Category: Hair Loss Causes

I started losing my hair towards at the hairline when I was about 18 yrs old. I would say the whole process take close to 20 – 25 years for the horse-shoe look to occur. My Question. There is a product on the market that was developed in India now selling in Houston Tx. The product name is SAINI HERBAL scalp and hair conditioner. The ingredients are : BHRINGARAJ,AMLA,EXTRACT OF NEEM OIL. WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY.SHIKAKAI,CAMPHOR,RESAUT,DHT BLOCKERS,DHT REMOVER (PULP) they say it is 100% natural and safe. The company is called Positive Trends. To me the product has a slight urine like smell and I stopped using it after a week because I was afraid of any side effects. Is this product safe ? I cannot find any negative comments or any U.S. studies done on this product to prove to me that the product is safe, yet alone grows any hair. Although they do make a honest claim that it may not work for everyone one if you do not have active hair roots. Thank You Doctors !

Herbal products are not regulated by the FDA and your guess on its effectiveness is just as good as mine. It is a buyer beware market. I really cannot tell you if the product is safe or effective as I have no experience with the product. The reason you are having difficulty finding studies on this product being safe and effective is probably because none exist. The Saini Herbals website mentions a study conducted in India, but provides no source of the study, no author of the study, and no actual scientific information. They do, however, display a tiny, meaningless bar graph and a lot of proclamations about unproven supplements.

I personally would not use any product that smells like urine… or any other bodily fluid. Perhaps I’m alone in taking that position.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Can dry skin in the mustache area clog the pores in which it stops the hair from growing or cause it to delay?

Clogged pores do not cause delay in hair growth.

I have recently started doing squats at the gym with a lot of weight (I had never done them before). I have heard that squats raise your levels of testoserone and that high testoserone levels lead to hair loss. I have been taking propecia for over three years with excellent results but it seems that since I stared doing squats at the gym ( 3 or 4 weeks) I am losing a lot of hair. I have noticed that I loose more than 50 hairs per day while I shampoo, dry and brush my hair. Is this true? If so, shouldn’t the Propecia still block the extra testoserone I am producing with the extra squat exercises?

Thanks

Unfortunately, I have no experience with the question to respond properly. After researching this a little bit, squats and deadlifts are said to be the most effective muscle building exercise, but I have no idea to what level the testosterone would increase while doing these workouts. Despite what I read (the sources I found were not exactly 100% credible), it does not make sense to me that squats could increase testosterone levels, but you could find out by testing yourself before and after exercise with and without squats. It would cost you a few dollars to find out and I would be happy to draw your blood for the four tests required. Although you will have to pay the lab test bill, I will contribute my time to draw your blood and send it off, all on the same visit.

Hey Doc Rassman, great site. I’ve been hooked onto it since I started losing some hair myself- and of course, the fact that you’re called one of the pioneers of hair surgery just increases the blogs credibility.

I’m an 18 year old male, and I’m a serious teen bodybuilder. I’ve been competing, and recently, I’ve started using a fat burner (Nutrex Lipo 6) which contains a lot of caffeine, synephrine, yohimbe and some other stuff to get into my final competition stage. Now regardless of these ingredients, what concerns me is that all fat burners constrict blood vessels to increase blood pressure, and in turn increase metabolism to burn calories faster. That’s alright, fine with me. But it’s the hair loss I’ve been experiencing since I’ve started using this product that’s causing concern!

Just taking a shot in the air, would you say that the fat burner is causing poor blood circulation due to the high BP (a case associated with cigarettes too as I’ve read), and in turn causing this balding? Would this then mean that people with high blood pressure (something I have a family history of) have poorer quality of hair?What are your views,doc?

I can’t really comment on a specific fat burner as the cause your hair loss. Many medications report hair loss as a side effect, so even this ‘substance’ may have similar side effects. If you have hair loss it is most likely related to genetic male pattern baldness (MPB), otherwise known as androgenic alopecia (AGA)… particularly in a young man of your age. You may consider an examination by a doctor and possibly starting finasteride as a treatment option.

With regard to any connection between blood supply as a cause of hair loss, it is not ABSOLUTELY the cause of hair loss. The fat burner you are talking about can not possibly reduce the blood supply by constricting scalp blood vessels. There is also no connection between high blood pressure and hair loss either.

In your opinion, if there is no miniaturization does that mean there is no hair loss? I recently had my hair mapped for miniaturization by Dr. Pak in San Jose, CA. He found no miniaturization beyond what is normal. It is possible that I have experienced a telogen effluvium, I mistakenly took a testosterone booster for a month about 8 months back, I also had 4 surgeries this past summer. I know for a fact that my hair has changed some in the past year, but I don’t show any miniaturization upon examination. Should I be worried?

In the interest of patient confidentiality, I will keep the answers generic. If you have specific questions or concerns you can call our office at 800-NEW-HAIR (800-639-4247) for a personal consultation / discussion.

Having no significant miniaturization should indicate that your hair loss state at that point in time was stable. You may have lost your hair in prior months and may have even experienced telogen effluvium, but there is no way to tell with a miniaturization study, which just shows hairs that are in the process of being lost.

If you take testosterone or anabolic steroids, you could “kick start” the genetic balding process, but as stated above, if you do not show signs of miniaturization at this point, it indicates things are stable. Most people will undergo changes in hair texture with age, but frankly there is no way to tell. I would recommend watching the hair over time with repeat miniaturization studies in the hope that your hair will become more full.