August 2009 – Page 5 – Balding Blog

August 19, 2009

Resveratrol, Curcumin, and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello, i am slightly confused, i read how resveratrol can increase test levels, is this true and would it worsen my hairloss?

But i also recently read a contradictory study on the combination of resvaratrol with curcumin, which is claimed to help with hairloss. Do you think this is a posibility? An italian company were seeking a patent on a pill that contained these two .

Also i take finasteride, can the res/cur, affect the absorption of fin? I take fin in the morning.

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Here’s what I just learned from Wikipedia —
Resveratrol is a chemical produced naturally by several plants (including red grapes). As suggested, it gives the heart beneficial qualities of red wine. Curcumin is found in Indian spice turmeric, which is a member of the ginger family.

So in essence (let’s cut out all the nebulous scientific names), you want to know if natural extracts from grape and ginger can be beneficial to your hair. There are THOUSANDS of these natural concoctions people have tried to help with hair loss throughout history. I really do not know if it will work, but in the end it becomes a “buyer beware” market and your experience with how your body responds is the final answer you need for you. In my opinion, I doubt it will have an impact on your hair, but more so on your wallet and time. I don’t know anything about the study you’re referencing, so I can’t really give you any insight into their findings.

August 19, 2009

About a Decade After My Hair Transplant, It is Falling Out – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a transplant procedure about 12 years ago done by a great physician and personal friend, the late Jim Arnold. During the past couple of years I have had more dramatic hairloss including the loss of my new hairline. I thought that transplants lasted forever. Would I be fighting a losing battle to go ahead with another procedure?

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I have seen what you described before, but there could be many reasons why you have this happening. I don’t know much about you (I’m limited to your single email) and I need to learn more. When we say that hair transplants that come from the fringe area around the head are permanent, we mean that in 99% of patients. The hair in this fringe area will stay the lifetime of the person, but we do know that there are general diseases that are seen (such as DUPA) which can appear at any age.

I would want to understand what is happening to your donor area now and an examination with a high powered video microscope will allow me to evaluate that donor area. What you are seeing in the grafts may very well be in the donor area as well. Without an examination, I can not tell you what to look for. Please call my office at 800-639-4247 and set up an appointment. As you likely know, I acquired Dr. Arnold’s practice and see many of his patients. He was a wonderful man and a wonderful doctor, loved by his peers and his patients as well.

August 19, 2009

Persistent Rash from Generic Finasteride? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Thanks for providing this invaluable site. I am a 22 year-old male, Norwood 2. I have been experiencing a rash over the last month and I’m concerned it is related to finasteride. I do take Cipla’s Fincar (~1.25mg daily for 5-6 months), ordered from one of the semi-legal internet pharmacies, you know the deal. I realize this complicates things. The rash seems to flare up for a period of hours on a near daily basis. It usually appears on my arms, legs, torso and pelvic region. It is in the form of a series of raised bumps surrounded by a reddened patch of skin. It has a strong itch and is sort of painful when scrathed, more so than a mosquito bite. I have tried stopping the Fincar for a week and the rash did seem to stay away. I am concerned because I had one outbreak on my right pelvic region where I broke the skin from scrathing and that left a bad patch of swollen open bumps for days.

I am now trying to get the dose down to 1 to .75mg. On the higher dose I had testicular pain and a notable increase in libido as well as what seemed like a pretty miraculous cessation of shedding, this all after only two months. This makes me think the Fincar probably does contain finasteride though I know there is no way to be sure. I would like to know if you have ever heard of such a persistent rash from propecia in one of your patients. I know its listed as a side-effect… If it sounds like the Fincar is the source do you know if this type of reaction ever resolves over time or if lowering the dose might help.

Thanks again for your help

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It certainly sounds like an allergic reaction, but I couldn’t tell you if its from the medication or something else entirely. You may be allergic to finasteride or possibly the one of the fillers in the pills (though that would be very unusual). The fillers do vary from manufacturer to manufacturer so you might switch to see the impact. I don’t recall a patient reporting a rash from finasteride, though.

Since you ordered from one of those “semi-legal internet pharmacies” am I to assume that you aren’t under the care of a physician? You might want to pay a visit to a dermatologist to find out more about your rash.

August 19, 2009

Is Dimethicone in Shampoo Preventing Minoxidil Scalp Penetration? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I just had an epiphany regarding why minoxidil may not work for the majority of men. I would like your expert opinion on this. I think I may have just discovered something.

I have been using minoxidil for about a year along with an herbal shampoo containing all natural ingredients. I recently switched to a fancy shampoo that has many other ingredients, including dimethicone and various other ingredients that are commonly used in most shampoos to improve texture and increase thickness.

I noticed, after using this newer shampoo, that when I applied the minoxidil, it beaded up on my scalp. I immediately realized that dimethicone is a form of silicone. After reading the label of the shampoo and the matching conditioner, I noticed that they also contained other silicone-based ingredients. The ingredients are used in almost all shampoos and conditioners to coat the hairs, to add shine and improve the texture, etc.

As you may know, silicone is also the primary ingredient in auto polish, car wax and many other similar products. Silicone adds a layer of protection to surfaces and protects them. It causes water to bead up on a car’s paint, etc. This is why I noticed, I’m sure, the minoxidil beading up on my scalp after using the shampoo and conditioner containing the dimethicone. If silicone can cause water to bead up on a car’s paint, I’m sure it can also cause minoxidil to bead up on one’s scalp. It certainly appears to have that effect. If it’s beading up, I’m sure it isn’t properly penetrating. No penetration = no results!

So … here is my epiphany. We all know that minoxidil does NOT work for the majority of men. And if it does, it usually only works minimally. Now, since the majority of shampoos and conditioners contain dimethicone and similar ingredients, which prevent or hinders the penetration of minoxidil, couldn’t this be the reason why most men do not respond to minoxidil? Furthermore, there is a small percentage of men known as “responders.” These are men who respond very well to minoxidil. Maybe the reason they respond so well is something so simple that it has been overlooked, i.e., they are simply the ones using dimethicone/silicone-free hair products allowing the minoxidil to actually penetrate and do its job unhindered.

What do you think? Has this been addresssed before? If not, do you think my “theory” has any merit? I really think it does. Let me know what you think.

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It is an interesting theory, but the dimethicone in the shampoo should not block the absorption of minoxidil, unless perhaps you leave the shampoo on your scalp without rinsing. You should apply minoxidil after you wash off any shampoo and conditioner and the scalp is warm from the hot shower you take, with the scalp pores open. That is when the absorption occurs.

August 19, 2009

How Long Do I Need to Wait After Injury Heals to Transplant Into It? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor,
Maybe a slightly unique question here… I have about an inch forehead scar in the hairline(above right temple side of head) I received from injury back in April, and had it revised with a scar revision procedure in June. Results are good (about 2 months into the healing/remodeling phase), but I’m facing facts here: I want the hair back where the incision-line scar is, no matter how less/ or barely visible the scar is overall…

My question would be at the 3 month mark here in September (if 3 months matters, as that is when I have my follow-up with the plastic surgeon who performed the revision at that time as well), would I be able go forward with the minor transplant without jeopardizing the healing scar? It’s primary (main) healing phase is already complete, right? So, would I be safe in getting the procedure done? Or could I jeopardize the scar or general healing phase of the area at all? Thanks so much for your help; I read your blogs frequently.

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I would have no hesitation to transplant the area after 3 months have passed, but might be concerned at less than that time period. The basic scar healing should be complete by then. For those curious about the various phases of wound healing, check out this article.

August 18, 2009

How Natural Does Body Hair Transplantation Look? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What can you tell me about body hair transplants, where hair is taken from almost any part of the body and transplanted to the head? I found a place on the web that offers it and I am curious to know if it is a real possibility and how natural it looks. Thanks.

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In the cases I’ve seen, body hair transplantation (BHT) does not look natural at all. A while ago I saw a picture in the National Enquirer that showed a person who had his head transplanted with pubic hair. The transplants kept their hair character in the transplanted process… and no surprise, it looked like he had pubic hair growing out of his head. I also saw a man in my office who had the entire top of his head transplanted with body hair… and it looked just like his chest hair did. It was anything but a lush, tight hairline look and it was thinner than a normal head of hair would be.

Those are just examples of the visual differences. I’ve also seen a few cases of BHT failures. Plus, there’s the problem of the hair growth cycle for body hair being different than scalp hair, meaning much of it is dormant at any given time and it will never get to any great length (which you probably would want for styling).

So as you can probably guess, I’m not a fan of BHT for a number of reasons. Further reading can be done here and here.

August 18, 2009

Dr Rassman, Did You Ever Do Hair Plugs? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

In the early days did you ever perform a surgery like this? (hair plugs)

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No, I never did the large grafts placed into holes (commonly called hair plugs). I started with my own practice in late 1992 and immediately went to large quantities of small grafts (at the time 1.5mm grafts into punch holes with each graft containing about 3-5 hairs each). I quickly reduced the size of the grafts to 1.25mm grafts, reducing the number of hairs per graft to about 2-4 hairs each and I used all of the single hair grafts in the front of the hairline.

At that time, the follicular unit was not recognized as the “golden standard” that is, until we published the classic article on follicular unit transplantation in the mid-90s (read it here). By 1994, we were using small grafts into slits and many of these grafts were follicular units. Our number of grafts had climbed to as high as 4000 grafts in a single session.

August 18, 2009

My Doctor Suggests that Finasteride Could Be the Cause of My Itching – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Doctor Rassman,

Once again thanks for this brilliant blog and useful service that you provide your readership with.

I’m 25, been on finasteride (1/4 proscar) since Sept. 08 and I have had no problems at all. My hair loss has stabalised and I’ve seen some thickening up around the top middle of my scalp so you could say I’ve reacted well to the drug.

However, around the start of July this year I’ve been experiencing really bad itching all over my body. I’ve been to my GP a few times with it (having trouble sleeping at night) and they have done some blood tests – everything fine except slightly lower than normal pottassium levels. The GP has suggested that finasteride could be the cause, but when discussing with my prescribing doctor he believes it is unlikely as itching is such a rarely reported side effect (perhaps 1 in 700 cases) and if I was to have an allergic reaction it would have shown itself within the first few weeks of taking the drug. I wondered what you thought about this.

My prescribing doctor also suggested that if i want to try and come off finasteride for 3 – 6 weeks, there wouldn’t be any long lasting hair loss and I would know during that period whether it was the finasteride causing it. Do you think that if it is finasteride, coluld it be one of those symptoms that goes away with continued use?

I haven’t found many articles discussing this issue specifically on the blog so I would be interesred to read your opinions.

Many thanks.

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I think you are very well informed and I agree with your doctor that you should try to come off the finasteride to see if there is an allergy, but the likelihood of the drug causing of your itching is low. You might want to shorten the period you are off the drug to 2 weeks, though. Being off of finasteride for 2 weeks will have minimum impact, but keep in mind your itching may just go away on its own and there may be a false correlation.

If you’re taking generic finasteride, I also wonder if you’re now taking pills made by a different pharmaceutical company (perhaps without realizing it). There could be a difference in a filler ingredient that you’re allergic to.

August 18, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHistogen in 5 Years? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What are your thoughts about Histogen? They were at ISHRS meeting and showed photos and data. They say 5 years.

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You can read up on their progress in this article from a couple weeks ago at Biospace.com. Who knows where this will go? I certainly don’t have the answers. I would not wait for the breakthrough based upon where the company is in its research at this time. Maybe in a year we will know more and then be able to forecast to answer your question.

August 18, 2009

Vigorous Weight Training and Finasteride – Balding Blog

I’ve been on finasteride for about 18 months-great results!

During this time, I’ve been loosely weight training, but mostly doing cardio and aerobic, which I know to be good for reducing stress and keeping testosterone levels steady, but this is my question:

If a person started training more vigorously with weights, would the consequent spike in testosterone levels impact the effectivness of finasteride? Or put another way, would the rise in testosterone translate into a rise in DHT, thereby overwhelming the capacity of the finasteride already working in one’s system?

Thanks Dr’s

Vigorous weight training will not have an impact on your balding. Your body will take care of itself. I think you are over-analyzing the issue. The workout will not make finasteride less effective, as many people seem to believe.