Dr. William Rassman – Page 1356

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationNanominox FMS – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Doctor ,

i am thinking of buying nanominox fms , a product which combines minoxidil sulfate , finasteride and Ketoconazole. Do you think it is safe to use this topical solution on a daily basis? I would appreciate, if you could help me on that issue.

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I have no experience with the combination of medications in Nanominox FMS. I am skeptical with it, because finasteride has not been shown to work through the skin. I suspect the FDA would, have a problem with any claims of a hair loss treatment from the manufacturer in the use of finasteride as a topical. Minoxidil is well known as a FDA approved topical treatment, and ketoconazole is a good antifungal medication that seems to make hair appear thicker. More info at their site. With regard to safety, your guess is as good as mine.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationThe 5mg Finasteride In Bangladesh is Too Small to Be Cut – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. i wanted your suggestion about taking finasteride 5mg. i wanted your advice for not having finasteride 1 mg in our country bangladesh. the available finasteride is 5mg named “Prosfin”. you have researched the producing company name is “BEXIMCO”. you have found that they are producing finasteride 1mg named “Recur”. but 1thing u don’t know that “Beximco” has recently stopped production of recur. the Prosfin can’t be cut into 4 pieces, and at present i am taking Prosfin (Finasteride 5mg), 1 tablet/3 days. Now the concern is that taking finasteride 5mg 1/3days,can it cause any potential affect if i want to take a child, or want to have sexual intercourse while she is pregnant? can it affect the child? all things i am talking about taking finasteride 5 mg 1 table/3 days. i would not ask you these things if i could get finasteride 1 mg, or could break the 5 mg tablet. your blog is very informative.

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This is an interesting problem. I’ve written to the drug company to find out more about their 1mg finasteride possibly being discontinued. For now, I suppose you might consider grinding the pill into a powder and taking 1/5th of that per day, assuming that the pill is the 5mg finasteride tablet. Make sure you keep it dry or it will pick up moisture.

Remember, the pill is not meant to be cut and the drug companies have designed it that way — so it’s not going to be an easy task.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationI’ve Been Off Rogaine for Weeks While My Shipment Arrives – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hi, i ordered 1 can of mens rogaine foam about 2 weeks ago, and still haven’t recieved it. well i have been using rogaine for about 5 months with great results, but havent been able to take any for about 2 weeks, will this effect the process? thank you for your time and help

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The longer you wait, the worse the withdrawal impact will be. You want to keep those great results you’ve seen, right? Buy some locally to bridge the time gap until your online order arrives. Even if it’s not the foam, just get some minoxidil from your local pharmacy. Then, I’d contact the place you ordered from and find out why it’s taking them weeks to send your order.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationEstradiol and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I can find no information about hair recovery after stopping use of divigel(esrodiol) Have you found any information on time frames or how to facilitate recovery? Thank you.

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The use of minoxidil may help. I do not have much information on it from personal experience, but you can read the following links to hopefully gain a better insight into the problems with estradiol use.

January 28, 2009

What Does a Laser Comb Actually Do?! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Here’s my question — what the hell does a laser comb actually do? Something to do with blood circulation?

In my opinion, it does not too much. The theory is that it increases the circulation, but I do not believe that any impact on circulation will last but a few minutes if there is heat generated.

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January 27, 2009

Hair Loss InformationShaving the Recipient Area Before a Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear DR. Rassman,

I notice that unlike other transplant doctors you don’t shave or buzz the donor or recipient sites. What is your feeling about this. If you’ve already answered this somewhere else, I apologize.

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I know how difficult it is for a person to undergo a buzz cut in the frontal area just to accommodate a hair transplant, so I have learned how to do this over the years without that close cut. This has, of course, helped my practice as people have built in camouflage with no forced haircut. I have been working in this field for 19 years. I know other doctors don’t do it this way, but I also know how important it is for patients to preserve the privacy and return to work rapidly after the procedure.

Over the past dozen years, we have also done other things that make the hair transplant undetectable. The swelling that was initially a major problem, now is almost completely gone and the graft hole sizes are so small, that they are nearly invisible in the first couple of days unless there is a significant pink color in a very white skinned person. The crusting which has been an annoyance for up to 2 weeks, now is washed away and most of my patients have an undetectable surgery within days of the procedure, enough to return to work in a couple of days.

January 27, 2009

Hair Loss InformationWhy Wouldn’t Finasteride Work as a Topical If Women Can’t Touch It? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor,

I was wondering why finasteride is considered to be ineffective when applied topically? There are many warnings advising that women who may be pregnant are not to come into contact with crushed or broken finasteride-containing medication. If the risk of absorption is that probably, then why has the topical approach been largely dismissed as being an effective delivery method?

Thanks

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Bob I personally doubt there are issues with Propecia if women simply touch it. It is not about the absorption issues, but rather it is medical-legal issues. As you can imagine in our litigious society the field day lawyers would have if a woman who touched Propecia claims her baby was affected.

Finasteride has not been proven to work topically. Just as Viagra has not been proven to work topically — that is, unless someone else is applying it for you!

January 27, 2009

Hair Loss InformationStomach Pain and Bloating from Propecia, Follow-Up – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Follow up to “Stomach Pain and Bloating from Propecia” —

Hello Dr. Rassman,

Thanks very much for posting my previous message “Stomach Pain and Bloating from Propecia”. As per your suggestion, I tried to take the half dose of Propecia everyday. This reduced the bloated feeling somewhat but after a few weeks I felt discomfort in the groin region. I had taken the full dose previously with no pain/ dysfunction but some noticeably watery ejaculation.

At this point, I think I am finished with Propecia. I am one of a few people who feels that they were better off not taking the drug in the first place. I lost a great deal of hair in the middle of my head and this area of the scalp is particularly visible (and never was before prior to starting the drug). Although my hair was thin and has been thin for several years, it has remained the same for about 7 years with little or no change in density. Propecia initially created some increase in thickness but the middle area of the scalp that was lost through shedding never returned.

Doctor, do you think that after ceasing the drug, the hair that I once had in the middle of my head (and didn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon) will return? Over the course of a year I used Propecia off and on for about 7-8 months.

I have booked an appointment to visit my dermatologist at the end of the month. This is a very frustrating result for a drug that is supposed to help grow hair (not shed it away). Thanks so much for your feedback. I do appreciate all your help and support.

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It sounds like you medication schedule has been erratic. As such, I can not tell you what will happen with stopping the drug. I doubt that the hair you lost will return. Minoxidil might have value for you.

January 27, 2009

In the News – LashFood, the Alternative to Latisse? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

From the article:

The company’s product, called LashFood, looks like regular eyeliner, but it contains some ingredients that you might expect to find in a nutritional supplement, including the vitamin biotin, the amino acid arginine, extract of irises (the flowers, not the eye parts) and a blend of 15 herbs. Biotin and arginine are widely marketed as vital nutrients for hair growth.

LashFood Read the full review at the Los Angeles Times.

Basically, what I get from the review is that this LashFood is marketed as the alternative to the newly FDA approved Latisse (bimatoprost)… but it’s just more quackery. It doesn’t contain the proven drug that works for the eyelash growth. Now I have no personal experience or any basis to determine the value of this product, so please read that full review and draw your own conclusions.

There will always be someone marketing a “natural alternative” to the latest FDA approved prescription drugs. Do they work as claimed? I guess folks will have to spend some money to find out for themselves, because no matter how many online reviews people read (from reliable sources, even), many will still have that “What if…” thought in the back of their heads.

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January 27, 2009

Surgical Hairline Lowering + Hairline Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

I recently read some posts regarding the surgical hairline lowering procedure vs. a hairline transplant. I was wondering whether it would be synergistic to do both?

If you are male (with a NW2 receded hairline due to MPB) with an inherited high hairline, wouldn’t it be better to get the surgical hairline lowering procedure done in addition to a hair transplant? Wouldn’t this conserve donor hair because you are essentially reducing the size of the forehead (less area to worry about transplanting hair follicles to…).

Thus, this would remedy the high forehead and restoration of the hairline, with enough donor hair in case of any future hair loss.

Hairline lowering procedures should only be done on women or on men who do not contain the balding genes. That means that men wanting this surgical option should be genetically tested first, perhaps using something like HairDX. For women who do not usually lose hair (as they do not have patterned baldness), the hairline lowering procedure has value since there is no significant danger of the hairline rising above the point of surgery.

The advantages of the surgical lowering procedure (like a brow lift in reverse) is that the results are basically instantaneous, a week or two after healing is complete. The hair was there prior to the surgery (just a few centimeters lower), so you do not have to wait for the hair to grow out like with a hair transplant. If you need more than one inch lowering, then the transplant option may be better. Some people with the hairline lowering procedure will develop a scar at the hairline and may require transplants to hide it.

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