Month: June 2007

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Hair Loss InformationWhat Shampoo Should I Use? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Doctor,

I am a little confused on what shampoo I should be using.I was using johnsons & johnsons baby shampoo but a doctor suggested that I make the switch to Head & Shoulders containing 1% zinc pyrithione as this product has been known to thicken hair & even slow down hairloss. However,other arm chair experts on various hairloss forums have compared head & shoulders to sulfuric acid & claim it will thin out my hair even more.

Can shampoo have such an adverse effect on hairloss ? What are your thoughts on this product & can you recomend a shampoo ?
Thank you

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Any reasonable commercial shampoo will work just fine and have no impact on thinning. What you could do is try different brands and then settle on the one you like. There are shampoos for dry and for oily hair, shampoos that give your hair more character and make it wave more. It is a trial and error process.

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Are ALL Steroids Bad? What About Prescribed Topical Corticosteroids? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

In your July 21st blog entry, you clearly mention that all steroids are bad – both for your body and toward precipitating hair loss. However, specifically what about topical corticosteroids, such as Luxiq? Last year, my dermatologist diagnosed me with seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp and proscribed me Luxiq to take pretty much indefinitely. Could this drug worsen my hair loss? I’m very concerned that I may be doing something that is speeding up my rate of hair loss! Please respond.

Steroids cause hair loss. I personally do not recommend daily or twice daily use of steroids for seborrheic dermatitis. Occasional use one or two treatments a week may not impact hair loss but it should be used sparingly.

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Hair Loss InformationUnderstanding When a Hair Transplant is Appropriate – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,

I am a 21 year old male and for the last year or so I have began to notice that my hairline is receding. In an attempt to control my hair loss I have purchased Procerin and minoxidil 5% and I am considering going to my doctor to ask for his opinion on using Propecia. I have also been reading up on the subject of hair transplants but have came to understand that I am too young to consider this sort of option. However, this brings me to my questions:

  1. If I add Propecia to my current regime (Minox, Procerin) will my doctor or dermatologist still be able to map my hair loss and estimate when it would be wise to consider a hair transplant?
  2. Or will I have to stop my regime, for a period of time, to allow the regrown (if there is any) hair to fall out, thus allowing my doctor to see the natural recession of my hair line?
  3. Or would I have to stay on a course of Propecia forever, so to stop any hair loss behind the hair transplant?

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I am answering your questions in the order you asked:

  1. The available FDA approved medications for hair loss can help slowing down or in some occasions stopping the process of hair loss. Early 20s is the period that most physicians don’t want to rush into performing a hair transplant, because it is hard to predict the progress of the hair loss and final hair loss pattern at this age. Considering the family history of baldness, hair loss medication use and degree of miniaturization can help establish a Master Plan for a young patient like you. So, you need to find a good doctor for a thorough evaluation and only after considering all above factors should atime table be tailored for your hair transplants.
  2. The effect of these medications on your hair growth is gradual and I don’t recommend stopping them to find out your natural degree of hair loss. You will end up losing more hair unnecessarily by doing that. I have no information about Porcerin, but Propecia is the most appropriate medication to control progression of genetic hair loss in young men.
  3. I recommend that you develop a Master Plan for the treatment and stick to it, being monitored with yearly miniaturization studies to follow the progression of the hair loss. Most of the patients need to continue their treatment for the rest of their lives, so it is wise to do your research before starting such treatments.

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Hair Loss InformationAre You Still Actively Researching? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

Do you still actively conduct research, or do you feel like you’ve given all you have to offer to the hair loss world in terms of innovations such as the FUE procedure or other novel ways of approaching loss?

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I strongly believe that the research is an inseparable part of the practice of medicine. Every physician should constantly seek better ways to do things. Hair restoration surgery has been progressing rapidly within the last few years, but there are still many questions to be answered. As a matter of fact, every new finding opens our horizon to many other questions and possibilities.

Here at New Hair Institute, we are actively pursuing several research projects. They are either to increase our general knowledge of hair loss or to improve our techniques and skills. We are also collaborating with nationally known research centers in some sophisticated researches on hair loss and potential treatment modalities for baldness. We will publish our results when they become available and may also release some of the findings on this site.

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Hair Loss InformationRepairing Micro and Mini Grafts – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i’m 40 yrs old. in 96 & 98 i had two transplants,not a lot of them because at that time i wasn’t making enough money. the work was done in the temple areas,(micro& mini)are what i selected. today, the work has become noticable to me because the remaining hair in the temples have continued thier departure from my head, most of my hair is salt & pepper(more salt) now, the transplanted hair in the tempel are as black as ever. is the fue the way to go?

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FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) works well for these, as well as building a good normal hairline to create enough camouflage to cover the old type of work. I would need to see how bad the old plugs are and exactly where they are located to answer your question properly. You can call my office at 800-NEW-HAIR to schedule a free consultation, if you are interested. My offices are in Los Angeles and San Jose, California.

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Hair Loss InformationI Don’t See Results After My 2nd Procedure 8 Months Ago – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i have my 2nd procedure and it hasn’t worked for some reason. its 8 months out now and i didnt see any result. even my original hair i had, i lost because of the procedure. it can take more then 8 months or is something wrong? i try to use the low level laser therapy but it didnt work for me? please advice me what to do. thanks

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I would need more information about you. What hair have you lost? Are you on Propecia? What did your hair transplant surgeon say? Look carefully at the pictures that he took and be sure that the transplants failed. If they failed, did you surgeon agree with you? Consider getting a second opinion if your doctor is not direct with your questions.

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Head Fungus for Over a Decade – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

my best friend has a head fungus. she is 32 and as had it since she was about 13. she went to the doctor a couple of times back then but quit because she didn’t want her classmates to see medicine in her hair. i am trying to get her to go back to see a doctor but she thinks it is to late. so my question is if you have a head fungus for 14 years with no treatment can you get rid of it? please help!

Clearly this requires a medical doctor to make a diagnosis and then start a treatment program. If your friend does not want to do this and follow the advice given to her, I can not help her over the internet. Even if I could, I would need to examine her, test hair scalp for fungus and make a diagnosis first.

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Shaving the Head – Does it Make Propecia or Rogaine Less Effective? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

ive been lossing my hair since about the age of 17 and I gave up and shaved all my hair off and have continued to do so til today ( im 29) i still get very thin hairs that cover a good portion of my head, my question is will propecia and/or rogaine work at this point since ive been shaving it for so long. All the males in my family are bald.

Another question is I have a 17 years old brother and he has started to show some slight signs of hair lost is it safe to start him on propecia at such a young age.

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First, shaving your head should not impact the way either drug works. One may make an argument that minoxidil is easier to apply with a shaved head and as the drug really works below the skin, the hair does not get in the way of the application of the medication when it is shaved. It certainly will not produce a negative effect.

What you did was ignore your balding over the past 12 years and the process has progressed. If there are many miniaturized hairs, Propecia may bring some of them back, so it might be worth a try, but go a full year on the medication. Rogaine Foam also seems somewhat effective and in combination, the two might help.

For your younger brother, do it the right way, get his hair mapped out for miniaturization to get a basic metric (measurement) and then put him on Propecia (ask your doctor). Maybe he will not go through what you did.

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My Hair Regrows When I Leave the US – Hair Loss Returns When I Am in the US – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,

I am in US for last 10 yrs. My hair is thinning along the center partition on top of my head. This happened since I have been living in US. When I went to my country for an year two years back, I felt my hair regrowing and getting better. Please suggest the cause and treatment for this. also I feel some scalp pain all along the portion where I am experiencing the hair thinning.

Thanks

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Environmental factors can accelerate the hair loss. Your case is rather unusual and interesting. Stress can activate or accelerate hair loss/thinning. Ask yourself if living in America is more stressful. Diet is another important variable that is different in different countries. Lack of certain elements in your diet can cause hair loss, but that would take an extensive analysis to understand what you are eating in and out of the US and how they compare. There are also certain food ingredients in certain geographic areas that may help hair growth (maybe you have some cure to hair loss from your native country in the foods you eat there). Look back and see what you have done and eaten during the time you have been away that affected your hair loss and you may reverse-engineer it and come up with a new solution that we can all talk about.