Recent content by Elithair

Congratulations on getting it done. From the photos you look very freshly operated, so the most useful thing I can tell you is what is normal in the weeks ahead, because it tends to worry people who were not warned. First and most important: your clinic's aftercare takes precedence over...

What you are describing is the reverse of the usual pattern, which is the part worth attention. In typical male pattern loss, the sides and back are the resistant zone, the areas that hold while the top thins, and the regions a transplant draws from precisely because they stay stable. So, sides...

It is one of the more interesting things in the pipeline, and worth following, but I would temper the excitement with a few honest caveats. What makes it interesting is the mechanism. Finasteride slows loss and minoxidil thickens what is already there. PP405 is trying to do something neither of...

Finjuve is topical finasteride. The standard application frequency for most topical finasteride formulations is daily to maintain consistent DHT suppression at the scalp level. Every other day might work but you're reducing the cumulative exposure which could lower effectiveness. Topical finasteride doesn't...

Ketoconazole causing shedding is not something you hear often, it's usually the opposite. But the fact that it happens every single time you use it is hard to write off as coincidence. Most likely it's something in the Nizoral formula rather than the ketoconazole itself. Shampoos have a lot...

Late to this thread but this comes up a lot so worth addressing for anyone finding it later. Oral min can absolutely cause an initial shed. It's the same mechanism as topical, minoxidil pushes resting follicles into the growth phase which means the old hairs have to fall out first to make way...

7 months is genuinely still in play. The 8 to 10 month growth window is not that rare, it's actually pretty common for the hairline specifically where grafts tend to be finer and slower to mature than crown grafts. What I'd focus on is the texture and density of what has come through rather...

Two years on you probably already have your answer, but this question comes up a lot so worth addressing for anyone finding this thread later. Graft survival outside the body depends heavily on how the grafts are stored. In a basic saline solution, the window is generally considered to be...

Aloe vera irritating the scalp is more common than people think, especially in the first couple of months. Some formulations have added ingredients that don't agree with a healing scalp even though the base product is supposed to be soothing. Bepanthen is generally very well tolerated and is...

Yes, but not in the way most people picture when they hear the word scar. FUE doesn't leave a linear scar like FUT does. Instead it leaves small circular punch marks scattered across the donor area where each graft was extracted. At normal hair length these are completely invisible. The...

Since your transplant was back in 2023 your grafts are fully settled by now so you have a lot more flexibility than someone in the early post-op phase. For male pattern baldness maintenance ketoconazole shampoos like Nizoral are worth using two to three times a week. There's reasonable evidence behind...

The concern is understandable and it's a question that comes up a lot. The honest answer is that taking it three times a week will still suppress DHT meaningfully. Finasteride has a half life of around six hours, but the DHT suppression effect lasts significantly longer, up to several days...

The long term safety data on dutasteride is actually reasonably reassuring. It has been approved for benign prostatic hyperplasia since 2001 and has been used continuously in that population for over two decades. The cardiovascular signal that appeared in one early trial has not been...

14 months of progressive shedding that hasn't stabilised is not a normal shed pattern. Most finasteride sheds peak around months 2 to 4 and resolve. What you're describing, ongoing diffuse thinning across the sides, hairline and nape with no sign of stopping, is worth taking seriously rather than...

There is no strong clinical evidence linking finasteride to skin thinning or a chronic tight feeling. The drug works by blocking 5-alpha reductase which reduces DHT, and DHT does play a role in sebum production. Lower DHT can mean less oil which could contribute to a drier feeling on the skin...