Category: Uncategorized

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Do I Have a Juvenile or Mature Hairline at 26 Years Old? (with Photo)

Hello, I’m 26 years old and was curious if I have a juvenile or mature hairline in my photo. My hairline has been the same since I was 16 or so by looking at past photos and I’ve had no hair loss or recession in other areas. The current length of it is 1/2in.

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Thanks for your permission to post this. Click to enlarge:

 

This is a great picture because you wrinkled your brow, as I always ask my patients to include in their photo, is touching the highest wrinkle. If you follow the highest crease, that is where your hairline was when you were 7-9 years old. The corners are rising very slightly, but this is still in the Norwood class 1 category and I would consider this a juvenile hairline still.

There is a wide range between when your hairline hugged the highest crease to a fully mature hairline. What is noteworthy about your present hairline is that the mid-line ‘kisses’ the upper crease, which is clearly the same hairline you had in the middle when you were between 7-9 years old.

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Propecia Thickens Hair

I have a question for you … on merck site it says hair mass can thicken up to two yrs… but I was told it can thicken up to three yrs… is that true??? and when is the best time to take propecia am or pm???please let me know your answer… thanks

Propecia is best taken in the morning. The thickening of the hair shaft will, almost certainly, vary with the patient. In some patients the best fullness may be obtained in one year, in others it could take two years, and in some possibly three or more years.

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Do I Need a HairDX Test to Truly Know if Finasteride is Working?

Hello Doctor. I took minoxidil and finasteride for about a year then switched to minoxidil and avodart. i have no side effects but i can’t understand tell if finasteride or dutasteride is working on me, because i still am shedding. Some hair is growing, some hair is minimizing, and i think the medications haven’t stopped miniaturising progress. Is the only way to understand that finasteride or dutasteride works on me is to do the Hair DX test?

Thank you

The HairDX Test for Finasteride Response should be able to tell you if you are a good responder to the medication, but the best test to find out if finasteride or dutasteride is working is to get a bulk measurement of the scalp hair in 4 different locations. It should’ve be done before the drug is taken and then at about a year after. This test (HairCheck) is the most sensitive test available today. Good documentation should include progressive photographs with the hair length the same.

With all the medication switching, what has your prescribing doctor had to say?

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Proscar Packaging Says I Need to Use a Condom Now?

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I’ve been taking finasteride (1 mg tabs of propecia) for 3 years with great success. Recently however I switched to Procar with a pill cutter and am horrified to read from the proscar finasteride package information for users leaflet:

“If you partner is pregnant or planning to become pregnant you should use a condom or other barrier method of contraception when taking proscar. This is because your semen could contain a tiny amount of the drug and may affect the normal development of the baby’s sex organs.”

This is news to me after 3 years of using fin. I know of the dangers of women handling tabs but have never read anything about this. Is it only relavent to the 5mg doses of proscar? Your professional opinion is highly respected. Please advise.

Kind regards

This is news to me, too.

We have known about problems arising from a fetus exposed to finasteride — the US leaflet for Propecia states, “If a woman who is pregnant with a male baby absorbs the active ingredient in Propecia, either by swallowing or through the skin, it may cause abnormalities of a male baby’s sex organs.” — but this is a warning for women that want to take finasteride or handle crushed pills.

As I’ve understood it, finasteride does not have any significant concentration in a man’s ejaculate. In my searching, it appears that this line about a condom is only in the UK Proscar leaflet. This wording is not seen in the US or UK Propecia leaflet, and I’ve not seen this in any of the literature before. Although it is the same drug (finasteride), Proscar is 5 times the dosage of Propecia. Merck’s official word is that Propecia poses no risk to unborn children.

I will have to ponder this one for a while, as it is against what has been revealed to me in the past.


2010-12-02 11:52:52Proscar Packaging Says I Need to Use a Condom Now?

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Do Propecia and a Hair Transplant Compliment Each Other?

I really never believed in hair growth products. But after you mentioned Propecia I tried it. It took a while but I eventually saw a great difference in the thickness of my hair! Then, when I stopped using it, the hair went back as it was before using Propecia. I knew this would happen but I wanted to know if I was just imagining the change.

Hence, my question: You advised using Propecia prior to having the HT procedure. Its seems I must use it before the HT and also before the full effects kick in or how will we know how much density is normal and how much is density is due to Propecia?

If I had a choice I guess I would rather have the great results of a HT without the added cost of meds. But if they compliment each other, well, it may be worth the prescription price. Thanks

I believe that every young man should be on Propecia/finasteride if they have genetic balding. This drug will also offer some protection against shock loss that would be common with a hair transplant, and you should be on the drug at least a couple of weeks prior to having a hair transplant. If your thinning is early, then Propecia may be enough (just as you described), but if you lost hair in the front, it would be unlikely that the drug will return it. So these two modalities (transplant and drug) work nicely together and yet they do compliment each other.

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PRP-Only Treatment for DPA?

Hey guys I hope you are doing well. Could one of you please explain the pros and cons of trying out a PRP only treatment for Diffuse Patterned Alopecia. The pictures you see on line look like the treatment is beneficial, and it seems like if done on a yearly basis it could really help in the uphill battle which is hairloss.

I’ve still yet to see a shred of evidence that platelet rich plasma (PRP) will benefit those with alopecia. I’ve written about PRP before.


2011-03-01 14:01:52PRP-Only Treatment for DPA?

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I Pulled My Widows Peak And The Hairs Will Not Grow Back.

hello Doctors, about 2 years ago i was shaving my hair with a trimmer and it pulled a chunk of hair out at the widows peak, the hair has never grown back properly and when light hits that area it appears shiny and bald. But on closer inspection there are loads of tiny thin hairs… these hairs have remained for over a year and never grow any longer than half a millimeter. I would imagine this is miniaturization ? but from reading up usually miniaturized hairs fall out…. these hairs have been there for over a year and never shrunk or grown more ? any ideas what might be going on and if i could use something to make
them grow normal ?

Traumatic pull of hair and hair loss resulting from such trauma can take about a year to grow back. If it has not grown back in one year, then we generally assume the hair is lost. In most cases it does grow back if the pulling is not chronic over time.

However after 2 years, I suspect what you see is what you get. The small fine hairs you may be seeing is just vellus hairs that is present on our bodies that is not necessarily scalp hair. I cannot tell you exactly what you are seeing without an examination.

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Doctor Charges Per Procedure, Not Per Graft

Thank you for taking the time to maintain this website. I met with a hair loss consultant last week for the first time. He recommended that I have 2500 grafs on my forehead area and a second transplant a year from now on the top of my head. Why not just have it all done at once? He claims that they dont charge per graf, but a flat fee regardless of how many transplants they do. Is this just a opportunity to make more money for a second procedure?

If the consultant you spoke with was not a doctor who does the surgery him/herself and is trained in hair transplantation as a specialty, then he/she is practicing medicine without a license and I would run for the hills. There are some clinics that promote consultants to recruit patients and I have seen some people get recommendations that are way out of line with their need. Doing more than 2500 grafts depends upon:

  1. The size of the bald area being treated
  2. The donor density
  3. The looseness of the donor area skin (laxity)
  4. The skill of the surgical team (only some teams are capable of performing 5000 grafts at one session)

Fees are generally priced per graft, but that is not a hard and fast rule. Whatever the basis for the charge, it should be both competitive to what a quality medical group would charge and show value for what you are going to receive (result focused of course). Selecting a doctor should follow the science I have outlined in How to Tell if You’ve Found the Right Hair Transplant Doctor.

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A Question About Diffuse Miniaturization

I own a digital microscope and while there is miniaturization in the donor zone it’s not past the 20% threshold, yet at least, I would think the current pattern tends to point towards diffuse patterned alopecia. If I can bother you again, what I do want to know since information is somewhat scarce on the internet, is if there are any other causes, besides DHT, that would cause diffuse miniaturization of hair follicles? (deficiency, thyroid, allergy, mold exposure, a disease of some sort, etc.) I know most of these usually present as telogen effluvium though. Essentially, what I’m desperate to know is if miniaturization means you 100% have DHT sensitivity? I’m ready to start finasteride, but want absolute confirmation that’s what I’m dealing with before I mess with my hormones at 19. Thank you for your time.

Everyone one has less than 20% miniaturization which is normal. Each person will lose and replace up to 100 hairs per day. you have listed the many causes of diffuse thinning so check each one out with blood tests as needed, best through a doctor’s office


2019-01-21 14:59:14A Question About Diffuse Miniaturization