Does MSM make hair grow faster, and if so, by about how much?
I read and agree with this article: MSM and Hair Loss for a Treatment. Many claims, not much data.
Hair Loss in Woman After 2 Surgeries Months Apart – Balding Blog
I am a 33 year old woman who just underwent 2 surgeries under general anesthesia in the last 5 months. The first was liposuction that resulted in sepsis, pulmonary hypertension, fat emboli etc. Various meds included lasix, decadron, antibiotics, cardizem, xanax, lexapro. The second surgery was to repair internal damage, lyse adhesions, and explore possible pancreatic duct damage, and cholecystectomy. Other meds included Dilaudid and valium. Luckily prior to this I had extremely thick hair and very healthy hair. I am now losing tremendous amount of hair and it is becoming thinner every day. I am worried. Will it return? Are any of these meds directly related? Is it the Anesthesia?
Thank you
Wow! You have been through quite a bit and you have my best wishes for a full recovery! You are experiencing a “telogen effluvium” which in simplest terms is a reaction of your body to the stress it has gone through. Many condiditons and situations can cause you to lose hair like this, emotional stress, rapid weight loss, a car accident, giving birth (for the women out there), and even a colonoscopy! It has little or nothing to do with the anesthesia or the meds, and the good news is that you will regrow your hair.
Gap in Right Eyebrow from Cyst – Balding Blog
When i was younger about 10 i had a cyst develop on my eyebrow. They hospital removed this cyst but there was a fairly wide gap on my right eyebrow which will not grow back, is there any possible way i can get hair on my eyebrow like a transplant?
thanks
Hair transplants are a good fix for this as they can fill in the gap of your eyebrow. I do not believe any medicine will help in your case. Some examples of eyebrow transplants can be found here, here, and here. For past blog entries about eyebrow transplantation, please click here.
Does Deep Massage on Donor Scar Have Any Benefits? – Balding Blog
Hi Dr.
Many Thanks for your efforts here. I’ve this one little enquiry. Have had a strip surgey for some 1000 grafts, Will the deep massaging of my 5 months old linear scar have any beneficial effects? like enhancing/improving it’s future appearence, Also, can now i resume my sport activites like swimming, jogging & some weight lifting without worrying that my scar could stretch, overheard that scars take up to 18 months to reach their maturity stage.Thanks again & Best Regards
Deep massage can help loosen your scalp for future graft harvesting, however it will not improve the appearance of the scar. Sport activities such as swimming and jogging a few weeks after surgery should not widen the scar, provided that the incision was not made in the high neck area. When neck excisions are done, there is a higher incidence of widening donor scars. In the short term period after a hair transplant (first 4-6 weeks after a strip harvesting technique is use) weight lifting can potentially cause widening of the scar because straining the neck muscle may want to traction on the scar. After 5 months, I believe that everything is somewhat fixed in position. Massaging the scalp will have value if the scalp is tight.
For your information, there are three phases of wound healing:
- Inflammatory response — day 0 to 4 days
- Fibroblastic repair — day 4 to 6 weeks
- Maturation/remodeling — 6 weeks to 2-3 years, although most of the strength (the width of the wound) is established by the end of the 4th month
Doctors Pushing Transplants to Norwood Class 2 Patient – Balding Blog
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I’m a 22 year old male. I’ve been thinning since the age of 17, to my knowledge (probably a little prior) and have maintained my hair, somewhat, it’s thinner as time goes by but i have used lexington’s lasercomb for 9 months and have not lost any more hair and my crown actually got thicker,
but the front has stayed the same (no complaints). I would classify myself as a NW2, but no bald spots, just much thinning in a NW5 pattern, you can clearly see the pattern if you look for it, but i am wanting to get an HT to give myself a natural look. I visited a clinic here and they say with 1500 to 2000 i would be okay, and i agree but only if i do not continue to thin.I am just concerned that, although i am maintaining quite well right now, would under going a procedure induce loss? I would think without treatment, yes? But how many individuals are on a treatment and halted their loss, but still have shock loss? Ideally, I would like to get this done, and maintain the results, but my concern is that I’ll lose my natural standing hairs and the HT will look horrible and pluggy and i’ll need to play “catch up”. What do you think? I realize I’m young, but if it wasn’t for being able to control my loss, i’d not consider an HT, as that would be ridiculous if you can’t maintain your hair prior at this point.
Thanks for your time.
If you are a Norwood Class 2, then I find it a poor practice for a doctor to recommend transplants in someone at your age. You are correct to be concerned about hair loss and the things that might go wrong. Starting too early is just asking for trouble.
Shock loss following a hair transplant occurs more often in patients under 30 years old, more so if they are not on Propecia (probably 80% risk). You may not have a noticeable improvement from doing a hair transplant at your age and may only see the down side without seeing any short term benefits. Better to wait until you can determine your true pattern of hair loss.
With what you are telling me, I might think that the doctor is thinking more about his/her car payment rather than your hair and what is best for you. Once you start this process, you are committed for life on a hair transplant timeline without a Master Plan. I am not saying that your doctor is unethical, but I’ve heard about these types of situations before. Please read more about doctor ethics in past blog entries:
MPB Skipping Generations – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Hello Doctor. I am a very concerned 20 year old who is looking for some answers to my questions. Both my father and my mother have a thick head of hair as well as a fairly high hairline, perhaps a bit higher than your own judging from your picture i see here. On my mothers side however, there is a bit of tendency for MPB as both her grandfather and one of her two brothers were bald. Recently, I have noticed a slight bit of thinning above the eyebrows on either side of my hairline. I havent noticed any unusual amount of hair loss, and the rest of my scalp is just as thick as ever. I have read numerous other blogs concerning hair loss on this website and I am aware that MPB can skip generations. What are the chances that I have inherited MPB? Am I taking after my bald uncle or is this just a bit of natural thinning that I am seeing? Thank you for your time.
There is no way to tell if you have genetic hair loss tendency unless you get a working diagnosis with mapping of your scalp for miniaturization. One day in the distant future, we will be able to read the human genome, which will allow us to more easily answer questions like yours. 95%+ of the time, men of your age will lose their childhood hairline and develop a receded mature hairline. That is what you may be seeing.
Hair Loss InformationBio-Matrix from Hair Club – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
i am 27 years old and my hair is thinning. no visual bald spots, only one small spot in the right back side that has been about the same size (size of a quarter) for last 4-5 years. i am very skeptical about medication, but really want to know what i should do to not to go bald. also advise about the bio matrix (is that a good solution ?). thank you very much.
Your bald spot on the back of your head sounds concerning to me and I suggest that you get a doctor to check it out. As for Hair Club’s Bio-Matrix, from looking at their website, the product seems to be a wig with some weaving and customizing it to your head. Weaves and wigs have a tendency to produce traction alopecia which start a cycle of progressive hair loss on a separate time-line of its own. If I have read it wrong, then Hair Club is less than clear about what it is. I’ve written about wigs/weaves/systems in the past, found here.
Switch Avodart for Propecia – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I have used Propecia for many years now but continue to lose my hair and just in the last few days I discontinued its use in favor of Avodart. My main concern is if I should continue with Propecia since it has proven effective for hairloss alongside Avodart use or will Avodart alone do the same job? In other words, I know Propecia works. Am I risking hairloss by discontinuing its use?
Thank you.
If you switched, you can abandon Propecia. I doubt that stopping Propecia will negatively impact you while you are on Avodart.
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Increased Shedding with Propecia Use – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman
Hello Folks,
I have been using finasteride 2MG daily and found no issues related to Sex drive. However what I find interesting is that the hair shedding has increased to a very high extent i.e more before using drug. Is this normal? i found that this is due to movement of hairs from telogen to anagen phase. Should I stop the drug? Increase the dose?
Thanks
I have no patients that have complained of shedding from Propecia, yet I have been asked about it in emails via this blog a few times. I probably have more patients on Propecia than any doctor in California, so I find it interesting to hear about the shedding problem that is reported to me here. My best advice is to continue to take the drug. What you might be seeing is some accelerated hair loss in its normal cycle, which hopefully will be addressed as the drug kicks in.
Hair Genesis Oral Soft Gels – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman
I’ve been using the Hair Genesis products for about three months with no real change in my hair growth. They claim that their Oral Soft Gels, contain Saw Palmetto, Beta-Sitoserol that block DHT. Have you had any expeirence with this oral gels? Is there any harmful ingredients that cause side effects?
I have no direct experience with this product, but the information I got from their website is less than impressive. Saw Palmetto has questionable value as a DHT blocker and its dose varies per manufacturer. Either you are getting nothing of value, too much, or too little DHT blocker. You will not know for sure unless you lose your sex drive or your hair, at which point you know you are getting too much or not enough. Either way, it’s a bad way to find out.
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