If I were to pluck some of my surgically implanted hair in order to achieve a balanced look, would they eventually grow back over time? So if I then decided to get another transplant to balance things out, I wouldn’t regret doing it?
If you pluck out transplanted hair it should grow back just as if you pluck out normal (non-transplanted) hair. However, if you keep plucking out the same hair, eventually it may never grow back, which is what happens with trichotillomania.
I would really like to know if its a bad idea to take propecia and another hair loss treatment Provillus at the same time. I’ve been doing it for a month now and hair loss has only increased. Provillus has saw palmetto in it, a DHT inhibitor, could all this be too much and making things worse. I’m using rogain as well.
I have reviewed the ingredients in Provillus and there is nothing in it that should react with Propecia (finasteride) or Rogaine (minoxidil) adversely from that I can see.
The claims by the company are hard to believe, because they lack scientific study. The FDA may gripe over the claims of DHT blocking, but I am not a government agency.
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Hi Doc!
In several posts you state that breast enlargement (gynecomastia) caused by finasteride (propecia) is reversible after stopping this medication.
Well, I developed a slight breast enlargement (”puffy nipples”) after a year of taking propecia so I stopped immediately when noticing this condition. However, the puffy nipples are still present even though I have been off the propecia for about 7 months now (I have no other medical condition).
I have heard that the only way of getting rid of this “gynecomastia” condition is an operation, so how do you know that it should be reversible upon stopping propecia?
You need to speak with your prescribing doctor, as Propecia does cause gynecomastia in a very small proportion of men. This condition should reverse on its own when you stop taking Propecia and if it did not, then you need to see your doctor for other potential causes.
Something else to consider is that according to one study for those men (not taking Propecia) over the age of 44, the prevalence of gynecomastia was 57% (possibly the effect of being overweight in some men and this therefore may not be breast tissue, but fat buildup). This data indicate that palpable gynecomastia may be more common in normal adult men. See Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism – Gynecomastia as a physical finding in normal men
You need a good medical evaluation by a doctor, in person. I wish I could offer more, but I’m limited by the Internet in that regard.
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(female) I was put on 40 milligrams of prednisone after I got out of the hospital from a major infection… ulcerative colitis. I was on predisone for a month. Well, a month later after I stopped it, I starting losing my hair. Could this be caused by the prednisone? (I was also on Asacol too.)
The entire stressful experience may have precipitated a telogen effluvium. Hopefully it will reverse on its own in 4-8 months. Both medications and the illness you had could have caused the hair loss.
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Hi Doc,
Have a question on my strip scar. I can shave the sides with a #8 guard and can still see my scar, do you think its a little bigger than most. I also have light hair. Had my procedure done at [name removed].
Everyone has a linear scar after a strip hair transplant, but some tend to have wider scars than others. Normal scarring in 95% of first time hair transplant patients is under 2-3 mm. Scars are produced by a combination of:
Don’t be too hard on the doctor, for as you can see from the above list, you are more likely the cause of the scar from healing properties. The medical group you used does good work. I am sure their surgeons are all well qualified and fully capable of performing the strip excision.
Hello dr Rassman
How exactly do you figure out the laxity of the scalp and the residual donor area capacities if somebody went through strip procedures in the past? Is there a “measurement” possible or is it only by touching and feeling?
Thanks
There are two tools that I use on occasion, one in the office and the other in the operating room. We call it a Laxometer which we invented and just submitted for publication in the Hair Transplant Forum. Experienced surgeons know how to test and quantify scalp laxity at examination and good surgeons develop a ‘feel’ for it. You can see the video on scalp exercises and estimate the up and down movement. One half inch is average, more is better, less is tight.
I did not have hair loss while taking Topamas, but after weaning off of the Topamax, it was 3 months later when I started losing a ton of hair as described by others in this blog. I have been losing hair for a month now (I’m 4 months off of Topamax). I’m not taking birth control pills or DHEA. I too had all of my bloodwork done. I do have new hair growth, but I’m wondering when the hair loss will cease. Any estimates? Thanks very much.
Topamax is an antiseizure medication known to produce hair loss. It sounds like you are going through a telogen effluvium and that you are cycling your hair, with some returning and others falling out. Wait this out for 8 months. Sometimes minoxidil helps move the process along.
This Japanese study (not the UPenn paper) shows that .2mg of finasteride is almost as effective as 1mg.
Finasteride in the treatment of Japanese men with male pattern hair loss.
This is interesting and I thank you for sending this. The problem I have is that there were prior studies that showed that 1/2 dose of Propecia (0.5mg finasteride) is about 70% as effective as a full dose.
In our hair restoration medical practice, I recommend 1mg finasteride for the treatment of male pattern baldness. For those who have unwanted side effects with Propecia, this study may show some promise. The study says that after 48 weeks, 58% of men on 1mg finasteride showed improvement, while 54% of men on 0.2mg finasteride also showed improvement. It doesn’t state to what degree of improvement was seen, so it is still possible that the 1mg worked better for that higher percentage of men. The study does say “All efficacy endpoints were numerically superior for the 1 mg dose over the 0.2 mg dose at 48 weeks.”
Nonetheless, if this study is true, perhaps more the pill cutting will begin. Who wants to be the first to try?
I was looking at a site called hairlossadvances.com and on it they show a study that they claim is the actual study that Lexington submitted to the FDA for the lasercomb’s 510k SE clearance.
What I found odd was that the study was completed some 9 months before it was submitted, one of the exclusion criteria for participants was having a buzz cut, (you’d think that having shorter hair would allow more ” nourishing laser light” to penetrate the scalp and provide better results) and the person producing the study claimed that the study wasn’t required by the FDA. Have you seen this study, and if so, what are your thoughts.
I have seen the original study and I have published my opinions on the matter:
I tend to agree with your astute observations and criticism. This is a subject that I can not fight over. There seems like there is some evidence in the study that it works, but I frankly don’t believe it. It is hard for me to believe that there is almost 100% more growth after a few months. The FDA study is what it is.
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Can I have lots of hair fall due to a Cyst in my scalp?
A cyst should not cause hair loss unless it becomes infected. Unfortunately, you just did not supply me with enough information to be helpful. A picture would be useful, or even your age, sex, and hair loss history. I would see a dermatologist.
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