2017-10-05 07:02:152017-09-15 15:15:526 weeks following beard transplant and face is still swollen
Minoxidil and Finasteride Do Not Seem to Be Helping My Balding
I have been using Minoxidil for around 2 years, and I started taking Finasteride 9 months ago but my hair fall is somewhat the same. My hairs are shedding when I dry my hair with towel or rub it between my hands. Does stress increases hair fall? How do I resolve this problem?
Genetic hair loss does not always respond to the treatments that doctors have for you today. Sometimes it resists all forms of treatment, and if you should happen to bald as a result of this, hair transplants are a good solution.
An alternative, if you don’t want surgery, is Scalp Micropigmentation (https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/bold-shaved-look/). For this last solution, you must keep your head shaved. Be careful with being rough while your hair drying with a towel as you can easily pull out miniaturized hairs that are at the end of their lives.
Besides Telogen Effluvium and MPB, What Else Can Cause Miniaturization of Hair?
I know what mpb and TE and CTE is but can there be other involvement with miniaturization of a follicle? Like toxins, emotional stress for a long period, extreme lack of nutrition etc.
Add to your list: aging (senile alopecia), a deficiency of various vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, beta-carotene, biotin, vitamin C, calcium, vitamin D, inositol, iodine, iron, magnesium, niacin, pantothenic acid, selenium, zinc), and a series of many autoimmune diseases.
The list goes on and on.
Minoxidil on Eyebrows?
Hello Dr,
I used to have very thick eyebrows and due to over plucking for many years, one of them is incredibly sparse. I heard that using minoxidil daily will help to make them look fuller. My question is, are there any potential side effects? I have read online that using minoxidil can cause permanent hair on your forehead and face and other ghastly things, are these true? Also, if the treatment does work, will I have to continue using it forever? And is there a chance it will cause me to lose the hairs I currently have as well? Thank you for your time, it is greatly appreciated!
If you plucked your eyebrows and they are sparse, the hair missing from the overplucking probably will not return. Hair transplants work well to fill in the missing hair in the eyebrows.
Minoxidil will probably not help grow new hair at the eyebrows, but I suppose you can give it a shot. If it works, you will have to use it forever. Side effects would be the standard minoxidil risks found here.
There are other treatments available that may also be worth a shot, like a transparent gel with fibers to give the illusion of fullness, Latisse (the eyelash medication), and an eyebrow conditioner that may or may not do what it claims. Check out the write up at NY Times — After Overplucking, It’s Time to Call the Professionals.
2010-09-02 12:49:532010-09-01 17:29:13Minoxidil on Eyebrows?
Best Surgeons for FUE in the US?
Hello,
I apologise if this question has been asked and answered previously, but who would you recommend as the more accomplished surgeons performing FUE in the US. Kind regards
There are a handful of hair transplant surgeons who claim expertise in follicular unit extraction (FUE) in the U.S. You should visit the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) for a listing of qualified surgeons and there is a sub-group from this list that do this procedure. Some good hair transplant doctors do not do this procedure, by choice. At NHI, we created the FUE technique and published it in medical journals. There are a few doctors with publication credentials, but many claim expertise. Unfortunately, I have heard about many failures by some of the doctors who claim expertise so you need to do the research yourself and meet with the surgeons on your list (who claim FUE expertise). Ask to meet some of their patients so that you know what the surgeon is capable of doing. I realize this may not be the answer you are looking for, but there is some work required on your part to assure yourself of a good result. Even for me, sorting out the doctors who can perform successful FUE procedures is very difficult as there are so many who claim such expertise and just can’t cut it.
For more, please see:
2007-11-21 14:34:402007-11-23 09:23:09Best Surgeons for FUE in the US?
If Minoxidil Is Taken Orally to Lower Blood Pressure, Will It Promote Hair Growth?
Yes, however, doctors find that oral Minoxidil is a poor anti-hypertensive agent. Today, most doctors do not use oral Minxodil to treat high blood pressure. The use of oral minoxidil has been shown to increase hair on the head. In countries like India, Minoxidil is often used to treat balding.
Bilateral Varicocele and Propecia
Yes, another Propecia question for you. Sorry 🙂 I am 37 and have a bi-lateral varocele, grade 2 on the left and grade 1 on the right. If I started on propecia, could its side effects be more potent or affect my condition? From what I remember, the Merck studies did not get into the issue of results or drawbacks of people with Varocle.
This is a question you must ask the doctor who is following your problem. There is no obvious answer, other than you cannot just correlate any medical issue with a side effect. I am not a urologist nor do I treat varicoceles, so I am probably not the one to answer the question.
Mom’s Male Family Is Bald — Dad’s Family Has Hair
if my mom’s father and brothers are all bald and my dad’s family including my dad all have hair, where does that leave me in the genetic mix?
Balding genes can be inherited through the mother or father’s family line (54% may be the maternal side connection). Even if you have the gene, there must be environmental influence to express it and for men it is hormones, time, and stress. The balding genes are not fully understood and there is what is called “expression” of the gene, which means that having it and showing it are two separate things. In other words, you may or may not have the gene and if you do, you may or may not show the gene with genetic balding in your lifetime, yet you can still pass that down to your children or children’s children who may then show it with balding in their lifetime. You won’t know until you begin to lose hair and then you will have to be examined thoroughly.
Bleeding with Microneedling
When you bleed with microneedling, it shows you are at the correct depth. From a numbers perspective, I recommend a 1.25 mm depth. I particularly like the “Dr Pen” device because you can hold it over each area and deliver an effective injury to induce the healing cascade. Once per week is adequate; more frequent use is unnecessary. The photograph shows that you are using it where you want your hairline to return. I can see that clearly by the bleeding that shows in the photo.
More Opinions About Finasteride and Prostate Cancer Risk
This post is in reference to an increased prostate cancer risk from finasteride and dutasteride (see here).
E. Antonio Mangubat, MD wrote an interesting metaphor to help some of his patients and colleagues understand the many discussions on cancer risks in association with taking finasteride. He writes:
“It is sad that the number of lives saved [who have not developed prostate cancer] has been discounted because of the words used …. [in the opinions drawn].
In my opinion their conclusion [New England Journal of Medicine] is like saying seat belts should not be used because it increases the chances of dying if the car ignites on fire. While the caution is true, the conclusion ignores the lives saved if the car does not incinerate.”
We both agree that the conclusions in this NEJM article introduce a fear factor that people with hair loss will now have to consider cancer risks and even death from prostate cancer if they choose to take this drug. The study that is referenced was performed on 20,000+ men over 55 years old in a classic double blind methodology and it showed that the cancer risk was reduced by 25% for those men who took the drug when compared to the control group.
The fear was generated from the observations that there was a higher risk of high grade tumors in those men who took the drug, but there was no study of death rates on the men with higher grade tumors despite the high numbers of men studied. For those readers who are still confused, the pathologists who reviewed the ‘slides’ of the tumors felt that the tumors looked ‘meaner’ (my words), but if these meaner tumors did not kill the men who had that diagnosis made, then it seems almost meaningless, an exercise of intellectualization.
I am angry about these conclusions to two reasons: (1) I must notify patients of these recommendations since they come from the FDA and the NEJM journal, because this has now become the standard of care, and (2) patients who are balding and could be helped with a simple daily finasteride pill may be frightened into the hair transplant surgery route. Yes, I would make money from the transplant, but I prefer that patients simply take a pill rather than have surgery that could perhaps otherwise be avoided.