January 2012 – Page 5

January 17, 2012

Milk Makes My Scalp Itch and Propecia Eliminated That – Balding Blog

I am 100% convinced my brother is losing his hair due to heavy dairy consumption (around 4-5 servings of milk a day). He is 100% genetically my grandfather who never lost his hair and never had any dairy ever. I believe my grandfather would have lost his hair the same way if he also had dairy. My brother’s pattern of loss does not even match my father’s or anyone else going back several generations. When I myself consume milk my scalp begins to itch literally within seconds and if I have a lot I get dermatitis around my nose within a day and a very itchy scalp ever since I was 11. Coincidentally Propecia eliminated the itchiness I constantly got.

Even Dr. William Danby who specializes in the dairy and acne connection suspects male pattern baldness is promoted by dairy consumption (see link and scroll down) Protein Shakes and Acne

Have you ever seen anything like this in your practice?

Thank you

This is new to me. Thanks for sharing it with us. I can’t explain why Propecia would eliminate itch from consuming dairy, but if that’s what works for you…

I’ve written about dairy and hair loss before here.

January 16, 2012

I’m a Medical Student Taking Propecia – Can I Just Prescribe It to Myself? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman-
This question can be answered by you or any other M.D. working on the site, I do not mind. I am a 25 year old 4th year medical student who has been on propecia for 4 years and have had great results with no side effects. Stopped my hair loss completely at a Norwood 2 and have maintained since starting.

My problem is that the Dr. that prescribes to me, a prominent hair guy in New Jersey, has recently been unavailable for reasons that I can not figure out. I recently had to get an family doc that I did not know from my school to write me a temporary 90 day script, but with my future move to residency and the time constraints on a surgical resident (which I will be), makes me worry I will be left in the lurch if this keeps happening.

My question is basically this: can I write myself scripts for propecia every 90 days when I get my prescription pad this July? Is their anything ethically/legally wrong that will prevent me from doing this?

All the best

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Medical I understand that dealing with doctors can be difficult, but in your generation of medical students I am sure you are ingrained in the medical ethics of medicine.

In addition, the American Medical Association suggests, “Physicians should generally not treat themselves or members of their immediate family“.

So as harmless it may seem, you should not be prescribing medications to yourself. If you are so motivated, I suppose you can ask a colleague or another physician if they would mind (or feel comfortable) prescribing you the medication.

January 16, 2012

Can Hair Continue to Regrow If You Take Propecia and Then Stop? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, I has some questions about Propecia.

1. From what I understand, if you take Propecia it might not last (meaning after anywhere from 5 to 12 years, you go start balding again) is this ture?

2. I read someones post saying that he took Propecia for one year, stopped, started to bald and then his hair grew back again. Can this really happen? Is this possible?

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I’ve had some patients on Propecia for over a decade with continued benefits, and I’ve had some on Propecia that saw their hair loss slowly start again after a few years. Each person is different, so I have no way to know how you’ll respond.

Your hair may not be dependent upon Propecia so if you stop it, depending upon the value you got from the drug, your hair may continue to grow. Once you lose your hair from genetic balding, it is usually a permanent effect. Propecia may just slow the process down.

January 16, 2012

Hair Loss InformationMy Hairline is Great But My Doctor Sees Thinning on Top – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello, doctor. My hairline is only a Norwood 1.5. But I have recently found out that the top of my head is thinning. It isn’t that noticeable. Meaning only the doctor could see it. Not my friends, family etc. The only one I know in my family who was bald was my great-grandfather. All my other male relatives have a great head of hair. Does my thinning on top mean i will eventually go totally bald or could this be as worse as it gets? Should I start rogaine?

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If your thinning isn’t noticeable, what is your doctor doing differently to see it? Is he/she using miniaturization mapping or measuring your hair bulk?

I have no way to know if your loss will get worse and eventually lead to you being totally bald. It’s not quite as simple as that. Similarly, I have no way to know if you should be on Rogaine or any other treatment.

January 13, 2012

Patient Results – Growth at Only Four Months After 1622 Grafts (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This is a patient only a few months following surgery of 1622 grafts. He had grafts transplanted to the hairline and sideburns, and while it is unusual to have this much growth at only 4 months, I expect it will get even fuller over the next 4 months. I’m often asked what a hair transplant will look like at various monthly intervals until it is fully grown in, so I wanted to show a unique case.

After only 4 months (1 procedure of 1622 grafts):

Before:

January 13, 2012

I Just Turned 17, My Hairline Isn’t Straight – When Will I Go Bald? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi all,i have just turned 17 and recently realized that my hairline is not straight and is set back at the temples and i am wondering at what age i will go bald. However i did notice that my brother who is 11 has a very similar hairline. Help would be great

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There’s no way to tell. From what you are telling me about your 11 year old brother, the hairlines sounds like a family trait. If and when your hairline rises to the mature position, then you will be different from your brother. Even if you develop a mature hairline, it is normal and does not necessarily mean you’re going to go bald.

January 13, 2012

Hair Loss InformationUsing Smaller Needles in FUE? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman.
Why doesn’t the surgeons use a small needle? I have seen needles reported down to 0.4-0.6 mm. This should be good for less scarring in the donor area.

One doctor proclaims that he does hair multiplication and he also claims that he uses less invasive surgical instruments.

Thanks

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Be careful not to believe everything you read. A 0.4mm punch for follicular unit extraction (FUE) is very difficult and I would doubt repetitive in each grafts. I would like to see the results he gets and examine the grafts before I believe what I am told. I have done this on a number of occasions, and you would be amazed at what I found.

January 13, 2012

I Use 3 Hair Growth Treatments and They’re Working – How Often Should I Wash My Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, I have a family history of androgenetic alopecia; both of my grandfathers experienced severe baldness early in life and my brother has lost nearly all his hair. Until a year ago, I had a receding hairline and suffered moderately severe vertex baldness. Propecia/minoxidil/nizoral (2%) have significantly and remarkably filled in all balding areas! Many people have commented that I now have thicker hair than when I was a teenager.

My question is how often I should wash my hair for optimum hair growth/restoration? Using minoxidil 2-3 times daily does make my scalp oily, but this does not concern me as I often wear a cap. So much contradictory evidence makes this topic confusing. Your help would be much appreciated.

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It’s reasonable to wash your hair once a day. Washing your hair isn’t going to cause more to regrow, but as long as your treatments are working, you should keep up what you’re doing.

January 12, 2012

Female Pattern Hair Loss Overview Published in Medical Journal – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Androgenetic alopecia affects both men and women. In men it produces male pattern hair loss with bitemporal recession and vertex baldness. In women it produces female pattern hair loss (FPHL) with diffuse alopecia over the mid-frontal scalp. FPHL occurs as a result of nonuniform hair follicle miniaturization within follicular units. Diffuse alopecia is produced by a reduction in the number of terminal fibres per follicular unit. Baldness occurs only when all hairs within the follicular units are miniaturized and is a relatively late event in women.

The concepts of follicular units and primary and secondary hair follicles within follicular units are well established in comparative mammalian studies, particularly in sheep. However, discovery of these structures in the human scalp hair and investigation of the changes in follicular unit anatomy during the development of androgenetic alopecia have provided a clearer understanding of the early stages of androgenetic alopecia and how the male and female patterns of hair loss are related.

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Read the full abstract — Hair loss in women: medical and cosmetic approaches to increase scalp hair fullness

This is an interesting article published in the British Journal of Dermatology (December 2011) which covers the subject of hair loss in women. The recommendations in treatment suggest early medical intervention with drugs like spironolactone, minoxidil, and finasteride. When the hair loss becomes advanced, hair transplants work well if the hair in the occipital area (donor area) remains relatively unaffected by the process found in the balding area. The article also suggests women should use camouflaging agents to help give the appearance of thicker hair. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking in here, but it’s a good overview.

Based on our experience at NHI though, unfortunately the donor area is often not spared in the woman with advanced balding so that the number of good candidates are limited. We have found that if the donor area has significant miniaturization, transplanting this hair to the thinning area often fails to give full benefits. Many women aren’t surgical candidates for this reason.

January 12, 2012

In the News – Online Campaign for Bald Barbie – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Mattel is being urged to mass produce a bald Barbie in order to make girls suffering from hair loss feel more attractive and to help children cope with hair loss among friends and relatives.

A Facebook campaign designed to encourage Mattel to produce the bald version of the popular doll now has about 6,000 “likes” on its page. The page states that such a Barbie would benefit girls suffering from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia (an autoimmune disease causing hair loss) or trichotillomania (hair loss from pulling or twisting), as well as those who know a female experiencing hair loss.

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Read the rest — Campaign for Mattel to produce bald Barbie growing

Mattel did produce a one of a kind bald Barbie for 4 year old going through chemotherapy (see image), but they haven’t announced any intention to do a limited run, let alone a wide production run like these online petitions are asking for.

The article states that there’s also an online petition for a bald GI Joe action figure for boys experiencing hair loss.