Sir,
I am 58 and starting to lose my hair front and top.
I have never used any product other than Nioxin, (for 20 years) but not for hair loss, I simply like the products.
I am having a very hard time, not only believing in the infomercial hair loss products like Provillus but also your negativity towards all these products. I find your foot print, disclaiming most of the infomercial hair loss products and this includes Rogaine…
Should I believe that all these products are completely bogus OR are you degrading them because you charge an insane amount of money for your hair transplants, especially in Calif where the fruits, nuts and very vain people live! I seem to feel that you are bias towards these products because you need to buy another million dollar mansion some where in the fruit and nut state? Am I correct?
By the way, I have many friends that live in Calif and I consider them to be fruits and nuts also!
Sincerely,
– Name removed
New York
I’ll just assume you were making a very poor attempt at humor with all your “fruits and nuts” comments, so I won’t take offense. Considering our fees for hair transplants are lower than many physicians in your own state, you’re pretty narrow-sighted to think pricing is outrageous because we’re in California. But let’s get to the real meat of your oh-so-insightful email…
Most of the hair loss products you read about on the web are bogus and the makers prey on desperate people trying to retain their hair. The products that do work (and are proven to do so) are finasteride and minoxidil. And even then, I post plenty of reports from readers about side effects and concerns for those medications. I like to think I’m pretty balanced when it comes to this stuff. If you like a particular hair product then by all means continue using it. I never said these products were unhealthy or would hurt or kill you. A product like Provillus just contains minoxidil, so it works like minoxidil does. If you want to spend more on a boutique minoxidil with vitamins that I feel won’t aid in regrowth, that’s your call to make. If you want to buy a shampoo because you like the way it makes your hair feel, then please go for it.
It sounds like your biggest gripe is that I’m not writing positive things about unproven treatments. I’m asked about nearly every hair treatment product under the sun, and all I can do with most of these is review the ingredients listed and give my 2 cents. Recently I was asked about a product that lists rosemary as some kind of hair growth treatment. Simon and Garfunkel might’ve had a hit with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, but it doesn’t mean those same ingredients will work to grow hair (otherwise I’m sure Garfunkel wouldn’t have had his infamously bad hairline). My point is that there are hundreds of products around that claim to work — and they simply don’t. There’s no proof that they are effective… and it seems people don’t tend to care if there’s proof, as long as the website looks slick and they’re offered a “guarantee” that may or may not be worth anything.
You’re free to believe what you want to believe about me, but you couldn’t be more wrong. If I was going to try to persuade people into getting surgery, I wouldn’t bother recommending any medication (which I don’t make money on). If I was trying to buy a “million dollar mansion” (actually, it would be my first), I wouldn’t offer my services, time, and support for free through this website. Why would I bother educating people about how to be a better consumer if I was trying to take advantage of them? Give me a break. As for the so-called “fruits and nuts” in California, this state has some of the most normal, driven and brightest people in the world. If you want more information on what this state has to offer, you can visit the California Tourism site. I found that site by using Google… which incidentally was founded in *surprise, surprise* California.
I know very little about herbals like ExtenZe that claim to increase the size of a man’s penis, which is what Extenze seems to promote. I have seen the commercials for this product advertising it on CNN and frankly it is unbelievable for me to imagine that it can do what it claims to do. If someone out there has actually used the product (hold the spam, please), feel free to post a comment to let our large group of male readers know. I tried to do some actual research online, but its difficult due to the amount of advertising spam hidden as articles about this product. They really have a large marketing campaign going on the web (and television, obviously).
I have written extensively about the use of lasers as a hair loss treatment — and simply stated, they do not work as claimed. To tell a client they have a 95% success rate — well, it depends on how they define “success”. If only 5% of their customers ask for a full refund, perhaps their judgment of success was that they were 95% successful in retaining your money. If they advertised a 95% success rate in regrowing hair, they’d probably be in violation of consumer fraud or advertising laws.