Graft shedding

[HarryHonolulu]

Can oral minoxidil cause shedding of transplanted grafts? Or would shedding only affect native hair 

[duchaine]

7 hours ago, HarryHonolulu said:

Can oral minoxidil cause shedding of transplanted grafts? Or would shedding only affect native hair 

you need to be more context specific

[jjalay]

It can affect both native and transplanted hair after the final result of your hairtransplant. If you have started minoxidil immidiately after the ht your transplanted hair is going to shedd anyways.

[A_4_Archan]

Any medication ,be it minoxidil or something else ,will ofcourse effect all the hairs...transplanted hairs are nothing special/different but they are your own hairs which are moved from one place to another.

[HarryHonolulu]

context: had a FUE transplant 5 years ago which mainly focused the front hairline and a bit of the mid-scalp. thrilled with it. very little change to transplanted area until a year or so ago when I started noticing a bit of thinning in the region. nothing crazy. 

because of this slight thinning I got onto 1.25 oral minoxidil. didn't notice anything: no shedding, no improvement. 

bumped up the dosage in September to 2.5 and in the past 3-4 weeks I am noticing little hairs when I towel dry. the hair looks thinner that it has ever looked post-transplant.

what concerns me is that the thinning is happening in the area where the grafts are- hence my question about whether oral minoxidil affects the hair grafts themselves.

I thought it would only affect follicles susceptible to DHT?

Edited December 28, 2023 by HarryHonolulu

[jjalay]

Minoxidil affects both native and transplanted hair in your case. Finasteride works through dht, not minoxidil. You should continue medication and wait for this shedding to reverse after 6 months.

[HarryHonolulu]

8 minutes ago, jjalay said:

Minoxidil affects both native and transplanted hair in your case. Finasteride works through dht, not minoxidil. You should continue medication and wait for this shedding to reverse after 6 months.

does this mean that the transplanted hairs will become "dependent" on oral minoxidil, should I stop treatment?

I found a comment by two doctors, Rassman and Pak, who say that Minoxidil "should not cause shedding" and "minoxidil will not cause shedding of the transplanted hairs"

https://www.realself.com/question/brooklyn-ny-minoxidil-new-transplanted-hairs-existing

kinda freaked me out

[jjalay]

38 minutes ago, HarryHonolulu said:

does this mean that the transplanted hairs will become "dependent" on oral minoxidil, should I stop treatment?

I found a comment by two doctors, Rassman and Pak, who say that Minoxidil "should not cause shedding" and "minoxidil will not cause shedding of the transplanted hairs"

https://www.realself.com/question/brooklyn-ny-minoxidil-new-transplanted-hairs-existing

kinda freaked me out

That means that when you stop minoxidil you will return to the stage you were before you started taking minoxidil. And if you are destined to lose more hair by stoping minoxidil your hairloss will progress further. There is no such thing as dependancy of the transplanted hair from minoxidil.

[Al - Moderator]

On 12/28/2023 at 2:33 AM, HarryHonolulu said:

context: had a FUE transplant 5 years ago which mainly focused the front hairline and a bit of the mid-scalp. thrilled with it. very little change to transplanted area until a year or so ago when I started noticing a bit of thinning in the region. nothing crazy. 

because of this slight thinning I got onto 1.25 oral minoxidil. didn't notice anything: no shedding, no improvement. 

bumped up the dosage in September to 2.5 and in the past 3-4 weeks I am noticing little hairs when I towel dry. the hair looks thinner that it has ever looked post-transplant.

what concerns me is that the thinning is happening in the area where the grafts are- hence my question about whether oral minoxidil affects the hair grafts themselves.

I thought it would only affect follicles susceptible to DHT?

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that using too much minoxidil can have the opposite effect that you want, meaning it could cause you to lose hair rather than gain hair. If the problem started happening after you increased the dose then maybe change back to a lower dose for a few months and see what happens.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Minoxidil can cause hair to shed, its a sign that it’s working well. It will grow back stronger. Stick with it 🙏

[TheGreatPretender]

Watheaver is shedded due to Minoxidil will eventually regrow better and stronger. Dont listen to the people who say that it makes your hair worse, its completle hearsay. 

So ride it out, you will get your hair back.