How Do You Know If A Follicle Dies?

[Gone]

It seems future treatments will work better, or will only work, if the follicles are still alive and have active progenitor cells. I can tell that I've lost the hair on my temples and hairline, but what about the rest of my hair?

The hair I shed diffusely is usually pretty long, since I kept my hair long before this. The hairs I lose aren't miniaturized. So does this mean they'll grow back shorter, or they're just gone already?

There is a huge decrease in thickness and density looking and moving my hair, but I honestly can't tell if my follicles have "died" yet.

 

[Grasshüpfer]

Even if you are completely bald, you still have miniaturized hair that you cant see. It takes quite a while for the follicle to actually die.
However there is no way to find out if the follicle is still alive.

 

[Ikkaku]

It takes quite a while

Thank you but can you be more precise?? Please.

 

[Gone]

^It's a tough question but the answer to which would let us know whether your hair is still in the "antiandrogens can help
you" phase, or if you're in the "you'll need to use follica and get more follicles" category

 

[Grasshüpfer]

I think nobody can say. If beps63 really regrew hair that he lost 10 years ago, then some follicles seem to survive quite long. There is also some guy on a german forum, who regrew hair all over his nw6. Of course not nearly enough, maybe 500 hairs in total, but they reacted to a treatment after being invisible for a long time.

It also really depends how agressive your hairloss is.

 

[Armando Jose]

Tha hairs regained from beps63 are really thin,
see the comment about the withd of a normal hair with the news

Beps63:
http://imgur.com / a / pC8kW

in the picture you see on the top left, a dark shadow. What is the diameter of a normal hair.

 

[buckthorn]

I honestly can't tell if my follicles have "died" yet.

you'll hear a very faint, high pitched scream in the night, like when you boil a lobster.

 

[Folliman]

we don't even know if follicles ever really "die". It's still a subject of debate.

 

[hellouser]

we don't even know if follicles ever really "die". It's still a subject of debate.

It's been stated many times that Cotsarelis has confirmed that follicles never die, they simply shrink to a small size.

 

[kiwipilu]

you'll hear a very faint, high pitched scream in the night, like when you boil a lobster.

I knew I was not insane! the noise I hear all day long finally comes from my head.

 

[Gone]

xD, Well I guess my understanding of this has shifted. I was thinking, if I start an antiandrogen or androgen receptor antagonist, my hair will regrow because most of my follicles haven't died yet (my loss started only months ago). But I guess the rule of anti-androgens maintaining your hair has nothing to do with the large or shrunken state of the follicles, but rather that the state of your hair will not decline/grow regardless. Maybe you need to add a growth stimulant.

 

[thomps1523]

It's been stated many times that Cotsarelis has confirmed that follicles never die, they simply shrink to a small size.

Do other doctors suggest with their point of no return claims that the follicle can't be revived back to its original state, or do they suggest it dies?

 

[hellouser]

Do other doctors suggest with their point of no return claims that the follicle can't be revived back to its original state, or do they suggest it dies?

Again; THEY DONT DIE. Jesus christ, I literally JUST SAID THAT.

Whether or not they can return to full size (containing their regular dermal papilla count) is another thing. Theoretically, from the conversation I had with Dr. Claire Higgins on the topic of Replicel; YES.

Will they actually? Phase II clinical trials of Replicel / Shiseido will tell as will trials of other methods.

 

[thomps1523]

Again; THEY DONT DIE. Jesus christ, I literally JUST SAID THAT.

Whether or not they can return to full size (containing their regular dermal papilla count) is another thing. Theoretically, from the conversation I had with Dr. Claire Higgins on the topic of Replicel; YES.

Will they actually? Phase II clinical trials of Replicel / Shiseido will tell as will trials of other methods.

I realize you said cotsarelis has confirmed that, but my question was more of wondering when other doctors talk point of no return are they suggesting differently? I guess it's irrelevant considering up and coming treatments are centered around creating new follicles mostly. I was just curious if others disagreed with cots...

 

[hellouser]

I realize you said cotsarelis has confirmed that, but my question was more of wondering when other doctors talk point of no return are they suggesting differently? I guess it's irrelevant considering up and coming treatments are centered around creating new follicles mostly. I was just curious if others disagreed with cots...

Hard to disagree with Cots, he showed scans of the scalp in a bald man with small follicles where slick bald scalp is. Photographic evidence at this point. It's in one of Desmond's videos on Youtube from the conferences he was at a couple years ago.

 

[SmoothSailing]

When I look closely there isn't a part of my skin, besides soles of feet and palms of hands, not covered in really tiny hairs. Including my temples. Are these hairs completely irrelevant to head hair?

 

[Gone]

By dead follicles I mean inactivated, microscopic, just to clarify. This thread was meant to tackle what exactly causes a perceived lack of follicles, a lack of density, and came from the following perspective: "if I start an antiandrogen and look at my sparse, thin, but long, maintained hair, I wonder what is causing that lack of density." I think it could be:
1) decrease in hair shaft diameter
2) miniaturized hair obscured by longer hair
3) a fewer number of hairs coming from the
same follicle (from 2 or 3, to 1)
4) complete inactivation of some follicles

My guess is primarily number 3, but I can't be certain. I wonder if any stimulants known to date can increase the hair count per follicle.