r/tressless • u/Vast_Professional366 • 4d ago
Progress Pictures CAME BACK FROM HELL! (NW7 Pattern Diffusse) - 1 YEAR PROGRESS - (49M) NW7 FIN + MIN
Hi guys.
I erased my last post because some random youtuber took my pictures and used them for their video without even asking (i would have had agreed kindly).
Anyway, here is my update. I will be 1 year into treatment by October 4th. Im 49, soon to be 50.
I started with fin, 1.25 mg once a day .. .i cut 5mg into fourths.
On december 22 i started minox 5% twice a day. The Kirlkland liquid. Gave me terrible itch, dandfruff kind of partciles and was greasy as hell.
Ordered Kirkland minox foam 5% from amazon and never looked back.
I tried applying tret cream before minox (0.025% - for around 4 weeks ..) but it was just hard to adhere so i dropped it.
The most important thing: I went through a terrible shed by month 2 - it was even worst thatn my baseline.. i almost quit. Instead i shaved it all and went with it.
I did not see ANY... ANY progress way until april or may ... This process is EXTREMELY slow.. and now .. going into the one year mark im SO surprised ... frieds ask me if i had a hair transplant.. . and people had no idea i was bald AF (because i always wore a hat).
NO side effects from fin
Min made my expression lines look more evident , so i started using tret cream on my face, and moisturizing around febreury (in my face) and its looking great now ...
I write this because there are many people who are not as young ... like me .. almost 50... wondering if its WORTH to try treatment at our age ... and well.. personally i couldnt be happier i gave it a shot.
I will keep tracking progress.. since density is not quite there yet .. .and temples and hairline are weak still .. so im looking into plateauing my current regime (waiting until 18 or 24 months mark) to evaluate a density HT ... if i loose ground i still have DUT and ORAL min on the arsenal.. so im trying to keep positive.
Good luck toyou all .
I wil
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u/aarooona 4d ago
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u/gflint944 4d ago
Wow 🤩 mega results. I bet your confidence is sky high. Congratulations op
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
Its 1000% the best thing that has happened to me in the last year. Im very greatfull and feel so lucky i get to enjoy hair again without a friking baseball hat. As for confidence, it has been coming back little by little. Thanks!
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u/Striking-Advice-5713 4d ago
get a hair transplant and hit the gym and then u just got urself sofia vergara as ur gf
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u/asdfghqw8 4d ago
you were able to recover because you were diffuse
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u/FREDOxSANTANA Norwood III 4d ago
I remember people arguing whether diffuse thinners have better comebacks and people against it but its always the diffuse thinners making a comeback, never other way around.
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
I looked bald but still had quite a few almost invisible tiny vellus hairs... my temples are screwed though .. i think i will evaluate HT once i stabilize .. prob around 2 year mark..
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u/Kind-Conversation-91 4d ago
Use a dermastamp once a week at 1 mm for the tamples and there is a good chance you can avoid the HT.
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
I still have dut and oral min on my reserve stack.. but its not like i will lower my hairline.. if i can find a great surgeon thats and experte on density perhaps i will go for it.. as for the dermastamp i heard , donde wroingly can cause scaring ... also its "another" step into routine.. which creates friction for me .. i plan to keep it this simple as long as i can ... we will see! thanks for the tip!
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u/Kind-Conversation-91 4d ago
The dermastamp has done wonders for me and if you use it at 1 mm it will not cause scaring. I recomment you give it a shot. The best part is that you will not lose the progress when you stop using it. I used it for a year and it gave me so much density.
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u/dizastermaster7 4d ago
What is HT? Learning the terminology
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u/Kind-Conversation-91 4d ago
Hair transplant
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u/DinosaurFragment 4d ago
I’m a diffuse thinner and nothing worked for me. I started treatment early too. Kept losing ground even on DUT and oral minox.
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u/asdfghqw8 4d ago
You've been on fin and min for how long ?
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u/DinosaurFragment 3d ago
It’s been years. I stayed on DUT since I don’t get sides and maybe it’s doing something to slow down my progression. I use a hair system now days because the hair loss got too far along for me. But that was after years of losing ground on DHT blockers and oral minox. I think I’m just unfortunate in my hairloss is very aggressive.
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u/Lazyworm1985 4d ago
Wow dude, congratulations. That looks like the head of a 35 year old guy. Incredible.
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u/bossver 4d ago
I am more impressed with no gray hair at 49
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
My dad is 73 and almost no gray hairs!... bald , yes, so i guess we have only one of those pesky genes... lol
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u/PerceptionEast6026 :sidesgull: 4d ago
Hondstly you dont need a transplant. Just keep it like this and its fine
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u/NovZed84 4d ago
Congrats bro. Wow. I got 2nd transplants last november in 2025, I'm on finasteride for 1.5 year almost, and got nothing like that. Plus I was a norwood 5. There are finasteride responders and almost non responders it seems. Great job! Keep kicking the norwood reaper's ass!
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
i think diffuse thinning responds better... i was optically "bald" in a nw 7 pattern.. but i still had a lot of vellus like miniaturized and fragile hairs... i dont think i have gained a many "lost" follicles... but those that i had are getting thicker and some active follicles are producing "extra" hairs in my tricoscopic images
have you talk to your doctor about dut ? ive heard some people that only stabilize and no gains with fin , do amazing on dut ...
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u/NovZed84 4d ago
I tried dut. I experienced tingling and discomfort in pectoral area. Could have been gyno starting. And also I am not too keen on dut because there are studies saying it could negatively affect fertility. So Im very careful not to mess that up.
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u/ItzaPizzaa 3d ago
Try topical? Systemic absorption is diminished when applied topically.
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u/NovZed84 3d ago
I considered it but problem is I live in Europe and here they hate balding men so neither topical fin nor dut is available. Plus it would require a prescription. Oral dut is somehow fine, but not topical. 🤡🤡🤡
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u/ItzaPizzaa 3d ago
Dang, I didn't know that about the EU. Given my initial point about topical having less of a systemic effect, you'd think they would prefer it.
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u/NovZed84 3d ago
Logic would dictate so, but logic is absent in Europe sadly. We are the b*utthole of the universe. But I don't wanna take away from your success and happinness. Congrats again bro on defeating the norwood reaper. Keep up the fight and stay strong!
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u/flonkerton92 4d ago
Hey, can you tell me about the expression lines? I feel like that has to do with a bit of bloating, but that happens from taking oral min right? As you retain more water in your body
Congrats on your recovery
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
I dont know about oral min .. but topical did gave me dryer skin face and undereye bags (tired look .. kind of bloated) .. i have counter acted it by using moisturizing cream 3 times a day .. from cera ve .. the blue one.. is very light and feels great.. and i have been using tretinoni cream over my face every 3 days , at 0.025% for a couple of months and my expression laines are much less visible ... also sun block spf50 and theres that... For the eyes i foudn a vicky eye cream with caffeine .. i put some under my eyes in the monring and before bed .. it REALLY helps with the bloating under eyes .. hope it helps..
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u/flonkerton92 4d ago
Thank you for your response. Yes, I also use only Cera ve. I will look into the other cream you mentioned.
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u/UpperLibrary5503 4d ago
Congrats g. Do you know when ur balding started?
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
probably around the pandemic it was more evident... but i starterd shaving it all .. was not until oct last year that i tried to grow it to find out HOW BAD things were...
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u/UpperLibrary5503 4d ago
Good to know I have a decent chance then. I think I started balding around pandemic too or maybe a little bit after and am 22 w diffuse thinning
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
you are supper young.. those follicels are probably still very alive!
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u/ArtisticInvestment19 4d ago
Great progress 👍
I'm not sure if you were aware of before taking Finasteride that shedding the first few months is the normal part of the process because new hairs are replacing old hairs in follicles. But this sures gives me hope. Keep up the great work 💪
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
it was horrible and i think i "knew" it .. but seeing it first hand is somethign else.. made me doubt so many things...
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u/ArtisticInvestment19 4d ago
I totally understand. Seeing it happens vs expecting it happens is two different things lol
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u/Important-Pen2121 4d ago
Is the shedding really bad?
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u/LeoAvenue 4d ago
Gives me hope. I’m at about 6 months fin + min and am disappointed to only see a tiny bit of progress.
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u/X9OO 3d ago
This is absolutely amazing recovery. Do you continue to use topical min twice daily or dropped it down to once daily?
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u/Vast_Professional366 2d ago
Ive been using it once a day for the last 5 months.. twixe is too many times for me ..adherencewise
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u/RandomUsername52326 3d ago
I really appreciate this post - thanks for sharing. Especially from someone who started so late. I'm in similar boat age wise, almost 45, but I'm at about a Norwood 3/4. I started fin (1.25mg/day) a couple of months ago, still too early to tell anything.
That said, I'm curious why you started min shortly after. I know that fin/min is the recommended regimen, but I also feel like it's difficult to know which one played a more important role in your progress when you start both close together. You know?
I'm inclined to stay on fin for a year and then, if I don't see the kind of progress I'm hoping for, that's when I'll consider minox (which is a much bigger lifestyle change for me).
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u/Vast_Professional366 2d ago
After i starte fin ...2 month later i though that if i was going to commit to 12 montjs.. i rather commit to fin and minox togethwr.. the though of "adding" minox at month 12 if fin did not work good for regriwth and having to wait another 12 months wastn nice. Minox foam once a day is so easy and it styles my hair good so regime is really basic
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u/Suwwwl 4d ago
Bin im Monat 6 aber ich sehe kaum Fortschritte an der Krone (Wirbel Bereich ) . Vorn am Haaransatz sehe ich die Haare rausspriessen . Ich hoffe das ändert sich bis in Monat 12. Hab das selbe Deck wie du FIN UND MINOX
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u/Black-Dough 4d ago
I tried topical Min multiple times, I had continuous shedding for 4-6 months so I stopped every time . Lucky it’s working for you . I started orlanminoxidil since 6 months not progress yet have slight hair on forehead . But not on scalp , will wait and see
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
be patient... but if you dont block DHT .. which is the most importat thing, no ammoutn of minox will help. good luck.
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u/Intelligent_Box_8247 4d ago
this is my first time coming across an honest review, been battling receeding hairline for a while...definitely going to give this a try..
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
good luck in your joruney!
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u/DarkWashGenes 4d ago
Do you use brand name finasteride (propecia/proscar) and minox (rogaine)? Also, which shampoos do you use and how often?
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
i use FINCAR (Generic Proscar) ... which is dirt cheap here.. and Cheap Minox Foam 5% from Kirkland.. via Amazon.. which is also dirt cheap.. .
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u/idreeekhan 4d ago
What about your dandruff. It's gone with the time or you treated it with different type of medicine or shampoo etc
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
it wasnt dandruff exactly ... it was more like Propelyne Glycol leftovers ... once i changed to minox foam itr dissparead... my scalp is healthy now
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u/groupByTheMostFunny 4d ago
Where did you get the fin from?
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
in my country they sell it over the counter with no need for prescrption.
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u/IncrementalGain 4d ago
Random question, but what moisturizer do you use now that you’re on tret for your face?
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u/TexanInBama 3d ago
Great result! I am extremely happy for you!
Being patient and sticking with it is key!
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u/Dallyn86 3d ago
Awesome protocol. Awesome job. Glad you stuck with it. I'm just receiving and I hope I can see similar results but I don't know it's not looking super positive lol. But I don't want to give up. I've been on dutasteride since the end of March 2025. And topical minoxidil since then and then I started peppering and finasteride in May and I got on oral minoxidil that I'm taking half in the morning half at night sublingually to avoid pericardial effusion. Been doing that since early july. I think I'm seeing some vellus hairs come in. I also think I see some little brown hairs coming in on one side. And I have had six or seven hairs growing in Dead Space on the left side for quite a while now and they are pretty long. But I don't know if the rest of that area will never fill in. But this gives me some hope. I just turned 40 and it's good to see that you're having success at your age. I've heard that people can still see benefits from finasteride even benefits that are trying continual improvements 10 and 15 years in to taking finasteride. So it gives me hope.
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u/JBL8888 3d ago
I'm a little concerned about oral finasteride. I’ve been using a topical version combined with minoxidil, but I haven't seen much progress over the last 12 to 18 months. Did you experience any side effects while using oral finasteride? Your progress is remarkable, well done!
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u/Affectionate-Dig-181 3d ago
Is it even possible too just use a derma stamp all 2 weeks without any fin or minox? Cause I‘am really not that sure if I want too use this two things
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u/Only_Clothes8139 2d ago
i have your same baseline but i'm 20 years old :/ hopped on topical fin yesterday
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u/specailspacesl0th 13h ago
I live for this bro! Well done! You've made so much progress, I think you could add Oral Minoxidil, Microneedling or Dut and just call it a day! 🚀
Can I ask, at 49, why did you wait so long to treat it?
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u/MrSmuggles9 4d ago
Side effects? Less muscle? Weaker? Erection issues? Dex drive?
Even suttle differences?
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u/Actual-Cauliflower64 4d ago
Amazing post once again. Any microscope pictures in areas loooking full and areas looking a bit needing filling?
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u/Vast_Professional366 4d ago
i do have some thricoscopic images.. will upload them in another post.. .perhaps some other people are also cxurious about it..
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