Month: July 2005

Posted on

Androgenetic Alopecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a couple of questions about androgenetic alopecia.

1. How fast can the onset of AGA be? Is it possible to have AGA and notice dramatic loss/thinning within a three-month period or less, without any previous awareness of a problem?
2. Can AGA involve some patchy hair loss, in addition to the thinning hair? Or would the patches have to be due to a separate disorder happening at the same time?

Thanks very much.

Block Quote

AGA is often first noticed after 50% or more of the hair loss has already occurred. This is unfortunately a common finding. Men deny or refuse to see the hair loss in its earliest stages. It is not something normal men look at unless they are unusually primed by balding in the family or amongst friends.

Patchy hair loss can be associated with diseases and should be looked at by a good hair doctor or dermatologist. The two can happen at the same time, but the diseases that produce patchy hair loss must be diagnosed.

Posted on

Using Rogaine and Propecia – Balding Blog

Hi DR,
I bought rogaine and I am using propecia as well. is this ok? im using rogaine twice a day.

It is not a problem to use both, but make sure you are not spending your money unwisely. If you have been taking Propecia for at least 9 to 12 months, you should be seeing the results, so taking Rogaine now to see if it will enhance those results is reasonable. If you have only just started on Propecia, taking Rogaine may cause confusion. Which is the product that is giving you the results? You may just be setting yourself up for a lifetime of paying for both, for fear that the one you stop taking was the only one working!




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Posted on

Young and Balding? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

doctor, im 21 yrs old and have been experiencing thinning of the hair and a receding hairline recently. i am in no means bald, but suspect my hair loss is becoming rapid. how do i go about choosing the right treatment product for myself? i need something that will not just cure hair loss in the vertex area on top of scalp, but also help with thinning of hair. since there are so many products available from rogaine/revivogen/propecia etc., what would u recommend. please let me know. thanks.

Block Quote

Sometimes, hair loss occurs in very young people. First, get a good doctor to diagnose you and if you are into genetic hair loss, get good baselines to determine the rate of balding. There are scientific tools that will do this, something we do all of the time in our office. Not many drugs work well for hair loss in young men, though the best of them is the drug Propecia, which (assuming that you have genetic hair loss) hopefully will slow down or stop the hair loss.

I can not stress the importance of not being your own doctor because you are an amateur and the consequence of failing to get prompt, efficient, and effective treatment is permanent loss of your hair. It may happen anyway if you are balding at 21, but please get yourself examined by a competent doctor who will quantify the rate of miniaturization in your balding area and give you a diagnosis. It is important to get good baselines because when you start on the drug Propecia, you will have to find out if it is working and by how much. I would hold off on Rogaine until a good baseline is in hand and the rate of hair loss is documented.

Posted on

Unusual Natural Hairline – Photo – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog


Double click on this photo after you read this. When I met this person I assumed that he had a bad frontal hair transplant that did not take, but he informed me that he had lost his hair naturally and never had a hair transplant.

So what are we looking at? The hairs that are left in the front have full normal, coarse diameters to them. That is why I thought that they were hair transplants. This is not the normal balding mechanism. Normally, the hairs become thinner and thinner and then fade away, yet this did not happen to the hairs that remain after balding. Many prospective patients tell me that they can always tell a transplanted hair line from a normal non-transplanted hair line. I always tell people that 90% of the time I can not tell a transplanted hair line. In this person (picture above) it is exactly the other way. A normal balding hair line is shown and it looks like a transplant (which it is not).

This is just an unusual case that I thought would be of interest to the readers of this blog.

Posted on

Stopping Early Hair Loss with Propecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I just started loose my hair from the front side.Male pattern(Type 1). I am 28 years old and i started to use propecia 3 months ago. There is no proof that propecia stops balding on the front of the scalp. I feel like it is not helping. My father and my uncle they had lost their hair untill they are 45 and now they have type 3 male pattern baldness, no baldness at the top. We all have very thick hair. I just want to know,if their is anyway to stop hair loose. I am not worry about bring them back.At least for now.

Block Quote

Propecia has been proven to stop or slow hair loss down, provided it is started early enough in the balding process. The term ‘early enough’ varies with the genetics of the individual. Based upon the ‘Class 1′ pattern, you may just be migrating your frontal hairline to the mature position. If your father and uncle had a Class 3 pattern, the slowing of your hair loss is highly probable, but three months is just not enough time.

Many men do not notice their frontal hair loss until hair miniaturation is almost complete, and by that time Propecia will not be effective in the front. Since balding in the crown is generally slower, starting Propecia when it is too late for the frontal area, may still be early enough to work for balding in the crown.

As you have only been on Propecia for three months, you may want to give it some more time- it can take nine to twelve months of staying on Propecia before you will see the difference. I also suggest that you take a photo of your frontal balding now with your brow lifted high so that the creases show up well. Once a month photographs with comparasons over time will show subtle changes we might not see on close daily inspection.

Posted on

Hair Loss InformationDoctor Concerns – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor. Recently I had a hair transplant in NJ with a very respectable Dr., someone you have worked with, lets leave it at that. I was scheduled to have 1500 grafts, but after taking the string, the doctor came back in and said I have to cut another piece because we could not get 1500, so in total at the end of the operation I recieve 1800. I was alittle upset, because I had no choice of paying the additional 300, they gave me 100 free grafts for free, so I only paid for 200. Not only did this happend, but my original scar probably grew by another 2 to 3 inches. But anyway. It has only been 2 1/2 months and to be honest, I have less hair than I originally did. My original hair was evenly spaced, now, after the surgery it looks like I hae patches of hair. It looks so weird. To be honest, I have not seen such great results, I know that 2 1/2 months is nothing but so far I am displeased with the results. My question is, when you have results such as mine, and if you are displeased, should I contact the doctor, and if I should, why should I explain that I am not pleased with the results so far?

Block Quote

Sometimes an initial estimate of a patient’s density is quite different from what is actually obtained during the hair transplant procedure and this affects the amount of hair that is harvested. When this happens, the surgeon may take more tissue to obtain additional grafts to more closely achieve the patient’s desired results. Additional grafts can be obtained by going back over the same area or extending the initial incision to one side. The surgeon makes that judgment based on factors noted during the surgery, such as scalp laxity.

Hair doesn’t generally begin to grow after a hair transplant for two to three months and when growth starts it is characteristically uneven. Although it is way too early post-op to have a sense of what the transplant will look like, it is still best to contact the doctor that performed the surgery with any questions you may have, as he would best be able to answer these questions and explain the reasons why specific things were done. I would encourage you to do this.

Posted on

Re-Mox III 15% Minoxidil – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

To round out the collection of Minoxidil questions I’ve received in the past few days —

Hi Dr. Rassman,
I have recently decided to move to the Re-Mox III 15% minoxidil lotion for my frontal hair loss. Is there a danger to using such a high concentration of Minox? if not, why can’t one find this concentration in rogaine or other branded minox in the stores? Do you know of any side effects? Thanks!

Block Quote

You must remember that Minoxidil is a known anti-hypertensive and can cause low blood pressure and other reported side effects. Any medication that you get at the normally prescribed concentration will be worse in side effects at the higher dose. 15% Minoxidil must be formulated -I do not know where to get it. A pharmacist must prepare it if it is to be legally obtained.

Posted on

Minoxidil and Hair Loss Options – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 27 and currently experiencing baldness in the crown and the vertex region. I also have a receding hairline. I am currently using minoxidil 5%. It has shown some results but I am not sure if it will be effective for the receding hair line. There is general thinning of hair too. I want to know the options that I have and whether I should go for propercia or surgical procedure.
Thanks.

Minoxidil is not as effective as Propecia generally speaking. It is also not very effective in the frontal area. Generally growth with Minoxidil is in the 3-15% range for noticeable clinical growth. Propecia works best in young men of your age with benefits in excess of 50% and better results in the crown, but sometimes surprising results in the frontal area in a small percentage of men. Please meet with a competent doctor- that is always the best way to start the analysis. Don’t rush off to surgery until you know the impact of Propecia.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


Posted on

Hair Loss InformationHair Restoration Questions – FUE – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This writer indicated that he was based in Dallas, TX, but was currently in Iraq…

I guess I started losing my hair about 4-5 years ago. I am 29 years old now and it shows now in the crown area. My hair is pretty thick everywhere else except for that spot where it seems that the hairs that I do have aren’t growing as fast and feel weird to the touch. If I were elegable for FOX and got the procedure done is it my decision how many graphs I would need or want if I wanted it extra thick like it used to be? Also, what are the chances that the hair would just fall out in another few years after the procedure and is there something that can be done to ensure that that doesn’t happen? I will be home in September for a month,..can I get information on cost and location closest to me? Thank you

Block Quote

I am a former Vietnam vet, so I appreciate your Iraq experience and feel it deep in my core. First off, thank you for writing. The number of grafts is something that needs to be discussed during the consult. I would need to examine the balding area, and based on the density needed to give you the look that you want, I can determine the approximate number of grafts need. If you are a candidate for the FOX procedure, we can discuss the fee at the time of your consult. The grafts used come from the permanent zone of your scalp. These grafts are genetically programmed not to fall out, unlike the hairs in your balding area.

Our closest office to Dallas, is in Los Angeles — I’ll bet that you would enjoy a vacation in Southern California after being in Iraq. If you would like to schedule a consult appointment for September call 1-800-639-4247, or if you would like to email photos, send them to the address on my Contact page and I can email you back with my recommendations. Be sure to provide enough views (front, top and sides) including frontal views with your eyebrows lifted as high as you can lift them on your own. I need such views to determine the normal location for your hairline. As an Iraq vet, I will give you special pricing if surgery is appropriate and you elect to have surgery.