Hi Doctor
Can topical Minoxidil affect the sex desire, impotence or the erections ability of someone? Are there any facts, or have you heard something about that?
Thank you in advance.
Nope, sexual side effects are not from minoxidil. Chest pain, rash, increased heart rate… those are related to minoxidil. A full list of side effects can be found here.
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Since last year I have been experiencing hair loss. I am a 49 year old african american female who in December 2009 had a noticeable bald spot that began appearing at the left side of my crown. From December until January 2010 the spot began to move from one side to another and then became quite bad. I finally went to see a physician who diagnosed me with autoimmune disease and alopecia. He prescribe a topical steroid (betamethasone dipropiontate lotion) and encouraged to take biotin. The back of the hair has grown back and now between a nickle and a quarter spot still remains at the crown. I am experiencing hair growth and to the roots it is quite coarse.
Would you recommend that I put a kiddie relaxer in it to get some of the thickness straighten out?
If you are asking whether a hair relaxer will help or make your condition worse, I would guess “no” to both. If you are asking if a hair relaxer will help with your look, that’s a styling question and I would rather leave that up to you.
As far as I know, hair relaxer for kids contains the same chemicals as hair relaxer for adults, but it is just marketed differently. In other words, you still run the risk of causing chemical damage.
Dear Dr Rassman,
I have been reading your posts for sometime. Thank you for your informative answers to many questions that I myself have had in the past but have never asked.
I am a 38 year old male who noticed diffuse thinning approximately 2 years ago. This was accompanied by a greasy scalp and some itching as well, particularly in the evening when the greasiness was at it’s worse. I had NEVER had a greasy scalp prior to this. My wife cuts my hair so she noticed my hair was definitely thinning for the past 2 years. I started propecia 8 months ago, nizoral 1% daily as well as polysorbate 80+tsal(3% salicylic acid shampoo) daily. I started to notice results after approximately 4 or 5 months. My wife has noticed that my hair has definitely thickened up and is no longer showing the “see through” that it used to in the past. She estimates that my hair has improved by 50% in terms of thickness and texture.
My question is…is it only the propecia which is causing this stabilization/regrowth or is the nizoral+polysorbate having some effect. I have DEFINITELY noticed that after approximately a month of using the 2 shampoos, my hair was no longer greasy as it used to be. I have read articles on the internet on polysorbate 80 and was wondering what the general consensus is on the material. Thanks!
I am not a fortune teller. You started 3 separate hair treatments and now you are stuck not knowing if one, two, or even all three were the reason you saw improvement. Still another possibility is that none of the treatments worked and it was just a matter of being patient while the hair regrew, because maybe you didn’t have genetic male pattern baldness to begin with. Maybe you had telogen effluvium and it was self-limiting and the hairs grew back on their own (as it typically takes 6 to 12 months).
In other words, I really do not know… and this is why I generally recommend only using one treatment at a time, or you’ll end up “addicted” to all of them, too worried that if you stop one you’ll lose the benefits. This is also the reason why I tell readers to start with a good diagnosis. See a doctor before starting medications. Scientifically document before and after with a miniaturization study. I suppose if you are brave, stop one of the three and see what happens.
As for polysorbate 80, I’ve commented on that before here.
Ive read some on the red hair color dominant gene.
In your experience, is there any link as to that gene and baldness? Meaning – if I have a red hair gene that came from my fathers mother, am I more likely to get the bald gene from his side of the family as well?
Nope, there is no direct connection between hair color and balding. The genes are separate.
There is some interesting reading here about hair on Wikipedia.
Dr. Rassman, I noticed few before/after photos of Asian males. I am an Asian male that has typical Asian hair which sticks straight out. Is this not an ideal hair type for hair transplants? I would assume it would be hard to cover a scar. thanks!
On rare occasions, some Asians with coarse straight hair may have hair that points upward. This is not common, but when it happens, the hair from strip surgery may have to be longer if a scar greater than 3mm is created (~5% risk). Alternative for this, of course, is follicular unit extraction (FUE), where there is no linear scar present.
Most (better than 95%) Asians have results as shown in the referenced posts below and we perform a great number of such surgeries as a matter of routine. It is worth noting that we only post the patients that have signed photo releases, so if there are few Asian patients posted it is because they simply don’t wish to have their photos made public.
Dear Docs,
Please look at the pictures in this thread at BaldingForum. I’d like to get a hair transplant shortly.
How often do you come across a juvenile Norwood 3 hairline? How soon can you schedule a procedure and i’m interested to consult on proposed hairlines.
I was born with a weak hairline and in my 30’s, i’d like something I NEVER had in my teens and twenties; A hairline that won’t be the butt of jokes. Luckily my hair is coarse and wavy with thickness.
I originally met Dr. Bernstein in 2000 at a seminar in Boston. For background information, my grandfathers’ on both sides had hair. My father and his brother are both bald. My older brother 3 years older has a full and thick head of hair with zero recession.
The photos you showed go from being a baby to being in your 20s, and its common for a baby’s hair to be sparse and grow in, so that photo doesn’t really tell me anything. I need to see photos of your hairline before puberty, because if you’re telling me that you had a Norwood 3 at 12 years old… well, I have never seen a 12 year old with a hairline like that (Norwood 3 for a juvenile hairline).
As far as scheduling procedures, I’d want to meet with you or at the very least have a telephone consultation prior to setting up a surgery. If you’d like to setup a consultation, please call my office at 800-NEW-HAIR (or 310-553-9113) and have someone on my staff fill you in on available times/dates.
Hi Doctor. I have been on a generic finasteride that I bought from Mexico (manufactured by SBL Pharmaceuticals) for about three weeks now. I think I’m suffering from sexual side effects. But I’m not sure if it’s due to psychological stress or finasteride. My question is can I beat the side effects of the pill if I stick with the daily regimen? My biggest problem is getting and maintaining an erection (I have also lost morning wood). Thanks for your reply.
I am not familiar with finasteride from Mexico (sounds like the same stuff I wrote about recently), but I will assume it is the same as Propecia (finasteride 1mg).
The side effect you are experiencing occurs in 1 to 2% of men who take finasteride, and are reversible once you stop taking it. The side effects could also go away if you continue taking it over a period of weeks or months, but you won’t know until you try.
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well i seem to be having a thinning problem at the crown of my head. The real problem is that i am only 14. It appears that this runs in my family because my uncle is in his twenties and he has the same problem. I am an African American male.
I have also heard that African hair is fragile. i brush my hair with a boar brush that is quite hard. So i am wondering if the hardness of my brush could possibly make my hair look even more thin at the crown. currently i am also obtaining that popular waves hairstyle that is quite popular among african american males is this also a factor?
African hair is fragile, but if your brush is indeed too ‘hard’ on the hair I’d suspect you would notice thinning everywhere you brush.
It’s not too common for male pattern baldness to start in 14 year olds, but it is not outside the realm of possibility and it could start with puberty. Considering you have an uncle with early loss, it certainly points to your genetics. You might even find others in your family line had similar issues in their youth. See a doctor, get a diagnosis, and have a miniaturization study done to see what is really going on.
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I was reading through your blog with regards to histamine positive scalp. (Which I have). My question has to do with autoimmune response and hair transplants. I have a very over-active auto-immune response to some things, especially poison ivy/oak.
Several years ago (2006, age 50 at the time) I had a transplant done. Top-flight hair transplant surgeon! My hair was relatively dense, with receding hairline. The histamine reaction to the transplant was severe, with a tender and red scalp for over 8 months. Today, I have lost over 50% of my 2006 density, my hair has turned nearly white (was salt and pepper), and miniturization is everywhere (when there was none prior to transplant in 2006). A prolonged histamine response can cause antibodies to attack the body (or follicles). I am convinced this is what happened. Any thoughts from the information I have given you?
Well, if you are convinced that is what has happened, what more can I say?
I do not know of histamine response connected with hair loss. Maybe you need an allergist or a good diagnosis of what is going on with your hair. Maybe you have diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), which is causing more thinning everywhere. I really do not know without examining you.
I realize you are trying to establish a cause and effect relationship between histamine and hair loss, but I do not know how it is relating. When I talk about histamine reaction of the on the scalp it is the redness that a person sees when you scratch the skin/scalp. Your body releases histamine and makes the skin turn red temporarily. This is not an autoimmune response you are referring to. This is not the histamine reaction from poison ivy/oak. Moreover, histamine is used by your body in many other ways (other than auto-immune related). So you see, biochemistry and our human body is very complicated.
Hello Doc, I am an underweight person (25 years,55kg ,height 176cm)of South Asian origin and i don’t have a family history of hairloss. All my siblings have great hair but I have been loosing hair since last two years.I tried Fin but it gave me the side effect even with the lower doses(o.5mg).I started using minoxidil(5%) a month ago but the loss hasn’t reduced a bit. My dermatologist has advised me to use betamethasone dipropionate (0.05%) on effected area. What’s your take on it? Should i use betamethasone dipropionate lotion or not coz after few applications it appears that the loss rate has gone up instead of decreasing.
I can’t give you specific advice about what medication is right for you for multiple reasons, but the main one being that I do not even know what you have. What is your diagnosis for the hair loss? Do you have male pattern baldness (MPB), or do you have an autoimmune problem?
Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil) are the only proven drug treatments for MPB. They are not perfect and by no means a complete cure, but they do work if given time. I don’t know how long you were taking finasteride, but you’ve only used minoxidil for a month and that’s simply not enough time to see any benefit.
Corticosteroids like betamethasone (marketed as Diprolene or Diprosone) are used to treat psoriasis and other skin irritations, but have never been proven to help with MPB. In fact, it might make your hair loss worse. I’ve written about betamethasone before here.
If you need a second opinion, I would make an appointment with a doctor who can explain these things to you in detail.
