Month: January 2023

Hello Doc hope you are well. Just wanted to get your take on something. I’ve been taking finasteride for about 2 years with decent results , mostly maintenance. However I’ve seen considerable progress microneedling my scalp. I’ve been doing it for a over a year and it is still yielding positive results. I would attribute most of my regrowth to microneedling in fact. Since this is a natural treatment I was wondering what your thoughts were in regards to the possible longevity of this treatment. If I’m happy with where I’m at , could say a microneedling routine once a month maintain these results? Love to get your thoughts on this. Take care.

I know a little bit about the research done when injuries like microneedling induces hair growth. These hairs may need to be ‘kicked’ with another short course of microneedling, possibly every 6 months. We are not clear what will happen to the hair follicle when it goes into telogen (rest) cycle and then must come out of it into Anagen (growth) for the new hair to develop. I believe some ‘kick’ should occur periodically and I am guessing about every 6 months or so. We are learning more as we go forward.

Will microneedling be likely to impact on the ability to have successful hair transplants in future should they it be needed?

I don’t believe that microneedling will restrict any future hair transplant success. The depth of the microneedling is shallow compared to the hair follicle which ranges in size from 4-7mm in length. Microneedling rarely goes down any deeper than 1.5mm.

This man is an actor who went for an audition the day after FUE. He combed his hair forward to cover the frontal FUE grafts. The back of his head was already healing and his hair style was created to bland it with the short hair in the back of his head. He landed the job from the audition. The photos are 7 days after the surgery and you can see the hair he will get from it standing up and looking like it is growing (it is probably not growing). What is important for you to take note here is that there is no crusting (scabs) and other than hair, there is nothing to see that reflects a surgery. We are obsessive about washing off the crusting on the day of surgery and our patients come back the following day to be sure that no crusting has formed,

In a few patients, raising the dose of Finasteride has helped maintain or better the results that they have, but it raises the risks of sexual side effects.

Been on Min (and Fin) for 7 months and have made some nice progress and got my hair to grow back on the crown and temples, but if I shave, is that like pressing the “restart” button? Do I have to wait another 7 months to gain what I have back?

No, shaving your head will not cause hair loss; however, miniaturized hairs which are not growing well, may not be growing when you let your hair grow back.

This is your call. Finasteride does two things for men in their 20s: (1) it reduces the shock loss that is very common in young man after a hair transplant and (2) and slows or stops the progressive nature of hair loss.

Dear doctor, I understand that you’re a busy person, but I’d really appreciate if you took the time to anwser a few questions. I’m a 19 year old male; full head of hair without any signs of balding. My father and my paternal grandfather both have thick hair with no signs of balding. However, I once read an article about baldness being inherited from one’s mother and my maternal grandfather has no hair at all. Does this mean that I should be worried about going bald? I guess all men lose at least some hair due to old age; around what age would you say that natural balding starts to occur?

The leaning to one’s mother’s genetics is 51/49%. You probably won’t inherit any balding based upon what you told me, but if I am wrong, you will see in in your mid-20s or later.

If my dad is bald will i be bald too?? If so, when will I start losing my hair. I am 26 now.

We inherit our genetic balding from both sides of the family, even from our grandparents when our parents do not express the balding gene and have a full head of hair. Do not obsess with what may happen to you for if it has not started by 26, it is less likely that you will follow a signficant balding pattern. Ask your dad when he first noticed balding, and if it was after 30, then maybe time will yet unfold an outcome like his. If he started before 26, then it is likely that you will not follow his pattern. Most bald men have signs by the age of 26 that balding may happen.