Month: December 2005

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Propecia Effectiveness After 6 Years – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Dr.
I am a 40 year old male who has been taking Propecia for the last 6 years and up until early this year appeared to have great results.
The last 6 to 9 months have been a different story. I have noticed an acceleration of hair loss over this period. My doctor just switched me to Proscar this month to save money and see if that would have better results. He also had me take blood tests and saliva samples to test for illness or hormone imbalance. These tests should be back in a few weeks. Any idea why the Propecia has appeared to lost its effectiveness?

Propecia has only 7 years worth of documented value, although everyone expects that Propecia benefits will not last in the long term and the loss will resume. The hope is that the loss, when it restarts, will be slower over time. Studies show that the hair loss goes back to the ’start’ level at about 5 years (had you not taken it for these 5 years then the loss would be much greater). The value still maintains hair even if it is less effective over time, because for those who have stopped it, the loss became extreme when value had been seen. Some people think that a higher dose might help, but there is no definitive proof to that. Other drugs like Avodart may be more effective, but without safety and effectiveness certification from the FDA for hair loss, most doctors do not prescribe if ‘off label’ possibly because of potential legal problems (search for Avodart on this site for more information).

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Female Hair Loss at 66 Years Young – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 66 / F and have been experiencing a brush or comb full of hair everytime I comb my hair. My mom who is 89 has pretty thin hair. What can I do? I watch the infomercials and hype and don’t want to be one of those gullible people besides I am not rich but don’t want thin hair. Would you also suggest short hair? Mine is pretty long.

Minoxidil / Rogaine for women works to some degree and is the only effective medication for women. Most women with female genetic hair loss use shorter hair and ‘puff’ the hair. Most good salons know how to cater to the elderly women who want their hair to be stronger. Light color (blonde/white) tends to make the hair look fuller (even streaking it), as low contrast between your skin and hair color takes less hair to appear full. Get a good hair doctor to assess your situation; use the physician search on ISHRS.org to find a doctor near you. It may not comfort you, but 50% of women over the age of 60 have hair thinning hair from genetic female hair loss and the generally effectiveness of hiding it from the male population reflects well on the hair stylists out there.

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Losing Hair on Sides of Head – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have male pattern baldness (my doc says)…BUT I AM losing hair on sides too….does this happen in male pattern baldness….i mean….can hair loss on sides happed due to some other reason or it does happen in male pattern baldness…Thank You

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There are many causes of hair loss. It is possible that you have a condition called Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA), which would cause hair loss on the sides. It is similar to the type of hair loss some women undergo. As this is a very significant finding in a man, please undergo a complete scalp examination to establish a metric for miniaturization. What those measurements will show for DUPA, is miniaturization on the back and sides of the head in addition to miniaturization on the front, top, and possibly crown area.

The treatment for this condition is about 50% effective, but because there are many causes of hair loss, please have yourself checked out before it goes too far.

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Heart Pain and Minoxidil – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Dr. William Rassman firstly thank you very much for all your helps for who fight with mpb. I am 26 year male and I ve been on finasteride and minoxidil about 1 and half year but 8 months after started minoxidil I started to have sides around my heart unfortunately I could not find a heart doctor experienced about minoxidil in my country turkey. minoxidil works the best for me it is wonderful but it gives me heart pain although I begun to apply less and less of solution. I do not want to stop using it. so could you please help me with these sides and with any alternatives. thank you so much for all your helps again. best wishes

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One of the side effect of Minoxidil can be chest pain, though it is rare. Minoxidil is a hypotensive agent, which means it can drop blood pressure, and with that drop it can potentially cause chest pain. This is the sign/symptom of too much medicine being absorbed into the body in too short a time-frame and you might consider stopping or reducing the amount of Minixidil you are using. You must see a cardiologist or your doctor to rule out other causes of chest pain, like coronary vascular disease (a real issue for you to rule out), muscular/joint pain, pulmonic pain or gastric reflux or gastritis or peptic ulcer disease. I believe Propecia may have a better effect than Minoxidil, without the low blood pressure or other side effects that we discussed here.

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Laser Treatments to Remove Gray Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is there any effective way to remove or reduce gray hair permanently? I tried 3 laser treatments & noticed very little change except a reduction in my wallet!

Where are you trying to remove the gray hair from? Generally, gray hair has less pigment cells and less pigment in the shafts so it will be more resistant to laser destruction.

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Eyebrow Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I’ve got male pattern baldness. Am 23. Lately i have been losing hair on eyebrows. My dad had lost his eyebrows in young age due to side effect of some thyroid medicine. My query is, is loss of eyebrows a part of male pattern baldness? What should one do in eyebrows loss. Thank You

The more common causes of eyebrows hair loss are genetic causes which run in families, or hypothyroidism. I recommended that you check with your primary doctor for blood work on thyroid level, TSH, & FT4. There are other causes of eyebrows hair loss, such as ezcema, imflammatory skin disease, plucking of the hair (trichotelomania), drugs, infection, and autoimmune disease. Like hair loss on the top of your head, eyebrows can be well addressed with a good modern hair transplant as well. I recommended that you may first do some blood work to rule out diseases causing the hair loss. Then, a trial of Propecia and Rogaine may help, but I doubt that these drugs will return eyebrow hair. After that, you may come to see me for free consultation and consider a hair transplant.

Here are two examples of eyebrow restoration:

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Doctors Who Treat Themselves – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

“HI DR. RASMAN, I was thinking of you today and I have to tell you something that makes me and it should all the people are there just how important hair really is and the importance of taking propecia. Here is a DR. 63 yrs old who takes propecia still and really doesn’t have to for many reasons…. it is probably a good bet 99% chance his hairloss has stopped. This DOC also has ha made made money in his transplant clinic and has more than enough to get get more transplants if needed, and has good friends like Bernstein that would do more transplants if he need them for nothing. This DR. is a good guy but will not even take that little bit of chance of losing more hair. I think if he still takes propecia then beyond shadow of doubt none of us with hairloss issues should skip a day and not take our propecia… do you know who this Doc is??????? I BET YOU DO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS

The above email is from one of the prolific writers to this blog. Of course, I am 63 years old and I do take Propecia. Having had scalp reductions years ago (a big mistake) and two sets of hair transplants, I want to hold on to what I have. As I have already stated, I do not work for the drug company Merck. In fact, I do not work for any drug company.

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Green Tea to Treat Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
I am currently 24, I have been orphaned since 4 years old. so I have no idea if this problem of mine is linked to genetics. At about 16 years old I notice my hairline receeding, I was kind of ignorent then. About a year ago someone mentioned the (dreaded fact) since then I’ve been looking for alternatives to Medical drugs. I came across an article written about the 5-alpha Reductase inhibitors found in EGCG (green-tea)I was wondering if you know if and when there might be conclusive evidence with American Science, I do hope I don’t come off sounding like a (Jack-ass), but it really scares me to think that especially in (starting my own family )is lost due to the American Standard. Oh yeah on the Norwood Diagram, I am currently Type II.

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What should scare you more is letting the hair be lost while you, as an amateur, try to do what hair professionals do every day. You need a diagnosis (even more important for you, because your genetic family line is unknown) and you need your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you are balding from genetic causes.

As far as green tea is concerned, I frankly do not know. If it really worked, more and more people would be using it and telling me about it. Just something to think about. I am curious, does one drink it or pour it on their head? Ha!

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Chemical Induced Thinning – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi I’m a 21 yr. old male who is experiencing a form of chemical induced thinning and breakage. In August I had colored my hair and it had come out very dark. I frequently washed it and damaged it further, thinking it would fade the color. Needless to say once I started to notice some breakage I did everything I could do to condition my hair. The thinning was a very rapid affair, only taking a week. Since then there was no unusual hair loss. I was prescribed a topical steroid for redness in my scalp and I had some bad dandruff for about a month. Now I notice some new hairs coming in around the hairline and I still feel a diffuse thinning on top of my head kind of near my crown. It is hard to tell the new hairs from broken off hairs. Also I don’t see any kind of scarring. What advice can you give me to help my condition? Also what can I expect?

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If you truly have hair thinning, you need a complete evaluation of your scalp and hair to determine if there is a genetic component to this process. It may not be due exclusively to the impact of the chemicals you used. If it was, then the chance is very good that most of your hair will grow back as long as no significant damage to your hair follicles and surrounding skin (which is probable). To determine if you have an underlying male balding pattern which may have exacerbated further hair loss by the chemicals which you have used, it is best getting a scalp and hair examination for miniaturization by a doctor that specializes in hair.

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Excess Sebum on Top of Scalp – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
My scalp produces too much sebum and there is a wax like build up around the hair follicles. As a result I am losing hair. My hair roots are not nourished properly and then fall out very easily. Surprisingly there is no sebum or wax build up on the sides and rear of the head and the hair is perfectly healthy in that area. Its the vertex part that is effected. Nothing seems to help. I am writing with a lot of hope…please suggest me something. I have started taking zinc sulphate and B6 and sebum production have reduced a bit. Thank you.

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Sebum does not cause hair loss, contrary to what many people say, but the things we do to keep it down, does often cause hair loss. Shampoo regularly, possibly twice a day to keep the sebum down. Have your scalp mapped out to determine if your have miniaturization and genetic hair loss. Let’s be smart about how this is approached. Get a good doctor and get a diagnosis in your hand so that you know what has to be done.