hours ago, Doron Harati said:

In general I don't recommend Finasteride, it's hurting the libido, some pharmacist told me if the topical don't hurt the libido it's probably won't effect the hair loss either

I'm sure the pharmacist probably meant well, but if there was anything even approaching that kind of a widespread strong correlation between libido and results for finasteride, it never would have cleared the FDA trials. And alot more guys would have probably suffered or even died needlessly from prostate issues instead of taking the higher dosage of it in Proscar all these years.

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