Norwood 6/7, numerous thin frail hairs appeared after 75 days of finasteride/minoxidil/microneedling. Is there any hope they'll become terminal? pics attached

[deep7]

Hi All, wondering if anyone could offer some insight or has seen similar cases as mine.

• 35 years old. Been shaving since I was ~22 after noticing loss of temple hair and overall hair loss. For some reason I recently decided to experiment with my hair (or lack of thereof)
• 75 days ago I started finasteride/minoxydil and microneedling
• 2 Weeks ago I had a FUE hair transplant into the frontal part.

Being pretty much bald, I don't  currently plan to grow my hair long, but to have SMP in 6 months time, that, combined with the transplanted hair at the front, would (ideally) provide a more 3d/realistic effect than SMP alone (I plan to cut close to zero).
This question is not about the Hair Transplant, but about the fact that many tiny hairs appeared in the mid-scalp area after 75 days of fin/min/microneedling (not much on the frontal area, where I had the hair transplant)

I attached a before photo (before meds/ht), an after photo (75 days of meds and 2 weeks after HT), and 2 after-photos zooming on the new hair (the ones after finasteride/minoxydil and microneedling)
As you can see the new hair in the mid-scalp area is very very thin, but it's there, and it was not there 75 days ago.
What do you think about the chances of the new hair becoming terminal with continued treatment, is that a possibility or is that unlikely and they'd stay fragile like seen in the pics?
Wondering if anyone has come across cases similar to mine?
The reason I'm asking is because, if the new fragile thin hair in the mid-scalp becomes terminal, that might create enough density to try to grow it, if not, I plan to just cover with SMP and cut close to zero.

Edited March 3 by deep7
clarification

[AhmadChaudhry]

Hi, yes there are very effective treatments which can start to regrow in 30 to 40 days time. However such regrowth is visible through the camera and the naked eye may see 70 days later. If you continue to use your current product, your fine  hair will convert into terminal  hair.

I perform a micro needle to my patients once per month and give them a topical spray containing Redensyl and Capixyl and almost every patient starts to grow. however, Where no hair and complete baldness, less chances of growth.

After Six months of treatments, I usually ask my patients to use three times per week this topical lotion containing Redensyl and Capixyl . You can see improvements. 

 

 Before pics taken on 22 Dec 2023 and patient came for second treatment on 01 feb 2024. Single treatment improvement. Similarly i have more pics and try to upload them in this forum.  

 

 

[asterix0]

Drop the microneedling, if you decide to get a transplant in that area your existing tissue may be damaged and not have it suitable as a foundation for the grafts. 

[deep7]

9 hours ago, asterix0 said:

Drop the microneedling, if you decide to get a transplant in that area your existing tissue may be damaged and not have it suitable as a foundation for the grafts. 

Where can I find more info about this claim? The assertion appears dubious to me, given that microneedling's primary goal is to provoke a healing response from the body, possibly increasing collagen production during the process. The tissue is not meant to stay permanently damaged, so I don't see how that tissue would become unsuitable for transplanted hair.

Not trying to be combative, merely trying to find the truth before considering dropping microneedling

Edited March 4 by deep7

[asterix0]

10 hours ago, deep7 said:

Where can I find more info about this claim? The assertion appears dubious to me, given that microneedling's primary goal is to provoke a healing response from the body, possibly increasing collagen production during the process. The tissue is not meant to stay permanently damaged, so I don't see how that tissue would become unsuitable for transplanted hair.

Not trying to be combative, merely trying to find the truth before considering dropping microneedling

If you try micro needling by itself you will see almost no hair regrowth. I have looked at many, many cases across the internet and it is only in conjunction with minoxidil that it does anything. 

The science may show that in theory it is supposed to do something, but we can say the same thing for saw palmetto or pumpkin seen oil as an alternative to finasteride, yet everyone knows that those treatments are pointless.

I spoke to several hair transplant doctors prior to my transplant and asked about micro needling and they recommended that I discontinue it, but continue to use minoxidil and finasteride.

Really what is just happening is greater permeability of the minoxidil through the wounds on your head. However, these wounds if not taken care of properly can also lead to infection, particularly if you don't sanitize the needle cartridge before and after each session. I would hope people are using new ones after each session.

I tried micro needling myself 1x a week and did not see any significant improvements vs my prior just finasteride and minoxidil regimen.

Also, consider the mere scientific fact that our cells cannot regenerate an infinite amount of times. The number of times is actually preprogrammed. Think if you were to continuously injure any other part of your body, it would not be conducive to making it strong and healthy as it would constantly be in a healing stage.

I think that the whole micro needling effect is more useful science but not very useful for male pattern baldness, when you could probably get the same benefits by just taking a more potent oral minoxidil dosage rather than doing micro needling + topical minoxidil.  It perhaps does have other applications though. 

[deep7]

Update: 94 days on fin/min/microneedling, first picture is a before/after of crown/midscalp comparison, second picture is a zoom (after) of new promising thin hair.
The Letters A/B/C/D represent a constellation of known points of reference 🤣, when you have so few hairs, you can do things like this.
The lighting makes the new hair appear thicker than it actually is, in reality it's quite thin, however, it's there, and it was not there for years.

I keep wondering it this hair has a chance to become "normal" thick hair

Edited March 16 by deep7

[Gatsby]

Personally I’m not a fan of micro needling. Stick to oral finasteride and minoxidil if you can tolerate them. Again it’s my opinion and I’m not a doctor. All the best. 

[deep7]

3 hours ago, Gatsby said:

Personally I’m not a fan of micro needling. Stick to oral finasteride and minoxidil if you can tolerate them. Again it’s my opinion and I’m not a doctor. All the best. 

I don't have strong opinions about microneedling, but all controlled studies I came across suggest that micro-needling works (at least works with minoxidil better than minoxidil alone) and is safe if done correctly. Also, most of the best regrowth cases I came across from NW6/7 included micro-needling in their regimen, was it because of the addition of microneedling? Hard to know with certainty.

At the end of the day, the fundamentals of hair loss are currently not well understood, and forums are full of varying points of view, so whatever I do, there's some probability that I'm wrong, for the moment I decided to keep microneedling until I come across compelling reasons to stop.

Edited March 17 by deep7

[asterix0]

14 hours ago, deep7 said:

I don't have strong opinions about microneedling, but all controlled studies I came across suggest that micro-needling works (at least works with minoxidil better than minoxidil alone) and is safe if done correctly. Also, most of the best regrowth cases I came across from NW6/7 included micro-needling in their regimen, was it because of the addition of microneedling? Hard to know with certainty.

At the end of the day, the fundamentals of hair loss are currently not well understood, and forums are full of varying points of view, so whatever I do, there's some probability that I'm wrong, for the moment I decided to keep microneedling until I come across compelling reasons to stop.

I strongly suspect it is due to just increased minoxidil absorption, oral minoxidil could achieve the same effects. 

[Gatsby]

On 3/17/2024 at 1:48 PM, deep7 said:

I don't have strong opinions about microneedling, but all controlled studies I came across suggest that micro-needling works (at least works with minoxidil better than minoxidil alone) and is safe if done correctly. Also, most of the best regrowth cases I came across from NW6/7 included micro-needling in their regimen, was it because of the addition of microneedling? Hard to know with certainty.

At the end of the day, the fundamentals of hair loss are currently not well understood, and forums are full of varying points of view, so whatever I do, there's some probability that I'm wrong, for the moment I decided to keep microneedling until I come across compelling reasons to stop.

I agree it’s definitely an individual choice. 👍