Question about minoxidil only working on one side of hairline

heretosee

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Hi everyone!

Quick question about minoxidil. It's been 10 months since I started rogaine foam; I apply it twice daily to both temples and to a small spot directly in the centre of my hairline. Initially I started using rogaine because my left temple had receded quite severely, although my right temple (baseline) showed no signs of hairloss.

The last 10 months on rogaine have been an absolute nightmare - I went through bad cyclical sheds every 2 months or so. However, I am fairly confident that rogaine is having an effect on my left temple (the area that initially spurred me to take action). While i haven't regrown my NW1 hairline or anything significantly cosmetic, I can see a definite improvement in the thickness of the surrounding hairs, as well as growth of lots of vellus hairs that weren't there before. In any case, my left side is definitely a little bit better than baseline. The same story goes for the centre of my hairline, which has thickened up slightly since I started using rogaine there.

Then there is my right hairline, which has completely baffled me. I lost some ground in this area during my very first shedding period, and it never really regrew to baseline levels (this was the side of my hairline that hadn't been affected by male pattern baldness) although it did hold steady for about 7 months. And then a month ago, during my latest shed, I lost a huge chunk of hair from this side of my hairline to the point where I now appear to have significant thinning in my right temple. When I look closely I do see some thin regrowth in the shed areas but at this stage it's too early to tell whether they will become terminal regrowth or are simply miniaturised vellus hairs that i've lost for good.

So my question is, is it possible for minoxidil to work only on one side of your hairline/scalp and not another? Or has anyone experienced a similar major shed around months 8 - 9 where they dipped below baseline, but regrew it all stronger later? I really want to hope the past 7 months have been a short anagen phase for the hairs on my right hairline after my first shed, and minoxidil is now cycling these hairs through to become even stronger and denser. I've heard the medication works in stages like that for some people.

Please leave comments!

Best,
hair transplants
 

deniak

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I have almsot same situation but from baseline. One corner of hairline is just thinning, in other I have huge bald spot. For lot of us male pattern baldness is not working symetrically. For some minoxidil can be also tricky sh*t, you may lost lot of thick terminal hairs, gain 2 x more pigmented but very weak /vellus hairs so it may look as progress on paper but in reality, cosmetically you are slowly losing ground (my example).
It really scucks, but no one can give you good advice in such situation. Maybe also add some AA treatment to your regime?
 

diehunnen123

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same here, worked on the temple that used to be worse but not on the other one, heres why. The worse temple has lots of vellus hairs already there cause it miniaturized, that means theres more to recover.
 

heretosee

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So... should I consider stopping rogaine use on my right temple, but continue on my left side and forelock? Is that even an option? I just don't understand why rogaine is working for one side of my head but not the other. My genes are the same all around, aren't they?!!!!
 

Norwood One

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The other explanation is = Although we display bilateral symmetry, nature is not 100% symmetrical. Hence, some people have more follicles susceptible to androgens on one side of the body as opposed to the other...leading to less/more effective cosmetic results via minoxidil, finasteride, etc.
 

heretosee

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Okay, so just a quick update and another question.
I'm not on finasteride atm because for the past 10.5 months I thought minoxidil had been maintaining my hair. I still tbh can't tell if this is a temporary shed or minoxidil has stopped working. However, I'm thinking of adding nizoral as a DHT blocker 1x app a week. Does anyone know what the rate of success with ketoconazole is in treating Androgenetic Alopecia? I've read the studies and some people had amazing regrowth on keto, but I'm curious to know what the odds are on a larger population sample.


No comments about how I'm doomed without finasteride, please. I will get on finasteride eventually, but I want to try different treatments individually first so I can clearly identify which one works for me.
 

arnoldd

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Okay, so just a quick update and another question.
I'm not on finasteride atm because for the past 10.5 months I thought minoxidil had been maintaining my hair. I still tbh can't tell if this is a temporary shed or minoxidil has stopped working. However, I'm thinking of adding nizoral as a DHT blocker 1x app a week. Does anyone know what the rate of success with ketoconazole is in treating Androgenetic Alopecia? I've read the studies and some people had amazing regrowth on keto, but I'm curious to know what the odds are on a larger population sample.


No comments about how I'm doomed without finasteride, please. I will get on finasteride eventually, but I want to try different treatments individually first so I can clearly identify which one works for me.

Keto is a weak anti androgen, if you really care about your hair you must start fina
 
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