Male Pattern Baldness (MPB)

[Guest Amanda Whyte]

Yes, I have MPB and always keep my hair cut short. I was wondering if anyone knows, or has seen, longer hairstiles for men with MPB that look nice. Not necessarily feminine just something less severe then a "2 on top and 3 on the sides" if you know what I mean.

[Guest Isobelle Fox]

I had MPB in a fairly advanced state before HRT. I really worried about that, because even though I am not opposed to wigs at all, my hope was that I wouldn't feel like I needed one.

I don't. The hair on the back, front, and top grew back in to full coverage. The hair where I used to be bald is finer and will never be as thick as the hair on the rest of my head, so its possible to see, particularly in the back area, that its not quite the same as the rest of my hair, but... its all there! No more bald spots. When I show people the before and after pictures I took of my scalp, they usually can't believe it.

Its worth mentioning that I used mynoxidil 5% for about 2 years as well, but I developed an allergic reaction to it and can no longer use it. I'm not sure which was the largest contributor, HRT or the myoxidil, but I am sure both helped, and now that I am no longer using the latter, my hair is not receding or falling out, so I assume that the HRT has helped.

So, I don't know if this is typical or not, but its something to think about.

I'm not much help with the original question though, I'm afraid. I kept mine buzzed almost to the point of being shaved.

[Guest Amanda Whyte]

Thanx for the response, Isobelle. I am going to talk to my doctor about mynoxidil.

[Guest]

Hi Amanda,

A trans friend of mine got a prescription for propecia and had phenomenal hair growth results from it. Another didn't get as good an outcome. Everyone's different. Minoxidil is supposed to be good too.

I'll be interested in what your doctor has to say.

Love, Megan

[JenniferB]

You can buy Minoxidil at your local store. It works much better on the crown than a receding hairline, and it is expensive. However there are off brands. What hair you gain with Rogaine will disappear when you stop using it.

Jenny

[Reagen]

I've started Nizoral the OTC with 1% Ketoconazole about 3 days a week and Rogaine Foam. I have just started HRT too. I have a patch on the back of my head and I'm receding at the front. I'm interested to see how this will do. The Nizarol cleans the scalp and reduces the amount of DHT in your hair follicles. There are other medicated shampoos that do the similar. There are some good blogs and forums on MPB and peoples treatments.

As far as the cost of Rogaine and the off brand. I just paid $20 for a three month supply at CVS normally it's $50. It was on sale for $29 and I had some coupons from the Sunday papers we buy every week. They were for $10 off. So I purchased 5 packs for $100 (that's how many coupons I had). We do couponing and I'm here to say it pays off. I saved $150 on a years supply. That's cheaper than the off brand.

Rea

[Guest Amanda Whyte]

I will talk to my doctor tomorrow about it. I am planning on buying something tomorrow or friday. If I can just get my hair to look like a lady with thinning hair instead of MPB, I will be happy. Anything more than that will just be icing on the cake.

[JenniferB]

I will talk to my doctor tomorrow about it. I am planning on buying something tomorrow or friday. If I can just get my hair to look like a lady with thinning hair instead of MPB, I will be happy. Anything more than that will just be icing on the cake.

Mandy,

If you are going to talk to your doctor anyway, convince your doctor to give you Finasteride, or at least Propecia. Finasteride helps regrow hair. It does have a side effect though. It's an anti-androgen and will decrease testosterone.

Jenny

[Guest Amanda Whyte]

Decrease testosterone? I dont know if I could handle that! According to the side effects it could cause gynecomastia, whatever would I do if it does?

According to what I just looked up Finasteride is Propecia. I have taken a note of Finasteride and will ask but I will also see what my doctor says tomorrow.

[Guest LizMarie]

From what I've read (and I am reading a lot because I have MPB also), minoxidil plus finasteride together are more than 3 times as effective as minoxidil alone and twice as effective as finasteride alone. I've been using minoxidil for a short while but plan to discuss how to get a prescription for finasteride at my next therapy session, who I should see, etc. I'm also considering hair transplants if I can get most of it to grow back, using the transplants to fix hairline or any particularly thin spots. But that won't be for a while yet.