What does the white bulb really mean for those who surely have male pattern baldness?

[mugsy8]

I searched the forum and the internet alike for an answer and all I came up with is more confusion. I went to the dermatologist a little over a year ago and was prescribed Finasteride 1.25 daily which I have taken since and I have also been applying minoxidil 5% daily along with Regenepure DR shampoo every 2-3 days.

Every day, numerous times per day, I get an itch or tingle on my scalp and when i softly pull hair in that area anywhere from 1-3 hairs come out and almost always have a small white bulb at the end. I also shed in the shower when I run my hand thru my hair and if I shake my hair over a sink a good amount of hair falls out, mostly also with the white bulb. Is this signifying that the hair will most likely grow back? or that it is lost for good?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[rerun]

The white bulb is just keratin.

"The shed hairs are typically telogen hairs, which can be recognized by a small bulb of keratin on the root end. Whether the keratinized lump is pigmented or unpigmented makes no difference;"

http://www.americanhairloss.org/types_of_hair_loss/effluviums.asp

It just signifies that the hair has shed (as opposed to the hair having broken off). It doesn't signify whether hair will grow back or be lost for good.

I used to shed a lot of hairs with white bulbs when my scalp was producing a lot of sebum (I had a thick, wax-like layer of sebum on my scalp actually). I don't notice the white bulbs as much anymore now that the sebum is under control.

 

[mugsy8]

Ok. Thanks for the reply.

So I guess that there is simply no way of knowing if this indicates that the hair is naturally shedding and/or shedding due to my use of Minoxidil, Finasteride and Regenepure and will most likely grow back or if it's hair that's being affected by male pattern baldness and will be gone for good?

 

[rerun]

Ok. Thanks for the reply.

So I guess that there is simply no way of knowing if this indicates that the hair is naturally shedding and/or shedding due to my use of Minoxidil, Finasteride and Regenepure and will most likely grow back or if it's hair that's being affected by male pattern baldness and will be gone for good?

Unless you have the absolute severest male pattern baldness, it's probably not going to be gone for good yet. It's very unlikely that just because it has shed it will be gone permanently. It could come back thinner if the attack of DHT is too strong, where it continues to cycle through growth and shed phases becoming thinner and thinner each time. If your hair loss treatment is effective, it could regrow either as thick as it previously was, or it could regrow thin and take several cycles to become thicker and thicker.

I'm on Finasteride and went through a lot of shedding for about 2 years off and on, actually. At first the new hairs that grew in were very thin and flimsy, but in time, I think they have cycled and become thicker.

 

[mugsy8]

I appreciate the response rerun. I do not believe my male pattern baldness is severe therefore I hope the hair will be coming back.

 

[karankaran]

Everyone loses hair every single day. With male pattern baldness, it just comes back thinner and thinner. The white bulb doesn't mean anything.

+1