I found this on Regrowhair.com concerning weightlifting and hair loss. What is your opinion on this statement? regrowhair.com
Ive seen this debate a million times, and i do lift weights..However, i also take propecia, and have been for about 9 months.
You can lift weights and exercise and you will not lose more hair. If you lose hair it is most likely due to genetic causes which you cannot control. I don’t know what else I can add to the topic.
Question 1: You have been saying that aggressives genes will always beat Propecia! Do men only with strong MPB family history have those genes or can men also with no or little MPB family history have those genes?
Question 2: Also you been saying your genetic code will catch up eventually even on Propecia…but don’t all men with MPB have that genetic code? If they didn’t they couldn’t develop MPB!
“Aggressive” genes does not mean there has to be a strong family history. Everybody has a different genetic code and if your have the gene, you will eventually bald to a specific bald pattern, as described by Dr. Norwood in the Norwood Classification. So all men with male pattern baldness (MPB) have their unique genetic code with their unique bald pattern and their unique time frame to get to that pattern. I have discussed the term apoptosis, which implies cell death. Some of the tissues in our body die at specific time frames and in the case of hair, it is believed that some cell which produces some critical part of the growth cycle of the hair dies. This cell death kicks in after a certain number of hair growth cycles and every balding person has a different time frame for that kick-off. We know enough to be dangerous. In other words, things cannot be summarized in a simple fashion with our present state of knowledge.
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I am a 59 year old male. I began taking Androgel due to low testosterone levels and ED. Shortly after taking this drug my hair began falling out.
I decided to try to increase my testosterone levels through diet and excercise and possibly supplements, so I stopped using the Androgel. 2 to 3 weeks later I am still experiencing hair loss. When can I expect the hair loss to stop?
Androgel or testosterone can cause accelerated androgenic alopecia (AGA), even at 59 years old. You should discuss your concerns with your doctor, as you should not stop or start any medication without talking with your prescribing physician. There may be medications (such as Propecia) to slow the hair loss, but again, please talk to your doctor.
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Spencer Forrest, the makers of Toppik, Couvre, and other masking agents, has entered the home laser market with the X5. The device has been available for months, but now they’re looking for a nod from the FDA with the clinical trial. As regular readers of this site may know, I’m not a fan of this laser technology (because I haven’t seen great results), but let’s read a snippet from the press release anyway:
The trials will determine the efficacy of the X5 in stimulating the re-growth of hair in men who are balding. If proven effective, the X5 will become only the fourth product ever to gain recognition by the FDA for treating male pattern baldness.
Note that they’re aiming to gain recognition from the FDA, and not approval. In other words, they’re not looking for the FDA to say it will absolutely regrow your hair — they’re just looking for the FDA to say it won’t harm you (the same clearance that the LaserComb has).
Full press release here — Spencer Forrest Begins Clinical Trials On The X5 Hair Laser, Sets Sights On Beating Genetic Hair Loss
I am officially confused!!! I have been researching oral contraceptives that are said to help improve conditions such as acne and thinning hair, and thought that Yasmin and YAZ were good candidates for these conditions. Did I misunderstand, or is Drospirenone(the progestin used in these OC’s)said to have nonandrogenic effects thus blocking excess testosterone which may lead to acne and hair loss?
Testosterone is generally not a cause of hair loss in women, but it may be in special types of medical conditions such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Drospirenone/Estradiol can cause hair loss (see Drugs.com). In fact, many drugs (if you read the label carefully) state in their side effect profiles that hair loss is a possibility. I’ve seen that Yaz’s list of rare side effects does say “increased hair growth, or loss of scalp hair” — so I guess it means that you could see more hair growth (not specifically on the scalp) or lose your head hair. You should not be choosing medications (birth control) based on improving your hair condition.
There are few drugs that are associated with hair growth, but unfortunately none of them will help your cause. For example, minoxidil (the active ingredient in Rogaine) can cause hair growth all over your body when taken orally, not just on your scalp — but please, do not drink minoxidil. I was referring more to the minoxidil oral pill called Loniten, a blood pressure medication. Also, finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) when taken orally, can help with genetic male pattern hair loss (not female hair loss).
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I read that [name removed] is suing the hair transplant network since they expressed their reservations about him and his questionable ethics, deceptive marketing practices, as well as issues with his hair transplant technique both FUT and FUE. I also believe that you are the person who invented the FUE technique. Is that right? Do let me know since I would want to know if this doctor is as good as everybody says he really is.
Regards
[Editor’s note: The above question has been changed to omit the names of the doctors and to avoid adding fuel to the fire]
You ask a loaded question, but I will keep this as simple as possible, even though it will get quite lengthy.
FUE and the doctors that use this method:
Yes, I introduced the follicular unit extraction technique (FUE) back in 2002 at the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) conference in Chicago and published the classic article on the subject in the Journal of Dermatologic Surgery that same year. FUE as a new procedure had many people interested, but when the doctors actually began to use the technique, they quickly realized that it was tedious, difficult, and required a real change in the way the surgery would be delivered, so in the long term it was not welcomed by most of the surgeons. Even today with the attention to detail required to minimize damage from the technique, it is not routinely offered by many doctors. However, with increasing demand by the consumer, more and more doctors seem to claim “expertise” (even if they can’t do it well) since there is a lot of money to be made in offering this service. Putting 2000 holes into a person’s scalp does not mean that 2000 viable grafts will be produced that will eventually grow into a nice head of hair. So some doctors offer a service and simply can’t deliver the goods. Being a “minimally invasive” surgery, FUE is certainly a great procedure and it sells well so marketing it is not difficult. It is virtually painless in the post operative period and it leaves virtually no detectable scarring (small punctate scars) unless the head is shaved, but most patients do not realize that there are also limitations and problems with the FUE procedure itself, such as how you will not know if it worked for a good 8 months after it is performed and if the surgeon could not perform the procedure as promised, the check will have cleared his bank account. Unfortunately, there are deceptive marketing practices everywhere you look and as I always say, let the buyer beware.
At the recent ISHRS physician meeting in Montreal last week, many doctors were claiming to do FUE in numbers that boggle my mind. I would say that some of the claims I heard by some of the doctors were unbelievable, and as that is my personal opinion (as the inventor of the procedure), it is an opinion that needs to be shared with you. In the next week or so right here on BaldingBlog and on the NHI site, I will publish an extensive discussion on FUE, which I’m presently writing with the goal of educating consumers about spending thousands of dollars on a procedure that could fail. I want to provide tools that might help them avoid getting trapped into deceptive practices that may be relatively commonplace. Stay tuned for more on that.
Legalities and understanding how these Internet marketing sites work:
With regard to the litigation, the sponsoring agency central to the lawsuit is the Hair Transplant Network (HTN) and they have been fairly open about the problems as they see it. Although it is no secret, I must point out that HTN levies fees to doctor members for their participation in advertising and promotional activities. They maintain the position that they have a responsibility to judge the value of the doctors’ services and the doctor’s ethics. They restrict their membership only to doctors they feel are worthy, ethical, competent as well as those doctors who are willing to pay them their monthly participation fee for their services. You can imagine that such a set of activities can not only rub some of the doctors in the field the wrong way, but could be frankly damaging to the doctor’s worldwide reputation. The damage comes from either comments that might be made that denigrate the doctor’s skills by directly discussing his/her practice, services, or ethics, or by excluding specific doctors who are not paying the monthly marketing fee when the site’s contributors discuss the best doctors in the field. It is like saying, “to be a great doctor, you have to be willing to pay the monthly fee”. An omission of a doctor from the “best doctor list” itself can be perceived as a statement reflecting the unworthiness of a doctor to potential buyers who are shopping for hair transplant services. HTN is a privately held business and will do what its owners believe are in the best interest of HTN, their audience and readership, the consumer, or their participating doctors. The doctors involved in this particular litigation also have their own self-interest and self-preservation focus. What claims are made about a doctor’s ethics or skills may or may not be true, so how this particular litigation unfolds will tell us much about the facts as the legal process goes forward. For those interested in reading more from the HTN’s side of things, follow the thread on their forum and draw your own conclusions on truth and justice.
Conflict of interest:
There are three words that trouble me with regard to all of the “consumer advocacy” sites and web forums — “conflict of interest“. As stated above, doctors have to pay HTN and other such sites to be included among the list of recommended doctors. Promoting member doctors can be costly and the crux of any business is to have income that exceeds expenses (therefore producing profits), and I am fully in favor of the capitalistic business model. There is no doubt that I am very much into free enterprise, provided that fairness, honesty, and truth remain central to the business process where conflicting interests and the profit motive do not outweigh the integrity of the process.
So there’s my 2-3 cents, and I hope it gives everyone something to think about.
Dr. Rassman,
I had a 3000 graft FUE procedure performed at the beginning of the year. To date, after 7 months post-surgery, I estimated based on a family member’s meticulous calculations with a magnifying glass that I have only 20-25 grafts/cm2 in my previously bare hairline area, when I supposedly grafted in my hairline area at a density of 70 to 80 grafts per square centimeter.Should I expect further improvement in the coming months or has my surgery failed to achieve the grafted density? Of course, my doctor believes I can expect improvement in the next 5 months, but I have seen little to no improvement since the 4th month post-surgery. Should I expect my final surgery outcome to be a failure?
Thanks in advance.
Honestly, I don’t know. It can take as long as a year before all the hair grows in, although that long is unlikely. Furthermore, nothing is a 100% in life (except death and taxes). In my opinion, failure from follicular unit extraction (FUE) is common, even with doctors who promote them. The procedure is very difficult to do and 3000 grafts tells me that I might think that it was never done at those numbers, at least successfully.
I would discuss and follow up with your doctor in the next 5 months as your doctor recommends and hope that you get what you and he expect. Generally, it takes 8 months for 80% of the hair to grow and 90% in 10-12 months. I could go into this at length, but stay tuned to this site as I am going to address the subject of FUE failures in the very near future.
Dr. Rassman,
On Tuesday of this week, Intercytex posted a press release on their website. This press release outlines the company’s clinical results for 2007.
The release does not tell us anything new about the phase 2 trial of ICX-TRC, which is due for completion later this year. It does, however, say the following:
“We believe the continued development of ICX-TRC would best be carried out in partnership with a specialist in the aesthetics field. We do not intend to finance the continuation of clinical and commercial development of ICX-TRC beyond the current Phase II trial and shall seek to sign a partner when we have the complete data package from this trial. Intercytex has granted Bosley, the largest chain of hair transplant clinics in the US, an option to negotiate distribution rights to the product.”
My initial reaction is that Intercytex no longer thinks it is worth developing the treatment any further. What are your thoughts on this?
I do not know enough about Intercytex and its research and development to adequately comment of the matter from a medical perspective. This sounds like a business issue. Drugs or techniques developed by one company often get sold off to another company (common in pharmaceutical industry).
First I must say great website. I’ve looked on this thing at least 50 times this past year.
1. My shrink prescribed me Buspirone on top of my Remeron and I looked into the Buspirone and it warns about using it with ketoconazole (Nizoral) and I use the shampoo but I’m also aware that ketoconazole can be taken orally. So what I’m wondering is if the warning is directed towards the pill form of ketoconazole? My shrink says it should be fine but hair loss isn’t really her area of expertise. Also, I’ve been taking Propecia for almost two years and using Rogaine foam for a little over a year and was wondering if the Remeron or Buspirone would prevent Propecia or Rogaine Foam from doing it’s job. The answer I get from my doc is that it should be O.K. as far as she knows. Well, “SHOULD” and “AS FAR AS SHE KNOWS” isn’t the $200 an hour answer i’m looking for.
I ask this because also I’ve been taking HGH releasers for the past two months. One month less than I’ve been on the Remerol and I have experienced quite a bit of hair loss. I’m pretty sure it’s the HGH, but I want to be certain. And if it is the HGH, then people need to read section 2 of this post.
2. I’ve been using HGH releasers for two months. STAY AWAY from them if hair loss is your concern. I’ve had unrealistically awesome results in my frontal area hairline (including the temples) with rogaine foam and a halt in the actual loss process from Propecia (Actually I use Finax and it’s offensivly cheaper). Well, I’ve lost about 70% of the Rogaine dependent hair in the past two months. I just stopped the HGH so I can’t really say if it will grow back or not. I read on here before I made the purchase and saw negative posts about HGH but I wasn’t sure if these people were refering to the releasers or the injections, so I went for it and boy was that a bite on the ass. The brand I used was GenF20 (someone else on here complained about Jintropin, so I went with this one) and like all HGH releasers, they claim that they’ll help with hair loss and also a thicker density. Well it helped with hair loss all right. Helped me schedule an appointment with a Transplant Doctor.
Again, Great site. It’s been really helpful.
Those medications (buspirone and Remeron) can cause hair loss and HGH is also known to do it. Finasteride may help you and I do not see reasons for you not to take it, but you need to check this out with your doctor. Thanks for sharing all of the above information. I am sure that our readers will find it interesting.
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I have hair transplant done 2 years ago about 2000 grafts, however I have a donor scar that runs from ear to ear and wider than 1 cm since the skin got constantly pulled. My head skin is very tight,so i am wondering what can I do to fix this ? I want to cut my hair short in the back. Should I transplant hair from other part back to the donor area or any other solutions?
thanks.
You should start doing scalp exercises (see video) and then try to get a surgeon to perform a scar revision surgery with new techniques that are available today. These do not always work, because your body has a new baseline after you have a surgery. You can also try transplanting hair to the scar using the FUE technique, which will work if a revision of the scar does not work. None of these methods are perfect, but they can minimize the look of the scarring. You need to see a doctor to discuss these options for your specific needs and expectations.
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