Category: Uncategorized

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Does Dutasteride Increase Hair Loss at the Hairline?

Hello

I’m fully aware of your position on Dutasteride as an unapproved hairloss treatment, however, I wanted to ask if you knew anything regarding Dutasteride increasing a recession of the hairline. I was prescribed Avodart off-label for a DHT-inhibitor for my hairloss (which is only at the hairline/temples) and have since seen no results other than a progression in my receding hairline.

I’ve read many hairloss forums/blogs where those taking Dutasteride have reported and increase in loss at the hairline. I’m aware that a 0.5 mg dose of Avodart decreses scalp DHT 16% more than a 1mg dose of Finasteride (54% versus 38%, respectively), yet increases scalp testosterone 104% while Finasteride only increases testosterone 24%.

Could Avodart’s dramatic increase in scalp testosterone be harming hairlines? Is there any reason why many people’s claims could hold true – that Dutasteride is bad for hairlines? Or, should one continue with Avodart for several months to hold out for the possibility of regrowing what is “shed” or lost from taking it?

Thank you for your food for thought. While it is interesting that you noted this, without data from the pending FDA study, there is no way to have real answers to your questions. You should take any claims made on the internet with a grain of salt, particularly when the information comes from various forums (where it unfortunately seems that many members like to play doctor).


2008-03-18 08:48:43Does Dutasteride Increase Hair Loss at the Hairline?

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Red spots after transplant

I have been touching and scratching my recipient area for the past month since the transplant was done. Should I worry about these red dots?

Red dots can be folliculitis which follows touching and/or scratching the recipient area. You need to see your surgeon, as folliculitis can kill the grafts
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Does Finasteride Control Genetic Hair Loss or Not?

Dear Sir,
This is with reference to comment titled “Periodic Shedding from Finasteride?” in which you had mentioned that Finateride do NOT help to control genetic hair loss. I was impression that Finasteride helps to control the genetic hair loss by handling the DHT accumulation. If Finasteride do not help to control the genetic fall off, what exactly this drug is intended for? Request your advise to understand this better.

This is part of what I said in that post that you’re referring to:

“It is important to realize the the genetic hair loss has its own course, independent of the effects of the drug. What you think is shedding from finasteride, is probably more genetic hair loss. Hair loss goes in waves and cycles of loss (shedding) most likely due to your genetics, not the finasteride. You should discuss this with your prescribing doctor.”

To clarify, finasteride is not a magic pill that stops genetic hair loss. It decreases DHT production at the hair level to combat the DHT that facilities genetic hair loss. As a result, most men on the drug will have some hair growth or slowing of the hair loss. The main point here is that the genetic predisposition will continue and finasteride will carry you only so far.

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Regrowing Hair from Years Ago and the Power of Positive Thinking

Hi Dr and thanks for your time.

I am a 34 year old male and have been thinning for roughly 12-14 years. I feel I used to shed ridiculously bad- I would tug at the hair kind of obsessively and lose around, I dont know, 100-200 per day. This went on for 10+ years but I have since slowed the loss to tolerable levels, say 5-25 hairs per day with improved diet (which I swear had a lot to do with it) and minoxidil 5% 1X per day. My main thin spot is on the vertex, or top of the head, not bald, but somewhat thin, where I really want regrowth. For the past 6-8mos I have been applying minoxodil 2X per day, and recently I decided to take propecia at .5 mg every other day.

I know people say it is hard to regrow hair lost years ago, but I have read of people who do it using finasteride and minoxidil. Have you witnessed this and if so what is the oldest hair lost you have seen men regrow? I have heard of people in their 40s doing this from 5-10 yr old hair loss… I am aware that all meds work better on people who have lost hair recently, and are younger. Also, if the placebo effect worked in some finasteride trials, (even if slightly) what is the power of positive thought here? Thank you very much.

I believe in positive thinking, but I can not say that I have seen it grow hair lost years ago. I think that everything you did has worked for you a little here and a little there — and by that, I mean the medication you’re using and when you stopped the pulling on your hair.

As for the oldest regrowth from finasteride that I’ve seen, well, I have a 79 year old friend who went on Proscar for his prostate and had the great unexpected cosmetic benefit of hair growth when taking a medication for his health. Generally speaking, this is a rarity.

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Does Finasteride Work Well If My Balding Is Caught Early?

My genetics are solid (everyone has full heads of hair except my paternal grandfather and maternal great grandfather) but, like everyone else, I can’t be sure that I’ll never develop MPB. I’m currently 21. I identify heavily with my hair. Can I rest assured that if I catch MPB in the bud early, I can expect myself to keep my hair as if I never had MPB in the first place if I keep taking it?

Finasteride works well in men under 25. The younger you are, the better it works, especially if caught early. 21 is an age where I would expect good results.


2019-09-12 12:55:00Does Finasteride Work Well If My Balding Is Caught Early?

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Removing Only Part of the Follicle

Hello Doctor

There is a dutch clinic that advertizes the following method

“The most significant difference between the HST method and traditional hair tr*nspl*nt techniques is that with HST, only a tiny part of the hair follicle is removed, leaving the majority of it in the donor area where it will produce a new hair. This preserves the donor area for future treatments, which is why this technique should actually be referred to as hair multiplication, rather than tr*nspl*ntation.”

A very famous dutch soccer player ( Snejder ) supposedly undergone this procedure . Anyone who saw the Bayern Munich – Inter Milan game this week definately noticed the difference on his head

I’m not sure why “transplant” is censored on that clinic’s site…

I know who you’re referring to and I have heard this doctor speak on the subject of partial unit extraction. One of the problems — there was never any physicians actually looking at what he was doing, and as such, there is no peer review or comments by other qualified academic doctors that could back up the claims that he actually has growth of full healthy hairs from fragments of hairs. This very subject has been extensively studied by other physicians and the ability to grow full, healthy normal hairs is clearly not possible. I do not believe that what this doctor is reporting is real.

Past posts about this here and here.

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Is there a feminine hairline?

Take a look at Catherine Zeta–Jones‘s hairline (images on google) and you will note that the distance between the hairline and the grove between the nose (Glabella) and the distance between the tip of the nose and the chin are equal. A balanced hairline therefore is critical to femininity. Add to that the shape of the hairline on this actress as it is round. Men have V-Shaped hairlines, not rounded as a rule so the shape of the hairline controls the femininity issue as you can see in this link: https://newhair.com/before-and-after/hairlinelowering/#results how hair transplants can control both of these factors.


2020-04-20 18:01:55Is there a feminine hairline?

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RepliCel

Greetings from a loyal reader! I did a quick search, and saw that this topic hasn’t been covered on your blog. I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of Replicel? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

I haven’t heard about it before, but I’ve looked into it since your email. RepliCel recently completed the acquisition of TrichoScience, a company that worked with hair multiplication. This sounds like more of the same. From the FAQ: “With RepliCel’s treatment a very small punch biopsy is taken and new hair cells are replicated eliminating the need for a large hair donor site to be moved to the bald area.”

Their site says that they’re currently conducting a clinical trial with data expected to become available in the first quarter of 2012. So there’s really not much to know yet, as they’re still testing things and have months of work yet to go.

I would want to know if the investigators obtained an approval from an Institutional Review Board for the research on humans. That might make them credible as these boards are very tight giving approvals on anything less than solid evidence.

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Does minoxidil only work on the crown as the brochure seems to suggest?

Minoxidil works almost any place you put it and sometimes where you don’t put it as women who use it on their hair find that they may develop increased facial hair. The FDA approved it for the crown and that is why it says that in the insert.


2019-11-06 15:03:18Does minoxidil only work on the crown as the brochure seems to suggest?

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Results After 3365 Grafts Transplanted About 15 Years Ago (with Photos)

This patient came back to see me some years after he had his last transplant with NHI. He had 3365 grafts transplanted over two procedures in 1995 and 1998 (grafts placed throughout the frontal hairline and top of the scalp).

This patient visited the office recently to ask about some thickening in the area behind the transplants where he believed he is thinning. He has been on Propecia since the transplants were done, and although most of the hair has been held, the genetics has been persistent at taking some of his hair away.

Click the photos to enlarge.

2012 (after):

 

1998 (before *):

 

* Note that the “before” photos above were actually from just before his 2nd procedure in 1998. The photos from before his 1st surgery in 1995 are not available (they weren’t digital), and although the quality of these 1998 photos isn’t the best, I really just wanted to show how the transplant looks after a lot of time has passed.