Balding Blog

The FUE procedure removes hair from the back of the head, so it can’t grow back. The amount of hair that can be removed is limited. If too much hair is removed, as in this person, the back of the head becomes thin and see-through as a result of the depleted donor area.

The number of FUEs that can be removed depends upon many factors. Most importantly, the original donor density must be measured by the surgeon before recommending FUE graft numbers. If too many grafts are removed from the donor area, balding in the back of the head (as shown here in this photo) occurs.

The initial problem, prior to a hair transplant, is that most patients want more hair moved, and surgeons are motivated by the money they receive for taking out more FUE grafts. So, without good planning, the donor area is often over-harvested, producing balding in the donor area (as shown in the photo below). I can state with almost 100% certainty that 5500 grafts would produce donor over-harvesting in 98% of the population because the original donor density in 98% of the population will not support this number of grafts (see here: https://newhair.com/donor-area/).

Female hair loss, unlike male hair loss, is rarely complete and most people believe that these hairs are still there, possibly cycling irregularly or poorly? When some new drug is discovered, we may find that the hairs that are not there, will appear.

I know it isn’t a super bad case of MPB yet but I really don’t like these temporal recessions. They make me look old and I want them to go away. I’ve traced where my hairline used to be and I’m wondering: can it be restored with just fin + min or will I need to buy a hair transplant at some point?

I am not 100% sure that this is balding. To be sure, I need to see a frontal view with your eyebrows lifted high so that you forehead creases. That will tell me exactly where your hairline belongs, if it is receded, and by how much.

This may be an early Class 3 pattern of balding. If you are under 22, it will likely respond to minoxidil and finasteride. If you are over 26, if it doesn’t respond to the above medications, then try microneedling for 6 months, which should regrow your hair. If not, you can get a hair transplant if you have tried it all and are over 25, which will work well if this is balding. The design of your hairline you sent to me is clearly feminine. You need a good doctor to design it properly if you get a hair transplant, and it should be a mature MALE hairline.

21 y/o, been on fin for 3 months now and am seeing some new strands around the temples I think, but as the recession is already so big I wonder if it will be enough in my case. But topical min is ofc rather inconvenient (is it even sustainable long term..?), and oral min is not available where I live.

What do you think – is it worth giving fin alone a couple of more months or is it unrealistic to get this amount of regrowth with fin? After summer I will move to a new city so I definitely want to look better by then.

I have seen men who lost hair regain their hair on finasteride alone. They are usually under 24 years of age and they looked like they never were balding.

Long and short, what I wanted to know was whether your natural balding pattern that is determined by your genetics eventually manifests itself despite finasteride use or not. Hence, I asked, does finasteride just delay the inevitable, or does it continue to work to prevent the progression of hair loss for the duration it is taken?

Doc, i have a question, Does it happen usually that someone stops reacting to the current dosage and has to move to higher concentrated dosages. Ex, someone stops reacting to 1mg finestride and has to move to 2mg to keep seeing results. I am kinda scared of it, I started with 1mg per day, but later came across someone mentioning it, so I reduced the dosage to 1mg every alternate day, bcoz 0.5mg per day wasn’t available. Was it a smart move or me just believing in a myth?

The original Merck studies showed that the 1mg dose was the ideal dose for hair loss. Half that dose is 82% as effective, so taking a pill every other day is essentially half the dose and it should still be 82% effective in your situation.

The look is great, but you have used up more than 50% of your donor supply which could be a problem if your balding pattern significantly advances. I would ask your surgeon a simple question: “Could the same results have been achieved with 3000 grafts (1500 each side)? If your hair has a medium or better thickness, the answer is ‘yes’ in my opinion.

Mid 40s, started losing hair in my early 20s. It progressed pretty slowly but consistently over the years and I figured I would let it gracefully fall out. A couple years ago it went into fallout over drive and I’m just not ready to give it up quit yet. Pretty sure the copious amount of stress and anxiety of the last few years could be the culprit here. Started almost exactly 3 months ago

.5 mg Oral fin 5% Topical min twice a day. I’ve had sides taking 1mg fin so I jumped down to .5mg and they pretty much cleared up.

Good job. I would expect that a man in his mid-forties might not respond as well as you did. I suspect that after taking it for a year, you might get complete reversal.

The message here is that persistence pays off!

This unfortunate man who went to Turkey, has well more than 5000 grafts. I am sure his donor supply was significantly depleted and the grafts, at least many of them, may not grow. The people who perform such surgeries are challenged to product a very high number of grafts thinking that this is good surgery, even better surgery. In fact, this is POOR surgery because the grafts will not get enough blood supply to thrive and grow. There is also a good possibility that they patient may develop necrosis because the blood supply to the recipient area was cut off from the many wounds created for the recipient sites. As long as there are believers that this is a bargain that they can’t turn down, then these terrible surgeries will continue leaving victims flying home from Turkey now knowing what will happen to them and many with problems like necrosis which will require more expensive medical care.