If I Get a Hair Transplant, Will Those Hairs Fall Out If I Continue to Use Steroids?

Answer: This is a frequently asked question, especially from males who are experiencing androgenic alopecia or having hair loss from steroids. Strangely, very few personal experiences can be found on the Web from males reporting that they use steroids and have also underwent hair transplants.

There are “stories” that numerous professional bodybuilders, sports athletes and wrestlers often get several hair restoration procedures in order to continue to have full head of hair. To my understanding, not any of these stories have been officially verified however.

I have currently had a pair of hair transplant surgeries and months afterwards I took anabolic steroids [under a physician’s direction].

In my experience, no transplanted hair grafts were affected by using anabolic steroids or my naturally produced dihydrotestosterone (DHT) – despite the fact that the transplanted hair follicles were transferred to areas like the hairline that had been really susceptible to DHT-induced alopecia.

Fortunately, my personal experience followed the science of permanent hair transplantation.

Let’s have a glimpse at the hair restoration procedure to demonstrate why transplanted hair follicles should be “safe” from DHT.

For starters, DHT, steroids and other performance enhancing drugs do not “cause” androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness.

Your natural dihydrotestosterone or steroid use can only trigger hair thinning if you are genetically susceptible to androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness.

Thinning hair and hair loss from steroids only occurs in hair follicles that are not genetically hard-wired to tolerate the hormone DHT. The number of “DHT-sensitive” hairs that an individual has can vary significantly – many males experience no hair loss, whereas other males are quite susceptible to hair loss. The follicles of hair that are most very sensitive are often along the length of the hairline and on the top of the head.

The only hairs that are fully protected from DHT and genetically programmed to withstand hair loss are hairs on the side and back of the scalp. Consider the character “George” from the show “Seinfeld”, George has advanced hair loss yet still has extensive hair density on the side and the back of his head. This region is called the “donor area” because these hair follicles are not susceptible to pattern hair loss or hair loss from steroids.

When donor hair grafts are collected and transferred to regions that are balding, they retain their genetic code and will still be able to resist DHT even when they are relocated to a different area that formerly contained hair follicles that were susceptible to androgenic alopecia.

Theoretically and in my experience, transplanted hair will remain resistant from DHT and substantial amounts of androgens.

Even so, you should take into account that your outstanding native hair might not be tolerant to DHT and may experience further pattern hair loss if DHT is allowed to “harm” them. If those native hair follicles fall out or thin, you may want an additional hair transplant. I required two transplants to obtain satisfactory thickness in the frontal zones and I plan to get one more to fill in the top of my scalp. The fantastic thing is that the hair transplant is permanent and should last for a lifetime.

To protect against additional hair loss, I suggest that you get a prescription for finasteride or Propecia from your health practitioner. Also, you should additionally make an attempt to topically block DHT on your scalp. Do your research on finasteride and Propecia, it only will work with testosterone-based anabolic steroids such as testosterone enanthate.

Through my nine years of personal experience in combating hair loss from steroids, as of July 2011, I consider Perfect Image’s 15% Minoxidil with 5% Azelaic Acid the single most effective commercial product for topically blocking DHT on your scalp. I have used nearly 20 different topical treatments and I believe this one is the most effective – it dries quickly too. You can have a look at the feedback on Amazon.com.

Azelaic acid is scientifically proven to inhibit scalp DHT, as stated in a 2005 study published in the “American Journal of Clinical Dermatology,” doctors determined that azelaic acid is able to topically inhibit as much as 100% of the of DHT in your scalp.

If I Get a Hair Transplant, Will Those Hairs Fall Out If I Continue to Use Steroids? by Chris J Martinez