Surgical hair transplantation on its own does not treat progressive hair thinning, or eventual hair loss, so hair does thin even after transplant surgery. With FUE hair transplants gaining more popularity than FUT hair transplants, FUE does harvest a significant amount of hair grafts from outside the narrow permanent zone of hair genetically resistant to hair thinning. This means that a good number of hair grafts are still prone to the same hair thinning that the grafts are replacing. If hair transplant patients do not receive additional treatment to manage hair thinning, they will need additional hair transplants until their donor area runs out. Safe transplant density is about 20 grafts per cm2, limited by available blood supply for graft healing and survival, and skin integrity, so exceeding this limit can risk loss of all grafts. However, natural hair density is 50-100 hairs per cm2 of scalp, so hair transplants tend to look unnatural because of density. TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration can overcome this limitation because even if hair is thinning, it is still close to natural hair density. Thinning hair is also more numerous than available grafts at the back of the head. Therefore, thickening thinning hair with TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration can provide more scalp surface coverage, and denser hair growth than hair transplants can possibly achieve.

Native hair, even when thinning, grows more closely together than a surgical hair transplant can technically achieve, and thinning hair is more numerous than potential hair grafts. By thickening native thinning hair, TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration can exceed the hair density, and number of hair grafts than one, or even two hair transplants.

Finasteride can slow hair thinning in men by blocking DHT-formation, but it has a limited effect on thickening thinning hair. TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration is proven to help men on finasteride get thicker hair than from a DHT-blocker alone.

Finasteride (Propecia) is a 1mg pill that is taken daily to stop the enzyme 5 alpha reductase from turning testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to reduce hair thinning in DHT-sensitive hair follicles. If daily intake of the pill stops, hair will continue to thin at the rate it was prior to use. The rare incidence of sexual side effects (reported in less than 2% of users) of finasteride has discouraged many men to avoid taking this drug. 
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Finasteride is not approved to be taken by women, and can be especially harmful for women pregnant with a male fetus, risking proper fetal development. Some doctors prescribe finasteride to women, but Dr. Prasad generally does not as DHT-levels in women are generally low, even when elevated above normal.
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TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration is seen to exceed results of finasteride alone. The role of finasteride is more to slow and stabilize the hair thinning process in men, with just a slight impact on thickening thinning hair. TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration has consistently shown to thicken thinning hair in men already taking finasteride for years.
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TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration is not a DHT-blocker, therefore is not a replacement or alternative to finasteride. Finasteride is still needed as part of the TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration treatment plan for maximum results, especially for younger men with acute DHT-sensivity, and a rapid thinning pattern.

Minoxidil (Rogaine) is a topic treatment that doesn’t stop hair from thinning, but does extend the active hair growth phase (anagen) and delays the hair shedding phase (telogen) so more hair is present on the head. Minoxodil needs to be applied twice daily. If use is discontinued, the hair growth cycle reverts to its regular timing, and hair looks the same as it did prior to treatment. Many minoxidil users don’t see enough changes in their hair to bother continuing with twice daily application.

Minoxidil is not sustainable long-term as effects can wane with time, and gains can be lost quickly if not used daily.

Scalp injections of PRP alone require multiple treatment sessions every 1-3 months, with ongoing treatment with no clear end date. Many people don’t see results of PRP alone.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for hair loss need regular treatment sessions, usually every 1-3 months initially, with regular treatment sessions after the first year, with no clear end point . While PRP is used in TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration, in our clinical experience, using it alone for hair loss treatment produces minimal, varied, and inconsistent results. PRP scalp injections don’t work on everyone.

TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration is a customized plan, with regular follow ups to monitor progress every few months. Only 1-2 treatments are needed, separated by 15-24 months between treatments, with benefits lasting 3-5 years. Some patients who had new hair regrowth stimulated by the first treatment have it thickened further with the second treatment. Most TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration patients avoid a hair transplant completely because the density from the injection treatment often exceeds the results of not one, but two hair transplants. The TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration treatment also costs about half of an FUT hair transplant surgery, or about a third of an FUE hair transplant performed in the US. In patients who have completely lost hair in certain parts of the scalp, a hair transplant can be performed with TrichoStem® Hair Regeneration to increase graft survival, thicken surrounding native hair, and stop continued hair loss.