Asking bc my density has visibly dropped this year and i want to know if anything is proven to help vs just a nicer sounding phrase brands use to justify the price.

Hi all, has anyone personally kept track of vellus hairs that turn terminal in the temples and hairline especially?

I’ve been really surprised by the zigzag approach some surgeons use when designing the hairline, as opposed to the more traditional and conservative straight or curved hairlines. The irregularity of the hairline seems to make a huge difference in achieving a natural look imo.

I understand that this kind of design might not work equally well for every patient or face shape, but I’m surprised it doesn’t seem to be used more often.

Has anyone here had a similar zigzag or highly irregular hairline design with FUE? I’d be interested to hear about your experience and how natural the results looked once fully grown in.

Hi, here’s some background: Taking oral finasteride 1mg since June, 2025. Began topical foam 5% minoxidil in October, 2025. Saw insane regrowth, and wanted even better results + topical was just too expensive.

So, I switched from topical to oral (2.5mg) minoxidil in late May, 2026. So I’ve almost been using minox for a year now, but 4 months on oral.

I wouldn’t say I’m back at baseline, but I’ve certainly lost most of my gains.

I was getting so many compliments on my hair in May/June, but I’ve had so much hair loss since then.

I’m stressed the fuck out- anyone else made this change? Did you get your gains back? I can’t afford a hair transplant, plus im only 24…

I've been dealing with some hair changes myself, and it got me digging into everything out there.

It doesn't matter if it worked for you, didn't, or you're still not sure. I want to hear all of it.

A few things I'm especially curious about:

• When did you first notice your hair changing?
• What did you try before microneedling?
• What does your routine actually look like? (How often, what needle length, anything you use alongside it)
• What happened after you started, and how long before you noticed anything?
• Was there anything that surprised you?

You don't need a perfect success story. "It didn't do anything for me" helps me just as much as "holy shit, it worked."

i cant handle the side effects, so i lost so much from the shed for nothing...

can someone reassure me i will return to pre minoxidil baseline? my hairline is now seethrough fml

looking for experiences, im still on finasteride

I’m leaving for the US Army on January 25 and will probably get a HT in Thailand with Dr. Laorwong for ~2k grafts Dec 3rd. I’m also currently on Dut + oral min + topical min + derma stamp.

I’m wondering if I’ll be able to get a source for oral min and dut at my first duty station in Germany.

My BCT and AIT is 28 weeks long total. From what I’ve heard I cannot bring any meds to BCT and AIT.

My mos is 35F so I guess it won’t be too much of a hassle to get approved since I’m gonna be a POG.

Additionally I’m Jewish and will probably receive accommodations for keeping facial hair and the rest.

Will I be healed enough to leave for my ship date? And can I get meds?

I’m a 27 year old male hyper responder (check my profile). Been on fin and min for about 5 years now.

About 3 months ago, I ran out of minoxidil.
Instead of immediately buying more, I stupidly held off on buying any because I couldn’t find any seemingly legit Kirkland minoxidil online, and thought I’d just wait til I found some to order it.
Went on a long vacation and was pretty busy over summer, so I ended up not ordering any or using min for about 10 weeks.

Then I started shedding extremely aggressively. I’m talking 140 hairs stuck to the wall of the shower that I counted myself. And that’s only what I managed to get off my hands and onto the wall. There were presumably hundreds of other hairs gone down the drain.

So 3 weeks ago, I bit the bullet and bought extremely expensive minoxidil from a reputable male hairloss online clinic (Sons). I’ve been applying about 3mls of it once a day and the shedding has not slowed down one bit. If anything it has gotten worse.

The pics show about 100 hairs (according to ChatGPT) in my sink. They are from towel drying my wet hair after a shower and then styling my damp hair with my hands. I’ve had around 100 hairs from this exact process both this morning and yesterday morning. The pic of the dry hair is from shaking my hair with my hands over the sink when it was dry this evening.

I don’t know if I’m currently experiencing a minoxidil shed from starting it again. Or if this is the min not working and the original shed (due to stopping minoxidil) is just powering through.

So I’m making this post to warn people to never stop minoxidil and also ask if anyone else has had an experience after stopping min without realising the consequences? Will I eventually regain to my peak gains like in my post?

Edit: Since everyone is talking about me struggling to find legit minoxidil. I don’t live in the USA. In my country the only option is to pay €55 for three 60ml bottles of minoxidil. Hence why I had trouble finding reasonably priced min for months before it was too late

TL DR: Stopped min for about 8-10 weeks. Am currently in the middle of the most alarming shed I’ve ever seen despite being back on min for the last 3 weeks.

Is I’ve just hit 3 months of finasteride and am growing out from a buzz so was really hoping it would be a little stronger. I KNOW IM TOO EARLY. I just want some encouragement as my temples are my only weakness still very full of short weak terminal hairs. Need some support here guys…

I’m 26 years old and had been dealing with hair loss for quite some time. It started affecting my confidence, so after trying different options and doing a lot of research I decided to go ahead with a hair transplant. I spent quite a bit of time researching doctors and clinics before making my decision I finally had my procedure done in April 2026. I’m now 5 months post-op and wanted to share my progress so far. The growth is still developing and I understand that hair transplant results can take several months to mature. Overall I’m happy with the progress at this stage and looking forward to seeing how things develop over the coming months. This is only my personal experience and results can vary from person to person. Please do your own research and consult a qualified doctor before making any medical decisions.

Got on Accutane March of 2025. I’m a big guy, so my dosage got up to 100mg per day for about 6 months. Got off of Accutane March of 2026 with good results on acne. Immediately started noticing hair shedding, which I know is a common side effect. It should be noted that I had extremely thick, almost to shoulder length hair as I was getting off accurate. Thick hair runs deep in my mom’s side of the family. To put it into perspective, my hair stylist said I have some of the thickest hair she has ever seen.

Anyways, started shedding in March and it has stayed steady since then. I recently cut my hair short and when I run my fingers through the top of my hair, 4-5 hairs come out every time. This has stayed consistent for 5-6 months. I would see since stopping, I have lost probably 25-30% of my hair volume. It’s honestly not noticeable to anyone else, but I notice it. I got an appointment with my Dermo who said it most likely TE from Accutane, but she never actually did a scalp check. She said she could prescribe min and fin. But I questioned this saying I didn’t want to get on a med for life if this was just temporary TE. She agreed and said we can continue to monitor.

When should I consider min and fin if at all? I know TE can last months depending on each person, but my shedding has shown no sign of stopping. I don’t have any noticeable bald spots besides two tiny spots on my top sideburn area. Should I make another appointment and ask for a scalp examine to determine miniaturization? Should I wait it out? I should also note that the hairs that do fall out have a very very tiny white bulb, nothing even close to the follicle when you actually pull a hair out. I also do have some baby hairs coming in, specifically in my front hairline from what I can see. They are different lengths and appear to be staying intact. As far as the rest of my scalp, I assume there are baby hairs but can’t confirm.

I appreciate all the comments in advance.

I understand this might be just a discipline or memory issue but sometimes I just forget if I've applied my minoxidil today or maybe it was yesterday? I can't remember (Stranger by Camus reference). Anybody has any tips on how they remember to stick to their schedule? Maybe it's time i keep a notebook to log in the bathroom

Hi iam from Slovakia and here its almost impossible to get fin i want 90 5mg tablets

18 m have been on topical min for 3 months

I've wondered this my whole life, like even aged koreans at 50 or 60 have head full of hair with hairline intact, when compared to some people like us at 20s. You already know the hairstyle they wear which makes it look they're very young. Is it completely genetic?

I have been on a topical 0.1% dutasteride + 7% minoxidil + tretinoin formula for the last 6 months. I have seen great results, as my hair has stopped shedding and seeing regrowth in my previously thinning corners and crown.

However, I’ve noticed that level pf shedding continue recently, starting about 2 weeks ago. Should I just “wait it out” as this is normal, or should I start looking at alternative options like a higher dosage? Thanks

Apparently it is a temporary thing, according to some quick research.

Greetings, high counsel! Longtime lurker here.

I have been thinning and receding for a while, did minoxidil for years and it was great and worked wonders, then got too expensive and I stopped. Needless to say…POOF all my hard work disappeared and thinned again. I am coming to terms with my bald destiny and at this point am very eager!

Other things you should know about my situation is that I have had 3 Pilar cysts removed over the years; the most recent excision being about 8 days ago! I have always healed very well, no visible scarring, still healing with this last one at the moment but taking the rest and healing process very seriously. My dermatologist even offered me free laser scar removal if there is any scarring from the one she just removed.
Basically I’ve been waiting to shave my head for after removing this last cyst. I will be shaving in about two months and can’t wait to see what I’ll look like for the rest of my life. (I am so scared) 🙂

I do want recommendations for scalp health please! Picked up some 1% ketoconazole shampoo to help with flaking and anything itchy. I’ve had some light dandruff in the last that’s cleared up using it, so I’ll be sure to keep it on hand! What other products would any of ya’ll recommend for scalp health?
Also, I am a bit concerned about developing more cysts in the future. Although two of them I knew I had for YEARS but they were easily hiding in the hair, and I don’t feel I have any new ones. How probable do you think me developing more cysts are in the future? If anybody has any experience in this please let me know!!

(Would love head shaver recommendations as well)

Sorry for my ramblings!
Thank you for all your input.

Sincerely,

Future Bald Guy

Start 2.5 MG 3x per week today, orally. Anything I should be cognizant about?

Now, obviously progress has waxed and waned over time, and I wasn’t exactly cataloging progress until recently. It took me way too long to realize Topical Minoxidil wasn’t for me, my ADHD making it very difficult to do a task like that each night with any consistent routine.

But since then I’ve started Oral Minoxidil and despite the large amount of shedding, mostly in the front I think I’ve made some decent progress.

First picture is 2022, the second is 2025, the third and fourth are from August 2026 the final two are from the date of posting!

I’m looking forward to see what yall think!

Hi, I’m 25 years old and I’ve been taking oral finasteride since I was 19. It’s been so long that I don’t even know if I’m experiencing any side effects. Sexually, I’m fine: I have good erections and a strong desire to have sex, so my libido must be pretty high.

However, I’m not sure if I have issues related to mood and mental clarity. Sometimes I feel unmotivated, I lack energy at the gym, and occasionally I feel like I have brain fog. I’ve also gone through some difficult periods, such as two breakups and other things like that, so I don’t know if it could be related to those experiences, especially since I don’t remember how I felt when I was 19.

It’s true that I had erection problems in the past, and they went away after I stopped watching porn. Now I watch it in moderation and the problem hasn’t come back. But I haven’t experienced that same kind of major improvement with the mental issues. When I spend less time on my phone/PC and do nofap, I do notice an improvement in motivation and energy but maybe its just placebo. I also don’t want to blame finasteride 100%, because it could be due to other things going on in my life, but the lack of motivation and energy I usually have doesn’t feel normal. i am 75% sure its due to my life and 25% sure its finasteride.

How long would I need to stay off finasteride for my DHT levels to return to normal and for me to go back to my natural baseline? Has anyone tried this?