Month: January 2023

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Dad Lost Hair in His Late 30s, I’m Losing Mine at 20

Hi Doc. Really nice blog! Been so helpful!

Just want to know. Is it normal to see hairloss several years before your dad did? I’m balding in the age of 20. My dad began losing hair in his late thirties.

All the best!

It seem you are an early bloomer. Hair loss can start as early as teenage years and doesn’t necessarily follow the exact timeframe as other family members. I suspect what you are going through is normal… for you. You need a good diagnosis with a doctor who will map out your hair for miniaturization to help make the diagnosis. Drugs like Propecia can slow or stop the balding process and change the course of hair loss over time.


2010-06-04 08:55:33Dad Lost Hair in His Late 30s, I’m Losing Mine at 20

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My Dad Has Hypothyroidism and Developed Hair Loss as I Am Now Doing.

I am taking good care of myself with a 1000 calorie diet and daily exercise, but I am losing hair anyways. Can I have a thyroid problem?

Both hypo and hyperthyroidism can cause hair loss and precipitate genetic balding if you have the genes for balding. You need to see a doctor and get your thyroid checked out. Also, your extreme diet can cause balding to appear especially if you have the genes for balding.


2018-11-01 06:37:03My Dad Has Hypothyroidism and Developed Hair Loss as I Am Now Doing.

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Dad bald, 3 brothers bald 1 brother not bald, what are my chances?

Question

Dad is bald at 68 but I he had most of his hair at 30 I think

Eldest brother at 31 is balding at the back but barely any hair loss, don’t think his temples are bad but would never notice

Next brother at 28 shaved his head

Next one at 25 shaved his head

Next one at 22 has significant hair loss noticeable when he puts his hair up

What are my chances? It is supposed to be a 50/50 on the mom’s chromosomes yeah?

Please god help me as this is ruining me

If you are 16, you won’t know yet. As you get closer to 21, you might see some balding changes. By the time you are 26, you will know. If you want to know in advance of what you see, connect with a doctor who has a HARICHECK instrument (https://baldingblog.com/haircheck-test-how-it-is-done-video/) and have your hair measured yearly which will pick up early balding before you can see it.


2020-09-15 12:29:13Dad bald, 3 brothers bald 1 brother not bald, what are my chances?

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Cytostatic Agent on the Face and Eyebrow Hair Loss?

Hello doctor,

can a cytostatic agent applied to the face in order to relieve effects of seborrheic dermatitis cause damage to eyebrow hairs? As far as I know, it slows down cell multiplication rate of the skin so I am wondering if it affects eyebrows and how?

Thank you

I think this question is better asked to a dermatologist. I have no experience with cytostatic agents as they are used for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis.

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Cyproterone Acetate and DHT

Dr. Rassman,

I know this may sound like an odd question, but, would an antiandrogen such as Cyproterone Acetate reduce the levels of DHT in the male body? Would it preserve hair in a person with very little balding. I realize there are major side effects with this drug, but am still curious.

Thanks, and keep up the wonderful work, your blog is quite informative!

Anti-androgens in men can cause a chemical castration, so yes, I would say that the side effects are major. A castrated male has no sex drive and may lose facial and body hair. Cyproterone is not something I’d suggest fooling around with.

The direct answer to your question comes from Wikipedia: “Some in vitro studies have suggested that cyproterone or cyproterone acetate may have a slight inhibitory effect on 5-alpha-reductase, however no significant reduction in DHT production has been observed in vivo.”

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Cyberhair — Synthetic Hair Fibers

I went to this place to try cyberhair. They tied three artificial hairs to one of my own hairs and did this for a total of 100 hairs. After the procedure, there was pain in the area that they worked. A few hairs came out from the procedure. Is this legitimate?

Cyberhair was developed by Aderans, a large maker of wigs and owner of hair transplant chains Bosley and Medical Hair Restoration (which has recently merged under the Bosley name). It’s just a type of synthetic hair fiber that is braided to your existing hair, a technique that has been around for many years.

The biggest problem in having artificial hair braided to your own is that in many cases it causes traction alopecia. This results in progressive hair loss from the constant tugging on the original existing hair.


2010-08-19 10:26:46Cyberhair — Synthetic Hair Fibers

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Cutting Proscar?

When you cut a proscar pill into 4 pieces does it lose it’s effectiveness ? Where do you store the 3 other pieces ? I heard that oxygene lower the potency of the drug

NO, but you should only cut one pill at a time and use it within the week, keeping it dry in a pill bottle because you don’t want it to take up water from the air around the pill.


2021-02-13 12:15:59Cutting Proscar?

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Cutting One Follicle to Make Two

When a hair is extracted with FUE, why doesn’t it grow back? I mean, couldn’t you just extract the greater part of the follicle, and leave a small portion still in the dermis, and it could generate two hair, like follicular multiplication?

When performing the FUE procedure, you may potentially transect the follicle, thereby damaging it and causing the hair to not grow. The other possibility is that if the follicle is left behind without damage, then it might regrow. What you are postulating has been a study that was done by many people and published in medical journals (an interesting article that addresses this is: “Cloned” Hairlines: The Use of Bisected Hair Follicles to Create Finer Hairlines).

Basically, one hair will not make more than one hair. When a hair is cut in two, one part dies and the other part may grow, but if it does it is often thinner than it was before the damage was done.

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Cutting My Propecia Dose in Half Eliminated the Side Effects

Hi Dr,

I tried Propecia about 2 months ago and got sides (could not maintain full erection during sex after a week). I stopped for a month and have now take .5 propecia for the past 2 weeks with no problems. I am 25 and have a bald spot in the back forming with diffuse thinning down the middle of my scalp.

What do you advise as my plan of action for re-growth, would you recommend me to up the full dose soon? Rogaine? Have you seen good results with adults my age range?

thanks for you help

If half the dose of Propecia works, you will get about 80% of the value of the drug, on average. That may be enough to accomplish your goals. You can try increasing the dosage up over time, but I really don’t want to give dosing recommendations for someone that isn’t my patient. This is a prescription medication, so you should go over your options with your physician.

You can try adding Rogaine to your routine, which is sold over-the-counter.


2010-01-15 09:54:18Cutting My Propecia Dose in Half Eliminated the Side Effects

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Cutting Generic Finasteride

Dr. Rassman,

Good info is provided in this blog, I want to ask you a question regarding a previous posters comment on Generic Finasteride. Your response to the blogger was to purchase Generic Finasteride at Cosco or Wallgreens instead of ordering generic Finasteride online. How is this possible when Merck was granted an extended patent until 2013 (See Wikipedia on Finasteride)?

Also do you think its safe cutting the 5mg into 4ths which will be 1.25mg approx? Thanks!

Generic Propecia (1mg finasteride) isn’t legally available in the US due to the U.S. and International patents held by Merck, but generic Proscar (5mg finasteride) is available in the US and that’s what I was referring to. When cutting the 5mg pill, you’ll likely have some crumbs, so it might be a little less than 1.25mg. Regardless, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. If you can cut it into 5 equal pieces, that would be ideal… but not practical and the dose clearly does not have to be exact (as discussed elsewhere on today’s posts).