Hair Restoration

[glaze]

I'm not sure how many of you suffered from premature hair-loss (I'm 24, it started since I was 18), but I think it's not a rare case. And most surely those who suffered from non-premature hair-loss can help us too. I want to find powerful and yet safest hair restoration products like topical shampoo. I came across DS Laboratories, but not sure if it's a reliable brand. Have any of you tried any topical products? I'm determined to get my lost hair back not matter what because some my recent incidents. If you are interested in what brought this on then feel free to read rest of the message. Otherwise, please feel free to skip the following and respond to me.



First a bit of premise should help. My sister and I have thick coarse beard, our most closest shave still gives a faded beard shadow and we have complete stubble by end of the day. It doesn't help that we have extremely fair skin. We had started using Veet hair removal cream  (for sensitive skin) on our face (beard and mustache area) as a last resort. Though there were horror stories, nothing too horrible happened to us. We thought even if it did not give any better result than shaving, we could at least get rid of our beard without cuts or nicks. However, the end result is all uneven and patchy. It was not as comfortable was we would have liked it to be, our skin will become red and irritated for a bit, but next day or so it'll be back to normal. Yes we are that desperate to stop shaving (our hair growth rate is unreal). The problem is, since Veet is not working out well, we had to shave as well. So we thought of using Veet and shaving alternatively, hoping it will eventually slowdown beard growth. The reason why Veet maybe not be causing too much damage is because we had used AHA based products before to make our skin tone uniform, they burned a lot back then. So our skin may be compatible with Veet (to an extent). Electrolysis is still too far away, sister and I want to go for Electrology 3000.

My sister and I are very insecure about our ever so balding head and copper thick beard (not too bad when closely shaved, but our face is always covered with cuts and nicks).

Few weeks ago when I went shopping for stuff, I was looking for shaving cream to shave my beard, I couldn't find the shaving cream. I asked the helper staff to help me find it. She had difficulty understanding the concept of shaving cream. She stared at my head, asked if it's a cream to shave my head. I felt like crying. Eventually the concept of beard shaving did come to her, she was like "oh, that... it's here" - she thought it was for shaving my head because I have a balding head at this young age? I guess so. It didn't end there. On the checkout, the girl there looked at Veet packs and started giggling with her friend female staff saying "hair removal," looking at my head, and giggling some more....

My sister and I decided it was time we did something to cover our baldness, we didn't want to try topical shampoos and such then because we were worried there might be some side effects.

A week or so ago with some special occasions coming up, such as weddings, we decided to buy wigs. We bought ones with lace front (natural hairline) and full monofilament top for natural hair movement and part. We received the Wig towards the end of the last week. We have black hair, the closest color was espresso, but what they sent was was some "Dark Chocolate Mist" color with highlights, we already stood out a lot because we looked foreign, but this will make us look totally unnatural and out of place. And the wig had crazy volume. There was an exchange policy, but it's technically only for those from U.S. (even though they do false advertise it's available for international shipments too). UPS and other such shippers won't let me ship the wigs back, they said it can only be considered as a commercial shipment. For me to return it I need a registered firm, 3 copies of MY Invoice to the seller, and import/export code or alternatively just the UPS RS Label from the seller (which the wig store refuses to give). So technically we are stuck with two expensive ($250x2 i.e. with 20% off) wigs that we can't wear or have them exchanged.

We could have lived entire two months for the price we spent on the two wigs, synthetic hair care products, wig stands, comb, and international shipping fee. So, we don't want to go through this again and again. So, please help us find the best and safest topical shampoos and such. We are determined to buy it even if it costs an arm and a leg, as long as it works!

[LilKittyCatZoey]

Sweetie if your a mtf when you start Estro you should begin to regain your hair

[glaze]

I can't wait that long 

I have to go abroad to start HRT - I don't have the money yet.

[LilKittyCatZoey]

I am sorry i hope you can start as soon as possible

[VeronikaFTH]

Getting on HRT will help a lot for regaining your hair. However, until then...

You should start taking Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) to start blocking DHT in your scalp.. this is what is causing your baldness. If you can't get it locally, see about getting it through a mail-order pharmacy.

Also, you should be shampooing your hair with Nizoral 2% shampoo, it contains Ketoconazole which will help regrow hair. It may be available at your local pharmacy/chemist. Shampoo with it every three days and leave it on your head for about three minutes before you rinse it out, so it soaks into your scalp.

Also you can look into using Minoxidil (Rogaine) for your hair. Available in most stores in the US with no prescription, not sure about your location. Kind of a pain because it needs to be applied morning and night, but it works.

Using all three of these things should really help regrow a lot of it, if not all.. You're still young so the hair you have lost is probably just dormant and should come back. If you wait too long though, the follicles will die and no hair will grow back. Do yourself a favor and take care of your baldness NOW instead of waiting.

A Warning: It may seem like your hair is falling out more when you first start using these products, that's because the products are kicking your follicles into action. Dormant hairs are shedding to make room for new hair to grow.. don't worry about it, new hair will start growing in a few weeks and will start growing in thicker and better. Shedding cycles can happen once in a while.

Hope this helps..

[VeronikaFTH]

As far as the beard, I'm afraid that until you get on HRT and start having electrolysis or laser treatments, it's almost impossible to get that beard covered up or removed... There are stage makeup products you can get that will cover a beard shadow, but the makeup will look caked on.

If you want fast results now to get rid of the shadow, you might want to look into laser hair removal if it's not too expensive in your area. If you have pale skin and a dark beard it will probably work wonders. It needs to be kept up every four to six weeks to get all the growth cycles, until the hair has permanently stopped growing. Also, it may not get rid of all your hair, you may need electrolysis too.

But if you are interested in getting rid of the beard shadow NOW, laser is the way to go, at least temporarily. Beard shadows are no fun.

[A]

Two transsexual sisters? Whoa, talk about "luck". I guess you can stick together and understand each other a lot, though!

I am 20 and my hair is already falling out too. Hopefully, HRT is coming soon... In any case, it's not that bad for me, as I have naturally very thick hair. Though hair on the top of my head is WAY thinner now, and my hairline has receded quite a bit already. T_T

As for your hair, I am afraid hormonal treatment is the only way to stop it. If you are not allowed HRT just yet, you can still get a dihydrotestosterone blocker from any physician who sees and understands your problem. That treatment has been used a lot even on cisgendered men to stop balding. Do it as soon as possible, as regrowth is often ridiculously slight and the longer you wait, the less you get.

Topical products can help, but they will not attack the problem at the root: as long as DHT is in your blood, the best they can do is slow the process, I think. I do not know how effective they are, but I doubt they are very potent, since it's still regarded as a more or less irreversible process.

You wigs have too much volume, right? And if they are expensive, I assume they are made from natural hair. A talented hairdresser can fix those for you and cut/thin them almost exactly like your own hair. They can even be dyed or bleached. I am sure it's possible to get them fixed so that they don't look weird anymore.

As for getting back hair that you have lost, there are options, such as hair implants, where they individually take follicles from portions of your head that have thick hair and transplant them in the bald areas. I have never really studied this, but it's expensive, and the only person I have ever known that had hair implants had very obvious ones (slightly different in colour, weird patch of hair just where men start balding and the pattern not resembling the natural growth pattern, which made the hair stand up straight whilst all others fell sideways in a "normal" spiral... This either means very few people get this and it's not a good procedure OR it's usually such a good one that I never noticed it!

EDIT: Oh, about your beard. I think Electrology 3000, whilst efficient, is one of the most costy ways to get rid of your beards. On top of that, since your skins are fair and hairs, dark, laser should work very well for you, and I believe this would cost you far less.

[Padma]

I've also been looking into hair transplants - the quality has recently greatly improved, now that they've realised it's a good idea to implant the follicles so they point in the same direction as the hairs around them . But it is horribly expensive.

I was also looking into Dutasteride - another BPH drug similar to Finasteride, Dutasteride shows better hair regrowth in studies, but has more incidence of side-effects than Finasteride (and is consequently not licensed for use in the UK).

[VeronikaFTH]

I've also been looking into hair transplants - the quality has recently greatly improved, now that they've realised it's a good idea to implant the follicles so they point in the same direction as the hairs around them . But it is horribly expensive.

I was also looking into Dutasteride - another BPH drug similar to Finasteride, Dutasteride shows better hair regrowth in studies, but has more incidence of side-effects than Finasteride (and is consequently not licensed for use in the UK).

At 24, the OP has a good chance of growing back most all of the hair that's been lost, if it's taken care of early.. probably no need for transplants.

I take Dutasteride, no side effects here. I did have a bit of discomfort in the prostate region when I first started taking it (no surprise there, it shrinks the prostate... Propecia did the same thing to me) but all that went away after a few weeks. Been taking it for years, no problems.

it works wonders for hair... but it's expensive.

[pebbles]

I feel your pain. I had insanely aggressive facial hair it's horrid because I didn't want it to come for me but it came for me early and worst of all Even now on HRT and having had tons of electrology it's a ghost of what it was but I'm nowhere near clear for good, I've still got some unfortunately I haven't got any good news you will probably be fighting it for years even with the best eletrology.

It's horrid what T can do to us. and it's brutally cruel you were afflicted with MPB aswell

HRT will help alittle with the hairloss (will restore it to what it was 12 months or so ago, and will stop you loosing more) but won't work miracles and it will weaken your facial hair but even still 10% of a million is still a big number.

[vanna]

I've also been looking into hair transplants - the quality has recently greatly improved, now that they've realised it's a good idea to implant the follicles so they point in the same direction as the hairs around them . But it is horribly expensive.

I was also looking into Dutasteride - another BPH drug similar to Finasteride, Dutasteride shows better hair regrowth in studies, but has more incidence of side-effects than Finasteride (and is consequently not licensed for use in the UK).

i am unsure where you get that but i am in the south england and prescribed avodart and so is a friend in Leeds, it is also verry cheap online as a generic

it is far superior though and saved me many more thousands i will always sing its praises.

also if you do decide to get transplants, think very carefully of uk surgeons, just read around the hair transplant forums and you will get a good idea why. Currently the uk is years behind and as each hair is important it is equially as important to look carefully into it. it was actually cheaper for me to use one of the big six transplanters abroad then go i the uk and i live here.

results speak for themselves

[Padma]

i am unsure where you get that but i am in the south england and prescribed avodart and so is a friend in Leeds, it is also verry cheap online as a generic

I got that from my GP, who looked it up in the drug directory when I asked her about it. Being "unlicensed" just means that the NHS has not licensed the drug for this particular use (it's only licensed for treating BPH). It's still available. Comparing the "sleeve notes" for both drugs as regards side-effects:

Common: More than 1 in 100 people who take Avodart
• breast enlargement or tenderness
• decreased libido
• ejaculation problems
• impotence

Uncommon: More than 1 in 1000 people who take Propecia
• decreased libido
• ejaculation problems
• erectile dysfunction

That's what I was referring to - the statistical prevalence is way less in Finasteride. None of these side-effects are particularly unwelcome for most trans women, though, and potentially come with any anti-androgen. If I have the choice, I'd rather take Dutasteride as it seems to be more effective.

As for hair transplants, I decided not to go down that route. I'll wait and see how much I grow back first.

[Rawrditosis]

Offtopic question, but where exactly does the hairline recede? Anyone have like, a picture?

[JungianZoe]

Offtopic question, but where exactly does the hairline recede? Anyone have like, a picture?

I'm assuming it's male pattern baldness... try looking up some pics on a Google image search (there's bound to be plenty to choose from).

[A]

For me, at 20, since I was a teenager, I have seen my forehead get a little larger in height, but the main thing that is happening is that the "corners" of the hairline has gone from roundish to square and is now forming ever deeper narrow (but widening) bays that reach about 4 cm towards the back of my head visually and followed by a seriously thinner area that reaches about 3 cm further in.

In the back, even though it's not the hairline, my hair has come down to about 30-40% of the thickness it reaches in the back and sides. The next step would be a monk-like hole that would get wider gradually, and the front becoming a defined M, eating away at hair, until both rejoins rejoin and hair only remains on the sides and back.

It's all happening at a ridiculous rate. My father once told me that by the time he was 25-30, he already had a defined hole in the back and a deeply formed M in the front.

[drkiara]

i have the same problem with the hair on my head i am only 22 but it is already way easy to see the receding hair line my mother and sister point it out every time i ask them to do my hair for now i can kind of hid it with dropped some of my hair down in front but it is getting worse i have looked at some of the products out there but have not tried any i will have to give some a try before it is to late to help this problem

[LilKittyCatZoey]

Hey right i should also say that        Finpecia       like super slowed down my facial hair, i mean that with spiro and i only need to shave my upper lip now.

[glaze]

Wow lot of useful posts, I decided to reply to thsese after I put some work out of the way.

VeronikaFTH

You should start taking Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) to start blocking DHT in your scalp.. this is what is causing your baldness.

Yes, Finasteride seem to be a good option from what I reed. The reason I have not considered it is mostly because my doctor asked me "What is Finasteride?" before. This means I'll be taking it without medical supervision.

Also, you should be shampooing your hair with Nizoral 2% shampoo

We have used a shampoo named Nizoral before, few years ago, not sure if it's the same. Mom bought it for us because we had some dandruff problem before, probably not the same thing. I'll look in to it and give it more thought.

Also you can look into using Minoxidil (Rogaine) for your hair. Available in most stores in the US with no prescription, not sure about your location.

We are seriously considering this, but not available locally it seems. Guess the only option is to order online and have it shipped.

Using all three of these things should really help regrow a lot of it, if not all.. You're still young so the hair you have lost is probably just dormant and should come back. If you wait too long though, the follicles will die and no hair will grow back

That's really encouraging. However, it also concerns me a little, we started loosing hair at 17-18. That would make it nearly 8 years since we started loosing hair. This could mean our follicles maybe already dead.

There are stage makeup products you can get that will cover a beard shadow, but the makeup will look caked on.

Yes and it will look more obvious on us because we have very fair skin and very dark black beard hair. It's almost impossible to conceal.

If you want fast results now to get rid of the shadow, you might want to look into laser hair removal if it's not too expensive in your area.

We are considering it, especially since we risked using Veet on face. We heard/read that laser hair removal can really really burn or cause lot of skin damage. There aren't much laser hair removal services near our locality. There are some out of state, but I'm not too keen to trust their efficiency or safety.



A

Two transsexual sisters? Whoa, talk about "luck". I guess you can stick together and understand each other a lot, though!

Yup, two of us and whats more, we are twins. It's truly unfortunate both of us are going through the same thing, but it's really great that we have eachother's full support.

you can still get a dihydrotestosterone blocker from any physician who sees and understands your problem

My doctor does understand my problem, only she doesn't clearly know how to fight it. Same with other doctors I went to. Best they can recommend us is to drink lots of pomegranate juice.

You wigs have too much volume, right? And if they are expensive, I assume they are made from natural hair. A talented hairdresser can fix those for you and cut/thin them almost exactly like your own hair. They can even be dyed or bleached. I am sure it's possible to get them fixed so that they don't look weird anymore.

Here is the problem, they are expensive, but still synthetic hair. It limits what we can do to it.

Only talented hairdressers in my locality are all only on female exclusive saloons. With our beard shadow and balding head, we hardly pass. Otherwise we are somewhat close to passing. Guess we can ask mom to take the wig to them. But as I said, they are synthetic and very limiting in what can be done.

Oh, about your beard. I think Electrology 3000, whilst efficient, is one of the most costy ways to get rid of your beards.

Yes, but electrolysis is the only sure way to get beard hair removed for good. Laser is not permanent after all as far as we understand it. Maybe it is but the sheer amount of treatments discourage me So electrolysis is our ultimate goal. There is no electrolysis within my country, so I'd have to go abroad for each session. I live in South Asia, you see. It's going to cost a lot. With Eloctrology 3000, while expensive, we'll be able to finish it in fewer sessions, resulting in fewer expensive airline tickets.



Padma

the quality has recently greatly improved, now that they've realised it's a good idea to implant the follicles so they point in the same direction as the hairs around them . But it is horribly expensive.

That's really good, I read somewhere that hair transplant having better results when hair is implanted along the natural hair direction. These may be expensive, true, but I'd rather have these options than not have them. I'd like to consider this as a last resort though.



pebbles

"I feel your pain. I had insanely aggressive facial hair it's horrid because I didn't want it to come for me but it came for me early and worst of all Even now on HRT and having had tons of electrology it's a ghost of what it was but I'm nowhere near clear for good, I've still got some unfortunately I haven't got any good news you will probably be fighting it for years even with the best eletrology."

That's a lot of horrible experience, I hate to think of going on with my beard in the coming years. I heard Electrology 3000 does a really great job, so I'd like to hope for the best than loose all hopes. I plan to be fully free of beard before starting HRT.

It's horrid what T can do to us. and it's brutally cruel you were afflicted with MPB aswell

Yup, two features that instantly identifies us as "males."

will restore it to what it was 12 months or so ago, and will stop you loosing more

I was almost all bald 24 months ago too, perhaps not as bad as now, but still not much of an improvement.



LilKittyCatZoey

Hey right i should also say that        Finpecia       like super slowed down my facial hair, i mean that with spiro and i only need to shave my upper lip now.

That sounds really encouraging, I guess I'll look up more into Finpecia. One question though, before taking it, did you have thick coarse beard that always gives you a 5'o Clock shadow just right after a close shave? OR you had a more reasonable beard? If it's the first case then I'd like to think there is hope for me yet.



Some Questions

I was looking over some products and was wondering is anyone could advise. I could only buy from online shops and having them internationally shipped as there is hardly anything available to me locally. We reside in South Asia.

Firstly, Minoxidilmax from amazon, this is 15% Minoxidil. This seems to be one possible product that could work, there are some 5% Minoxidil products on amazon too, but our baldness is affecting our life too much so we don't have time to excrement with 5% Minoxidil products. My question is, could any one tell if it might be safe to use it? Will it cause problems if I use some hair restorative shampoos along with it (not together at the same time)?

If anyone points us to any reliable brand that we could order online, it will help a lot.

We are also considering taking Finasteride, is it safe to take generic brands? We found one (Finpecia) that seems affordable and may ship to us, but not sure if it's okay. Are there any significant difference between Propecia and generic brands?

Also is it better to take Proscar (or equivalent) or Propecia (or equivalent)? Will taking Proscar provide better results?

[LilKittyCatZoey]

Finpecia is identical in everything to propecia and is less than half the price. No one knows why because its exactly the same to propecia. So its a Finasteride

[Padma]

Propecia (finasteride) and Avodart (dutasteride) are both brands manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and are highly priced as a consequence - people pay the premium for perceived reliability of the source. Buying more generic brands will obviously be cheaper, and you make your own choices as to how reliable you think the manufacturers are (a google search with the brand name will turn up info on the manufacturer of each one).

Keep a close eye on the dosages of different manufacturers' products - you will find, for example, that finasteride (in its various brand guises) comes in two different dosages, so it's important not to mix them up.