Category: Hair Loss Causes

If you pulled out beard hair some times it will grow back? When you say doctor you have to pull too long, that hair generally not to grow back, this means years or just a few times. Thanks in advance

Plucked out beard hair will grow back. I have plucked a few of my beard hairs (the stray ones I don’t like) many times in the past for many years… and at least in my case, they still grow back! I suppose if you keep pulling the same ones they may eventually not come back. There’s no exact amount of pulls before it becomes permanent, though.

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I am a 18 year old male. I had lost 60 pounds with in 4-5 month period with restricting food intake and exercising 6 out of 7 days of the week. Ever since I had noticed more hair was falling out and it was getting thinner. Now Im starting to eat more I decided to visit the doctor. he sent me to the dermatologist and the dermatologist said I might have male pattern baldness or hair loss due to stress. He was leaning more towards male pattern baldness because he saw the middle of my scalp was more visible and thinning more and he thinks the weight loss made my male pattern baldness come ever earlier. surprisingly no one in my family, moms family or dad’s family had male pattern baldness. And before my weight loss my hair was very thick and strong. I really need some help should I go to another doctor to look at my hair loss problem? Any suggestions would be ever so useful please and thank you my friends.

Diets that tend to reduce a good, balanced nutritional intake of foods are known to cause acceleration of the genetic balding process. If it isn’t a genetic process, the stress from the malnutrition could cause the hair loss. But if you’ve already seen a doctor that suggested your hair loss appeared to likely be genetic, I couldn’t dispute that since I haven’t examined you for myself.

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Hi Dr. Rassman

I always hear of people searching for unwarranted ways to lower DHT to combat MPB. Whether it be herbs, soy, or saw palmetto, there’s much focus on DHT levels as a marker for MPB. In fact, low DHT diets are all the rage on most balding forums. Perhaps rightly so, however we know the scalp’s sensitivity to DHT is a significantly more accurate marker of MPB and to my knowledge there’s no sure-fire way of calculating this. I say DHT is overrated, and a new focus should be pinpointed on IGF-1 / IGFBP-3 plasma levels.

Some quick definitions…

IGF-1: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which was once called somatomedin C, is a polypeptide protein hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin. It plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults.

IGFBP-3: This gene is a member of the insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) family and encodes a protein with an IGFBP domain and a thyroglobulin type-I domain. The protein forms a ternary complex insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I or II. In this form, it circulates in the plasma, prolonging the half-life of IGFs and altering their interaction with cell surface receptors.

The study below took 431 men (128 whom had vertex balding) and tested IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels in all of them.
-Those with vertex balding had high IGF-1 levels and low circulating levels of IGFBP-3.
-Those without vertex balding had significantly lower IGF-1 levels
(Low IGF-1 levels generally mean a high amount of circulating IGFBP-3 as they show a trend of being inversely significant in a number of other studies)

PubMed – J Am Acad Dermatol. 2000 Jun;42(6):1003-7.

Interestingly enough, in this study Finasteride signficantly increased IGFBP-3: PubMed – Cancer Res. 1998 Jan 15;58(2):215-8.

Perhaps IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels can be a highly accurate marker of vertex balding and finding ways to increase IGFBP-3 could serve as a powerful combatant.

I’d like to add that a low-glycemic diet and a diet low in saturated fat have all shown to increase circulating levels of IGFBP-3 as well as increase IGF-1.

Thanks for sending this. It’s beyond me, but I wanted to post it for those that had interest. Let the research begin!

I’ve been wearing a tight fitting beanie or toque as we call them here in Canada fairly regularly for about four months now. Often it will be all day, morning till night (so approx 12-14hrs). Quite frankly I just forget its on my head. I’d always had a full head of hair but have noticed some minor thinning at the hairline which I swear was not there some months ago before I started this beanie trend. I know you’ve spoken against hat or headgear wearing as a contributor to hair loss however some still suggest there may be a small correlation between the two.

I don’t believe excess dirt or sebum would contribute to hair loss but what about the notion of your hair/scalp needing oxygen? or vitamin D as produced by exposure to the sun? In regards to tight headgear, what about the idea of a decrease in circulation? Or a form of traction alopecia as the hair gets pushed or pulled in different directions for prolonged periods of time? Your insight would be appreciated.

Traction alopecia is certainly a possibility from wearing a beanie or anything tight on your scalp for extended periods of time. Problems with blood supply and oxygen levels aren’t going to cause hair loss, though they were once thought to be causes many years ago.

Hopefully, any vitamin D you’re not getting from sunlight is covered by your diet. It is my opinion that the hair does not have to get washed and sebum build-up will not impact hair growth, however, not washing your hair could cause your head to eventually stink.

(male) Several years ago I lost all leg hair.. Now I am losing arm hair – getting really thin, and I am a little concerned/upset about this. My head hair is pretty decent thus far. I am a 69 year old male in reasonably good heath, with high normal blood pressure which is treated with drugs. Can you recommend what I can do to stop the hair loss. Thanks

Reasonable leg and arm hair growth is a male trait, so I would think of things that are opposite, such as a dropping testosterone level (testosterone supports leg and arm hair), or the presence of some female hormone production (certain tumors can do this). Hair growth on the extremities may be genetically modulated as well. Go see your doctor and check out your hormones.

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Hi Dr I hope u are well

I have very thin hair on the top and front of my scalp, Ive been taking only Propecia since Feb 2008. Over the past 4-5 weeks I noticed an increase of the thinning but I havent stopped Propecia or done anything wrong. The only change was that I have been on a fast from Jan to Feb I havent been eating anything for most days just a small meal in the afternoons. Could that have affected my hair in any way? it is the only thing that has changed in my lifestyle. What can I do to get it back?

Thanks

You are asking a very general question. It is possible that your hair loss has to do with your diet and fasting. Malnutrition can cause hair loss. I would see your doctor and consider eating a healthier diet.