Month: April 2006

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Is Alopecia Areata Contagious? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am an army medic stationed in iraq. I had a soldier come to me a few weeks ago with a small bald spot on the back of his head. I looked up the condition online and found out that it’s probably alopecia areata. My question is can the condition be contagious? Keep in mind that we don’t live in the most sanitary conditions. I have recently seen about 8 more guys in my company with the same condition, and their bald spots are spreading fast. One guy’s spot is about 1 1/2 inches now. What do you think it is and what is the treatment? thank you

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To my knowledge alopecia areata is not contagious, but I would worry about other problens like infections which may possibly be causing the balding. It could be something contagious like fungal diseases, which cause patchy hair loss. Get your patients to a competent and knowledgeable doctor there who might take scrapings and appropriate cultures looking for something contagious.

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Why Does Rogaine for Women Contain Only 2% Minoxidil – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a post-menopausal woman with female pattern hair loss. As you can imagine I am desperate to find a fix for this predicament. I’ve noticed that Rogaine for men has 5% minoxidil (sp?) while the women’s version has a maximum of 2%. The men’s version cautions that it is not to be used by women. Is that just because of possible child birth issues which would not be an issue for me?
Thank you.

Minoxidil will work better in women at a higher concentration. I can not tell you why some of the manufacturers recommend less than 5%, but I can tell you that the higher concentrations, although they may be more effective, do have more side effects. This drug is known to drop blood pressure and the more you use of it, the more the possibility of other side effects such as skin irritation.

With regard to use of minoxidil in pregnant women, this is a clear use that is contraindicated. Women must ‘know’ if they are pregnant and should be assured that they are not pregnant if they use this drug.

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Using Hair Gel Containing Alcohol After Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I was wondering if using hair gel that contained alcohol was bad to use if ive had a HT.? I use a l’oreal product and saw on the back it contained alcohol denat., and a whole bunch of other things that i ive never seen before..whats your take on this subject?

After the recipient site of the transplant is healed (usually a week or so) then you should be able to use any reasonable commercial grade hair products like what you mentioned above. Alcohol based products may dry the skin, so be careful that the skin is kept soft and with enough natural oils to protect it.

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Scarless Healing from New Drug Called Juvista? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Again Mr.& Dr.Rassman

We’re all in here thanking you for your salvation blog as am now going thru it on a daily basis.

I’ve this Revolutionary News for you which might be the long awaited Deliverence to many of us who have had Traditional Strip HT & left with a linear thin scar(hopefully) in the back making us feel so confined. Have you ever heard of a new innovative drug being developed by ”Renovo plc.” so called ”Juvista”, as mentioned it’s now in the PhaseII clinical trial & might see the light in the few coming years. It’s basically used during the surgery by being injected to the wound edges while suturing(i think) which will later lead to an almost scareless healing (GOD I HOPE THIS GONNA HAPPEN), please comment.

Juvista consists of recombinant TGFβ3. TGFβ3 is present at high levels in developing embryonic skin and in embryonic wounds that heal with no scar, but by contrast, is present at low levels in adult wounds that scar. Since the FDA has not approved of this drug yet and it still is in clinical trials, I will not comment much until further studies have been published. To get this drug to be approved by the FDA may take many years. In the mean time, please take a look at Techniques to Minimize Donor Area Scarring, which shows the modern techniques employed today (deep fascia closure and trichophytic incisions).

You can read more about Juvista here.

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Propecia and Starch Allergy – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a quick question for you when you get a second. It relates to Propecia and Avodart, I am taking both. So far, my stomach has tolerated the treatment quite well. However, I have experienced a marked increase in shedding while on it. In fact, I really didn’t ever notice hair falling out until I starting the treatment. The two clear effects seem to be that my hair is thinning out considerably (especially along the frontal hairline, particularly front and center) and all of my hair has gotten considerably lighter (numerous people, including my family members, girlfriend, and coworkers have noticed and asked if I colored it). Which brings me to my question—do I need to be concerned about this? I don’t think I want to continue with a program that will exacerbate my hair loss. Is this shedding temporary (or at least is it temporary with Propecia)? The thinning in the front is made worse by the lighter color my hair has taken since I started the treatment.

Just concerned that Avodart may have been a big mistake. I am tempted to quit. But part of me wants to hold out, especially if the frontal hairs I have shed won’t return once I stop the program.

I would suggest stopping the Avodart, as that is not an FDA approved medication for hair loss. Propecia does contain pregelatinised maize starch and sodium starch glycollate as an inactive ingredient, but if you are tolerating it, then I would suppose that it is OK for you. I would really want to know more about how you know that you are allergic to starch? That would tell me much if I were to really advise you and what to do long term.

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Is it Safe to Use Rogaine While Wife Is Pregnant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,
Since my wife became pregant 5 months ago I’ve stopped using Rogaine as a precaution. Rogaine recomends that you stop using during pregancy. I’ve been doing some research on the internet and found that Rogaine is in the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether Rogaine will be harmful to an unborn to baby.

My question: Is it save for men to use Roagine/Monoxidil while their wives are pregant? Am I being overly cautious?

This is a guess, but I would suspect that you are being overly cautious. The restrictions on medications your wife takes are due to the drugs going into the baby. There is nothing that you can take (logically and from my medical knowledge) that should cross to her by skin contact, kissing, or sexual intercourse.

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Can I Take Propecia If I Have Stomach Problems? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Dr.
I’m 21 yrs old and have been taking propecia for about a year now. All in all, it doesn’t seem to be doing too much as far as I can tell. I’ve been having a lot of stomach problems for the past 2 yrs and that is exactly when my hair loss started to begin. I was wondering if my stomach/digestive problems may be causing the effectiveness of the propecia, such as I am not digesting the pill properly and thus not getting what I need from it. Also is it possible that my actual stomach/digestive problem could be causing this hair loss? Are there any tests that can be done to see if I am not absorbing nutrients or the propecia pill correctly or are there tests along those lines that can determine that everything is working fine inside of me? Thanks so much.

I do not know what stomach problem you are specifically talking about. If there is an absorption problem with food and nutrients from some stomach disorder, maybe the Propecia is not getting into your system. Some people talk about stomach problems and this could mean a wide variety of medical conditions impacting the stomach, small intentine, and large intestine. Many diseases of the small intestine and large intestine do have absorption problems associated with them. You need to discuss this with your doctor. Sounds important enough for you to do this and do it right!

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Hair Loss InformationExtreme Makeover Patient Update (Video) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’ve recieved a few emails in the past months asking for an update with some of my Extreme Makeover patients. What is always a pleasure for me is the ability to show the results of a hair transplant, not just with the patient and their family, but with strangers at events like our monthly ‘open house’ events, and on websites and TV shows like Extreme Makeover. Just to give a little background for those that are not aware, I was asked to perform hair transplantation surgery for a number of patients on the nationally broadcast series called Extreme Makeover in 2004-2005. One of these patients was musician Marque Strong. He was featured on the NHI website right before his episode aired, but there hadn’t been much to update about until Marque paid us a visit and allowed his meeting with Dr. Rassman to be recorded for the blog. Hear Marque in his own words and see his great new hairline in this video:

For more info on Marque and to see his complete set of before photos, please see his NHI feature.

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Terrible Itch, Dandruff, Increase in White Hairs – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am a 27 year old Korean female and have always had fair, sensitive skin on my face as well as my scalp. I’ve had slight acne since my teens but lately I have noticed bumps on my scalp that itch quite terribly, followed with dandruff. The dandruff comes and goes in my life, but lately it feels worse. In addition, I have noticed an increase of white hairs, especially near the crown. This is alarming considering I do not have thick hair to begin with. My initial reaction is to pluck the white hairs out but now there are too many to count. I don’t have any unusual stress in my life. I would like to see a doctor but do not know what kind. I am really worried because my hair loss, itchiness of scalp, increase of white hairs near crown, red bumps on scalp, are getting noticably worse. Because I am in South Korea, I am having a difficult time finding a qualified physician to help me at this time. Whatever information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

I sent you my photos so you can take a look. It doesn’t look so bad at this time but I don’t want to wait until I am bald before I take action!

Please help!

The simple answer is that you may be causing some of your problems. If you are plucking out the white hair and your head is slowly turning white, it is a self-defeating process as eventually you will be completely white and then possibly you will pluck out all of your hair as you become balder and balder. Plucking will produce traction alopecia and the plucking problem may cause some of the bumps you are talking about.

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Races, Lactose Intolerance, and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is there a correlation with racial differences in hair loss and the tolerance of lactose in the diferent human races? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance)

DairyLactose (milk and milk product) intolerance among different races are well known observations in the medical community. There is no correlation with lactose and any hair loss issues in any races. Many races or groups of people have semi-unique genetic differences that reflect diet, for example. Asians generally have a lack of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase which contributes to a ‘quicker’ intoxication when drinking the local brew. On a humorous tone, it has been said that an Asian is a “cheap drunk”, but I personally know plenty of Asians who can easily out-drink me – including one of our editors, Dr. Pak.

Male pattern hair loss is widely considered a genetic trait. However, it does not follow a particular simple Mendelian genetic pattern. In other words, you may be the only bald man in the family. With respect to the male pattern hair loss penetration in different human races or groups it seems to be relatively universal with one exception. There is a small group of North American Indians that are known to not have male pattern hair loss.

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