January 2006 – Page 7

January 20, 2006

17 Year Old with Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi, I’m a 17 year old male and I first noticed my hair getting thin at 15. It was a general thinning but no specific spots. I never noticed a period of shedding I went to the doctor who thought it was MPD but did a biopsy to be sure. It turned out it wasn’t MPD. I was taking minocycline for acne at the time and stoped taking it because i thoght it might be causing the thinning. At that point it got a lttle worse and then stopped getting worse. I have have all the blood tests to check for everything, hormones, thyroid, and nothing was wrong. I have had nothing out of the ordinary happen and im a normal person in every other aspect. While it hasn’t gotten worse, it hasnt gotten any better. I’m afraid its an underlieing disease. Any ideas?

Male Pattern Balding (genetic hair loss) is possible in teenagers. Did the biopsy show any inflammation? It would be a good idea to send pictures or stop by in person for me to evaluate you and I would then determine the degree of hair miniaturization at every point in your scalp. That should show patterns consistent with genetic hair loss if this is the correct diagnosis. If you are taking any medication or herbal pills, that could be a cause as well. At 17 years old, you may have accelerated MPB which might benefit from Propecia.

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January 19, 2006

Balding Olympic Athletes Promoted – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What are we coming to? Today’s Olympic athlete now must give up Propecia if they want to compete. According to today’s New York Times (1/19/06), Zach Lund is an Olympic athlete who is prematurely balding and he wanted hair. “So in 1999, when he was 20, he began taking Propecia. Then in 2004 he switched to Proscar. And it looks as if he grew hair, or at least stopped losing it….”

He is now faced with a choice, should he become a balding gold medal winner or a person who was eliminated from competition because he wanted a full head of hair. That is the stupid quandary that today’s potential Olympic champion must face. To be a bald champion or not an athlete at all.

The New York Times states: “At the end of 2004 the World Anti-Doping Agency added finasteride to its list of banned drugs in international sports. The agency calls finasteride a masking agent that hides the use of more nefarious drugs like the steroid nandrolone. So, one imagines, every Olympian with a spasm of hair growth must fear surprise follicle checks…. Better he should have had erectile dysfunction. The trinity of impotence relievers – Viagra, Levitra and Cialis – is not prohibited, though these drugs are performance enhancers in a certain athletic way.” Sooner or later, these three medications are bound to be added to the list of banned drugs.

What a world we live in! We may ask our athletes to give up sex to become a star. Maybe without hair, they won’t feel sexual anyway, or am I too shallow in my assessment? To see the entire article, go to: Fighting Baldness, and Now an Olympic Ban (registration required).

January 19, 2006

Hair Loss from Brow Lift – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

On Nov. 30th I had a contour thread lift of the brows. (contour threads: barbed sutures now used to pull eyebrows up – they don’t dissolve – made of polypropelene)

The incision on the left side of my scalp (just behind the hairline) had a touch of keloid or hypertrophic scarring but the right side is awful. I have a dime sized circular bald spot – very smooth. It’s so terrible. I’m in tears almost daily. It was infected and antibiotic ointment helped flatten it out but the hair is completely gone. There are no pores or anything.

I’m writing to you to see if you know (without benefit of seeing it) whether the hypertrophic process just creates skin that is fibrous and the hair follicles are still “alive” underneath, but can’t grow through or whether it kills the follicles. My plastic surgeon said he didn’t know what it was and that he could just cut it out, but from what I’ve read, a straight line incision is not the answer —- and aside from that, I was hoping to get my hair back.

Any feedback would be appreciated

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Photographs would help. I will give you some general comments about brow lifts, scars and hair loss. Scars and hair loss in brow lifts are not uncommon. My practice is skewed because I see many of these, probably a disproportionate number of them relative to what a normal plastic surgeon does. I get the complicated patients, which hopefully are only a small percentage of those that the plastic surgeon gets. Most of the time when hair is lost, the hair will return in 5-9 months. When it does not, then hair transplants can solve the problem nicely. Scars take on a series of categories, including: Hypertrophic scars (unusual in the first few weeks after surgery, keloids (very rare), widened scars (more common). Hypertrophic scars may require steroid shots and widened scars may require hair transplants if they are detectable months after the surgery. Cutting out the scar from a previous surgery often does not work, but without seeing it, if would be impossible for me to make that judgment.

January 19, 2006

Eyebrow Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
Please could you give me some advice on how I can encourage new eyebrow hair growth. My eyebrows have lately become very sparse. I am very concerned because no products have been working for me. I have used olive oil and bought Talika Eyebrow Lipocils and used the product, I used it for 28 days and it did not stimulate any new hair growth.
Please could you help me and send me some advice?
Thankyou.

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Eyebrow hair loss can be from a series of causes. The most common is from plucking the eyebrow in women who try to shape it and eventually develop traction alopecia resulting in permanent loss of the eyebrow hair. A series of genetic and autoimmune causes also exist, so you might want to see a specialist who can look for miniaturization or the side effects from plucking which are very characteristic. There are no magic potions for stimulating eyebrow hair, though Minoxidil might help. Hair transplants work very nicely but have the disadvantage of growing longer than the normal eyebrow hair which means that they must be cut a few times a week.

January 19, 2006

Just Noticing My Thinning Crown After a Haircut – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Please help. I am 26 years old and I have had long hair for about 10 years. I have been keeping my hair in a tight bun or braids all of the time. I also used to texturize and dye my hair frequently. I recently cut my hair off for a job and so now I have it kept short. For the first few months I thought my hair looked fine. Maybe I hadn’t paid much attention to it but I think I had. Now, four months since cutting my hair. I have noticed that my hair is extremely thin in the back of my head near my hairline. Its to the point where it looks bald. Will I ever be able to grow hair back there again? If I got a transplant would it leave nasty scars on my head if I wanted to shave my hair down low? Are there any treatments for me or have I damaged my hair for too long. Can I get a transplant over scar tissue? Should I be able to look at my balding spot and tell if I damaged my hair permanenly? Im not to sure how long it has been thin like this for. I have always had long hair to cover it up I guess. Do I have any hope. Thank you in advance

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Your story is not unusual as denial is a common reaction to aging in the young man who believes that he is forever immune to signs of aging or balding or ill health. I generally think that young people have a concept that their bodies are their castle with high walls which protect them from every malady know to man. Now, your keen eye shows the crack in the armor. I suspect that the insidious nature of the balding process has crept up on you and when you stood back and looked, there it was. Look at the various sections in this blog (particularly the Age category) to see what you can do. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to make a diagnosis and then see if you may benefit from Propecia or hair transplant options. Make a Master Plan before going headlong into a panic, be methodical in doing your research, get a copy of our book to review the various options and explore our website at newhair.com.

January 19, 2006

Rogaine Shedding, Nizoral – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello, I’ve never used Rogaine, in fear of the “shedding” phase I’d heard about. What exactly is the “shedding” phase, if I may ask.

And will this product cause that? And is there a list of the ingredients anywhere or should I not be asking that? I’m just very curious.

Last but not least question, if this products is discontinued, I am assuming everything on the scalp goes back to “as it was” before, and are there any products that shouldn’t be used, such as Nizoral Shampoo?

Your help is greatly appreciated. Sorry, where can I purchase only the “hair grow” product, not the cleaner etc?

To answer your question about shedding from Rogaine use, please see my past response in “Hair Loss Worse After Rogaine”.

I am not completely sold on Nizoral shampoo, although I do believe that it is a good shampoo. I do not believe it is necessarily good at regrowing hair. There is not enough scientific data to support hair growth claims. You can buy Rogaine over the counter and I doubt that minoxidil (generic form) will ever go off the market. The miniaturized hairs become dependent upon minoxidil when you take it and when it works. If you were to stop the Rogaine (minoxidil) and there was a benefit of it, you will go back to your ‘before’ status, plus losing whatever hair you would have lost prior to starting the medication. This may very well leave you worse off.

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January 19, 2006

Losing Hair After Spinal Injections – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 55 year old female. I have gone through alot in the past 8 months. I have a bad back and went through 12 injections in two months in my spine. They helped but then i got fat, gained 25 months from the shots. I think they were cortisol, kenolog and lidocaine. Since August no shots but i have noticed in the past 2 months or so alot of hair coming out. When I shower there is enough there the size of a golf ball and through out the day if i comb it out, hair is in the comb. But worst of all when I just run my fingers through my hair i can take alot out. I saw an endocronogist for a diffent reason but he said i can take this medication which is good for the heart and also helps hair loss. i think its called spiranolacton 25 mg but am afraid to do so. Can you tell me or suggest which kind of dr to see dermatologist ect. I also have been under a great deal of stress. Medications i take are effexor 75mg, lipitor 10 mg, fosomax 70 mg i x weekly, voltarin for back pain

if you can contact me and giver me some advice i would appreciate it

thanks

Many medications such as cortisol and kenolog can contribute to hair loss in some patients. Stress is also a contributing factor to hair loss and it sounds like you are very stressed. Spironolactones are used by some people to treat hair loss. I would advise you to see a good family type doctor to manage all of your problems and make sure that you do not have any of the causes of female hair loss. Your problem sounds a bit complex, certainly too complex for managing you via the internet.

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January 19, 2006

Hair Loss from Anesthesia? – Balding Blog

I am 27 years old and female, and I have always had really thick hair. Around 6 months ago, I started noticing my hair was coming out a lot when I washed, or brushed it. My hairstylist also noticed, and asked me if I had surgey, and if I had anestisia? I did about 10 months ago. I was wondering if that could be linked to it? I have also noticed that my eye on one side feels like it is straining if I look side to side or up or down, and I have expierinced migraines frequently lately. So, maybe it is stress. Either way, your imput would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, the stress from anesthesia and surgery itself can cause hair loss, but it is temporary most of the time, particularly for women. In term of anesthesia, I am not certain if the anesthetic chemical itself causes direct hair loss or just the stress associated with the surgery, although I think that the stress may be a more significant factor in predisposed women. You may have female genetic hair loss and mapping out your scalp and hair for miniaturization might help establish or rule out this diagnosis with objective measurements. Repeating the analysis may have value after 6 months has passed if the first measurements are not definitively able to make the diagnosis.

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January 19, 2006

DHT Blocking Foods? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

You mentioned in a tidbit that there were people who blocked DHT with eating large quantities of dht blocking foods. What might those be, and could we get similar results by ingesting these foods. By the way, thanks very much for doing this blog. It is extremely interesting and informative.

To the best of my memory, the drug finasteride was derived by work done in primitives who ate a tuber that was unique to the rain forest and contained this drug. I am not familiar with other foods that contain it. The high incidence of hermaphrodites in the population is what clued explorers into the uniqueness of the foods these people ate, mainly because the food was eaten by pregnant women, blocking the effects of DHT which is required to differentiate the sex of the offspring. If you find hermaphrodites somewhere eating large amounts of some unique food, that might be a good clue.

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January 18, 2006

DHT, Hair Lasers, Chemotherapy, and Finasteride – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a few questions about androgenic alopecia and I’d be very happy if you could answer them for me:

1. What is a bigger factor for hairloss the quantity of DHT in the serum or in the scalp? If the scalp had levels of DHT at 0% would this stop hairloss? If that is the case is there a topical drug like Rogaine with finasterid instead of minoxydil and would it decrease scalp DHT levels better than oral tablets?

2. What is your opinion on the Lasercomb device that uses lasers to improve blood circulation in the scalp? Since minoxydil also improves blood circulation and is supposedly ineffective on the frontal area of the head would this device have the same downside?

3. Father of a friend of mine had cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy. My friend told me that chemotherapy improved his hair and even made it grow darker than before. Could there be any truth in this?

4. With propecia losing its effect over time I often see that people increase the dosages of finasteride up to 5mg per day. Would these higher doses really help or are you just putting your health at risk?

This is not really a question just observation on my part: everytime I see the after and before pictures of hair transplants the comparisons aren’t realy fair since the before picture usualy has more intensive lighting and hair combed straight forward or back and is often greasy while after picture has less intensive lighting and different position of lights and hair is combed to the side and it looks like it has just been washed. It would be nice if all pictures would be made with people having wet hair combed straight forward or back so people could really see the difference.

Thank you for your time and answers.

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Whew! You need a whole hour-long cosultation with a hair doctor to answer all of these questions, but I’ll try to give you some short answers in the meantime.

DHT and genetics are the biggest factors in hair loss. DHT is a hormone that is present in your blood (which flows through the scalp but does not reside there). There are no topical formulations of Finasteride (the molecule is too big). Any topical medication for hair loss would need to be a small enough molecule to penetrate the skin and have an effect. Minixodil does penetrate – which is why it works. Rubbing Finasteride on your head will not help and it will waste the Finasteride.
Do a search for “laser” here. To reiterate, there is no conclusive data on the effectiveness of laser therapy for hair growth.
Chemotherapy can occasionally change the character (color, curliness, thickness, etc) of hair in addition to many other unusual side effects. However, the idea of taking chemotherapy just to improve your hair is ridiculous. Chemotherapy drugs can kill you, they are used when the alternative is death. Hair changes post chemotherapy are absolutely the truth, though.
Propecia may lose its effectiveness over time (the data presently now goes out only 7 years), and some patients continue hair loss, hopefully at a slower rate. There is no evidence that higher doses will reverse this, but neither is there evidence that higher doses of finasteride pose an increased risk to health.

Finally, your observation is correct – there are methods of taking photos which will give the misleading impression of increased hair density/thickness/coverage. To really compare, similar photos need to be taken in similar lighting conditions with duplicated angles and styles. Wetting hair before and then showing dry hair after is an especially obvious tip-off that the comparison is invalid!