Month: May 2011

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Hair Loss InformationI’m 16 Years Old and I See the Sides of My Head Are Thinning – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi. I’m a 16 year old guy who eats healthy organic food and exercises every day. My mom’s dad went bald but my dad’s dad had healthy hair until he died. Also my dad still has pretty much all of his hair. My older brother has hair like my mom’s dad and he went bald. I, on the other hand, have hair like my dad. So, enough background info.

A couple months ago I started to notice that hair on the sides of my head were getting smaller. Now I have smaller and less hair on the sides and a little less one the front of my hairline. The hairs on the sides are shorter and thinner than on the rest of my scalp. What should I do?

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It’s possible that a 16 year old with a strong family history for balding can detect early male pattern baldness (MPB). The first thing I would want to do is to measure the hair bulk throughout your scalp. This is a great way to help make more accurate predictions of hair loss and it documents the status of the hair each and every time it is used.

At 16 years old, I would want to know this FOR SURE, because it would either tell me that I do not have a problem with early hair loss or that I do. If you had documented bulk reductions with this test, then the use of Propecia would probably be worth exploring with your doctor.

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Hair Loss InformationCan My General Practitioner Prescribe 5mg Finasteride? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is it possible for a general practitioner to prescribe finasteride 5mg if he knew what I was taking it for? The only dermatologist in town moved far away and will not refill my prescription unless I have yet another appointment. I have little time to visit a specialist outside my town.

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Any physician can prescribe almost any medication… so the short answer is: Yes. Some doctors do not like to prescribe the 5mg finasteride pill under the assumption that you are going to split it into quarters. If your doctor won’t prescribe it at that dose (which is available in generic), try another doctor.

For those not familiar, 1mg finasteride is for treating hair loss and 5mg is for treating the prostate. The 5mg is available in a much cheaper generic form, the 1mg isn’t yet available in the US due to patent laws.

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Hair Loss InformationMy Hair Loss Began After a Stroke – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had general questions re hair loss. I’ve had several mini strokes. 1st one @ 2002 which is when hair loss began. It itches horrendous which is irritated at different times. Not sure if this is due to certain foods eaten that triggers this. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. thank u

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After a major stressful event to your body (stroke) hair loss can be an issue. It can reverse with time, but often for men, many patients do not report full recovery of their hair. I do not have an explanation for this.

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Hair Loss InformationScalp MicroPigmentation Allergy Risk? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is there any risk of allergic response to the pigments?

I have had increasing allergic responses to a number of medications and foods over the past few years (hives). It would be catastrophic to have a whole scalp covered with this and then find out it triggers a hive response.

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There is a risk of allergies to the pigments, which contain metal oxides. While generally rare, the most common allergy is to these metals. All patients are skin tested to the dyes prior to starting the full process, but this only covers short term detectable allergies.

According to BMEzine:

    “It should be noted that allergies can develop over time with exposure (which is why there are more rice allergies in Asia than North America; but those allergies don’t start occurring until fifty or so), and that they may not show up until years later (when the allergy develops).

    – snip –

    While you could get spot tests done in theory with tattoo ink, this is virtually unheard of and in my opinion not entirely viable, and there is no readily available way to know in advance whether you will have such a reaction. Thankfully they are quite rare.“

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Hair Loss InformationHairSil Accelerator Shampoo – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m 31, and have been using Nioxin for about 6 years. My hair has always been thin and my hairline has been continuously receding since my early twenties. I do believe the Nioxin has helped slow my hair loss (I have a younger brother whose head is nearly bald!). But I still have major shedding every morning in the shower.

Now I see a new product called “HairSil” – which is “clinically proven with Bioactive Peptide TA-5.” What the heck is that stuff, and how would it benefit a balding head? I’m considering giving it a try but don’t want to throw away all those years I’ve invested in Nioxin already.

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I read on a forum where someone said the product claims “100% of patients in the study saw increased hair growth” and “80% saw a reduction in hair loss by 8 weeks“, but I can’t find an official site for HairSil that says that. If indeed that’s what the makers of HairSil actually claim, the FDA should probably look into it.

On the surface, HairSil just sounds like it’s a shampoo like any other. It’s hard to find much information on it outside of what others have written on hair loss forums. It’s worth noting that they offer a 20% commission to affiliates that sell this shampoo, so it might be another in a long line of products that people are hyping up just to get your money.

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How Common Is Asymmetry in the Hairline When MPB Begins? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

How common is it for men to have obvious asymmetrical hairloss at the start of balding?

My hairline was deadly straight, however now I have just one side that is minaturising about 2cm behind at the corner for about a year now, and getting gradually worse. The other side is still fine and the hair is still thick all the way to the edge. This is painfully obvious if I brush my hair back, so I have to brush forward and slightly to the side to cover it. How often do you see something like this?

I’m thinking about going on finasteride but wondering whether you usually wait for both sides to begin minaturisation, as at the moment this doesnt look likely any time soon.

Thank you

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It is very common to have asymmetry of the hairline, which often gets more pronounced as the balding increases. But don’t be too concerned about things being uneven… the other side usually catches up!

You’ll need to talk to your doctor about whether you should be on finasteride. Generally for hair transplant surgery, we don’t necessarily need to wait until both side are equal.

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Hair Loss InformationCan Rogaine and Propecia Work on the Same Follicle? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman, strange question I have for you.

If, hypothetically, one responds well to finasteride and regrows some hair, and also, is ABLE to respond well to rogaine (minoxidil) and regrows hair, can the two drugs work together on the same hair follicles that one regrew? In other words, can the hair that rogaine regrew be maintained with finasteride, and vice versa?

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They have different mechanism of action, so I’d assume they could work together for maximum benefit on the same follicle… but if you stop using one medication, the other medication won’t maintain it 100%. In other words, Rogaine-grown hair isn’t maintained by finasteride alone (and vice versa).

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Hair Loss InformationThe Value of Using Non-Head Hair for Transplantation? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr Rassman

In contrast to transplants using scalp donor hair, I appreciate that the probability of technical and cosmetic success with body hair and other nonhead hair transplants for severe cases of baldness remains unclear. Today I read an article in a well-regarded journal that describes 3 patients who had a significant cosmetic need resulting from poor previous surgical procedures and exhausted scalp donor supply (Umar S. Ann Plast Surg. 2011 May 2. [Epub ahead of print]). The article appears online in this month’s journal before its appearance in print and can be accessed here.

The outcomes with nonhead hair appear to be excellent. Given the varied and anecdotal results with BHT (and nonhead hair, in general) infrequently reported (in blogs) by different patients and physicians (1) do you see a role for nonhead hair in individuals who are in situations similar to that described by Umar?, and (2) wouldn’t it be of great value for those who perform nonhead hair transplants to pool their experiences and data to potentially better understand (and publish in a peer-reviewed journal) those patient or physician factors, or both, that may contribute to and predict good outcomes?

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I have seen some good results reported from body hair transplants (BHT) so there may be instances where it could be an option, but I don’t generally recommend it due to the variability in texture and growth cycle. I’ve previously written about using scalp and body hair together in transplantation, and remain neutral. My opinion continues to be that body hair should only be used when you run out of donor hair from the scalp, but having said that, I would consider it as one of the last options.

With respect to pooling the experiences and data for a better understanding, I believe it is a great idea. In practice, I don’t know how the accumulation of data from all the body hair patients and their surgeons would be delineated. By that I mean that most surgeons wouldn’t want to publish or admit to bad outcomes, nor would certain patients want to participate in the study. My point is that it stands risk of a skewed study… but perhaps I am just a skeptic.

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Born with Receded Hairline Corners – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi there.

If someone was born with receded corners does it mean his hairline will not mature?

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The hairline you have at birth isn’t an indicator of where your hairline will go as you age.

We are all born looking different — rounded corners (Bill Clinton), low hairlines (Sean Penn), etc. These can be changed with a good hair transplant doctor if you do not like it. Receded hairlines generally refer to maturing hairlines in many men or early frontal balding in others, but I generally do not like changing these in very young men (under 26 years old) as you may continue to lose hair as you get older.

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Hair Loss InformationIs Propecia Making My Penis Tingle? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor,

I am a 22 year old male with NW3… but I’m likely heading towards a NW6. I was recently prescribed Propecia to help combat my hairloss, I don’t seem to have any side effects, However, but my Penis “tingles” during most of the day. This is not listed as a side effect… but could this be because of Propecia?

I have to say that your website is a great service to balding men everywhere, but other sites that promote fear of Propecia have made me worry about it. How can you tell if a side effect is real, or just in your head? I have a habit of over-thinking things.

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I’ve not heard of Propecia use and penis tingling. I would suggest you have it checked out with the physician who prescribed it to you. How long have you been taking the medication?

As for how to tell if a side effect is real or all in your head… well, that’s not easy. And as I’ve said before, the power of suggestion is well documented. Rather than focusing on the rare negatives, try focusing on the overwhelming positives.