Hair Transplant And Maintain On Propecia?

[Ninjarambohd]

Hi. I took these pictures today while my hair was wet and as you can see I am thinning. Anyways I want to get a hair transplant to fix it. I asked a doctor he said best option is to get a hair transplant and start on propecia to maintain for years to come. What do you all think?

 

[CliffLee]

If I was you, I would first start in finasteride and minoxidil and see how you get on before having a hair transplant. You still have decent coverage and finasteride may increase the density to the point where you no longer want a hair transplant. Reevaluate in a year or so.

You look to have good donor hair (although difficult to tell on these pics alone) so if you at least maintain on finasteride, you could opt for a hair transplant in the future. To book a good doctor, it can take months, so while you're waiting for finasteride to kick-in, you can reach out to some doctors and line up a potential appointment.

 

[Ninjarambohd]

If I was you, I would first start in finasteride and minoxidil and see how you get on before having a hair transplant. You still have decent coverage and finasteride may increase the density to the point where you no longer want a hair transplant. Reevaluate in a year or so.

You look to have good donor hair (although difficult to tell on these pics alone) so if you at least maintain on finasteride, you could opt for a hair transplant in the future. To book a good doctor, it can take months, so while you're waiting for finasteride to kick-in, you can reach out to some doctors and line up a potential appointment.

Thank you for the great information! Will finasteride work alone or do I have to use minoxidil with it? I am afraid of starting finasteride or minoxidil not because of side effects but mainly because I read it can cause more hair loss.

 

[g.i joey]

Thank you for the great information! Will finasteride work alone or do I have to use minoxidil with it? I am afraid of starting finasteride or minoxidil not because of side effects but mainly because I read it can cause more hair loss.

Itnwont cause more hairloss, you may go through a "shed" but as long as you keep going on treatments you'll be fine. A good quality hair transplant and propecia will most likely bring you to or very near to full head status

 

[Ninjarambohd]

Itnwont cause more hairloss, you may go through a "shed" but as long as you keep going on treatments you'll be fine. A good quality hair transplant and propecia will most likely bring you to or very near to full head status

So what are your suggestions? Get a transplant or get on finasteride and wait?

 

[CliffLee]

finasteride or dutasteride should be your core meds to fight hairloss. I would recommend minoxidil, but it isn't as vital imo. See how you get on with finasteride and maybe minoxidil over a 6-12 month period. Take monthly pictures for comparison. For me personally, I don't think minoxidil did anything (good or bad) but there are enough studies to show that it does definitely work for people.

I haven't read any published studies that state finasteride/minoxidil makes hairloss worse. What's probably happening is that the meds shed the hairs which were already damaged by DHT, and therefore were due to be lost in the near future regardless (it sped the natural process up a little). Understand that you want a shed of the effected and damaged hair. They need to be shed in order for the new hair shafts to produce thicker hair.

I think you could make decent gains just on meds. You may want to consider a hair transplant in the future but if things go well on finasteride, you may not need it. Some doctors state that they want patients on meds for at least a year (recommend 2 years) before undergoing a hair transplant. I just recently had a hair transplant - I am 7 months in.

 

[g.i joey]

So what are your suggestions? Get a transplant or get on finasteride and wait?

Finasteride for 12-24 months. It might be all you need. But let's say you weren't satisfied, at this point you can evaluate the results finasteride gave you and if you're having any troublesome sides, if both of those are good after 1-2 years on the drug you can optimistically move onto. A hair transplant

 

[Ninjarambohd]

Thank you both very much. If I get on Finasteride what is the possibility with my current hair that I can gain back my original density?

 

[g.i joey]

Thank you both very much. If I get on Finasteride what is the possibility with my current hair that I can gain back my original density?

I wouldn't hope on growing back tons of hair as you may be dissapointed, but it definitely can do so for a percentage of users. WhT you should expect on finasteride is cessation of further hairloss and improvement of existing hair quality.

 

[Ninjarambohd]

I wouldn't hope on growing back tons of hair as you may be dissapointed, but it definitely can do so for a percentage of users. WhT you should expect on finasteride is cessation of further hairloss and improvement of existing hair quality.

Ok thank you. But it won't make my situation worse would it? Because right now when my hair is dry it looks OK but if it's wet......

 

[CliffLee]

I wouldn't hope on growing back tons of hair as you may be dissapointed, but it definitely can do so for a percentage of users. WhT you should expect on finasteride is cessation of further hairloss and improvement of existing hair quality.

I agree with Joey. It's obviously impossible to say for sure, since everyone responds differently, but I wouldn't count on regrowth however you will likely see an overall improvement in hair quality and density, from around 6 months onwards.

I also wouldn't worry about the "shed" horror stories. Get a finasteride prescription asap and see how you are after at least 6 months time! I would also do minoxidil twice a day.

 

[buckthorn]

I asked a doctor he said best option is to get a hair transplant and start on propecia to maintain for years to come. What do you all think?

what is with these fukin reject quack doctors?!?! God, this makes me angry. You have NO idea if propecia will work for you or not. You don't know if you'll get horrible side effects, if it won't work at all, or if it will speed up your hair loss. Also, you are a diffuse thinner. It is never recommended for diffuse thinners to get hair transplants UNLESS 1) they are responding very well to finasteride and 2) you get a very, very skilled doctor to avoid transection.

 

[Ninjarambohd]

Thank you everyone. The thing is though no one literally no one in my family thinned out diffusely they all had recession. I encountered this problem about 2013 or 14 after I couldn't eat properly for a year or so. I had great thick density in 2012 but after my sickness I shaved my head dow. In 2014 and noticed this. It has not changed at all since then.

 

[Ninjarambohd]

So I thought I'd do a small update. Basically I had sent my photos to Dr. Erdogan in Turkey. Should I do what he says? I am really worried about looking worse if my hair starts to shed on Finasteride. Here is his response:

Based on the photos that we have received, Dr. Koray Erdogan has evaluated the basic condition of your hair loss and your candidacy for an FUE hair transplant.

In the interim the doctor highly recommends you to try Finasteride for 1 month in order to maintain and optimize the quality of your original hair. It will be enough one month to understand whether you can continue to medication or not. If you don't encounter any side effects, you are recommended to continue with medication. Taking into account your age and considering your family history, if you want to undergo a hair transplant surgery, you need a medication support to maintain your original hair.

If you want to begin with the medication, kindly get back to us after 1 months of finasteride usage for a re-evaluation.