Hey doc, In your experience, do you feel that lots of guys tend to over analyze their hair after starting a treatment like propecia? For instance im 5 1/2 months in, for the last week i was convinced it was starting to see some hair come back, then today i look and it looks awful. I go through these mood swings all the time, since i started propecia. I should have listened to you and got a minuturization test done but my derm just gave me the meds, so now all I have to go off of is my memory of what it looked like when i started. Secondly between what months do most your patients see improvement in their hair, or become convinced that propecia is working in some form or another?
What was the phrase — a watched pot never boils? If you’re taking a pill to treat hair loss, of course you’re likely to watch your hair with an intense focus. It’s not unusual, but you shouldn’t stress yourself out about it. It generally takes 8 to 24 months to see the benefits of Propecia (finasteride). Full benefits may take the full 24 months.
The reason I suggest mapping the scalp for miniaturization is well defined by your comment. Our memory is not objective, but scalp miniaturization mapping is objective… so you do not have to rely on your memory.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
A PR firm sent me the press release and apparently the Telegraph in the UK got the same release and ran with it, presenting the article above. This “baldness calculator” is a clever way to market a caffeine-based shampoo called Alpecin, but I don’t know how this thing can claim to be accurate. It’s guessing the year you’ll lose your hair based on these factors you feed it — age, number of hairs lost daily, current hair loss pattern, scalp dryness, how often you wear a hat (???), stress, activity level, family history of hair loss, location (which apparently is limited to the UK), marital status, and career. Most of the questions are yes/no, and some have zero relevance. And surprise, surprise — when the answer is “calculated”, the solution is a special shampoo! I am completely and utterly SHOCKED (note sarcasm)!
I do not believe there is anything harmful in a supplement, aside from the harm it does to your wallet. If the product contains minoxidil, that’s going to be the ingredient that regrows your hair — so I’d stick to the generic minoxidil. I would not double up on the minoxidil, using the generic and the Follicare at the same time. Follicare’s various sprays and lotions also contains botanical extracts, saw palmetto, vitamins, oils, and lots of other stuff. It might make your hair shiny, but I don’t see where the treatment for hair loss is in there.
Each and every day, I receive emails from readers asking about individual doctors’ and their reputations or even wondering if the doctor they just met with is a good doctor. Most doctors care about you and are competent and ethical, but there are a few who really don’t give a damn about you and look at you as a way to simply make more money. The unethical doctors often push men who are too early to have a transplant (like most 20 year olds) into getting one when they don’t need it, or they expand the number of grafts in a transplant procedure into areas that do not have hair loss under the guise of performing preventive hair transplants which happen to push their fees higher. Unfortunately, there are too many unethical doctors doing hair transplants and while I’m always willing to help when I can, I’m disappointed when I hear how some doctors take advantage of people in an attempt to line their pockets with your money.
I also write about why it’s important to shop around for the best doctor before committing to a hair transplant. Don’t be afraid to have to travel to get a surgery that is PERMANENT and on your head! Don’t settle for someone you’re not comfortable with just because it is convenient. At NHI, we offer 