Hairgrowpro

Hi Gatsby, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and fortunately my results (and my patients) speak for themselves. It's not my job to convince you otherwise about your predetermined conclusion regarding equipment you have likely never operated with yourself. The world and particularly the field of medicine is very rarely black and white or all good or all bad. These are simply tools and can only be effective when used in the right context (hair type, scalp conditions, individual anatomy, etc.). The Artas admittedly isn't perfect and it's not uncommon that I will start with the Artas and transition to a manual approach, particularly if I need to have more flexibility selecting follicles outside of areas that a grid would be difficult to place. I have been able to acquire very good quality grafts with the Artas when the technology is applied in the appropriate situation with many elated patients. In full transparency I don't use it for site making or implanting because clearly it seems to be inferior in that department. The amount of tissue removed from a 1mm punch is a fraction of the tissue removed from an FUT but yet all the "artist" surgeons you might be alluding to would probably agree that there can be utility of the procedure in the appropriate context. I have not had a substantial difference in recovery/healing/aesthetic result from any Artas patient donor regions compared to manual methods when the technology is used in a conscientious way which tells me your opinion is based more on theoretical opinion and hearsay than from firsthand experience.

There is a trend for using oral minoxidil instead of topical these days which is largely due to convenience factors as well as to reduce the scalp sensitivity that can occur with the topical formulations. Oral minoxidil was originally a blood pressure medication so typically lowers blood pressure a few points and some people can feel lightheaded with this. It can also cause lower extremity edema which usually gradually develops. In contrast to finasteride which mostly exerts its influence on the DHT sensitive hairs, the minoxidil is more capable of increasing total body hair when consumed systemically. This tends to be more of a problem for females developing hirsutism when hair develops on less traditional or less desirable areas. I have prescribed oral minoxidil in some of my patients experiencing hair loss with concomitant hypertension or for those who benefited from minoxidil but weren't able to tolerate topically due to side effects. Your best option might be checking with a local compounding pharmacy for a hair loss product that has both topical minoxidil and topical finasteride

I am a hair transplant surgeon and specialize in FUE with the Artas robotic system and the Neograft in the US. The number of follicles in my opinion is best obtained by creating a desired hairline that achieves both what you would be happy with in the short term as well as a hairline that looks natural and ages well with time. After hairline design (and obviously anesthesia) the next phase of the procedure I like to start with is site making which is how we determine exactly how many follicles it takes to fill in the density of that surface area. Otherwise it is just a ballpark estimate usually within a range of 100 to 200 follicles. Depending on where you wanted to establish your new hairline and for example if you wanted to fortify your temporal points etc it would likely be around 1700-2100 grafts. Consuming more hair follicles than you need is never advantageous for the patient. Sure, a physician would be able to place 2500+ follicles in that region although it would be at the expense of depleting your follicle bank reservoir and limiting your future ability for a transplant if you ever desired another touchup 10 or 15 years later. Creating adequate density for lowering a hairline is very important, but equally important is being conscientious about having a 360 degree result you will be happy with by not overly depleting the donor region. The fact that you're on finasteride will certainly help prevent future receding and give you a much better return on your Hair Transplant investment. The cost of a hair transplant can vary widely, especially in the US. This may be a broad generalization however I have found clinics that charge per follicle are more likely to recommend a higher number of follicles that are needed to be transplanted. And obviously this is not a firm rule that applies to every medical center but I would consider it a red flag if anyone quoted you for more than 2500 hair follicles for that area. The cost can range anywhere from $6,000 to $20,000+ in certain areas depending on which clinic and which area of the country. If the cost is suspiciously low then I would take extra time vetting the clinic to make sure that the physician is actually doing the procedure. Best of luck to you!

Inhibiting DHT is it essential for reducing the rate of future hair receding. If you do not tolerate 1 mg of finasteride due to side effects, I have had patients still benefit from half a tablet (0.5 mg) daily with less significant side effects. Alternatively you can try every other day dosing which spaces out the interval between doses. Another option would be to use topical finasteride which would likely experience less side effects and still have some benefit. Finally a finasteride is not an option for you you can try and alternative DHT inhibiting compound such as saw palmetto. A substantial population does not respond with positive results from minoxidil so it is not surprising to hear that you have noticed continued receding despite the topical minoxidil foam. I agree with you that it is wise to find an optimal maintenance regimen that you are able to tolerate prior to committing to a hair transplant. Best of luck to you!