January 2010 – Page 8

January 11, 2010

Hair Loss After Partial Hysterectomy and Stresses of Life – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

In 2006 I had a partial hysterectomy (uterus only). This past July my doctor put me on 1 mg. of Divigel. I’ve noticed the past couple of months that my hair is falling out. I don’t know if it is the hormone replacement therapy or not. I should note that when I’ve had surgery or a stressful time in my life, I tend to shed, but the hair comes back. I’m wondering if my “empty nest” this fall or the Divigel is causing the hair loss. Any ideas?

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Divigel Stresses (emotional, surgical, medical, etc) can all cause some degree of hair loss. It usually takes about one year or so before you notice the hairs regrow once the stress is under control. Or, it could be the medication you’re on. Divigel (estradiol gel) does list mild hair loss as a common side effect.

It is best to discuss your concerns with your doctor that is treating you. On top of the stress and medication, there may be other medical issues that you are not aware of as well. In the end, hair loss for women is very frustrating for doctors and patients alike. There is no one magic bullet or a defining cause. And worse yet, there is no definitive treatment (let alone, a cure). Good luck.

January 11, 2010

If I Stop Minoxidil, What Kind of Hair Loss Should I Expect? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 26 years old male and i’ve applied minoxidil once a day since age 21, but only in the two sides of my hairline where i had a problem, not in the rest of my hair. My father is totally bald. My treatment was taking place with some breaks, like 8-9 months treatment, 2 months stopping treatment. When i was stopping the treatment, the hair that was grown from minoxidil were falling out, and then after re-starting the treatment they were starting to grow again.

i have no sign of baldness in my crown, where i’ve never applied minoxidil. i want to ask you that if i stop using it at all, what kind of hairloss should i expect?

If you’re going to keep starting and stopping the medication, I don’t see the point in using it. If you stop using the medication completely, I’d expect any benefits that the minoxidil gave you will soon disappear. I don’t know what your hair loss pattern is or how much the medication was helping, so I have no way of knowing what kind of hair loss you’ll see. But if minoxidil regrew hair, that hair will fall out when you stop using it. Why are you playing Russian Roulette with your hair?

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January 11, 2010

Any Link Between Body Hair and MPB? – Balding Blog

I’m sure that this question has been asked many times but are body hair and baldness related? My dad suffers from MPB and he inherited it from his maternal grandfather. He first noticed a receding hairline at 16. My dad also has a lot of body hair and matured quite early. I’ve been told that I carry a lot of my mother’s genes but I have a lot of body hair like my dad.I’ve noticed a very slight recession in my hairline and I asked my dad and he didn’t know if I was losing it and I went to my dermatologist and she wasn’t sure either. Any information that you can give me would be great.

Like your dad and your dermatologist, I am not sure if you’re losing your hair either. I haven’t seen photos or have any way to determine if you’re in the early stages of balding, your hairline is maturing, or if you’re just worrying about nothing. Since you’re worried about male pattern baldness, you should have your scalp examined for signs of miniaturization.

The the hard fact is, if you inherited the hair loss gene, you inherited the gene. It’s really not related to body hair. Body hair is another genetic trait as well in itself and to my knowledge, these two are not directly related to each other.

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January 8, 2010

I’m a Teen Worried About Hair Loss – What Should I Do? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

sir,
i have seen your ht results. truly fantastic. congrats.

now my problem is my dad’s bald but none of his brothers (4) are bald. i have had a big forehead and recession in temples from childhood which is hereditary even for my uncles. so i dont know whether i will have hairloss in future? i am 19 years old (nw 2) now. what shall i do?

also i dont know when to start propecia or rogaine. to add further, i heard propecia decreases cancer risk but if a person still gets it, then he will get a very dangerous form of cancer. is it true? plus will propecia cause male breast cancer? i dont know what to do but i want to keep my hair at least up to 55 or so. but i am scared about these info’s here about the side effects? could u please guide me. it would be so nice of you if you mail me answering to my queries and tell me what i shall do to keep my hair on.

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Teen At the age of 19 and a Class 2 Norwood scale balding, you are not a candidate for surgery. If you are really balding, then you will have the appearance of miniaturization in the hair on your head. In that case, the drug finasteride is the best way to stop the balding problem in men who are balding in the earliest stage. Get a good doctor to review your personal situation and please do not have a surgery under any circumstances.

I’ve been getting a lot of similar emails from teens that want to take medication before they need to, or want me to tell them if they’re going bald based on 2 sentences they email to me. I’m going to make this as easy as possible for everyone to digest, and there’s no better way than an itemized list…

You have a family history of hair loss, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will experience loss to the same degree or at all. It can skip generations.
Some refer to the corners of the hairline as the temples. Corner recession could be the maturing of the hairline. Recession of the actual temples will usually not see benefit from medication and surgery will likely be required to restore them.
I can’t tell you when you should start on Propecia (finasteride), as it is a prescription medication and therefore must be prescribed by your physician. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t take medication as a preventive medication against hair loss anyway. Everyone is different, and some men will need the medication at 18 years old, while others will need it at 35. It depends on when you’re experiencing miniaturization and to what degree. A 25 year old man already showing thinning in the Norwood Class 7 pattern will not benefit from Propecia unless it is caught early and still it may not do much more than stop the loss from occurring.
Propecia side effects are real, but they are also quite rare. Internet reports are unverified and overblown (some people will post the same basic negative messages over and over under different usernames across different sites). The major health concerns that you brought up (prostate and breast cancer) are worth considering, but more information needs to be collected. Studies into these types of issues might have been minimal, but the FDA lists the medication as safe and effective, and I’ve seen the effectiveness first hand (and have posted many photo results on this site).
Get a good, caring doctor who has an interest in hair loss. Most often they build their expertise in the surgery of hair transplants, but there are many good doctors who care enough about their patients that they will not be trigger happy and rush you into a surgery before you are ready. Check the physician search at ISHRS to get started.

January 8, 2010

Could Finasteride Increase Muscle Mass? – Balding Blog

If Testosterone levels do go up by about 15% by taking finasteride could this drug increase muscle mass?

Doubtful. The slight increase in testosterone is very minor and only temporary.

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January 7, 2010

Hair Loss InformationTwo Clinics Just Tried to Sell Me Shampoos and Scalp Massages! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I went to two clinics for hair loss consultation and both places are selling things such as overpriced shampoo’s, scalp massages to help blood circulation to regrow hair. They also try and sell packages that analyze your scalp to determine if the condition is suitable for hair growth and come up with a plan for regrowth, wigs/hairpieces, hair transplants. Or special hair dressers that style your hair a certain way to cover hair loss. Is this common for most clinics to offer all these options? Or are these clinics which I feel are complete BS or operate in a grey area and try to rip people off. What it seems to me is these “clinics” seem to milk money from poor unsuspecting people and when all their hair is gone they charge them for hair transplants? My understanding is the only way your hair can comeback is either medication or transplants. I guess what I want to do is warn people of these things IF these clinics are truly scamming you! Thanks

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Your warning is appreciated and you are expressing many of my opinions as well.

In my practice, I only sell hair transplants and Propecia (at cost). We do sell DermMatch (camouflaging agent), but suggest that this can be purchased through the internet without the small fee that we charge just to keep it in stock. I sell no shampoos, wigs, hair lasers, or any other hair aids.

January 7, 2010

Hair Loss InformationFasting and Propecia Side Effects? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

From your medical point of view, if someone had side effects from a year’s worth of Propecia, could fasting help speed up the side effects going away? I’ve read that water fasting or juice fasting accelerates recovery because energy usually spent on digestion is now used for healing and returning the body back to a baseline level.

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I don’t advocate fasting and I really don’t know that water or juice fasting would speed up recovery or increase the speed of side effect disappearance. It’s an interesting idea, but to be completely honest, what you are saying makes no sense to me.

January 7, 2010

Extenze and Hair Loss? – Balding Blog

Does Extenze cause hair loss? If you’re on Propecia would that combat any hair loss potential by Extenze?

Extenze I know very little about herbals like ExtenZe that claim to increase the size of a man’s penis, which is what Extenze seems to promote. I have seen the commercials for this product advertising it on CNN and frankly it is unbelievable for me to imagine that it can do what it claims to do. If someone out there has actually used the product (hold the spam, please), feel free to post a comment to let our large group of male readers know. I tried to do some actual research online, but its difficult due to the amount of advertising spam hidden as articles about this product. They really have a large marketing campaign going on the web (and television, obviously).

I did manage to look up the ingredients for ExtenZe and it lists DHEA, which can cause hair loss in some men. I haven’t seen any reports of hair loss from the pill, though. Connecting it with Propecia is well beyond anything my imagination can muster.

January 7, 2010

Can Shock Loss be Temporary? – Balding Blog

Great SITE. Useful info and look forward to my next transplant if I have 1 to be done by you…

A few questions. I been reading about shock loss. In your opinion do most shock loss come back?? If so how long after. If NOT with propecia bring it back?

I did my transplant about a month ago around my hairline and hairs are growing but it’s kind of itchy and a little red still where the graphs where placed. Is this normal cause hair is coming out now?

Last question. I’m 33, dirty blond hair and got graphs in my crown. i can feel hair everythere like a brushcut, and I know it TAKES months to see results BUT what are the chances that the density will cover that crown. Given I have light hair and very fair skinned.. Thx in advance…

Shock loss in the men who are actively losing hair from genetic hair loss is more often semi-permanent or permanent. Some hair may come back, but in my experience it is not common. The use of finasteride (Propecia) will protect the hair in most young men from shock loss and I always insist that the patient go on the medication prior to the surgery for that very reason.

Men with blond hair will often take less hair to cover any area when compared to a man with dark hair and light skin. To be more specific, I would want to know how many grafts you received, what was the hair count, what is the size of the area covered, and what is the weight of your hair shafts (fine, medium or coarse) before I would want to venture a guess about your crown coverage.

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January 6, 2010

If the Hair on the Sides of My Head Are Thinning, Is It Stress Related? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, my basic question is about stress and hair loss.

I do have alopecia, but when I started rogaine/propecia it was only on my temples. However, for the last two years, I have experience severe psychological stress. I used to have extremely thick hair on the back of my head. However, most of it has fallen out, along with the sides of my head.

I read that this could be Telogen Effluvium. When the stress is over, the hair is suppose to come back. In my case, my hair isn’t growing back at all, and it has been about seven months. One note, before I went through my stress period, the rogaine regrew hair. Now that’s not the case.

I’m wondering if my severe stress, along with alopecia, has permanently killed my hair follicles, even in the back and sides of my head.

Thanks

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If we were to assume it was from stress causing a telogen effluvium, then the hair should grow back in a year or so once you managed the stress, but it takes a long time and patience. In men, however, the hair loss is most likely from genetic causes and a good doctor would connect the dots and find out what is a telogen effluvium or what is MPB. I can not do this remotely from just what you reported here, particularly since you mentioned hair falling out from the back and sides of the head (which is not generally part of the balding pattern).

You should meet with a doctor that specializes in the field and get an examination of your scalp and loss, and you can find such a doctor by using the physician search at ISHRS.org.