October 2009 – Page 5

October 20, 2009

How Can I Tell the Difference Between New Hair Growth and Miniaturizing Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Doctor Rassman, I’m currently taking dutasteride for hair loss. Under the microscope, is there a way to tell the difference between new hair growth and a minaturizing hair?

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Cohen If you can always return to the same location on your scalp and visualize it with a video magnifying camera (check out part 1 of the 3 part series), you can see the difference in the hair thickness.

Keep watch here over the next few weeks and I will introduce a way to determine the value of drugs on hair thickness. It is a way to measure hair mass with an invention by Dr. Bernard Cohen. This is a picture of the device (see right), with more to follow in about 2 weeks when Dr. Cohen will produce a guest editorial on his invention.

October 20, 2009

I Lose About 50 Hairs a Day! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,

My dad has a full head of thick hair at 63. My mom has thick and curly hair. I have the thick and curly hair as well. I am 21 years old. I believe I have a Norwood 2. My uncles from my mom side are bald on top but have hair around the head. My uncles from my dad side do not bald. I have just recently, I believe seen my mature hairline. I had my hair thinned out before I got it cut. I have a feeling of thinness in my mid scalp region. I am scared that I am balding. What should I do. I lose about 50-60 hairs daily.

Thank-you

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Its normal to lose 100 or so hairs a day, so you’re within reason. You probably lose more each day without realizing it (showering, outdoor activities, etc). You can try to find a doctor in your area for an examination — but I can’t tell you if you’re in the early stages of genetic hair loss or not without an exam. Try to find a doctor in your area by using the physician search at ISHRS.org.

October 20, 2009

Some Website Sold Me a Test That Said Toxicity is Causing My Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor

I am a 23 years old female. I used to suffer from hair loss 3-5 years ago but now I feel better with the hair loss although it seems to me that the hair that fall doesn’t grow again because I am noticing the shiny scalp. I had been using revivogen for around 8 months and I noticed new hair growth but not many. Then I stopped it one year ago. Three months ago I did hair test from Hairgrowth UK which shows the toxicity and they found out that food like wheat, animal milk and alcohol causes toxicity and they recommended that I take omega3:6:9 twice a day and oxylift and Royal Jelly as well. I’ve not noticed that my hair is getting better at all. I really don’t know what I am supposed to take to be recovered. plz help me

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There is a lot of money to be made by testing victims for bogus hair loss causes. I really do not know anything about this particular company or the value of taking the products that they recommend. Buyer beware.

If you’re concerned, I’d think you’d want to see a doctor that can examine you and perhaps run some real tests for female hair loss.

October 20, 2009

Why Can’t You Name Those Unethical Physicians? – Balding Blog

In response to Areas of Unethical Behavior Practiced Today:

“I ask you to consider your obligation under our oaths and our respective state medical board license agencies to report these doctors.”

Why not name the unethical physicians here then, so that would-be victims can be warned ? How else are patients supposed to find out, if not from web pages like this one ? I understand the fear of libel, but is that more important than the obligation under oath referred to above?

This isn’t the 1950s Hollywood blacklist and I can not go around identifying various surgeons without them bringing on legal actions against me. While you might think it is a noble thing to do, such actions could consume all of my finances and my time and I could live in the courts rather than do surgery. I have written to the Medical Board of California whenever I’ve identified a sleazy practice for California based physicians. The State of California is good at follow-through. If the sleazy doctor is located in another state, it may not be that simple. California will always create an investigation if they receive a complaint from either another doctor or a patient who has been wronged, but some of these sleazy doctors work outside of the United States and that produces even more problems for patients who have been victimized.

If you follow my instructions on how to pick a hair transplant surgeon, you can avoid the traps and not become a victim. You need to be an educated buyer in any medical treatment. Health care, like cosmetic surgery, is a buyer beware market!

October 19, 2009

Therapy-G to Treat Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi
I’ve been losing hair for the last 4 years, only on top and crown and in front hair line, temples. I tried minoxidil, but I had only a shedding, more hair loss, but used for 4 months without any difference. So I tried different products all without positive results. A friend that lives in LA talked about Therapy-G products. It is Shampoo, Follicle stimulator, Conditioning Treatment and Volumizing Treatment . I don’t know if this is a good product or has good results. Do you have any information about this THERAPY-G products?

Regards

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I just looked at the Therapy-G site, and to me, it looks like just another package of shampoo and conditioner that makes hair growth claims that they can’t prove. They say there is a “92% success rate”, but I have no idea where these numbers came from and what constitutes a “success” in their eyes. If you use a shampoo that cleans your scalp, that is a success. So what are they claiming? The “follicle stimulator” product itself is marketed as something that, “Stimulates blood circulation to the hair follicle”… but it’s been shown that circulation is not a cause of hair loss, so it appears that this is just capitalizing on misconceptions.

Another popular misconception is that shaving causes hair to grow back thicker or coarser…. so why not sell a razor and call it a hair thickener? Because it would be wrong. Why do these products get to legally sell their products while fooling people with misguided logic? I have no clue. I guess it is all in the careful wording they choose.

So back to your question — is Therapy-G any good? I really don’t know. I can’t find any results, but they do include plenty of stock photos on their website and five small testimonials that provide zero photographic evidence (but if they did have photos, it would be weak evidence). I have no idea if it works as a scalp/hair cleaner, but I’d like to know how they can prove the claims they make about hair growth.

October 19, 2009

I Ordered Propecia Online, Now I’m Losing Hair! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi there, in the past 2 months I have noticed my hair thinning in my crown area. I am Caucasian male, 23 years old. Since then I ordered Propecia online (it’s not the generic kind) and have been using it for 3 weeks now. I did not go and see a doctor in person to get a prescription.

Now I am getting a little paranoid that my hair is falling out even more since I have been using Propecia. I feel like my hair is thinning all over. Could this just be a placebo effect and me just being overly anxious and paranoid? I mean is it safe to use Propecia or does it make your hair fall out if it is not needed or prescribed by the doctor? I do not have any of the side effects that are listed on their website. Could you please advise as to what to do? I just want to know that what I am taking is not harmful to my existing hair as I might have not needed Propecia in the first place but became paranoid that i was loosing hair in the crown area. Thank you.

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The first question you should ask yourself is, “Am I sure I got real Propecia?” If you just bought a prescription medication from an online vendor without a doctor’s prescription or any verification, I wouldn’t necessarily put a whole lot of trust in it.

What I really want to know is, why are you treating yourself? You should never take a medication if it is not needed, and you should’ve been under a doctor’s care before treating yourself with prescription drugs. A doctor can tell you if the medication is right for you. You couldn’t really expect me to encourage or even condone your actions, could you? That being said, Propecia shedding is reported by some people.

Follow the many posts here on the drug Propecia (use the search), get the diagnosis of hair loss, find the presence of miniaturization, and on and on. I can not practice medicine on you over the internet and it sounds like you need to see a doctor.

October 19, 2009

Does a Maturing Hairline Also Decrease the Total Volume of Scalp Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hi doc

i’ve got a general question about maturing hairline. while a hairline is maturing, can the total volume of scalp hair diminish? is that possible?

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If the hairline and the hair that disappears reflects 2% of your total hair count, then the reduction will be 2% of your hair (total volume measurement). While it is maturing, the impact (if you do not have genetic balding) will not affect you anywhere other than the first 1/2 inch of hairline. In other words, if you’re losing hair beyond the hairline it isn’t just a mature hairline.

October 19, 2009

How Soon After FUE Can I Wear a Baseball Cap Without Being Careful? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Dr.

First of all thank you for having such an informative and helpful site. I wish other doctors would spend the time to have a site like this rather than having their sites full of promotional and marketing tricks. My questions is very simply.

I recently had ( 3 weeks ago ) a FUE procedure of 2600 fues to the zone 1 and zone 2. My question is… how soon can I start wearing a baseball cap/hat WITHOUT being extra careful with it. Meaning that the hat can touch the recipient area and also be a bit tight. My doctor say to wait a YEAR before I do this but it seems to be a bit too much. He said I can wear a hat after 30 days but making sure it is very loose and that it doesn’t touch the scalp. I find this very difficult to do given the locations where I received grafts.

I would like very much to know your opinion on this. Thank you!

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Once the scabs are off, you can wear a hat or do anything that is reasonable. The donor area should be healed by this time. I’m not your doctor and I don’t know how your procedure was done, but that is the instructions I give my patients. You should double check with your surgeon, of course.

October 19, 2009

Prostaglandins to Treat Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Are there any new developments in the study of prostaglandins as a treatment for hairloss?

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Dr. Farjo (one of our editors) feels that this drug group may have value in the future development of medications for treating hair loss. I don’t have any information about specific new developments, though.

For everyone else, see this article from 2003 and this article from 1996 for information on this subject.

October 16, 2009

Hair Loss InformationDid Intercytex Fail? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

For Dr. Farjo please: Are you still working with Intercytex on trials or have you lost confidence in the project? Based on what Dr. Rassman said (he doesn’t see a breakthrough in cloning/multiplication for at least 10 years) whereas intercytex predicted a product in 2010… Do you think it’s worth putting off a hair transplant for about 2 years if not urgent for something to come out of Intercytex? Or did they fail? I am confused about this because you had said the results were good at some stage… please let me know if something changed your mind.

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The following response is by UK-based physician Dr. Bessam Farjo:

Response by:

Dr Bessam Farjo
United Kingdom

Back in 2007 and early 2008, Intercytex genuinely believed that good news was around the corner. This was based on the very promising results of the laboratory work. What happened was that the positive results of clinical trials were not as efficient as the lab ones. In other words although promising and exciting, not quite good enough to justify applying for a therapeutic product for the public. Since then three things have happened. Firstly the credit crunch hit the biotech sector hard in that major investors pulled out. Secondly, an unrelated Intercytex product did not come up with the goods, which meant negatively affecting the company share price. Thirdly, money aside, Intercytex agreed that the future probably lies in their ongoing lab research of making fully formed hairs from the cloned cells before taking them back to the donor. At this point, I dont know when this work will result in a clinical trial.

At the moment you could say I am in between contracts with Intercytex as there no trials taking place. I was never employed as such by Intercytex.

If your donor hair is good enough for now and the future then I would encourage you to go ahead with transplants if you are a suitable candidate. Hair cloning, when it becomes available, is more relevant where donor hair is a problem. Another point depending on your age, you are probably more concerned about your loss now than you will be in 10 years time. The top doctors in the field will be able to advise you of your suitability and potential future hair loss.

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Learn more about the author of this article, Dr. Bessam Farjo, on his BaldingBlog profile or at his website.