Category: Hair Products

I understand your view on styling wax clogging the hair follicles not to be a cause of hair loss. However, I have been using the Nizoral 2% shampoo and wonder if my heavily waxed hair style (which doesn’t entirely wash out) could potentially block the shampoo from penetrating effectively into the scalp? Could this also be a concern for those of us on minoxidil?

What is on your hair does not impact the hair that is being manufactured below the skin, but with using wax, the barrier to the skin will prevent the minoxidil from working (and I suppose the Nizoral, as well). Minoxidil works below the skin, but it must have access to the skin to get through it. I tell people that they are best washing their hair before the application of the minoxidil.

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Dr. Rassman,

I enjoy reading your blog and it gives me some comfort seeing other people out there with the same issues as me. I wanted to ask your opinion about this product which I only just heard about called AutoloGel by a company called Cytomedix. They released a share holder update yesterday as below: Cytomedix CEO Issues Shareholder Update.

Its been FDA approved, and they believe it can be used for hair growth and are actively seeking partners and strategic allies for hair growth and hair transplants according to the release. For your reference, this is the patent, dated back to 19 would imagine based on a 15 year time frame that they are probably fairly convinced about their product: USPTO — Patent #5,178,883

What is your opinion on this? And would you be interested in implementing it in practice at some point in future?

I have not been able to find any clinical studies involving AutoloGel and hair regrowth. According to the shareholder update letter (linked above), is is suggested that this gel could be used in such applications as hair growth and hair transplantation.

AutoloGel has been studied extensively for the treatment of non-healing ulcers and has showed positive results — and they received FDA marketing clearance for use on these types of wounds (not for regrowing hair). Until we see a well done clinical study to support that AutoloGel will help with hair regrowth, I think it is far too premature to assume that we could use in practice one day.

Hi

What’s your opinion on the new Xandrox15 Plus product which includes 0.01% finasteride?

Does finasteride work as part of a topical solution? Does it still carry the same risks ie erectile dysfunction, male breast etc…

Thanks

I have reviewed the product’s website. Xandrox15 Plus seems to have two known active ingredients:

• minoxidil, which is known to be absorbed through the skin
• finasteride, which is not known to be absorbed through the skin at the very low dose they utilize

They say it contains, “15% minoxidil, 5% azelaic acid and 0.1% finasteride by weight. Xandrox15-PLUS is available in 125mL bottles. Each mL of Xandrox15-PLUS contains 150mg of minoxidil, 50mg of azelaic acid and 1mg finasteride.”

You would have to take the word of the seller here, something that I generally do not like to do as we do not like becoming a third party endorsement. The seller does warn about sexual side effects of this product and worse, the finasteride is a controlled drug that requires a doctor’s prescription. So it seems that the company has violated some FDA issues including labeling, safety, and effectiveness proofs, and the ability to sell this over the counter. Even if the seller is a doctor, I believe that does not allow the seller to make unsubstantiated medical claims on safety and effectiveness, particularly with regard to the topical Propecia.

Hi Doc!

I have been losing my hair for about 4 years now. I have used a number of products already including Avacore, Rogaine and most recently Kevis. I have been using Kevis now for about 6 months with no results. I have been losing more hair then I have ever lost on the other products though the people at Kevis had told me that I would not lose any hair and that the success rate is over 90%. They also said that I will see results within 2-3 months and when I told them that I dont see anything they said that I will have to wait 6-9 months before seeing any results and that I will have to double the dose. I am now completely bald at the sides- in the front and the middle is thinning terribly. I really want to stop using Kevis but I’d like to know if there is anything you recommend doing as an alternative hair loss program.

Thank you so much for your help.

What you are telling me is that you believed what you were told by salesmen who profited by giving you advice. Bad advice that ended up putting more money in their pockets. That is a shame. The ingredient in Kevis that the company promotes as HUCP is hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid), which is a supplement commonly used to treat joint pain — not hair loss. That is just one of a handful of ingredients listed, including water, alcohol, sorbic acid (a food preservative), and biotin (which is also known as vitamin B7). Although the product packaging and website certainly look slick, there is no science here. I can’t even find any before / after photos on their website, which should tell you something about the product right off the bat. All I see there are stock photos of happy people with full heads of hair.

Although I don’t know your age, I’m going to assume you are in your early to mid 20s. You should have seen a doctor and instead of wasting your money and the precious hair that you may have lost forever because of the delays, you should have been put on Propecia (finasteride 1mg). Propecia is the only oral FDA approved treatment for hair loss and it would’ve almost certainly halted the loss a 20 year old (again, just guessing on your age). It’s still not too late to do it right, so see a good doctor (dermatologist or hair transplant surgeon who is ethical) and get on the track to the correct treatment. The other treatments you mentioned (Avacor and Rogaine) are minoxidil, which apparently does not work on you.

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