Is There Hope For Regrowth? Are My Follicles Dead?

[obscurepersonaldetail]

I've read that once you have a bald spot, it's most likely full of dead follicles and there is no way to revive said dead follicles, and that regrowing hair in that spot would be impossible. My temples have receded to a Norwood 2, possible a little further than that, and from the naked eye they look bald. If I run my fingers over my temples, they feel smooth and, well, bald. However, if I lightly hover my finger over the temple, I can sorta feel maybe a little fuzz? But it's very soft and almost completely invisible. If I angle my head and get some light shining the edge of my temples, I can see very, very minuscule and colorless hairs on my temples. Does this mean my hair follicles are not dead? Can I be hopeful to believe that it is possible to regrow hair on my temples with treatment?

I've been taking dutasteride, bicalutamide, and estrogen (don't judge haha) in addition to dermarolling for a month now and have only noticed my hair thinning so far. Of course I don't expect regrowth and I already went through a panic attack regarding hair shedding during treatment, but I want to know if filling in my temples is possible at this point or if it will stay bald regardless of treatment and that all that will happen is my hair will just be preserved the way it is.

 

[curiousone]

Im in the exact same position as you. Especially my right temple. I have looked at some old photos and it clearly looks like a bald spot as far back as when I was 17. I am now 37. Lucky for me my hair is thick and didnt recede any further. I have been on finasteride for 16 years. I just started using minoxidil about 2.5 months ago. Hard to tell if its doing anything yet. Shedding was anxiety provoking but I stopped shedding at about 1.5 months.

I really cant be fucked with dermarolling. Putting on minoxidil twice a day is hassle enough. I will leave my regime there.

 

[Retinoid]

Follicles don't really die they just produce much finer hair shafts until they don't produce anything visible anymore. They then essentially go dormant and are like regular skin accompanied by fibrosis, etc.

The most effective method would be actually manipulating the follicles again to produce hair (like with stem cell research). However what you are doing now will be semi effective. A topical growth promoter will help like Minoxidil, which is very effective if you are a responder. If you are not you can look into more experimental things like cytokines, peptides, PRP injections, etc.