Month: August 2010

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In the News – Laser Hair Center Accused of Swindling From Clients – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

They say he assured them, his clients, that he could re-grow their hair. Out of desperation they say they paid him thousands upon thousands of dollars in the hope his promise was true.

FOX Chicago News has been investigating an accused con artist to find out how he’s managed to stay in business in Chicago for at least five years, despite repeated lawsuits claiming he’s a bald-faced liar.

His name is Steve Bennis.

Bennis advertises his hair clinic in several promotional videos on his web sites. In one, he talks about the lasers he uses for treatment. “It’s the best laser machine in the market,” Bennis said.

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Scam AlertRead the full story at FOX Chicago — Hair Regrowth Center Accused of Swindling Clients out of Thousands

This is a follow-up to a post from late last year about a laser hair clinic in Chicago being sued for fraud… and as it turns out, the story is much more complex.

Desperate men were handing over tens of thousands of dollars after hearing promises of hair regrowth that are just not possible with any hair laser. When complaints were filed, he simply changed the company name. The investigation showed, “Bennis’ business has changed from Natural Hair Growth Institute to Omega Hair Group to Quantum Hair Sciences to Chicago Hair Growth Centers to American Hair Growth Centers“.

Much has been written about Steve Bennis online, and you can find a good starting point at Women’s Hair Loss Project.

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Why Might My Transplanted Hair Appear Damaged After it Grew Out? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi. I received 1500 grafts 16 months ago. The transplanted hair has grown in very well but still remains damaged. It’s very dry and frayed, is this normal for it to still be damaged? By the way my hair is slightly over two inches in length.

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I do not know what to make of your description. Sometimes the transplanted hairs may look a bit different in texture, but they usually return to their natural state over time. So in other words, no… it is not normal for transplanted hair to appear or feel any different from the rest of your hair, but on rare occasions (or more often in the hands of a less experienced transplant team) the hair can be damaged during the time it is moved.

Not all hair transplants are the same, and I don’t know the exact transplant technique and methods used by your doctor. Possible damage (if that is why your transplanted hair feels different) can be caused by trauma from handling or being left open to the air for more than a few seconds when it is transplanted to the recipient site.

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Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Mature Hairline – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey doc,
I was trying to find a good example of a hairline going from juvenile to mature and I found actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar, better known as Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell (kid/teen show in the 90s) and later he was a cop on the show NYPD Blue.

For someone like me in my 20s I think it serves as a good example of what a mature hairline is. Would you agree?

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I know you’re all shocked to learn that I didn’t pay too much attention to teen sitcoms in the 1990s and thus am not familiar with Mark-Paul Gosselaar… but I absolutely agree that this is a great example of a young man’s hairline maturing.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar

 

Note in his teenage photo on the left that his hairline is squared in a typical juvenile hairline. In the photo on the right (I assume taken 15 or so years later) the hairline is a classic example of a mature hairline. Just based on photos I’ve seen, this man appears to have a great head of hair.

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Nizoral and Dutasteride Together? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

Just wanted to say a very big thanks on how informative and up to date this website is.

My question is in relation to using both Nizoral and Dutasteride together. I have read in a few places the active ingredient in Nizoral has some sort of interaction with Dutasteride which reduces the effectiveness of Dutasteride in the body. Is this true and if so, is the effectiveness of Dutasteride reduced dramatically.

Thanks in advance.

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NizoralI do not know of any interaction between Nizoral (ketoconazole) and Avodart (dutasteride), and while I attempted to research it, I came up empty. Where did you read that there was an effectiveness reduction? Perhaps I’m the wrong person to ask, as I don’t usually recommend either treatments (Nizoral never, Avodart rarely). If you’re taking dutasteride, you should discuss drug interactions with your prescribing doctor.

Nizoral is an antifungal shampoo, and although some people insist it helps to treat hair loss, this has yet to be proven. I honestly don’t think it works much better than any other shampoo.

There is some suggestion that dutasteride is more effective at treating hair loss than Propecia (finasteride), but this hasn’t been proven yet. Dutasteride has some history of sterility problems that concerns me (which is why I’m reluctant to prescribe it), whereas Propecia has no significant sterility problem history. Plus, Propecia is FDA approved to treat hair loss and dutasteride isn’t.

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Filling in FUE Scars with Body Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctors!

I have a question about FUE and scarring. It seems that you use the same instruments to make both the donor excision as well as the recipient sites. Yet the recipient sites show no scarring. Where the small donor area punch marks are simply left open (and a scar forms from the skin healing over the small hole) I am guessing the fatty tissue keeps any perceptable marks from forming on the transplanted ares.

So, if you wanted to take it a step further, couldn’t you perform a body hair transplant on someone to fill in the FUE scars? Even if the body hair is not as cosmetically effective wouldn’t the “fatty tissue” from the BHT leave the donor area with no small white holes? Is my logic twisted?

A crazy hair question for the only people capable of answering it. Thanks for your time!

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The recipient sites are not made with punches like those used for follicular unit extraction (FUE). They’re two different tools. We generally create slits for recipient sites with needles or tiny scalpel blades.

The white dot scar is the result of skin being removed along with the graft in the FUE technique, and it really would not be reasonable to fill these tiny holes with body hair to eliminate all scalp scarring. The ‘bulk’ of a body hair may be finer than the ‘bulk’ of your head hair. Body hair usually grows in single-hair follicular units while scalp hair usually has more than one hair in a follicular unit, making for even less ‘total bulk’ of the transplanted grafts. That is why it is important to be assessed for these many variables and their meaning to you.

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Zinc Shampoo for Treating Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What I believe to be a reputable private practice hair transplant specialist here in San Francisco advised that I exclusively use a 2% zinc shampoo, a recommendation he apparently makes routinely for hair loss.

I however have read conflicting information about the value of topical zinc for men experiencing hair loss, and even that it may accelerate the process. Do you have any thoughts on this issue?

BTW I have not yet undergone any transplant procedure.

Thanks, and with regards

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Zinc will not help with treating genetic hair loss. There may be such things as zinc deficiency that can cause hair loss, but that is diet related (which has nothing to do with zinc shampoo). Your reputable private practitioner seems like a good entrepreneur, as well. Sometimes I think about going into the shampoo business…

There was a small study published 7 years ago that said there was a modest improvement in hair growth in those that used a 1% pyrithione zinc shampoo, but it also said that the benefits were only apparent to the investigator and not the patients using the product. Some marketers will use that weak study as a sales point for zinc shampoo.

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Can Rogaine Retain My Current Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I understand that Minoxidil is generally ineffective at regrowing hair in the frontal and temple regions of the scalp. However, since I am in the early stages of male pattern baldness, I would like to know how effective Rogaine is for maintaining my current hair count.

Is it true that rogaine stops working after a certain number of years?

Thank you for your time.

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Rogaine is not a cure. It is not that it stops working, but it is more of the fact it is not a cure. Everyone is different and responds differently to Rogaine, so there is no way to tell how long it will retain your hair or even if it will retain your hair. Excellent response to Rogaine generally is seen in about 15% of the population.

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Web of Deception – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

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


Written by:
Dr Bessam Farjo, United Kingdom
Dr Bessam Farjo
United Kingdom

The internet is a wealth of knowledge where literally anyone can have their say. Whether it’s a blog, tweet, or status update, men and women have the ability to get their views across to a global audience. This is a fantastic way to find out important information on a wide variety of subjects; however a lack of regulation means that often the information is widely inaccurate.

The other day, for example, I followed a tweet titled “Justifying the Cost of Modern Hair Implant Techniques“. The link led me to a blog discussing hair loss in women which naturally, bearing in mind the subject matter, I was interested to read.

Sadly, my interest soon changed to infuriation – the author was either severely uneducated on the subject or blatantly and significantly economical with the truth; either way I was unsettled by that fact that this misinformation was visible to potentially millions of people.

The author referring to the strip method of donor harvesting stated that: “A number of hair clinics will promote older, less good hair implant methods in order to keep costs down“. Nothing about the aforementioned sentence is correct; not even the grammar, nevermind the scientific information written especially since implying that FUE is the donor harvest method of choice in women.

This reiterated to me how important it is for potential patients to seek advice from trusted authorities on the subject, as it is all too easy for advertisers and novices to pose as educators on the net.

Another promotion from a relatively new provider of one technique only, claimed they are THE LEADING clinic in Europe, that they produce no scars, actually pioneered the procedure and pretty much saved the British public from the dire services of the existing providers (including ourselves!)

For the above reasons, especially when considering surgery, it is crucial that men and women acquire knowledge from reputable sources, such as the Institute of Trichologists, International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, British Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons, Hair Transplant Network and International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgery. I would also suggest looking for scientific research with proven reproducible clinical data, as well as case studies when considering any kind of medical or surgical treatment.

So, even with cutting edge technology, the old age saying is true; be it on paper or online, don’t believe everything you read!

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

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Does Cut Proscar Have a Shorter Half-Life than Propecia? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is it possible that cut pills (generic Proscar in fourths) have a shorter half life than Propecia with its protective coating still intact?

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ProscarPropecia and Proscar aren’t time released medications, so the protective coating wouldn’t change the half-life of the medication. A big reason for the coating is to protect pregnant women, as women that handle a cut finasteride pill run the risk of absorbing the active ingredient through the skin. The coating also helps make the pill easier to swallow and helps to extend the shelf-life by protecting it from the environment to some degree.

I know you realize the following information, but just in case some readers out there aren’t aware — some people choose to cut a Proscar (5mg finasteride) pill to make it equal to Propecia (1mg finasteride). Different generic pharmaceutical makers may make different shapes and sizes of the pill, but generally it’s easier to cut the Proscar into 4 equal pieces (making the dose 1.25mg). Why do people cut the Proscar? Well, Proscar (and the generic variant) is much cheaper than Propecia, which has no generic legally available in the US due to patent laws.