Category: Hair Products

Dear Dr, Rassman,

First of all i’d just like to say what a source of support your blog has given me over the past year, when i first noticed my hair loss. Being resident in the UK, we really are in terms of awareness, knowledge and treatment of hair loss years behind america! To give an example, my GP had never even heard of propecia! So thank you for creating such an informative forum that really helps people such as myself, educate themselves about the multitude of issues and treatments regarding MPB.

I staerted noticing about a year ago that my hairline was begining to receed above the temples, i was 23 at the time. I went to see a trichologist within a month of this and basically, was given so called “snake oils” and high frequency treatment which i payed a lot of money for. When i look back on this, i cannot believe how naive i was to trust that this approach would work. Basically i was scammed! and i believe wasted precious time, which could have been spent pursuing one of the 2 medically proven treatments.

I’d say in the last year the hairline has gone back about half an inch on the left side, but hardly moved on the right side, but the hair there seems less thick. To be sure i’m doing everything i can to provent further loss- i started propecia 2 months ago, and apply revivogen (natural DHT blocker, medically unproven, but i’m a medical student and have read the trials revivogen performed on its efficacy cf. propecia and they looked promising) once a day to the hairline along with minoxidil 5 per cent 3 hours later daily.

I know that the sooner you catch the hairline recession the more chance you have at getting results- as theres a smaller window of time to restore the hair follicles in the frontal region, as i understand it. What i would really appreciate is your advice on the steps i’ve taken (after noticing minor recession in the past year) have i done the right thing? and in your experience, would you say that if you catch frontal recession right at the beginning, can it be controlled?

I would really appreciate your expert opinion on this, as we don’t really have many specialists in this field in the UK and in general GPs are clueless about hairloss! Having your assessment would really mean a lot to me and take away some of the anguish i have at the moment as all the doctors i’ve consulted up until now have been completely clueless.

thank you in advance

You’re still in your early 20s with early hair loss — so yes, it does sound like you’re doing the right thing by starting Propecia. Having only taken Propecia for two months, you aren’t likely to see any benefits just yet, but stick with it. The Revivogen/minoxidil combo isn’t something I’ve heard tried before, but best of luck with that. It sounds like you’re taking proper steps and even being a little creative with your approach. As long as you’ve got the finances to handle so many treatments at once, then go for it.

I’m glad you’ve found this site helpful in the time you’ve spent here, and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Thanks for your kind words.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Please can you explain scientifically how taking saw palmetto can be counter productive to propecia. You have said in some replys that taking even green ‘MAY’ interact with propecia and stop it working to its full potential. I wonder wether everyday things will then, from a lot of fresh veg and fruit or other things.

I do not know of any antagonism of saw palmetto and Propecia (finasteride 1mg). The side effects of both are similar so you might see more sexual side effects when you double up on both medications. I don’t know where I’ve said anything different…

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Hello,

I am 25 years old and have a gradually receding hairline around the temples and thinning hair for about the past two years, but I’ve been wary of getting propecia because of the health risks, and I thought about Rogaine Foam, but I heard that it it smelled and led to shedding, among other things. Since I’m trying to hang on to everything I have left, I didn’t want to take the risk of incurring significant shedding with Rogaine, as well as no promise I’d grow any hair back around my temples or forehead, so I did nothing but occasionally browse message boards until I came across information on Revita. It seemed like just what I was looking for; a shampoo that would at least reduce hair loss/thining. Well, I started using Revita about 5 weeks ago, and the first time I used it, leaving it on my hair for 2.5 minutes, then approx. 4 minutes, and my hair seemed a little thinner, but shinier. The next day I got a haircut so my hair was a little shorter and I continued using Revita 5-6 days a week, for the prescribed times, and I’ve noticed I’ve shed a couple 1-4 hairs just about every time I use it. This has been exceedingly disturbing, but I’m not sure if it’s just something that has to happen before it starts working better . . . I don’t know.

My theory – the reason I’m still using it – is that the hairs that are shedding are the ones closet to my forehead and temples and these are the real light hairs that already seemed on the verge of falling off. So I’m thinking that maybe just keeping the shampoo in the hair for so long and then rinsing it out is causing the weaker hairs to come off b/c of the contact. I’m hoping it’s just the weak hairs that will shed and the healthier hairs will become even healthier. But so far, I’ve seen none of the benefits promised by the company.

Thank you very much

I need to make this very, very clear to everyone — there is no shampoo currently available on the market that can regrow your hair. None!

This Revita product contains ketoconazole, which is a volumizer and can increase the hair shaft diameter by about 7%. This increase in shaft diameter may look like you have more hair and in fact, considering that fullness is a result of numbers and thickness of hair, you will have more hair that produces more fullness. Any shampoo that uses ketoconazole will have the same effect. By keeping it on for a few minutes before washing it off, the ketoconazole probably does a better job with thickening the hair shaft.

For those keeping score, ketoconazole is the active ingredient in Nizoral, and is a commonly used antifungal medication and dandruff treatment.

Okay, let’s say theoretically that saw palmetto does in fact help to block DHT. My question is, how the hell did they figure out that saw palmetto berries reduce DHT and not other berries out there such as cranberries and/or bilberries?

Saw palmetto has been around for hundreds of years and has been used successfully for treating prostate enlargement. Native Americans used saw palmetto to relieve urinary symptoms in older men who had difficulty in urinating. It has been shown to reduce prostate size and it is used quite frequently in Europe.

There are many potential side effects of saw palmetto, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, erectile dysfunction, breast tenderness and loss of libido. That is the connection that made people think that there is a DHT blockade in process, as so much seems to parallel finasteride’s side effects. Some think that since finasteride works for the prostate and hair, then if saw palmetto works for prostate issues it must also work for treating hair loss. Unfortunately, saw palmetto has never been studied in any well planned clinical endeavor for treating hair loss.

Dear Doctor ,

i am thinking of buying nanominox fms , a product which combines minoxidil sulfate , finasteride and Ketoconazole. Do you think it is safe to use this topical solution on a daily basis? I would appreciate, if you could help me on that issue.

I have no experience with the combination of medications in Nanominox FMS. I am skeptical with it, because finasteride has not been shown to work through the skin. I suspect the FDA would, have a problem with any claims of a hair loss treatment from the manufacturer in the use of finasteride as a topical. Minoxidil is well known as a FDA approved topical treatment, and ketoconazole is a good antifungal medication that seems to make hair appear thicker. More info at their site. With regard to safety, your guess is as good as mine.