Category: Hair Loss Causes

Dr. Rassman,
I read where one dermatologist (who specializes in hairloss) claims that whey isolate protein causes hair loss but whey concentrate (cheaper, less refined) does not. How could that be? To my knowledge, protein supplements do not affect hormonal levels at all. Do you know of any reputable studies to that effect? I take a whey isolate protein that agrees well with my stomach and I do not want to give it up unless there is some truth to that. Thanks for this blog.

I would also agree and ask “how could it be?” I don’t know of studies that backup those claims. Perhaps astute BaldingBlog readers can point us in the right direction.

Did your specialist offer an explanation?

[/bq]I have had 2 sessions of hair transplants 7 years ago and have taken propecia for past 7 years. Now I am 58 years old. Is it still neccessary to continue the propecia or is the risk of future balding minimal at my age?[/bq]

I don’t know. Only your doctor can say if you “need” or “should” take Propecia (finasteride). In general no one “needs” to take Propecia. But many men take Propecia to slow down the genetic hair loss. If you still have native hair that are at risk of thinning then Propecia may help. A good miniaturization study will show if your native hair is vulnerable (miniaturized) and that could be used as an indicator to help you decide if you want to take the drug. I also point out that the long term impact of finasteride at reducing the incidence of prostate cancer by 25% is a good reason to be taking the drug.

One patient (who is my attorney) is in his 70’s and he took Propecia and it actually grew back his crown area without the need for surgery.

Hello,
I had a stressful week at college, and wound up not washing my hair for a while(almost 1and a half weeks). My room was really hot so I sweated in my sleep as well. Started running my hands through my hair and noticed granules of skin raised on the scalp. These could come off easily and looked like a grain of sand. This continued and the granules got worse and worse. Then my scalp got inflamed a bit. Now three months later a ton of my hair has shed(previously thick). My scalp is now very itchy. Also, noticed that some oval shaped granules would stick to my hair. When I look at my hair, I also notice some extremely tiny white dots attached to it (almost microscopically small)

Background- 18 immediate family doesnt have mpb

Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

If anything, you should consider taking better care of yourself… but not washing your hair will not cause hair loss. Think of the homeless people with lots of hair who don’t wash their hair for weeks or months. There’s probably a better example, but that’s the first that came to mind.

Hair loss is mainly caused by genetics, so you can blame your mother, father, grandparents, or even your stress… but not your hygiene habits. And even if your immediate family doesn’t have noticeable hair loss, it can skip generations. I don’t know for sure that your loss is caused by genes, but you should see a doctor to get a diagnosis.

More posts related to this can be found here:

1. High Stress or Bad Genetics
2. Family Genetics, Measuring the Mature Hairline
3. Does Scalp Health Play a Part in Balding?
4. Are You Sure Sebum Doesn’t Cause Hair Loss?

Doctor,

When my hair is wet, I can see thinning on the sides and back although it is still thicker than the top. I had taken SSRI’s in high school to treat an incredibly difficult case of OCD that left me very emotionally messed up for several years. Since then, I thinned out gradually most of which is over the top of my head and now I’m noticing some on the sides. Could it be that the medications and high stress situations have lead to sort of premature senile alopecia, or maybe took away many life cycles my follicles had because of such a hard time in my life?

I have been on propecia for about 15 months and it’s hard to tell if it’s doing much, maybe it’s slowing down the progression but I have avoided minox because of people claiming it causes skin problems and other serious side effects, luckily I haven’t had that problem with propecia. If the hairloss is due to this and I wasn’t destined for MPB (baldness in family is extremely limited, maternal grandfather was maybe a NW3/4 but had strong sides and back in his 80’s) could it just be that my hair follicles aged prematurely due to the stress and hard times. And if this is the case, is there anything I can do at this point or do I just cross my fingers and hope something like what Histogen is doing works?

There might be something going on, but given your history of OCD, medication, and stress, without examining you I can not render you a good opinion. If I examined you, I would perform two tests that might just nail the problem. These tests would be:

1. Bulk measurements of your hair in different parts of your head with a specialized instrument
2. Miniaturization studies on the different parts of your scalp

In addition, I would be able to take a careful history from you and also use my clinical skills to understand your exact situation. Simply put, you can not get a good assessment without a personal interview and examination.

Hello Dr,
I was wondering if stroking your eyebrow with an eyebrow comb can cause hair loss in the brow to the point where it gets incredibly sparse? In an attempt to shape my brows in the morning I comb them say maybe ten times or so to get them just right and then sometimes more so throughout the day. Well certain days I see anywhere from two to four hairs that look weak and then fall out. I used to brush them quite often as a teen and this would never happen but as of late (I am in my twenties) they fall out when I do this and I was wondering if you think this is the cause or could it be something else? I did have thyroid levels checked and they were fine. Thank you for your time.

I wouldn’t think that gently combing your eyebrows in it of itself will cause hair loss. Traction alopecia can possibly occur from the process you are describing if you’re pulling on the eyebrows… and the hairs you see falling out may indicate that what you are doing is too much. I really couldn’t pinpoint the cause for you, unfortunately. As some men and women age, they lose the outer edge of their eyebrows due to unknown reasons.

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