Category: Hair Loss Causes

Snippet from the article:

Bon Jovi rocker Jon Bon Jovi fears he may be starting to lose his hair, and is already devising treatments to help save his prized locks.

The 46-year-old singer has long been known for his long, flowing tresses but has opted for a shorter style in recent years.

Read the full article at SFGate.

Hard hitting journalism, I know. Cutting his hair short isn’t going to prevent him from going bald if that’s what his genetics have in store, but the shorter hair is a good look for him.

I had someone on my staff write a little something for the Bon Jovi fans, since I’m more of a classical music listener and don’t think I could name any of his songs. I’m told it’s a parody of “Livin’ On a Prayer”…

Oh… you’re half way there
Oh oh… livin’ with your hair!
Take these pills, you’ll keep it I swear
Oh oh… livin’ with your hair!

Hi Doc, how’s it going? I wanted to ask you how much miniaturization throughout the scalp is considered normal? 10-20%? I’m male, 22 and I have been on propecia for the past 3 years. I had a miniaturization test 3 months ago and the doc said I have slight to moderate miniaturization at my hairline and crown. At my age, would my hairloss stabilize? I’m just hoping I have enough hair until the next hair treatment makes its way to the market, thanks.

I call any miniaturization under 20% as normal, because it may reflect vellus hair. What you see in one part of the head should be similar to other parts if it is not miniaturizing so that additional piece of information helps me as well.

Hey Doc great site, with tons of great info. Heres my deal, Im 25 and I started propecia 1 month ago, I still have a good amount of hair. In fact I have never had what many would consider hairloss. For instance I have never had big sheds, or really any that I can think of. I wake up and my pillow doesnt have any hair on it, take a shower, and maybe loss 1 hair. However my hair over the last 6 months has gotten pretty thin. When it’s dry it looks pretty good, but when I get out of the shower and its wet it looks horrible. So my question is am I shedding and just dont notice it, or is my hair just thinning. And in a case like this, how well do you think propecia will work. THANKS!

Miniaturization can occur without shedding. Propecia (finasteride 1mg) works wonderfully on this in men of your age. Best way to educate yourself is to map out your own miniaturization.

Snippet from the article:

If you dread trips to the barbershop and cringe every time you pass a mirror, there’s a pretty good chance you’re concerned about hair loss. Whether you’re starting to see strands of your hair at the bottom of your shower or are just worried that your thick head of hair won’t last forever, there are helpful foods that prevent hair loss. You may be, however, genetically predisposed to hair loss, and if that’s the case, there’s not much you can do but keep your fingers crossed. Making sure certain foods are in your diet will help keep your scalp healthy, happy and, hopefully, hairy. Here are some foods that prevent hair loss, which means you need to stock up.

Read the full article: AskMen.com – Foods That Prevent Hair Loss

I don’t expect to find much medical information on a site like AskMen.com, and after reading this article I’m more secure in my lack of expectations. That being said, I still managed to read through the article, which states that eating eggs, beans, raisins, seafood, and potatoes all prevent hair loss, and greasy foods cause your hair to fall out. The author gives his reasoning behind most of these theories, but I do remain skeptical that foods alone can solve the problem of hair loss. The reading is interesting, nonetheless.

Dr. Robert Bernstein put me on propecia back in the summer of 2004. I started taking propecia with a full head of hair that was starting to get thin in a couple spots. Dr. Bernstein then put me on 2 1/2 mg of proscar a couple years ago. I still have my full head of hair, and no one would even think I had thinning or any type of hair loss. Now, my question: Does hair get thinner at times than others? For instance, it seems that my hair will get thin in a couple spots, then get thicker again a few months later. I noticed a thin area on the top left side of my head this week that wasn’t there a couple months ago. I always look at my hair, so I know!! Haha….could the following be a couple of possible reasons?:

– Recent stress due to my brothers drug addiction (now in hawaii for rehab as of today, so that should go away).
– Shampoo and conditioner that I know was causing breakage, possibly from the silicone and dimethicone

Any answer would be appreciated!

Look up telogen effluvium (good reference at eMedicine.com) and see if this fits your observations. This is the only thing that I could imagine would do what you are talking about. You should also consider going back to Dr. Bernstein for a follow-up.

Hi Doctor,

With all the talk recently about steroids in the news, I’ve made the decision to start taking them. At 30 years old, being 6′5 165lbs is no longer an option, and I’ve tried everything to gain mass. I was wondering what steroids can be taken without having a significant impact on hair growth. I’m pretty sure I have MPB. Some companies offer steroids that “have no DHT conversion”, also this website claims certain steroids are safe for hair: http://www.hairloss-research.org/steroids.html. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I use steroids for therapeutic reasons and I have no experience with them to build body mass. Check with your family doctor for his/her recommendations.

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Doctor
I like your methodical approach as far as coming up with a master plan, mapping hair out for miniaturization, but after many many hours of researching all the info on the web, I’m not sure what the point is. From what I’ve learned Propecia has been shown to work for the vast majority of people. Minoxidil works for most people also, just not as well. By working I mean even in the cases where neither has shown to grow hair there has been the benefit of retaining hair or at least slowing the process down.

Everything I’ve read seems abundantly in favor of these drugs working for most. So why not just use them quit counting hairs, especially hairs in the sink (I’ve found shedding is not always balding)knowing you’re doing everything you can. I know you don’t like to start both drugs at once, but if the point is to grow, halt, or slow the process quickly with maximum benefits, odds are they’re both going to work to some extent and work better together. (No real studies I’m aware of prove that)

Why add Minoxidil 2 years later and be 2 years off baseline than if you started 2 years earlier? So again my question is why count hair or measure density? Everything I’ve read even on your blogs suggest a benefit from these drugs. Again just go off one of these that isn’t working and you’ll find out the hard way.

Sorry for the length of this question(probably too long for here) but I wanted to be clear. This is my conclusion. But I obviously defer to your experience and knowledge. Where am I off here doc? Thanks

It is clear that you read my posts here and understand it well. There are those people that want to know what is happening to them and those that don’t. If you’re curious about microscopically seeing your hair loss progress over time, miniaturization mapping is important. For those individuals who have a hair transplant, the Master Plan is very critical, because it allows you to address what you have growing on your head and adding hair where it will make a difference. I always build a Master Plan for all of my patients who have transplants so that they know when to stop or go forward with more transplants.

Drugs don’t work for everyone, and the financial costs involved with using multiple medications daily are a good reason to try one alone before adding another. One of two medications is available by prescription, the other is over the counter. Yes, the smart thing is to see a doctor for a finasteride prescription and then try minoxidil if you want to throw everything at your hair loss.

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Hi Dr. Rassman and Staff, thank you for your wonderful site. I am 19 years old and I went to get my scalp mapped out this past summer and the hair specialist told me I am a norwood 3 and probably going to end up a norwood 5. The question I have is, if i am already going bald at 19 how will I not become a norwood 7 and stay at a norwood 5? Could I possibly not become much balder for a while? Thanks

We inherit the pattern that we will evolve into. If your inherited pattern will max out at a Norwood Class 3, then even if you get older, there will be no advancement to a more advanced pattern. The problem is how to guess. At 19 years old, the degree of miniaturization you see is early and it may appear in other parts of the scalp. Possibly by the time you are 25, you might see a miniaturization pattern reflective of your final balding pattern. The reality is that there is no way to be sure, so if you are balding, Propecia (finasteride) is your only way of managing the progression of it.

What is the cause of the itch/inflammation associated with Male Pattern Baldness?

I’ve addressed this before on BaldingBlog.com and you said there is no correlation between inflammation of the scalp/hair follicle and Male Pattern Baldness. If you go on to any Hair loss forum you will see that a lot of hair loss sufferers get inflammation in the areas where they are losing hair. I have all the common traits of MPB and get inflammation on my receding hairline and thinning crown. I’ve seen a slight decrease in inflammation on finasteride but had to quit finasteride due to side effects. Since then the inflammation has become worse and it itches throughout the day. My Doctors have no clue about inflammation caused by MPB and don’t have much of a clue about MPB either. Nizoral was reccomended by forum users online and not by my doctors , it has helped a lot. This isn’t right , it is aggravating and worsens MPB. Here is a article on MPB and inflammation: Hairloss-Research.org

I don’t understand why none of my doctors and many other forum user’s doctors know about inflammation and it’s correlation with MPB. I know a lot of MPB sufferers do not get MPB and therefore it seems that is something else. From looking at online forums and MPB sufferer’s stories I have seen that it happens to people with more aggressive Male Pattern Baldness which is mostly younger people. I’m 19 and I find this hard to deal with. I have to figure out about inflammation myself. There is clearly a correlation between the two.

More articles: AndrogeneticAlopecia.com and SearchWarp

I don’t know where to start. You will have to come to grips with your balding. If you can not use Propecia for side effects reasons, you will have a problem in controlling the hair loss. The inflammation that you talk about has been reported to me by some patients and I suspect that the decreased hair bulk make the scalp drier which can produce an itch. Nizoral is a popular antifungal shampoo, so if that is alleviating your itch problem, perhaps you’ve got something going on with your scalp other than just genetic balding.

Your comments above and your insights will be shared through this site. Thank you for telling your story.