December 2007 – Page 11

December 5, 2007

Proscar Prescription Overseas? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I wanted to send a question in about receiving prescriptions overseas. I live in Japan, and have started to notice that I’m going a little thin in the front. My Grandfather on my Mothers side was very bald so I’m assuming it a MPB thing. I’m in my mid twenties, not stressed out, drink a little bit more then I should, but eat very healthily.

My questions is do you know if prescritpions such as proscar are available overseas? And what kind of Dr. should I be going to to get checked out (that way I can tell my Japanese friends what kind of doctor I need to see and they can help me find one). Thanks for any information you have.

I am sure finasteride is available overseas. Finasteride is a generic drug name for Propecia and Proscar. Note that Propecia (which is prescribed for male pattern balding) is finasteride in 1mg strength; Proscar is finasteride in 5mg strength. Any physician can prescribe these medications, including your family doctor.

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December 5, 2007

I Told Doctor I Had Hair Loss, Doctor Told Me To Use Selsun Blue Shampoo – Balding Blog

Hi,

i recently went to the doctors and i was worried about the thinning of my hair, and that my scalp was extremly itchy a lot. He told me to use selsun blue or sebulex, beucase it was most likely the sebacious something? (not really sure what he said it was). But i was wondering if i should go get it checked out from a dermatologist, if its something else. AS well, all the females on the mothers side have thin hair, but none of the men do, or did. Just wondering?

thanks

Some doctors feel that selenium has value in treating hair loss, but there is no proof that there is a deficiency of selenium with hair loss. There are even numerous claims that selenium causes hair loss. It is very confusing and I have no direct knowledge to based an opinion on.

Head and Shoulders Intensive Treatment and Selsun Blue both contain selenium sulfide, but this is topical and not in the vitamin supplement area. These two shampoos are both good shampoos, but I do not believe that they will help treat your hair loss. For more on selenium, see Medline.

December 5, 2007

Hairs at the Hairline Seem to Be at a Fixed Length — I Want Them to Grow Longer! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Doc,

I’m a girl and i’m 22 years old. My dad is almost bald while my mom has thick wavy hair. My head hair is thin and not very dense. My hairs near the hairline are very thin and they dont grow at all ,that is, they have a fixed length. Please guide me as to whether it would be effective if I shave them off, those near the hairline? Would their length increase afterwards? Is there some other way using which I can make them grow longer? Kindly help me out please!!

The hair at your hairline may not grow as fast as hair elsewhere on the scalp. This is particularly true in the corners. You should be evaluated by an expert in-person; without seeing you and examining your entire scalp, I can not help you properly.

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December 5, 2007

Hair Loss from Thyroid Gland? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Doctor,
I have had male pattern hair loss for about two years and now am a class 3 patient. I have been taking proscar for about 6 months and I still lose hair. I would like to know if my hair loss may be caused by hyper, or hypo-thyroidism? How can I find out if it is my thyroid gland? Also, how long should I wait for proscar to start working?

You need to see a doctor who can perform blood tests for thyroid issues. Finasteride (Propecia / Proscar) generally takes about 6 to 12 months for one to see some results, but it should be noted that these results may be only a cessation of hair loss. If you do have a thyroid problem, then hair loss associated from it will not abate until you tackle the thyroid problem. Generally, thyroid problems will produce hair loss all over your scalp and not in a Norwood Class 3 pattern.

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December 5, 2007

Gastrointestinal Problems from Propecia? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Doctor,

I have 2 side effects from propecia. Increased libido (not a problem) and unfortunately nausea and heartburn. I take it after dinner, but don’t have GI problems until middle of the night. Are GI problems common? I’m at the point I may have to discontinue it. Any suggestions?

BTW: You site is a terrific balance to all the misinformation out there.

Before associating your nausea and heartburn with Propecia, you should have your symptoms evaluated by your physician. You may have have other underlying conditions such as heart disease or reflux esophagitis. Sometimes heart disease can present with nausea and heartburn. Please go see your doctor.

And thanks for your kind words about the site!

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December 5, 2007

Any Precautions for Those 60+ Year Olds Starting Propecia or Rogaine? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is there any special consideration or precaution needed to start medication (Rogaine or Propecia etc.), if the patient is above 60 years old?

All men over 50 years old should obtain a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test prior to starting Propecia, since it may lower the blood level in those who may be harboring an early cancer (delaying the diagnosis). Other than this one observation, the risks of side effects are the same for older men as younger men. There is no similar problem with minoxidil, but as minoxidil has antihypertensive effects, it has been known to produce lightheadedness from small drops in a person’s blood pressure.

Propecia is the brand name for finasteride in 1mg strength. Finasteride in 5mg strength has been reported to lower the risk of certain prostate cancer.

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December 4, 2007

Hair Loss InformationAuto-Cloning Technique for Facial Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have heard of a technique called auto-cloning performed by Dr. Gary Hitzig in New York, New York. He tweezes beard hair under the chin which leaves part of the root to regrow and part of the hairs root stays with the tweezed hair to grow in the transplanted area. I would be very interested in having this procedure performed to thicken my mustache both because of my limited donor hair and for having the thickness and texture of beard hair. Facial hair and body hair transplants are becoming increasingly common why is this technique not more popular as it solves many problems for people who have limited donor hair? Is there a problem with this technique?

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My medical group had tried to repeat the work after we heard about it from the doctor who said that he invented the technique. We did it just as he said it was to be done, and as was expected, the results were essentially a complete failure to grow hair. As far as I am aware, nobody has proven this technique or published the method in a peer reviewed journal for confirmation, which says a great deal about credibility. If it worked, I am sure that the technique would be available everywhere, because it infers that you get two hairs for one (hair replication)… something that has not been done by any other.

I also look to the credibility of the ‘inventor’ and via Google, I turned up with the following links:

December 4, 2007

Why Didn’t You Transplant 5000-6000 Grafts For a Norwood Class 6? – Balding Blog

In the piece dated October 19 “Goodbye Combover, Hello Hair!”, I am critical of your choice to limit the graft numbers. You should have performed 5000-6000 grafts in a Class 6 patient. Why didn’t you?

Here’s the post you’re referencing.

The number of grafts that were transplanted on this patient was the maximum safe amount that could be harvested, reflecting the density of this man’s hair in the donor area. If the grafts were cut down to single hair grafts, the number would have been more, but the amount of hair would have been the same. Some doctors would have cut the follicular units down to single hair grafts to make some more money out of the patient (since they charge by the graft). Not only will that not produce more hair, but it would be unethical to milk this patient’s pockets for more money. Cutting the grafts down would have yielded less hair in the long term, as all of the cut grafts may not grow as well.

With his fine hair character, this patient needs 5000-7000 grafts to get excellent coverage. On the day the initial blog post was published, I repeated the procedure and only got out 1706 more grafts — again, because that was what was safe (there are no results photos yet, as the procedure was just over a month ago). Each person is different, and while some people have enough scalp laxity to allow for a larger strip (with more hair), some people will only have enough for a smaller strip.

The photo on the left is before; the photo on the right is after one procedure of 2590 grafts. You should note that the transplants were artistically weighted to the frontal area to produce the best frame for his face and distributed to the back with a much lower density to reflect the limited number of grafts. Click the photos to enlarge.

More photos of this patient can be see at the original post –Goodbye Combover, Hello Hair!

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December 4, 2007

Stress and Depression Caused My Scalp to Itch and Bleed – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have had hair loss int he past caused by stress and depression in the form of scalp inflammation, itchiness, and bleeding. i went to a dermatologist but every sample take showed nothing. The problem is gone, but my my hair wont grow in some spots and is very visible when I let my hair grow. Im tired of people looking up at my hair, or at least im paranoid to think they are. Is there a way to make it grow, or is it completely damaged?

I’ve never heard of depression or stress causing a scalp to bleed. Is the bleeding self-inflicted from pulling your hair or scratching your scalp? You may have permanent hair loss from those actions. If your hair has not grown after about one year after the insult, I suspect it has been killed off. I also suspect, based on what you’ve written, that you must’ve been scratching the scalp to cause the bleeding and hair loss.

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December 4, 2007

Major Simultaneous Stresses, Low Iron, and Female Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a 40 year old woman. In the past two years, my menstrual cycle has become much heavier and longer. Since April of this past year, I have had several stressors, one after the other, that usually don’t occur this simultaneously(i.e my 4 yr old son had surgery, my house flooded, and my husband was going thru some real medical issues). In July-Aug (within a 2 week timeframe), I lost a large amount of hair from the top middle-left side of my scalp. I just had a full CBC and hormone level count done and my iron was just a line below normal. I am now on an iron therapy. My doc thinks it could be iron deficiency coupled with a lot of unusual stress. Does this sound familiar to you?

Yes, it does sound familiar. Stress can certainly cause hair loss and getting this stress under control will generally result in the hair growing back within a year, though this is not a guarantee. Adding this stress to a pre-existing iron deficiency does sound like a recipe for hair loss in a woman.

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