May 15 2006, 10:31 am PT | Posted in: Drugs
Hi Dr. Rassman,
You are true credit to the Medical Community, and your blog, and expertise are greatly appreciated by many.Two quick questions…If after using Propecia for 2 years, and going off of it at that point (the point of diminshing returns) would continued use of Minoxidil support the hair that was produced by the Propecia?? I’m 53, have been using Minoxidil for 8 years, and Propecia for 4 months, and the Propecia is already working well on my thinning crown area. I thought after the propecia loses its effectiveness, I would just stay with the Minoxidil, & let the Minoxidil take over. Please advise
Also, are FOX grafts more expensive, than the more established FUT grafts, since this procedure is more difficult for the Surgeon?
If you are getting a benefit from Propecia and then maximize it, whatever benefit you received will be lost when you stop taking it and minoxidil will not save that benefit for you. I assume that you are trying to save money. That would make your investment to date valueless as you go backward.
FOX/FUE grafts are more expensive than standard FUT harvested through the strip method. In my opinion, they are not better, just different.
I’m 24 and I have the dual problem of a receeding hairline with hair that is thinning considerably at the crown. I started losing my hair at around 20 and it looks like I’ve lost anywhere from 50-75% of the hair on my scalp (there is not very much volume left at all) and about half an inch of hairline. Basically, I look like a fifty-year old man with a classic horseshow pattern but a sparse, but fairly evenly-spaced dusting of hair on my scalp. How the heck did this happen so fast? I’ve been using Propecia and Minoxidil in combination for about a year, and while I haven’t noticed any new hair loss I haven’t noticed any growth, either. Can I possibly expect any growth with another year of treatment? If not, are there any transplantation procedures that I can look at that could salvage both my hairline and the top of my head, or am I destined to go through life with great big patches of bare skin on top?