DR Rassman, can I first congratulate you for having the pre-eniment hair loss site on the internet. My problem is that I suffer from a Congenital Anomaly of the Cranio-cervical junction at the skull base, and this coupled with Occipital Neuralgia and Trigeminal Neuralgia is causing me intense pain all over the Head and Scalp. The pain is of a Stabbing, Burning, Lancinating and Compressive character, and at first I was just worried about the severe pain and it’s impact on my quality of Life.
However, Three years ago the pain got progressively worse, and my hair started falling out in clumps. It did not appear to follow the pattern of MPB, as the loss was sudden, and diffuse on the top and sides, and not affecting the back. Lately it has affected the back as well and I am left with very fine hair on the sides and back, and little hair on the top almost like DUPA. Despite attending my Doctor for the past 3 years, I have not even been referred to a Dermatologist, despite numerous requests on my part. Consequently , I am left at a complete loss at where to turn and am in great distress. Please can you help me, as my pain, combined with the hair loss is making life unbearable.
Many good hair transplant doctors are able to tackle problems like yours without offering a hair transplant. Many of them are dermatologists as well. This is where you might go for more advice.
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This topic comes up every year or so. Depending on the flavor of the month tea/coffee/caffeine is both good and bad. Some studies say that excessive caffeine is bad, some home remedies include direct application of coffee or tea on the scalp. There’s even caffeine shampoo now. I don’t have a definitive answer to your question. To my knowledge, no peer-reviewed, published studies have been done that prove hair is effected by caffeine negatively. Consider this — caffeine is one of the most widely consumed substances in the world and the most common cause of hair loss is genetics (with or without coffee, tea, energy drinks, sodas, etc). Minor stresses shouldn’t cause hair loss, and certainly caffeine wouldn’t raise stress levels (unless you’re really overdoing it) to the point that you’d experience loss. Live your life in moderation.
Firstly, grey hair and balding are not related. Look at the beautiful head of hair on George Clooney for an example.
Sometimes shavers are not so sanitary and cause pimples or folliculitis. Your skin and scalp naturally contain (normal) bacteria and even the worrisome Staph, which can be a major infection problem that spreads easily. Irritating the skin/scalp with blades or shavers can also introduce the normal bacteria to the skin/scalp, causing local infection and irritation (pimples). So ask yourself is this acne or folliculitis (infection)? You’ll need to see a good dermatologist for the answer to that.
Yes, 1/5th of a Actavis brand 5mg finasteride pill should be the same as 1/5th of a Proscar pill. There are many makers of generic medications, and it does vary by country. As long as you can be sure the medication is what it claims to be, it should be the same regardless of the maker. I say “should”, but I have no way to tell if it is that case for every pharmaceutical company. From