I am a 41 year old African-American female who has suffered from diffuse hair thinning over the past five years. I was told it was due to traction alopecia years ago and I have since stopped wearing tight hairstyles and only wear wigs occasionally, that do not pull tightly on my hair or hairline. I have recently started Nutrafol (two months) and I have had the following lab work done as advised by a physician: TSH, free T4, T3, thyroglobulin antibody, complete metabolic panel, prolactin, total estrogens, LH, FSH, CBCD, CRP, Urinalysis, HgbA1C, 17-OHP, GGT, Zinc, selenium, ferritin, Iron/TIBC, Vit D 25-hydroxy, DHEA-S, Cortisol, Total testosterone, free testosterone, albumin, and SHBG and DHT. All of my labs were within normal limits, except my hemoglobin A1C was 5.7 (prediabetes). I am astonished because I thought my hair thinning was due to low thyroid levels since my mom has Hypothyroidism. Now, I have no clue what next step to take to get my hair to growing. My hair has always been very fine but it would grow especially my crown. The only issue I had was very fine edges or hairline. Now, it is thinning all over. I do not have noticeable balding but it is just super thin and has not grown within the last two years. Every doctor I see try to sell me on either surgery or cosmetic procedures (PRP, Stem cell therapy, hair transplant) but I really need a diagnosis prior to proceeding with a surgery or procedure that is costly and will not work. HELP please. What should I do next
im a male in my mid thirties. i always had very thick, healthy hair, but in my early thirties i went through a period of a couple years where i was wearing it in a ponytail 24/7 while also picking at my scalp like crazy every night. last year i noticed my hair had dramatically thinned- i still have close to full coverage (a little withdrawal on my forehead but barely) but its much, much thinner than it used to be. when i noticed that i immediately stopped wearing a ponytail and stopped picking at my scalp. its now been around a year since then. a couple months ago i started using 5% topical minoxidil in hopes of bringing my hair density to where it used to be. i know it takes time for results but i dont even see vellus hairs yet, and im starting to think that between the ponytail and the picking i might have scarred my scalp, which from what im reading would imply that minoxidil will not be useful and the only solution is a hair transplant. i am hoping for an assessment of if thats the case- if i should keep trying the minoxidil, or if my scalp looks scarred. ive attached a few pictures of my scalp (please excuse my forehead, which is covered in moisturizer). the pictures were taken shortly after leaving the shower, so my hair is a little damp. thank you for your help.
Greetings, I have had hair loss that started when I was 20 years old. Before that my hair where really thick and had lots of dense hair so you could not see the skin on top of my scalp. Now as you can see on the pictures my hair has become really thin. The hair loss stopped when I was 23 years old, Im 30 now. The situation has been the same since seven years now, hairline didnt become thinner but also didnt grow back even after trying minoxidil topical for six months. Is there a way to regrow more hair on the scalp ? Would I be a candidate for a hair transplant or PRP injections? Thanks in advance for your answers. Best regards
I developed early gynecomastia after 10 months of taking finasteride orally, my estrogen levels increased. Is taking a low dose applied topically to the scalp a good solution so as not to affect serum hormone levels?
I have diffuse lpp/ hair loss. My question being are the results conclusive with LPP and if no scarring is appreciated yet, can the hair be regrown Biopsy: Sections show perifollicular 'onion-skinning' fibrosis and perifollicular lymphocytes. Sebaceous gland atrophy/loss is noted. Follicular dropout and/or scarring is not yet appreciated. Significant miniaturization or increase in telogen hairs are not appreciated. The epidermis is predominantly unremarkable. A PAS stain is negative
50 year old female on 1.25 oral minoxidil since March and 2.5 oral Finasteride since June. Was doing well but in September started shedding heavily. My concern is that should I stop Finasteride, am I having a reaction to it, making it worse? My dermatologist doesn't seem to think the shedding is from the Finasteride. I also do laser treatments, being treated for Thyroid, labs are normal. The only other thing is my ferritin is 27. I feel like my hair is getting thinner by the day.
I was prescribed oral minoxidil 6 months ago and took one pill then stopped. I've taken two pills in the last two days. I've been hesitant due to anxiety about shedding. I understand this, now, to be hairs that needed to come out but are all coming out at the same time. My question is if I use topical, will I only shed in the areas I apply it? If so, should I switch to topical so that I won't shed extra hair in all areas including those that aren't a concern?
Ive started top minoxidil in 2023 for 8 months I saw great results from me 3 I came back on 1,5 with a lot of thickness but it all went away after the 8 months lost ground again and two months after I added fin 1,25 I saw an improvement the first three months than I had a shedding on fin I think that pushed back my corners but the overall thickness was the same not noticeable thinning at the time. On September of 2024 I thought of starting oral minoxidil because its stronger to fill the corners cause I had baby hairs there.however since I started I am shedding from September till now and I noticed that my hair in the top front are thinner and my scalp is vissible. However I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism on January of 2025 and started treatment but the thinning was noticeable this month February. I dont know why and I could use a opinion about it