Hello Dr.(40 year old African American female) I was told on the 8th of Jan 08 by a Dermatologist in a county hospital that I have scaring in the crown of my head and very few follicles left because of the way African-American women process their hair, and then as he exits the room he says, there’s nothing we can do. A more sympathetic intern stayed behind and offered to prescribe Fluocinonide Topical Solution USP,0.05% 60ml,will this have any benefit at all? and am I a candidate for anything else transplant or otherwise. P.S., know any good specialist in Houston, TX.?

Fluocinonide is a potent steroid medication and I do not like to second guess another doctor’s recommendation. You should probe your doctor’s opinion on just what benefit he expects to see and over what period of time. My personal feeling is that it is sometimes more difficult for a doctor to do nothing — and sometimes when a doctor feels compelled to do something, medications prescribed may have little or no value. I do not have recommendations in TX at this time.


Thank you for your kind words.
Ha! If you want to rub animal droppings on your scalp, that is entirely up to you, but if you’re trying to stop your hair loss with these droppings, you’re going to wind up pretty disappointed (and smelly).
This is a great question. For those readers who believe in evolution and not intelligent design, I gave one reasonable answer to why hair loss occurs in a previous post —