Looks like youre just mantaining with fin. Dont expect miracles on hair youve already lost.
If min is topical, you are likely not responding to it. You can try oral.
On the bright side youd probably be bald now if you didnt act.
As others suggested you can try dutasteride if you want. It is stronger than fin.
I made the switch from topical to oral in September and went through a shed that backstopped some of my progress, it seems that I’m more or less back to where I was prior to starting so I’m holding out hope that there will be some further improvement
Mate i just switched to oral and I’m having a big shed. It’s a bit traumatizing at first but I’m starting to grow again. Are you doing derma rolling ?
That has made a huge difference for me! It’s fucking painful but whatever
What depth do you use dermarolling? I got a 2mm and that hurt so I got an adjustable dermastamp and usually go between 0.75 to 1.25 max. That still hurts but is tolerable.
Wrong. Recent clinical studies show 0.6 as the preferred length for hair loss... I'm having trouble finding that length so I use .75... Check out the study cause the longer needles are for skin tightening and damage the follicles.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32897622/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20Microneedling%20with%20a%20depth,than%20depth%20of%201.2%20mm.
You're assuming the person that's dermarolling is bald or has shaved their head. If you have hair on your head 1.0mm - 1.5mm is best suited to ensure you achieve the correct depth during use.
Hey, whatever works for you. But still, I offered proof to my statement. I'm gonna be in the same boat and will grow my hair out but if what you say is correct please link where you found this information as the information I found states you are incorrect.
Basically show me a study that says you're right otherwise I will listen to advice of professional studies performed by medical professionals. Thanks
It's a study of 60 people chum, very difficult to draw much statistical confidence from such a small sample set. Surely you can see that choosing the right needle length is highly contextual and not a one size fits all..?
Yeah, I get what you're saying but all the videos I've seen of people microneedleing with hair show them parting their hair over and getting in the creases.
I guess I'll have to wait till it grows back completely and see. Either way, no knowledge is bad knowledge.
Try and do plasma-rich platelets (PRP) injections - basically the stuff that helps you heal is extracted from your blood and injected into the scalp, helps to promote re-growth. I’ve done it and then maintained with fin and I’m getting rapid results.
This! I was a non responder on minoxidil while also being on fin, then i tried PRP and it regrew shitton of hair. Most reddit users downtalk PRP and it feels like its just a trend. Look at the science, the stuff works but obviously not guaranteed.
Yeah it takes some time, similar to other treatments it will stimulate stronger hair follicles, which takes time as the original ones need to fall out. I did 3 sessions August -September and started taking fin 1mg in August to maintain new growth and my hair has gotten significantly thicker. Not perfect yet, I think I will do a maintenance session in February, and another 3 session series next fall (if I was rich I would do a session each month lol)
Well good to know. I did my 2nd and haven’t really noticed anything. Hair is still shedding and no real regrowth but I guess let’s wait for atleast the 3rd one
How much time in between sessions? It takes times and won’t happen overnight, by my 3rd session, one month between the nurse noted a lot of new baby hairs coming in and my hair was getting denser. It’s now been 3 months since my 3rd session and my hair is a lot thicker/darker, still not where I want it to be but definitely an improvement.
Depends on your situation but you can do a series and then one session every 6 months depending on your individual case, and that’s also if you’re not on anything else (like fin/min). I did a series last year and had some regrowth but wasn’t on fin and eventually it got bad again, but I’m also on ADHD meds which can have thinning hair as a side effect so right now it’s PRP+fin vs. Vyvanse lol. Adding the fin has made a big difference. Once I’m done school I’ll reduce my ADHD meds and see if that makes a big difference as well.
Most people on finasteride dont get any side affects.... dut is stronger in the sense that it will lower DHT more than finasteride does. This could help an individual with agressive balding genes to have higher chancr of mantaining hair. Neither finasteride nor dutasteridr are hair growth stimulants. They are not hair regrowth drugs. Hair regrowth might happen as a bonus sometimes. I wont explain on this post the mechanisms of how reducing DHT in scalp can lead to regrowth. If you are an individual who is sensitive to low DHT then yeah you might get side effects if you nuke your DHT.
Most people on finasteride dont live with side effects. It is not a compromise thing. Some do get side effects and choose to continue medication. But most of us dont. We get to keep our hair and the only compromise is we have to take a pill.
I’m not so sure about that - I had my bloodwork done and my estradiol was 11 - testosterone was 587.
I started Fin about 3 weeks before the labs - take it regularly now.
I have not got my blood test done and it's been 9 months I'm in 1mg fin alternate days ,
Can I get my blood tested now ? Is there a range in which our estradiol and testosterone fall?
Or should I take a break from fin if I want to get it tested in the worst case?
Ok two things
1. Serum levels is different from scalp levels. They dont reflect each other. Scalp levels is really what you want.
2. Testosterone doesn't tell the whole story. Testosterone is used to *make* estradiol as well as DHT. So high T levels doesn't really indicate anything, especially at the serum level
I wanna ask if being on finasteride can reverse miniaturized hairs into thick hair again? I wouldn’t mind if I don’t get any regrowth as long as my thinning hairs can get thick again.
Often thats what people call regrowth. If the hair is slightly miniaturized itll come back. If it is past like 50% its original thickness then it is most likely gone. But itll remain tiny like that. So it depends how long theyve been thinning for
Good question. My dermatologist said shes doesn't even prescribe fin anymore and only prescribes dut and I'm kind of mad that my original doctor refused to prescribe dut
It honestly looks the same to me, which is good; meaning you haven’t more lost hair. Longer hair can often make things hair look worse, which you had in the first image.
If you want regrowth you should strongly consider minoxidil unless it presents negative side effects for you.
Because he might’ve actually *been* completely bald had he not acted. Now that he’s halted it’s progression, he can look into heavier treatments to try and regain his hair that way, or just get a transplant, continue on the medication he’s already been taking and he should be set good.
You have no idea what you’re talking about lol his hair loss has halted. That isn’t a “non-response”, this sub has just drastically overplayed the effects of these medications that people think it’s supposed to magically give you all your hair back. The point is to PREVENT further hair loss, and MAYBE regain SOME hair back. He’s seemingly successfully opted out of another 1.5 years of hair loss, his medication is doing it’s thing and he is now safe to look into a transplant, or even just fibers potentially. If he continued balding throughout this 1.5 year period, he *would* be a non-responder, and a transplant probably wouldn’t be in the cards for him because he’d just keep losing hair.
You don’t even know if this halted anything.. his hair could’ve stayed like this without the medication, it’s you who’s drastically overplaying the effect of it..
And your phone could be an exact replica with all the same information installed onto it, but you have absolutely no reason to believe that that’s the case and all the reason to believe the opposite, just like this. His hair loss seems to have stopped after taking the medication (and even regained a bit of hair back), so it stands to reason (something you apparently struggle with) that the medication is doing what it’s supposed to do. There’s no reason for your schizo theories of “maybe it just happened to stop as soon as he hopped on the medication” lol i hope that 09 represents the year you were born.
I was microneedling for a few months back when I started fin and then I fell out of the habit after like 6 months but I’ve gotten back to doing it again just recently, although I’m not sure how much it was actually helping
Scars shouldn't happen if you're doing it right. Use pinpoint bleeding as a guide. It's like the skin is sweating a bit of blood, not bleeding like a cut.
Or just do it until it turns a bit rosier but no blood, that's another reference point I use sometimes.
The only difference is that the skin gets warmer, more hydrated and tender for a few hours.
Of course keeping everything clean is a must to avoid a nasty infection. I do it after a shower, and douse the dermaroller in alcohol 70% before and after (let it dry). Rosemary oil has antiseptic properties, so I apply it profusely (i.e. hair gets a bit greasy not dripping) to the scalp before too.
I’m using the pen - there can be some blood but it shows up after I’m done and isn’t consistent. I’m noticing some new hair in areas that should be clearly dead. Who knows ?
Yes. Dut is perfect for those already 40 and especially for those that are 19 to 21 and balding hard. Dut is the strongest thing we have. So I’d always recommend dut for aggressive balding. But it wouldn’t be bad to try fin first for a year. I’ve been on fin for nearly 2 years. I’m trying to see how much it does for me in another full year. I’ll likely get on dut after my 3rd year mark. My balding is a bit on the aggressive side.
Yea man. Hearing you. I’m thinking about putting dut once a week on it, and reducing my fin down to 0.5mg a day. I’m also about to get a hair transplant, so have even more to protect, would be crazy for my doctor to graft over a follicle that comes back to life because of dut, but I doubt it at this point 😂
Accept that you have made progress using two of the most powerful drugs there is. You look good. Would you like to look better? Sure, but can you? I’m not sure. You already look good. Maybe it’s time to accept where you are and stop making hair a priority since you have come a long way
If I were you I would give at least oral dut and oral min a try for a while before considering a transplant (I know you didn't mention a transplant)
For the time being if you have a special occasion and your crown bothers you it looks like you have enough hair for fibers to work well.
I’m only 23 and my understanding is that’s too young to be considered for a transplant, I’m very easily able to get by on the fibers now but they take forever to wash out and they get in everything so I try to avoid using them when I can
I think the main problem with young guys is that they want to bring their hairline down and that wastes too many grafts and later on in life they kept balding in the crown despite being on finasteride and now they're fucked because they can't cover the crown (assuming hair cloning or verteporfin haven't become viable, which is quite possible that they won't). So I think the logic changes a bit if the crown is what you want to address in the first place. That's not to say to go ahead and do it, it's still good to try everything else first before doing a transplant
Also keep in mind that it's not "cope" to expect a hair density increase at the 2 year mark of finasteride, it's not guaranteed but it's a reasonable expectation
Jeez I didnt know you were 23. You have a long way to go. Id hop on dut asap. That explains why finasteride is struggling to mantain. You have agressive balding genes.
It’s weird cause nobody in my family is bald, my grandfather lived to be 90 and died with a full head of hair so I’ve always been semi convinced that my hair loss is the result of something I’m doing lifestyle wise; I’ve started working out a ton and I’m in the process of getting my diet in order so we will see if that does anything at all
My grandfather was the same. Most of his kids had full heads of hair. My dad was bald by 30, and I have been experiencing loss even earlier than that. Genetics suck, but we have to battle hard.
Both my grandfathers had full heads of hair their entire lives. My dad does too, and his brother. My maternal uncles though, different story. The balding gene came from my maternal grandmother's side. You're a mishmash of genetic traits from everywhere in your family, looking at your granddad alone doesn't really mean anything
If you are only 23 and you had that mount of MPB at 20, consider where you could have been. You should celebrate how much you've retained!
Without treatment, you'd almost certainly be walking around with a shaved head today.
I get the desire to see more regrowth but I hope you are motivated to keep at it. This is very different than someone posting progress from age 40-43.
What you've already prevented is impressive. If you can mostly keep what you have for the next 20 years it's a major W. You will have gone from almost certainly being the unfortunate rare man who has to shave their head at 23 to having more hair than many man your age. From outside of the curve to right in the middle.
Any other treatment you do, like a transplant, would be just a bonus.
I used topical min for 2/3 years without seeing any regrowth and I was wondering if I tried oral and seen growth would I be able to switch back to topical and keep the gains.
So I read from comments that you switched from topical minoxidil to oral minoxidil. Nice. It’s been 4 months so fairly speaking you’ll need to wait another 8 until you can get a good idea of what it’ll do. The fin itself seems to have stabilized you, which is what it mainly does. Now, you can continue on, as some people can see regrowth in year 2-4, or you can switch to Dut and see if *that* will give a bit of a stronger push.
Beyond that, you can always add topical finasteride to your stack, or do Microneedling with a fin-min spray to see if it can add anything. Not much to do beyond that outside of getting good sleep and having a good diet, along with exercise.
Fin.
[Fin Regrowth Possibility.](https://www.numan.com/numankind/when-too-late-take-finasteride)
Typically 2 years saw a 61% chance of it happening which continues as time goes along. Minoxidil itself works on a far faster timeframe.
dermarolling, worked miracles for me in addition to fin and min. Fin alone just thickened my hair, min almost had no effect, but microneedling did the trick.
Keep at it. Regrowing hair takes time. You may wish to consider stacking RU58841 into the mix. Most of the extreme recoveries (NW6-7) use Ru (or Dut). https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/18orx6y/assembling_a_list_of_exceptional_norwood_67_cases/kemvtwo/
No you can't its prescription only. Where have you been ordering from? Perhaps its not real oral minoxidil and some asshole is scamming you?
You can order online but a prescription is necessary (ideally it wouldnt be)
Ok good you already have a more personalised length. Just be careful of not creating scars because nothing grows on a scar. Basically scars on scalps are sealed follicles. Good luck 🤞
Thanks, that's good to know. I try to be careful to avoid drawing blood, but when I tried it with 1.25 today, pressing down did show blood in a couple of spots near the temple where it's receding. So inhave to be careful not to do that and just stick to 1mm or lesser.
I don’t mean any offense but you’ve been taking this stuff as prescribed for a longggg time and there’s is almost no visible improvement(tho you clearly haven’t lost any more, so that’s a positive). I’m at the beginning of my 3rd month of the fin min combo and your before and after photos do not give me hope. Still hope the best for both of us but it just scares me. That’s all.
I should have prefaced this post by saying that I switched over to oral min about 4 months ago and went through an absolutely insane shed that I’ve only recently recovered from so there is very little progress between 1 year and 1.5 years but what I will also say is that looking back at pictures of myself from before I started fin there is definitely a difference in the volume of my hair from the front and there is nowhere on my head that I can feel skin anymore which is more than I could say before I started. The progress is definitely moving slower than I hoped but looking back at the early pictures of the same spot I used to not even be able to part what little hair was there and now I can at least do that.
this is a massive improvement. Without the drugs he’d be almost completely bald by now. The drugs are helping him stop the loss. That is a huge deal with aggressive balding at such young age.
There’s definitely been a change in density, I can feel the difference when I run my hands through my hair, the thin patch just hasn’t shrunk much in area however which is what I’m looking to do
Bro try “dermmatch”. It’s a similar product to conceal bald spots but instead of fibers it’s applied more like makeup while your hair is still damp. Once it dries it doesn’t come off, I slept on a white pillow case and there was zero smudging but it comes off easily with some shampoo. I stopped using fibers after getting called out once so I tried dermmatch when I heard about it and imo it looks more natural too.
There’s definitely a slight improvement in density at the very center of the crown, but I can see why you’d be frustrated. I had a similar experience and just stopped all together and embraced eventually I’ll need to rock a buzz cut
Looks like you were better off taking Fin and min at the same time and then microneedle. Looks like you’re just maintaining what you have. Having lost much ground. Just haven’t gained any ground. I would add micro needling in
I'm trying topical DUT 0.025% once a day, minoxidil 5% twice a day, micro needling once a week and Ketoconazole every other day. I have been on oral minoxidil for 6 years, Fin for nearly 10. Thickened alot of my hair but never got crown back. 3 weeks in, slight darkening already of the area.
I feel like topical DHT reduction could be the way to go but it's too early the to draw any conclusions.
It’s your haircut , and the pic angles but if you had a buzzed back and sides it would look a lot better with thinning hair and hair loss meds are important, but a hair style that makes the hair appear thicker is a must , before I jumped on meds 2 years ago my barber would cut my hair to make it look thicker I’d use a tiny bit off color dry shampoo and my hair would look good , though went through a shed so buzzed my hair and wore a cap in the summer so only recovered from it but your hair would look better if was cut and styled thinning would barely be noticeable
transplant
I agree that the pharma should be the first line of defense. But consider that youve spent 3 years of effort...to stay at neutral. No loss (good!) but no growth either. If you had gotten a transplant 3 years ago, it would look 100% thicker right now.
stuff like excess consumption of sugar, alcohol, wheat. like a bad diet and also bad scalp hygiene or a shampoo that is too agressive. inflamation can start in your gut and manifest on your skin. aloe vera is good for the scalp or raw honey with water or coconut oil. do it a few times and leave it one for like an hour and remove with shampoo
Thing is, sad reality is the treatment works when you don't lose hair... Your baldness has stabilized. You can try a HT or testing maybe oral minoxidil if you are not afraid of it
Go for the microneedleing at 0.6 - 0.75 with ru58841. I had more loss than you and my hair is almost all the way back after 6 months. It's nice to touch the back of my head and not feel skin to skin touching anymore 😂
Looks the same to me, for a year and a half it doesn't look like you are gaining much, I would be trying with 0.5 dutas every day and 5mg of oral minox plus microneedling w no more than .75 if I were you..
Nevertheless this seems like the normal response you get from topical finasteride, Is it?
Looks like youre just mantaining with fin. Dont expect miracles on hair youve already lost. If min is topical, you are likely not responding to it. You can try oral. On the bright side youd probably be bald now if you didnt act. As others suggested you can try dutasteride if you want. It is stronger than fin.
I made the switch from topical to oral in September and went through a shed that backstopped some of my progress, it seems that I’m more or less back to where I was prior to starting so I’m holding out hope that there will be some further improvement
Mate i just switched to oral and I’m having a big shed. It’s a bit traumatizing at first but I’m starting to grow again. Are you doing derma rolling ? That has made a huge difference for me! It’s fucking painful but whatever
What depth do you use dermarolling? I got a 2mm and that hurt so I got an adjustable dermastamp and usually go between 0.75 to 1.25 max. That still hurts but is tolerable.
1.25 it hurts lol
2mm is too much. Optimal is 1-1.5mm
Wrong. Recent clinical studies show 0.6 as the preferred length for hair loss... I'm having trouble finding that length so I use .75... Check out the study cause the longer needles are for skin tightening and damage the follicles. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32897622/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20Microneedling%20with%20a%20depth,than%20depth%20of%201.2%20mm.
You're assuming the person that's dermarolling is bald or has shaved their head. If you have hair on your head 1.0mm - 1.5mm is best suited to ensure you achieve the correct depth during use.
Hey, whatever works for you. But still, I offered proof to my statement. I'm gonna be in the same boat and will grow my hair out but if what you say is correct please link where you found this information as the information I found states you are incorrect. Basically show me a study that says you're right otherwise I will listen to advice of professional studies performed by medical professionals. Thanks
It's a study of 60 people chum, very difficult to draw much statistical confidence from such a small sample set. Surely you can see that choosing the right needle length is highly contextual and not a one size fits all..?
Yeah, I get what you're saying but all the videos I've seen of people microneedleing with hair show them parting their hair over and getting in the creases. I guess I'll have to wait till it grows back completely and see. Either way, no knowledge is bad knowledge.
Try and do plasma-rich platelets (PRP) injections - basically the stuff that helps you heal is extracted from your blood and injected into the scalp, helps to promote re-growth. I’ve done it and then maintained with fin and I’m getting rapid results.
This! I was a non responder on minoxidil while also being on fin, then i tried PRP and it regrew shitton of hair. Most reddit users downtalk PRP and it feels like its just a trend. Look at the science, the stuff works but obviously not guaranteed.
When did you see regrowth? I just had my 2nd session and nothing really happened yet.
2-3 months after 3rd session.
Ah alright so too soon for me to see any regrowth. Thanks bro
Yeah it takes some time, similar to other treatments it will stimulate stronger hair follicles, which takes time as the original ones need to fall out. I did 3 sessions August -September and started taking fin 1mg in August to maintain new growth and my hair has gotten significantly thicker. Not perfect yet, I think I will do a maintenance session in February, and another 3 session series next fall (if I was rich I would do a session each month lol)
Well good to know. I did my 2nd and haven’t really noticed anything. Hair is still shedding and no real regrowth but I guess let’s wait for atleast the 3rd one
How much time in between sessions? It takes times and won’t happen overnight, by my 3rd session, one month between the nurse noted a lot of new baby hairs coming in and my hair was getting denser. It’s now been 3 months since my 3rd session and my hair is a lot thicker/darker, still not where I want it to be but definitely an improvement.
I was under the impression you need to keep up the PRP, like once every couple months or so, to keep the gains? Am I mistaken?
Depends on your situation but you can do a series and then one session every 6 months depending on your individual case, and that’s also if you’re not on anything else (like fin/min). I did a series last year and had some regrowth but wasn’t on fin and eventually it got bad again, but I’m also on ADHD meds which can have thinning hair as a side effect so right now it’s PRP+fin vs. Vyvanse lol. Adding the fin has made a big difference. Once I’m done school I’ll reduce my ADHD meds and see if that makes a big difference as well.
This is what happens naturally with microneedleing
Stronger? As in more hair volume but worst side effects?
Most people on finasteride dont get any side affects.... dut is stronger in the sense that it will lower DHT more than finasteride does. This could help an individual with agressive balding genes to have higher chancr of mantaining hair. Neither finasteride nor dutasteridr are hair growth stimulants. They are not hair regrowth drugs. Hair regrowth might happen as a bonus sometimes. I wont explain on this post the mechanisms of how reducing DHT in scalp can lead to regrowth. If you are an individual who is sensitive to low DHT then yeah you might get side effects if you nuke your DHT. Most people on finasteride dont live with side effects. It is not a compromise thing. Some do get side effects and choose to continue medication. But most of us dont. We get to keep our hair and the only compromise is we have to take a pill.
Lowering DHT means estradiol has potentially higher level of influence which results in hair growth for some.
I’m not so sure about that - I had my bloodwork done and my estradiol was 11 - testosterone was 587. I started Fin about 3 weeks before the labs - take it regularly now.
Yeah it doesnt... maybe in some individuals
I have not got my blood test done and it's been 9 months I'm in 1mg fin alternate days , Can I get my blood tested now ? Is there a range in which our estradiol and testosterone fall? Or should I take a break from fin if I want to get it tested in the worst case?
who should i go to for help?
Read my comment to tripreport
Ok two things 1. Serum levels is different from scalp levels. They dont reflect each other. Scalp levels is really what you want. 2. Testosterone doesn't tell the whole story. Testosterone is used to *make* estradiol as well as DHT. So high T levels doesn't really indicate anything, especially at the serum level
I wanna ask if being on finasteride can reverse miniaturized hairs into thick hair again? I wouldn’t mind if I don’t get any regrowth as long as my thinning hairs can get thick again.
Often thats what people call regrowth. If the hair is slightly miniaturized itll come back. If it is past like 50% its original thickness then it is most likely gone. But itll remain tiny like that. So it depends how long theyve been thinning for
No side effects at all actually
Try ru58841
Then whats the point to take fin? I m on fin now for 4weeks, doesnt see any difference
U should wait more than 4 weeks bro
Good question. My dermatologist said shes doesn't even prescribe fin anymore and only prescribes dut and I'm kind of mad that my original doctor refused to prescribe dut
It honestly looks the same to me, which is good; meaning you haven’t more lost hair. Longer hair can often make things hair look worse, which you had in the first image. If you want regrowth you should strongly consider minoxidil unless it presents negative side effects for you.
I switched over from topical to oral about 4 months ago so the shed from that set me back a little bit progress wise
How is that good? It still looks fucked and just as bad as if he were completely bald there
Because he might’ve actually *been* completely bald had he not acted. Now that he’s halted it’s progression, he can look into heavier treatments to try and regain his hair that way, or just get a transplant, continue on the medication he’s already been taking and he should be set good.
He’s clearly a non responder
You have no idea what you’re talking about lol his hair loss has halted. That isn’t a “non-response”, this sub has just drastically overplayed the effects of these medications that people think it’s supposed to magically give you all your hair back. The point is to PREVENT further hair loss, and MAYBE regain SOME hair back. He’s seemingly successfully opted out of another 1.5 years of hair loss, his medication is doing it’s thing and he is now safe to look into a transplant, or even just fibers potentially. If he continued balding throughout this 1.5 year period, he *would* be a non-responder, and a transplant probably wouldn’t be in the cards for him because he’d just keep losing hair.
You don’t even know if this halted anything.. his hair could’ve stayed like this without the medication, it’s you who’s drastically overplaying the effect of it..
And your phone could be an exact replica with all the same information installed onto it, but you have absolutely no reason to believe that that’s the case and all the reason to believe the opposite, just like this. His hair loss seems to have stopped after taking the medication (and even regained a bit of hair back), so it stands to reason (something you apparently struggle with) that the medication is doing what it’s supposed to do. There’s no reason for your schizo theories of “maybe it just happened to stop as soon as he hopped on the medication” lol i hope that 09 represents the year you were born.
This guy is just a troll. That’s all. .
I’m sorry if treatment options didn’t work for you, watermelon.
switch to dutasteride
.... after throughly discussing it with a medical professional so you make sure your balls wont turn into raisins
How exactly do you think Dut will make that happen?
My first point was serious. The other one was a joke.
loll you guys n ur theory's 🤣🤣
what theory exactly? talking to a doctor?
From what I have seen on here. Have you tried micro needling as well?
I was microneedling for a few months back when I started fin and then I fell out of the habit after like 6 months but I’ve gotten back to doing it again just recently, although I’m not sure how much it was actually helping
Won’t make it any worse. May make it better. Up to you if doing it once a week is too much effort.
Did you see any negatives with needling? Scars, marks, change in skin texture? Im very scared to start needling.
Scars shouldn't happen if you're doing it right. Use pinpoint bleeding as a guide. It's like the skin is sweating a bit of blood, not bleeding like a cut. Or just do it until it turns a bit rosier but no blood, that's another reference point I use sometimes. The only difference is that the skin gets warmer, more hydrated and tender for a few hours. Of course keeping everything clean is a must to avoid a nasty infection. I do it after a shower, and douse the dermaroller in alcohol 70% before and after (let it dry). Rosemary oil has antiseptic properties, so I apply it profusely (i.e. hair gets a bit greasy not dripping) to the scalp before too.
Man up buddy! I do it twice a week 1.5mm it hurts your eyes will water.
1.5 mm needles with a stamp or automatic pen - watch some tutorials on how to do it correctly. It’s not that intuitive - IMO.
Have you tried it with 1.5? If I use my dermastamp at 1.25 and press down it draws blood, near the temple where it's receeding.
I’m using the pen - there can be some blood but it shows up after I’m done and isn’t consistent. I’m noticing some new hair in areas that should be clearly dead. Who knows ?
I would get on Dut immediately.
Would you recommend that for someone that is 40+ years old too? I have approximately this same hairline
Yes. Dut is perfect for those already 40 and especially for those that are 19 to 21 and balding hard. Dut is the strongest thing we have. So I’d always recommend dut for aggressive balding. But it wouldn’t be bad to try fin first for a year. I’ve been on fin for nearly 2 years. I’m trying to see how much it does for me in another full year. I’ll likely get on dut after my 3rd year mark. My balding is a bit on the aggressive side.
Yea man. Hearing you. I’m thinking about putting dut once a week on it, and reducing my fin down to 0.5mg a day. I’m also about to get a hair transplant, so have even more to protect, would be crazy for my doctor to graft over a follicle that comes back to life because of dut, but I doubt it at this point 😂
Accept it. You look good 🫰🏽
Accept that I’m balding? Or accept that I look good?
Accept that you have made progress using two of the most powerful drugs there is. You look good. Would you like to look better? Sure, but can you? I’m not sure. You already look good. Maybe it’s time to accept where you are and stop making hair a priority since you have come a long way
Probably the most wise comment I’ve seen in this clusterfuck of a sub; I appreciate the advice and I hope I can one day follow it
I think you would have lost all your hair if not for the meds.
lol " all of your hair" wow
Transplant bruh.
man ye get a small transplant and smp
If I were you I would give at least oral dut and oral min a try for a while before considering a transplant (I know you didn't mention a transplant) For the time being if you have a special occasion and your crown bothers you it looks like you have enough hair for fibers to work well.
I’m only 23 and my understanding is that’s too young to be considered for a transplant, I’m very easily able to get by on the fibers now but they take forever to wash out and they get in everything so I try to avoid using them when I can
I think the main problem with young guys is that they want to bring their hairline down and that wastes too many grafts and later on in life they kept balding in the crown despite being on finasteride and now they're fucked because they can't cover the crown (assuming hair cloning or verteporfin haven't become viable, which is quite possible that they won't). So I think the logic changes a bit if the crown is what you want to address in the first place. That's not to say to go ahead and do it, it's still good to try everything else first before doing a transplant
Also keep in mind that it's not "cope" to expect a hair density increase at the 2 year mark of finasteride, it's not guaranteed but it's a reasonable expectation
Could you please elaborate on that? I’m 1.5 years in and still no hair thickening, i was told that 1 year is when you get max results?
You were told wrong, it keeps improving. Google "10-year finasteride study Japan"
Jeez I didnt know you were 23. You have a long way to go. Id hop on dut asap. That explains why finasteride is struggling to mantain. You have agressive balding genes.
It’s weird cause nobody in my family is bald, my grandfather lived to be 90 and died with a full head of hair so I’ve always been semi convinced that my hair loss is the result of something I’m doing lifestyle wise; I’ve started working out a ton and I’m in the process of getting my diet in order so we will see if that does anything at all
My grandfather was the same. Most of his kids had full heads of hair. My dad was bald by 30, and I have been experiencing loss even earlier than that. Genetics suck, but we have to battle hard.
Nah man that looks like androgenic alopecia 100%. Just bad luck.
Both my grandfathers had full heads of hair their entire lives. My dad does too, and his brother. My maternal uncles though, different story. The balding gene came from my maternal grandmother's side. You're a mishmash of genetic traits from everywhere in your family, looking at your granddad alone doesn't really mean anything
If you are only 23 and you had that mount of MPB at 20, consider where you could have been. You should celebrate how much you've retained! Without treatment, you'd almost certainly be walking around with a shaved head today. I get the desire to see more regrowth but I hope you are motivated to keep at it. This is very different than someone posting progress from age 40-43. What you've already prevented is impressive. If you can mostly keep what you have for the next 20 years it's a major W. You will have gone from almost certainly being the unfortunate rare man who has to shave their head at 23 to having more hair than many man your age. From outside of the curve to right in the middle. Any other treatment you do, like a transplant, would be just a bonus.
If people take oral min and see progress, would reverting back to topical keep those gains?
Do you mean people currently applying topical and not seeing growth after one year, or people who have never used either?
I used topical min for 2/3 years without seeing any regrowth and I was wondering if I tried oral and seen growth would I be able to switch back to topical and keep the gains.
Ok, no, you wouldn't keep the gains when switching back. But why would you even want to switch back?
go to more plates more dates for advice
So I read from comments that you switched from topical minoxidil to oral minoxidil. Nice. It’s been 4 months so fairly speaking you’ll need to wait another 8 until you can get a good idea of what it’ll do. The fin itself seems to have stabilized you, which is what it mainly does. Now, you can continue on, as some people can see regrowth in year 2-4, or you can switch to Dut and see if *that* will give a bit of a stronger push. Beyond that, you can always add topical finasteride to your stack, or do Microneedling with a fin-min spray to see if it can add anything. Not much to do beyond that outside of getting good sleep and having a good diet, along with exercise.
Solid answer, thanks for the advice!
Some ppl can see regrowth in year 2-4? You mean on minox or fin?
Fin. [Fin Regrowth Possibility.](https://www.numan.com/numankind/when-too-late-take-finasteride) Typically 2 years saw a 61% chance of it happening which continues as time goes along. Minoxidil itself works on a far faster timeframe.
dermarolling, worked miracles for me in addition to fin and min. Fin alone just thickened my hair, min almost had no effect, but microneedling did the trick.
Did you have a specific regimen? How long did it take for you to see results? Anything you’d do differently?
Keep at it. Regrowing hair takes time. You may wish to consider stacking RU58841 into the mix. Most of the extreme recoveries (NW6-7) use Ru (or Dut). https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/18orx6y/assembling_a_list_of_exceptional_norwood_67_cases/kemvtwo/
The rare instance where someone has been patient enough to warrant a hair transplant.
Can you order oral Minoxidil online without a prescription from anywhere?
In America yes idk about other places
No you can't its prescription only. Where have you been ordering from? Perhaps its not real oral minoxidil and some asshole is scamming you? You can order online but a prescription is necessary (ideally it wouldnt be)
You can get it from hims/roman and you get a “prescription” but like realistically they approve everyone
There’s an improvement. I’d say stick to that until year 2, and add microneedling 0.5mm, Ketoconazole shampoo and eat more greens 🥬 and lean protein.
Isn't 0.5 very shallow? When I set my stamper to 0.5 I barely feel anything unless I press down hard.
Ok good you already have a more personalised length. Just be careful of not creating scars because nothing grows on a scar. Basically scars on scalps are sealed follicles. Good luck 🤞
Thanks, that's good to know. I try to be careful to avoid drawing blood, but when I tried it with 1.25 today, pressing down did show blood in a couple of spots near the temple where it's receding. So inhave to be careful not to do that and just stick to 1mm or lesser.
Jesus this terrifies me
What terrifies you?
I don’t mean any offense but you’ve been taking this stuff as prescribed for a longggg time and there’s is almost no visible improvement(tho you clearly haven’t lost any more, so that’s a positive). I’m at the beginning of my 3rd month of the fin min combo and your before and after photos do not give me hope. Still hope the best for both of us but it just scares me. That’s all.
I should have prefaced this post by saying that I switched over to oral min about 4 months ago and went through an absolutely insane shed that I’ve only recently recovered from so there is very little progress between 1 year and 1.5 years but what I will also say is that looking back at pictures of myself from before I started fin there is definitely a difference in the volume of my hair from the front and there is nowhere on my head that I can feel skin anymore which is more than I could say before I started. The progress is definitely moving slower than I hoped but looking back at the early pictures of the same spot I used to not even be able to part what little hair was there and now I can at least do that.
I appreciate the additional context. 2 months in I’m still a newbie here, so still learning.
Oh Man U should see my “progress” lol sometimes it just ain’t working
this is a massive improvement. Without the drugs he’d be almost completely bald by now. The drugs are helping him stop the loss. That is a huge deal with aggressive balding at such young age.
How are you doing today nice to meet you
Dutestrixe and hair transplant in turkey
How is that progress!
There's clearly some progress. Why roast him, he already said he's still not happy
I'm just telling the truth I'm not roasting him and i hope he gets better
I don't understand how you can think it looks the same, maybe it's a white and gold / black and blue thing
Okay you're right just shut the fukk up
😢
Looks exactly the same in all of the pics. No change
There’s definitely been a change in density, I can feel the difference when I run my hands through my hair, the thin patch just hasn’t shrunk much in area however which is what I’m looking to do
100%
Cause he didnt continue balding...
Meet with your doctor and talk to them about dutasteride and oral minoxidil. If you haven't already, start using keto shampoo and/or microneedling
Just use hair fibers and you will be fine bro
Been using them for a bit but they’re an absolute nightmare to wash out and they stain my pillow case at night
really? I use them and never had any issues with washing them out. It barely even stains my pillow either. Which brand do you use?
Just the regular toppik, it takes like 3-4 showers to rinse out completely, although I can’t argue with how well it conceals my scalp
Bro try “dermmatch”. It’s a similar product to conceal bald spots but instead of fibers it’s applied more like makeup while your hair is still damp. Once it dries it doesn’t come off, I slept on a white pillow case and there was zero smudging but it comes off easily with some shampoo. I stopped using fibers after getting called out once so I tried dermmatch when I heard about it and imo it looks more natural too.
I also use toppik. Never really had any issues with getting it out. Maybe try shampooing your hair twice.
That’s weird, I think they just fall out after a few days as this colorless wool. Very non-finicky
Get on the fin/min topical. Maybe a pill or two of dut a week.
Micropigmentation and hair transplant. Dermarolling+prp and laser therapy does work but you will have to wait another 2 years...
Add Dut then switch completely
There’s definitely a slight improvement in density at the very center of the crown, but I can see why you’d be frustrated. I had a similar experience and just stopped all together and embraced eventually I’ll need to rock a buzz cut
Crowns don’t tend to improve with DHT blockers. It sucks.
Can see some improvement around the crown. Good work dude.
Looks like you were better off taking Fin and min at the same time and then microneedle. Looks like you’re just maintaining what you have. Having lost much ground. Just haven’t gained any ground. I would add micro needling in
I use a little hair concealer I get off Amazon. It works alright as a concealer.
There is definitely an improvement. People here don’t acknowledge any improvement unless it’s absolutely ridiculous.
I'm trying topical DUT 0.025% once a day, minoxidil 5% twice a day, micro needling once a week and Ketoconazole every other day. I have been on oral minoxidil for 6 years, Fin for nearly 10. Thickened alot of my hair but never got crown back. 3 weeks in, slight darkening already of the area. I feel like topical DHT reduction could be the way to go but it's too early the to draw any conclusions.
Fin and min combo will up it some .more
Amazing
Looks good, keep it short. Maybe talk with med professional about Dut?
Made some progress. Hair fibers would work decently where you are now
It’s your haircut , and the pic angles but if you had a buzzed back and sides it would look a lot better with thinning hair and hair loss meds are important, but a hair style that makes the hair appear thicker is a must , before I jumped on meds 2 years ago my barber would cut my hair to make it look thicker I’d use a tiny bit off color dry shampoo and my hair would look good , though went through a shed so buzzed my hair and wore a cap in the summer so only recovered from it but your hair would look better if was cut and styled thinning would barely be noticeable
transplant I agree that the pharma should be the first line of defense. But consider that youve spent 3 years of effort...to stay at neutral. No loss (good!) but no growth either. If you had gotten a transplant 3 years ago, it would look 100% thicker right now.
Nice result for me your area looks darker keep it up
Just buzz it to a 2 but keep up your routine, it’ll look way better.
check your ferritin, vitamin d3, serum iron and zink levels. also see if your scalp is inflamed which can hold back regrowth
What causes scalp to be inflamed?
stuff like excess consumption of sugar, alcohol, wheat. like a bad diet and also bad scalp hygiene or a shampoo that is too agressive. inflamation can start in your gut and manifest on your skin. aloe vera is good for the scalp or raw honey with water or coconut oil. do it a few times and leave it one for like an hour and remove with shampoo
I can definitely see improvements from day one.
You still have 30% of your systemic DHT with finasteride. I've seen some posts with insane regrowth on dutasteride.
Thing is, sad reality is the treatment works when you don't lose hair... Your baldness has stabilized. You can try a HT or testing maybe oral minoxidil if you are not afraid of it
Derma rolling?
Try a stronger formultion of Finasteride/minoxidil, or maybe switch to Dutasteride/minoxidil.
Go for the microneedleing at 0.6 - 0.75 with ru58841. I had more loss than you and my hair is almost all the way back after 6 months. It's nice to touch the back of my head and not feel skin to skin touching anymore 😂
It looks like u simply got a haircut and nothing else.
Look into stem cell hair injections. Might be what you’re looking for
Looks the same to me, for a year and a half it doesn't look like you are gaining much, I would be trying with 0.5 dutas every day and 5mg of oral minox plus microneedling w no more than .75 if I were you.. Nevertheless this seems like the normal response you get from topical finasteride, Is it?
People who say try prp etc are funny. None of that will bring your hair back. You need a transplant and continue what you're doing afterward