Month: January 2023

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Can Rogaine Undo a Maturing Hairline?

Hi Dr. Rassman,
Assuming that Rogaine does work the same throughout your scalp, do you think Rogaine will be able to bring forward a maturing hairline? In other words, does a maturing hairline work in the same way MPB does through DHT? Or is a maturing hairline just programmed follicular apoptosis that wouldn’t respond to minoxidil in the same way that miniaturizing hairs would? Thanks.

Rogaine (minoxidil) is not a DHT blocker and only works as a side effect to grow hair. I am virtually 100% positive that Rogaine will not restore your juvenile hairline.

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Can Rogaine Regrow Hair from Traction Alopecia?

As rogaine is intended for hair regrowth and not to combat hair loss, can it be effective on regrowing hair lost from anything other than male pattern baldness, i.e. traction alopecia, or even a mature hairline?

I wouldn’t expect Rogaine (minoxidil) to regrow either frontal hairlines or hair loss caused by traction alopecia. It’s possible that it could cause hair growth in areas where there wasn’t significant hair previously, though.

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Can Rogaine or Propecia Change Hair Character?

Hello, Dr. Rassman…

I am curious about Propecia and/or Rogaine. Do these medications change the CHARACTER of your hair over time? In other words, do they make for healthier hair in general? You know, thicker, fuller, more lustrous? I have noticed as I have entered my early 40’s that my hair seems to be finer and drier than it used to be. I typically use product to add some lustre to it. Do thees medications help in that regard, or do they basically “freeze” the hair loss and the character of the hair remains the same?

Thanks so much for your time!

Propecia works on the miniaturized hairs, thickening them. That will change the character of the hair, making it look more like it did before the impact of genetic balding that caused the miniaturization in the first place. Many people who take Rogaine report similar results. This is all good.


2009-08-11 09:19:57Can Rogaine or Propecia Change Hair Character?

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Can Rogaine On Healthy Hair Cause it to Fall Out?

Thanks so much for this resource! I am 3 weeks post op from a HT of 4200 units. I was on propecia for 30 days prior to HT and began Rogaine / Minoxidil 2 weeks post op. I had temple work and work at the front of my hairline. I want to get the best result and minimize shock loss. I have heard Rogaine can cause shedding. Am I at risk for shedding in healthy hair zones if I apply Rogaine in it’s correct dosage to the entire top of my head, temples and along the donor scar?

Rogaine (minoxidil) on healthy hair most likely will not cause shedding, but I would strongly suggest that it only should be applied to areas of concern and not the rest of the head for two key reasons:

  1. Cost
  2. Side effects (or potential thereof) will occur as the area of treated skin increases

It is also worth noting that minoxidil will not influence the hair transplants to grow any better or any faster.


2008-03-11 09:23:45Can Rogaine On Healthy Hair Cause it to Fall Out?

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Can Rogaine Cause Impotence and ED?

I have a question about taking Rogaine. I read a lot of people saying that when they took topical Rogaine that they noticed soft erections and impotence. Is this possible and do you hear a lot of people reporting this? thanks

I personally never heard of this from any of my patients. Moreover, I do not believe erectile dysfunction or impotence is a side effect of Rogaine (minoxidil).

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Can rice water grow hair?

According to Google Search: “The amino acids present in rice water, in particular, help in the regeneration of hair and aid faster growth of your hair. Also, rice water contains vitamins B, C, and E, which further help in hair growth (7). The best way to use rice water to grow hair is to rinse your hair with it after a wash.Oct 25, 2017″. Instructions follow in this link on how to use Rice Water: https://www.google.com/search?q=rice+water+and+hair+growth&oq=rice+water+and+hair+growth&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5.5077j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8


2019-02-01 15:22:05Can rice water grow hair?

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Can I Reverse the 4400 Grafts I Had Done?

I had 4,400 grafts done, and I am terribly scarred with cobblestoning of my skin. I have a heavily scarred recipient and donor area. Can this be reversed?

Unfortunately, the answer here is no. Reversing 4,400 grafts would be an enormous challenge, and it would take far longer to try to reverse it than having it done in the first place. Scalp Micropigmentation may be your only option, but I would have to see you to understand the deformities you are asking about. We have performed Scalp MicroPigmentation in many people with similar problems as you have described, and it works very well (see here: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/)


2018-06-21 09:31:47Can I Reverse the 4400 Grafts I Had Done?

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Can response to finasteride be predicgted?

Is there a way to predict if you are going to respond or not? Like are there any patterns of hair loss that Finasteride significantly does not work for?

Not everyone responds to finasteride. You may not be a responder; however, if you are going to take it, stay on a regular routine and do it for at least a full year. Privately, I have been told that a new test will soon be available that will tell who will and who will not respond to this drug.


2019-01-04 12:47:23Can response to finasteride be predicgted?

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Can request # of grafts?

I am thinking about getting a hair transplant. Most places that I have consulted with recommend me getting between 1200-1800 grafts. I understand that the more grafts that I get, the higher they are paid. However, I am concerned about a few things. I am concerned how my donor area will look afterwards and I don’t want to lose donor area hair if the doctor did not do a great job. How would I know how many hairs were actually transplanted? I wouldnt mind doing another transplant if the first time was a good job. What percentage of those harvested get transplanted? thanks for advice.

Of course you can request a certain number of grafts, but you want to ask the doctor what makes sense when you take such a step. I believe strongly in a Master Plan as hair loss is a progressive process and the donor supply of permanent hair is limited. I refer to this as a Hair Bank where you can only make withdrawals. You need to find a doctor who believes strongly in a Master Plan, as hair loss is a progressive process and the donor supply of permanent hair is limited. What has to be done is to: (1) predict your short term hair loss pattern, (2) estimate your long term worst-case hair loss pattern and (3) give you quantitative number for how many hairs (grafts) you have in your hair bank. As you make withdrawals, it is a one-way process. I also like to give my patients a plan for surgery and an estimate of what they can expect in terms of result. I spend a lot of time with my patients just in the consultation and then similar amounts of time are spent prior to the surgery. We give hair washes after the surgery to make sure that there is no crusting so that my patients can go out in public immediately after the surgery (see here: https://baldingblog.com/one-day-post-op-with-photo/ and here: https://baldingblog.com/post-op-photos-6-days-after-3320-grafts/) . These patients can go back to work quickly using what hair they have to cover up the surgical recipient sites. We also use a special tape to prevent swelling in the few people that get it.


2021-03-10 06:50:15Can request # of grafts?

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Can I repair my 1983 hairline which is very pluggy?

There are a number of ways to fix this problem. Since I was the first doctor to perform large sessions of small grafts, I must have fixed hundreds of such patients. The first way to address this is to remove the pluggy grafts provided that there are not too many of them. If they take up the entire frontal area, then it is best to have another hair transplant and overwhelm the pluggy grafts creating a new nature hairline. These pugs can be s source of donor hair as well, as the surgeon can take hair using FUE techniques from the plubs to thin them out. These hairs can be relocated to soften and normalize the look. Longer hair works better than shorter hair once this process is complete. Here is a patient that had terrible plugs and how I fixed fixed it with a series of photos and linkes for you to follow: https://baldingblog.com/2005/10/07/repairing-pluggy-transplant-with-photos/


2017-11-08 07:05:20Can I repair my 1983 hairline which is very pluggy?