Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Applying the Rogaine Liquid is Difficult!

My boyfriend has just started using the generic Rogaine from Costco in liquid form, and I have been helping him since depositing a dropperfull of liquid on the bald spot is not an easy thing to do alone. I use the dropper to distribute the liquid around the spot, but no matter what we do it seems that much of it runs off down his neck or forehead. The rest sits in the few hairs he has left in little droplets.

My questions:
– are we doing this wrong somehow?
– should I be putting on a latex glove and trying to spread the solution around with my fingers?
– would the foam work better? He has the typical bald spot at the crown of the head, with just a few fine hairs and mostly just scalp. But I have found in my research that an awful lot of guys say the foam just melts from your body heat and runs off anyway…

Suggestions or pointers to articles would be much appreciated!

Your problems are well shared by many users of liquid minoxidil, thus Rogaine Foam was created so that the medication stays on the area you want to treat. It may “melt” and run off as you say, but it is better than the liquid in my opinion. If you still want to use the liquid (or your boyfriend does, more precisely), you can apply the liquid with a gloved hand. That might be best anyway, since you’re not using the medication.

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Applying Betadine After a Hair Transplant

after hair transplant about 15 days, I have been infected with pimple not sure it is folliculitis or not. My doctor let me take doxycycline and use betadine leave it for 5 minutes and wash. If I use betadine 2 or 3 times a days can it affect graft survival?

Betadine is a strong antiseptic containing an iodine solution that will significantly reduce the presence of skin bacteria. Infections 15 days after a hair transplant rarely are caused by skin bacteria. Many times the cause is as simple as scratching the scalp, thereby breaking the skin and introducing a source for skin bacteria to invade into and through the skin. When applied topically, Betadine will not hurt the grafts at this stage.

I am not sure what the problem is that you’re experiencing, so it is impossible for me to comment on a treatment. At the least, a picture may help. But since you’re under the care of your doctor, I’d go with his/her treatment plan.


2013-06-08 10:59:31Applying Betadine After a Hair Transplant

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Are All 5% Minoxidil Exactly the Same?

Are all generic 5% minoxidil “exactly the same” as the branded 5% Rogaine and Regaine minoxidl and there is no pharmacological difference between them at all? Or for that matter any generic 5% minoxidil that is sold on pharmacy shelves in the general market place?

What I mean by that is if I were to use the generic 5% minoxidil it should just be as effective as the branded Rogaine/Regaine when applied to my scalp in treating my male pattern hair loss? The branded and trusted Rogaine/Regaine should not be more effective in growing more hairs than the generic.? They should be the same. But are they?

Could you reassure me they are all exactly the same so I can purchase the more cheaper generic versions ones and not worry about their pharmacological effectiveness if they are just as good as the label says they are?

I found these chemist sites selling cheap versions as follows:
– Kirkland minoxidil 5% FOR MEN 3 x 60ml Bottles (3 Month Supply) $33.75 –
– Minoxidil 5% 2 x 60mL for $31.99

Will these suffice? Can I buy these instead of the more expensive Rogaine/Regaine and hope they work just as well as I am on a shoestring budget at the moment? I hope you help me out with my enquiry.

The FDA monitors this, not me. When I know a company is legit, like Kirkland (the Costco house brand), I want to believe that it is the same minoxidil as found in Rogaine… but I do not know much more than you do. The confidence in a medication over the counter may be worth a premium, but you will have to determine this. I suppose you can also rely on the labels to see ingredients.

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Are Allergies Causing My Miniaturization?

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I am a 25-year-old male and I have been noticing a rapid thinning and recession for about a year now. 3 years ago I got on propecia cause I was shedding real badly. I stayed on it for a year, noticing less shedding and darker hair but that was it. I got off of it cause I thought it wasn’t doing much. Then I started to notice miniaturization forming at the front of my head. My family (both sides) has thick hair, really thick hair.

Fast forward to now and my entire front to mid scalp is miniaturized (looks like a thin doll hair forest) and I am continuing to recede. I tried starting up Propecia again; for 5 months a year ago but stopped cause I felt like maybe it was the cause of this thinning. This is also the time that I was diagnosed for Prostisitis and Epiditymitis. I still have prostititus and it’s been about nine months. I am also continuously shedding except now they are very fine hairs, most of them have bulbs on the end and my hair feels very brittle and dry all the time (even after conditioner)

What I do notice when with the receding line is that before I loose the hair and it goes further back, I get red bumps, kind of like pimples, they are really itchy I noticed it back when I first started receding 5 years ago. They usually cover the entire line then once I recede past, no bumps and the skin is fine. I have these little bumps all over my head and they itch and burn really bad. Almost like ant bites. (The bumps were also there while I was on Propecia). Do you think I have an allergic reaction to something? Can allergies cause hair loss and miniaturization? Or can it be the prostisitis causing something? Or the propecia?

Please note: I have been tested for STD’s, irregular kidneys, regular blood tests, urinalysis, testosterone levels, thyroid problems. They all came back negative. I’ve talked to one dermatologist and he said I might be allergic to dairy. But I have been drinking it all my life. Any type of info would be helpful at this point.

Thanks

Your case is not simple and one would want to know far more about you than this summary will allow. The most common cause of hair loss in men is genetic male pattern baldness, and while anything is possible, it is not too likely that allergies are causing your miniaturization (especially if you are thinning in the typical male pattern). If you think there’s a dairy allergy that suddenly came on as an adult, then avoid dairy and see if your hair grows back or hair loss stops. My guess is that it won’t make a difference to your scalp though.

Starting and stopping the Propecia means that you are acting like your own doctor. Stopping that drug will kick start the hair loss again and restarting it again may do less good each and every time that you make a change. The red bumps you describe on your head just confuses me more, as I can not put it all together. You should seek out a second opinion from another dermatologist in your area and have him/her examine those itchy bumps on your scalp.


2009-02-26 11:16:01Are Allergies Causing My Miniaturization?

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Are Drug Companies Making a Better Finasteride?

Hey Dr Rassman
First of all I would just like to recognize all the the individuals who help make this site what it is. Its great. I love it! To be honest it distracts me at school a lot. I keep saying to myself, okay read one more post and thats it! But now for the serious part. I’m just wondering about the progress which is being made in the development of new drugs for male pattern baldness. I know you are probably getting sick of these questions, but are companies researching the working mechanisms of the approved drugs minoxidil and finasteride and building off what they already know?

Also, who is the youngest person that you have performed surgery on, not including young children with burns, but with male pattern balding and if so what do these results look like? I am also pleased to say that I will be scheduling a visit with you in May to meet with you….. I’m very excited as I am from Canada and have never been to LA before. I hope it lives up to the hype!

I don’t know much about new drugs in the drug pipeline of the pharmaceutical companies, but as I do find out anything I try to post it on this site quickly. Sometimes I get emails from people alerting me to medications in the pipeline that I hadn’t heard of before. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a drug insider that knows timelines on when medications are coming to market. Treating hair loss is a billion dollar business, so while I don’t know this to be 100% the case, it would make sense that some drug companies are working on the next possible medication to regrow hair.

In the treatment of male pattern baldness, I made a mistake once by taking on a 17 year old patient with strictly frontal balding. He had a very fast moving hair loss progression and eventually went on to a Norwood class 7 pattern. This was around 1993, years before Propecia was on the market and it was early in my hair career. Today, I generally wait for:

  1. Advanced pattern progression that does not respond to Propecia
  2. Ages of 22 or higher
  3. Adequate or high densities of the donor hair
  4. Maturity… and many other characteristics tied to hair and skin color, hair density, coarseness of the hair, character of the hair, and family history

I look forward to meeting with you. Los Angeles is a great city and I am sure you will enjoy it if you gave yourself enough time for touring.


2010-04-01 15:48:01Are Drug Companies Making a Better Finasteride?

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Are Certain Hair Colors More Likely to Go Grey?

Are people with certain hair colours more likely to go grey as they age? I notice a lot of people with salt and pepper coloured hair but I can’t think of anyone I’ve seen with that level of brown and grey hair, or red and grey hair etc.

All hair colors would generally grey as the person ages. The degree of greying and how fast the person goes grey is dependent on their genetic predisposition. I am not aware if there is a correlation with hair color and going greying.

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Are Back Acne and MPB Linked?

Thanks for answer, I make this question due the tons of speculations ive heard about back/chest acne related with male pattern baldness, does exist any relation between them?

None that I’m aware of. Where are you hearing this stuff? Acne on your chest or back is unrelated to male pattern baldness.

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Are blood DHT levels important before taking finasteride

Hey, so I’m planning to get a DHT test to check out the levels before starting finasteride. I’m wondering whether it is the amount of DHT or the sensitivity that matters when it comes to balding or other effects? Basically is it a waste of money to measure DHT levels if they don’t correlate with anything?

I personally think that it is not worth doing. What you want to know is: will the drug work for me? Changing drug blood levels doesn’t tell you that information

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Are balding men more likely to get divorced?

I can’t tell you that balding men are more likely to get divorced, but I can tell you that when divorce occurs, many men seek a hair transplant because they want to start dating and look younger. Hair makes a man look younger.