Community Conversation => Transitioning => Hormone replacement therapy => Topic started by: Surrealism on January 10, 2014, 03:51:06 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: Surrealism on January 10, 2014, 03:51:06 AM
Post by: Surrealism on January 10, 2014, 03:51:06 AM
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fm2jUOzE.jpg&hash=31055ca79f2163c3bdeff90c010357f6e5b2c170)
So, there's my balding head. Is my obnoxiously curly hair recoverable? Is it beyond all hope? I'd like to know your opinions/advice, please. As much as I hate my stubborn curly hair, I'd rather beat it into submission than lose it all :(
I plan on getting onto Minoxidil ASAP, but I'm clueless as to how much it can actually do at this point.
Edit: Oh, and can anyone tell what I would be on the Norwood scale? I've been looking at it and can't really tell myself. The closest to me looks like 4A, but I dunno.
So, there's my balding head. Is my obnoxiously curly hair recoverable? Is it beyond all hope? I'd like to know your opinions/advice, please. As much as I hate my stubborn curly hair, I'd rather beat it into submission than lose it all :(
I plan on getting onto Minoxidil ASAP, but I'm clueless as to how much it can actually do at this point.
Edit: Oh, and can anyone tell what I would be on the Norwood scale? I've been looking at it and can't really tell myself. The closest to me looks like 4A, but I dunno.
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: EmmaD on January 10, 2014, 04:21:36 PM
Post by: EmmaD on January 10, 2014, 04:21:36 PM
Hi,
My answer - I definitely think so. Now read on!
The correct answer is "it all depends".
Not helpful and as with so many of the questions asked in Susan's, the best and most correct answer should be obtained from a professional. An initial assessment in person is best and a tailored treatment approach can be developed. A large warning here though - hair loss is the centre of the snake-oil salesman universe. Be careful who you rely on (obviously me included as I am not a professional, just very bald - Norwood 7 when last assessed - buggar, thought it was less!). There are sites that look at all the hair loss treatments etc and they are worthwhile reviewing to weed out the duds.
If you don't trust your local specialists or are unable to get to them, most hair transplant places that are goos will do an initial email assessment from photos. I did that a few weeks ago with Hasson & Wong in Vancouver (I am in Australia) and specifically asked as a MTF. They said they could repair me to a satisfactory male hair pattern but my loss was too great to get to a female pattern. This is because the additional coverage and density required at the hairline. A few decisions to be made there.
On the medication side (there are more accurate sources than me!!), my understanding is the the options are Minoxidil, Finasteride/Dutasteride, Nizoral shampoo, HRT.
Fin/Dut - Hits DHT, the problem at hand. Both work well a stopping the DHT poisoning. While you have T, you will need these to some extent. used Fin for 2 years. People do complain about the sides, mainly libido loss.
Minoxidil - it works but is required forever or its effects wear off. Used it until my scalp revolted big time.
Nizoral - Contains Ketoconazole. Only use once a week. Used it for a while. Not sure if it did anything.
HRT - by reducing T to a very low level, hair loss caused by DHT should go or be almost gone. There will be other effects I am sure but as the recipient of many of HRT's changes and the fact that they happen so slowly when you live them, I am not sure what I can say has actually happened. Certainly nothing to change the hair loss problem.
As male pattern baldness (Androgenic alopecia) is the result of years of DHT effect, just because your hair has thinned doesn't mean everything is dead. take away DHT and some will recover. Estimates vary from that lost over the past year to up to 7 years Not sure there is a right answer to that.
Your pic shows hair still visible at the front and thinning on the crown. Am I correct that you have vellus hairs (thin, pale fluff) all over? If so, some or many of those can recover. Your heir is very short too so as it grows, you get better visible coverage.
Try medications in whatever mix you want and then reassess in 12 months - yes, it will take that long. It has taken a long time to get here. They say that your hair loss has to approach 50% before it is very noticeable, so it has been going for some time. Min + Fin/Dut+Nizoral is your best starting option. If HRT is ever on horizon, any AA will impact positively too while continuing the others.
REDUCE DHT NOW!
All the best. Got to go and enjoy electrolysis this morning :o
Em
My answer - I definitely think so. Now read on!
The correct answer is "it all depends".
Not helpful and as with so many of the questions asked in Susan's, the best and most correct answer should be obtained from a professional. An initial assessment in person is best and a tailored treatment approach can be developed. A large warning here though - hair loss is the centre of the snake-oil salesman universe. Be careful who you rely on (obviously me included as I am not a professional, just very bald - Norwood 7 when last assessed - buggar, thought it was less!). There are sites that look at all the hair loss treatments etc and they are worthwhile reviewing to weed out the duds.
If you don't trust your local specialists or are unable to get to them, most hair transplant places that are goos will do an initial email assessment from photos. I did that a few weeks ago with Hasson & Wong in Vancouver (I am in Australia) and specifically asked as a MTF. They said they could repair me to a satisfactory male hair pattern but my loss was too great to get to a female pattern. This is because the additional coverage and density required at the hairline. A few decisions to be made there.
On the medication side (there are more accurate sources than me!!), my understanding is the the options are Minoxidil, Finasteride/Dutasteride, Nizoral shampoo, HRT.
Fin/Dut - Hits DHT, the problem at hand. Both work well a stopping the DHT poisoning. While you have T, you will need these to some extent. used Fin for 2 years. People do complain about the sides, mainly libido loss.
Minoxidil - it works but is required forever or its effects wear off. Used it until my scalp revolted big time.
Nizoral - Contains Ketoconazole. Only use once a week. Used it for a while. Not sure if it did anything.
HRT - by reducing T to a very low level, hair loss caused by DHT should go or be almost gone. There will be other effects I am sure but as the recipient of many of HRT's changes and the fact that they happen so slowly when you live them, I am not sure what I can say has actually happened. Certainly nothing to change the hair loss problem.
As male pattern baldness (Androgenic alopecia) is the result of years of DHT effect, just because your hair has thinned doesn't mean everything is dead. take away DHT and some will recover. Estimates vary from that lost over the past year to up to 7 years Not sure there is a right answer to that.
Your pic shows hair still visible at the front and thinning on the crown. Am I correct that you have vellus hairs (thin, pale fluff) all over? If so, some or many of those can recover. Your heir is very short too so as it grows, you get better visible coverage.
Try medications in whatever mix you want and then reassess in 12 months - yes, it will take that long. It has taken a long time to get here. They say that your hair loss has to approach 50% before it is very noticeable, so it has been going for some time. Min + Fin/Dut+Nizoral is your best starting option. If HRT is ever on horizon, any AA will impact positively too while continuing the others.
REDUCE DHT NOW!
All the best. Got to go and enjoy electrolysis this morning :o
Em
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: Surrealism on January 11, 2014, 09:58:58 PM
Post by: Surrealism on January 11, 2014, 09:58:58 PM
Thanks so much for your well-thought out and well written answer Emma :). Sorry to hear about your hair condition too by the way :( Hopefully they'll get moving on hair multiplication faster, and everyone can be done with this problem. Also sorry for the late reply - my ISP craps out every time it rains so I've been pretty much internetless for a few days.
When I was 16 or so, I was a bit paranoid about losing my hair. I got the opinion of the closest person ever to a hair professional I've talked to. He said I just had a double crown, it's obvious it's come much further than that now though. But I tried a solution called "Revivogen" for a little while at that time and finished my first box of it. Can't say if it helped much. I didn't continue it due to its price and skepticism from my family that I really was going bald.
Thanks for the recommendation for getting an assessment too, that's something I'll definitely look into. As for the medicines, I'm not too concerned about the side effects. I already have 0 libido lol. Some of the others I've read about (cough, gynecomastia) won't be complained about by me and would actually be welcome. Unfortunately, I can't start HRT at the moment. I need more financial independence before I can begin that.
I don't see many vellus hairs on my head :-\. I only see a very little amount if I'm looking at the right thing.
I have read that body hair can be transplanted to the head too....do you have any knowledge about that? I have quite a bit of body hair. If it can be used for that, I think I'd suddenly change from being upset about my body hair to happy about it for now :P. I guess I'm lucky in that my hair grows in pretty thick in the places in grows in in entirety too.
Oh and good luck with your electrolysis >.<. Late to say it for your session you mentioned then, but good luck in future ones anyways :3 It seems very painful, but pain is sometimes the cost of beauty eh?
When I was 16 or so, I was a bit paranoid about losing my hair. I got the opinion of the closest person ever to a hair professional I've talked to. He said I just had a double crown, it's obvious it's come much further than that now though. But I tried a solution called "Revivogen" for a little while at that time and finished my first box of it. Can't say if it helped much. I didn't continue it due to its price and skepticism from my family that I really was going bald.
Thanks for the recommendation for getting an assessment too, that's something I'll definitely look into. As for the medicines, I'm not too concerned about the side effects. I already have 0 libido lol. Some of the others I've read about (cough, gynecomastia) won't be complained about by me and would actually be welcome. Unfortunately, I can't start HRT at the moment. I need more financial independence before I can begin that.
I don't see many vellus hairs on my head :-\. I only see a very little amount if I'm looking at the right thing.
I have read that body hair can be transplanted to the head too....do you have any knowledge about that? I have quite a bit of body hair. If it can be used for that, I think I'd suddenly change from being upset about my body hair to happy about it for now :P. I guess I'm lucky in that my hair grows in pretty thick in the places in grows in in entirety too.
Oh and good luck with your electrolysis >.<. Late to say it for your session you mentioned then, but good luck in future ones anyways :3 It seems very painful, but pain is sometimes the cost of beauty eh?
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: l0nghairdontcare on January 15, 2014, 10:58:22 PM
Post by: l0nghairdontcare on January 15, 2014, 10:58:22 PM
honestly go to http://www.tgboards.com and ask in the transition forum about it and post your pictures. there is a user tracyophus who will give you the best advice about your hairloss you will get anywhere. Plus youtr actually allowed to post dosages of things on that forum.
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: Curious on January 17, 2014, 11:58:58 PM
Post by: Curious on January 17, 2014, 11:58:58 PM
I believe you can get great results with the FUE transplant. It uses a small pin type machine that picks out hair and simply relocates it to the desired area. There is no open surgery required, but it costs more than the other method. The other method requires cutting out a strip of skin and manually cutting out the hair and loading it into a pin type machine. I believe the results are nearly the same.. Normally it may take 2-3 surgeries to complete your hairline. It takes around 6 months before the hair grows in and thickens. I dont know about meds, but I heard good things about propecia(fin).
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: l0nghairdontcare on January 18, 2014, 11:31:05 AM
Post by: l0nghairdontcare on January 18, 2014, 11:31:05 AM
@curious
That is true but the results are highly individual and subjective. Even if the hairline is made the density may never be what you would want it to be.
@surrealism
You should start by taking clearer pictures of your hair loss.
You should also look on the Norwood Scale and rate your hairloss.
If you are beyond a 5 on the Norwood Scale your hair is not recoverable to a femenine head of hair even with all available medications and surgery available today.
You can still treat your hairloss and see how much you can recover though.
That is true but the results are highly individual and subjective. Even if the hairline is made the density may never be what you would want it to be.
@surrealism
You should start by taking clearer pictures of your hair loss.
You should also look on the Norwood Scale and rate your hairloss.
If you are beyond a 5 on the Norwood Scale your hair is not recoverable to a femenine head of hair even with all available medications and surgery available today.
You can still treat your hairloss and see how much you can recover though.
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: Surrealism on January 21, 2014, 01:41:43 PM
Post by: Surrealism on January 21, 2014, 01:41:43 PM
@Curious
Thanks for your input :). I'll definitely look into FUE, I'd love to avoid surgery if possible. I already know of a lot of surgeries that I want/need that are absolutely necessary for my satisfaction, so removing one from the equation would be nice.
@l0nghairdontcare
I like your name. Anyways, I'll post a few more pictures, maybe they're better for judging. My hair has come in a little more. Like I said before too, I can't really tell what I am on the Norwood scale. It seems to me like maybe I'm in between 4 and 5 or something?
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz#1
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz#2
http://imgur.com/1NPAUZh
To me, my hair loss just looks too...wild to fit in with the nice neat pattern of loss in the Norwood scale.
Thanks for your input :). I'll definitely look into FUE, I'd love to avoid surgery if possible. I already know of a lot of surgeries that I want/need that are absolutely necessary for my satisfaction, so removing one from the equation would be nice.
@l0nghairdontcare
I like your name. Anyways, I'll post a few more pictures, maybe they're better for judging. My hair has come in a little more. Like I said before too, I can't really tell what I am on the Norwood scale. It seems to me like maybe I'm in between 4 and 5 or something?
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz#1
http://imgur.com/ZrOCjwK,Llz0c2R,0PQHkZz#2
http://imgur.com/1NPAUZh
To me, my hair loss just looks too...wild to fit in with the nice neat pattern of loss in the Norwood scale.
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: EllieM on January 23, 2014, 03:08:12 PM
Post by: EllieM on January 23, 2014, 03:08:12 PM
Based on the additional pics, I'd say you are about 3V to 4. Looks like you could <pun>recover</pun>.
Title: Re: Need opinions about my hair loss
Post by: Hikari on January 23, 2014, 03:30:50 PM
Post by: Hikari on January 23, 2014, 03:30:50 PM
Propecia is FDA approved to reverse male pattern baldness, even if you are not on hrt you can get it from a doctor for that purpose. My understanding is that it actually isn't as effective as other things for reduction of DHT, but since this is an on label use I would think it a reasonable choice. The one thing that worries me is that a fair bit of people report crippling depression on Propecia/Proscar/finapecia, etc and that would be something to worry about.
A bit of warning about minoxidil it does seem to at times to increase hair growth in areas it was not applied, but In my own expierence minoxidil works, and generic versions of it are available OTC at places like Target. Even though it is OTC if you are already on medication be sure to ask your doctor, as minoxidil can interfere with some medications.
A bit of warning about minoxidil it does seem to at times to increase hair growth in areas it was not applied, but In my own expierence minoxidil works, and generic versions of it are available OTC at places like Target. Even though it is OTC if you are already on medication be sure to ask your doctor, as minoxidil can interfere with some medications.