Balding Blog

For those of you who have gotten hair transplants, do you still have to take fin to maintain it? I’m assuming your scalp would still be attacking the new follicles. I can’t take fin because it gave me some nasty side effects so I want to see if it’s effective without it. If not, for those who got beard transplants, what are your thoughts on it? I have really bad facial hair growth and don’t want to look like an egg when I finally lose the rest of my hair. I would appreciate information like prices and especially for the beard transplant, how much of your face were they able to cover and do you like the way it looks? I’d appreciate any advice I can get.

Hair loss is a progressive process. Most of my patients take finasteride if they are younger when they get a hair transplant to stop the progression of the balding. Finasteride isn’t needed for beard hair.

I see questions about if a beard will grow with finasteride on here, and for me it doesn’t seem to affect my beard! I’ve seen improvements and have used minox for my beard, even before my hairline started going. I was aware of the results from minox research I’d done for my beard, so thank god I knew of treatment when my hair started to go, because it went quickly..

I use a simple routine of fin oral 1mg and minox foam on my beard and hairline once per day before bed and that’s it. Tried oral minox for a bit and actually lost ground, so swapped back to topical foam and got the hairs back. For me, topical is more superior than oral even at once per day.

Your beard response is dramatic. I would not rush stopping the minoxidil on the beard, as these hairs may be dependent on minoxidil until your genetic kick in. The big question for you is that at some point, your beard should grow independent of minoxidil, so ask yourself, when do you stop the beard minoxidil? Possibly when you are in your later 20s, to be sure that your genetics are controlling the beard.

Thanks. I did have a checkup with my dermatologist but I was too embarrassed to mention the mild testicular ache. Should I be more open in the future? I thought it wasn’t much to worry about and its gone now. If it was persist I would have mentioned it.

Never be shy about talking about anything to your doctor. Always speak from the heart, even if you feel that the doctor might not understand you well enough. We hear it all and we don’t make judgments, just diagnosis and treatment recommendations, when indicated. I thought I would share a story about an HIV patient who didn’t know until I tested him and everything that surrounded this particular patient and what I did, what happened to me and a follow-up as well: https://baldingblog.com/hiv-and-hair-transplants/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2223629-batteries-as-transparent-as-glass-could-power-devices-in-your-home/

I’ve been thinning since the age of 16. Now I am 23 years old. At first it wasn’t anything I thought was serious. After a few years it got super aggressive and I didn’t do anything about it like an idiot. Now I stand a Norwood Class 5. I will be going for multiple transplants and getting on Fin very soon. I’m going to buzz my remaining hair for easier application of Min. Any positive suggestions?

See a doctor and develop a Personalized Master Plan for your future fight against hair loss. Don’t rush to start the hair transplant process until there is no real better alternative. Men with genetic balding continue to bald no matter what we do to try to stop it. If we are lucky, we can slow the time line down enough never to face the end stage balding we are genetically programmed for, even with the use of finasteride (best drug to slowing and possibly reversing hair loss). But to be safe, you must assume that you will not be the lucky one and figure out a worst case scenario with your doctor. Think about this and its meaning. Best to find a great doctor and then develop a long term relationship with that doctor working according to a Master Plan that this doctor will put into writing for you, something I do on every patient at your stage of genetic hair loss.

I know this is going to sound weird, but my hairloss really started only 1 or 2 weeks after I began obsessively taking pictures of my temples, crown, etc and becoming anxious over it. Back then I seriously panicked thinking I had MPB as a teen, leading me to this sub. In retrospect, it looked perfectly fine. It then suddenly became much thinner, and since then my hairline, primarily the temples, has been steadily receding and my hair turned thinner, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

MPB is certainly genetic, but what factors (like stress) could trigger it to start occurring earlier?

Some men practice denial, and one day they look and there it is! Are you really balding? See a good doctor and find out.