Category: Uncategorized

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Review of Microneedling (From Reddit)

The attachment goes through all of the definitions, common practice and a reasonably complete review of the industries experience with microneedling with minoxidil, PRP and mesotherapy. This is a must read for those of you who want to go through this treatment modality, how to do it and what you can realistically expect. The conclusion from the various references seems to show a uniform benefit from the microneedling.

A Scientific Perspective in Microneedling for Alopecia from tressless


2019-12-14 15:20:59Review of Microneedling (From Reddit)

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Ritalin and Hair Loss

I turned 17 about 2 months ago. I’ve been taking ritalin SR for 5-6 months now. I’ve noticed recently that my hair has been receding slowly. Currently it looks like my hair line has gone back about a good 1/2 inch.

If I stop taking this medication will my hair ever grow back?

Ritalin is used to treat ADD — Attention Deficit Disorder. It is commonly used and there are some reports of hair loss associated with this drug, however, at the age of 17, you might be seeing the early maturation of your hairline and you should want to get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to be sure that you do not have genetic balding. As you are in California, come visit me at my Beverly Hills or Newport Beach office to find out and I will map your hair and scalp (no charge for the visit).


2007-02-15 09:47:13Ritalin and Hair Loss

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Donald Trump’s Bad Hair Day

UK’s Daily Mail has a new article up — A step-by-step guide to the gravity-defying Donald Trump combover — which includes some rather unflattering photos of The Donald’s infamous hair. And as everyone knows how bad his hair looks, that is really saying something!

The article hints that Mr. Trump’s combover is just hiding some balding, but I’d guess that he has had multiple poorly done hair transplants and is using this hairstyle to mask it as best he can. This is just rumor, though.

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Rogaine, Propecia, Avodart, and Other Basics

Hey doc, Great site!
Here is my background: I’m 30 yrs old; have been on Propecia for about 5 years now; the hair on the crown of my head is full; but I have a pretty good widow’s peak and am starting thin pretty severly along my hairline. I just wanted to fact check a few things:

  1. Is Rogaine my only viable option at this point to stop the thinning in front?
  2. If I up the dosage if Propecia from 1mg to 2mg will that work? Will it still take 8mos to see new growth given that I’ve been on the product for 5 yrs?
  3. At what age would you advise I look into hair transplantation?
  4. Should I even consider Avodart since it’s not approved by the FDA? Has it been shown to be more effective with re-growing frontal hair?

Tks for your advisement

The questions that you asked have been answered separately on multiple posts in the pasts, but I’ll briefly answer them here again…

  1. Rogaine is recommended mostly for the top and crown area, based on the several studies that were performed on its effectiveness. There is more and more testimony from doctors who recommend it that minoxidil does work in the front and when combined with Propecia shows reasonable results in the frontal area. This is more a subjective call by doctors who know, rather than the type of objective data that the FDA requires.
  2. There is no evidence to show higher doses than 1mg can improve hair growth, but trying it at say twice the dose, may be reasonable provided that you do not experience negative sexual side effects.
  3. At your age, if you have male pattern baldness and are in stage 3 or above on Norwood classification, you can be a hair transplant candidate.
  4. I would probably not consider Avodart. At this point we can not recommend Avodart (dutasteride), because there is not enough medical evidence to show its advantage over Propecia (finasteride), which has much less side effects. Now with that said, it is presently being tested in Korea under an FDA protocol. I would be interested to see the side effects on this drug as well as its effectiveness as reported in scientific formats.


2007-04-26 15:33:06Rogaine, Propecia, Avodart, and Other Basics

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Sad Story from a Man with Post Finasteride Syndrome (from Reddit)

I have been practicing medicine for 27 years, and since the drug was released in the mid-1990s, I have prescribed it thousands of times. In my practice experience, I have never seen this syndrome among the people who got the prescription from me, but since I became aware of this a few years ago, I inform every patient of this risk. Even if the risk is very, very low, for the man who gets it, the risk is 100% and is tragic.

Came across an article on Medium about his ‘Post Finasteride Syndrome’. What are your thoughts? from tressless


2018-09-24 06:18:45Sad Story from a Man with Post Finasteride Syndrome (from Reddit)

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Dr Cole’s Body Hair Transplant Instrument

Dear Dr. Rassman,
I am interested in body hair transplantation. Dr. John Cole does this procedure using special instruments he invented that have improved the results of BHT somewhat. What is your opinion of this procedure and how well do you think it works?

Body hair transplantation is still considered experimental in my opinion. Furthermore, body hair does not have the same growth cycle as scalp hair and most of the body hair is dormant (not growing). Thus, the success or growth of a body hair transplant is highly variable and rarely will more than 50% of the body hair be growing at any one time. Body hair also has a finite length of growth and a different texture than scalp hair. These factors make body hair transplants somewhat controversial. With respect to the instruments, there are many doctors who invent specialized instruments for their practice. I do not know enough of Dr. Cole’s particular instrument to comment on its efficacy other than to quote Shakespeare, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” — From Hamlet (I, v, 166-167).

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Dr Rassman, You Are So Pessimistic!

Dr william
i need to ask you something. why don’t you give people any hope in life? your OPINIONS are so pessimistic. like the one i read that if a father has a balding gene he may not express male pattern baldness in his whole lifetime. so how did you know at the first place that he got a balding gene? and if you know the balding gene please say it’s name to the people here. of course if you have a balding gene you will certainly go bald unless you have a proof. thanks

If you think that I am negative, that is an interesting observation. Throughout my life, I have been called an optimist, but I must be pragmatic and realistic when writing this blog every day. For example, I can not say that hair cloning will come about shortly as others might say, because my research pointed to a troubled view on the timelines for cloning. Likewise, you state that I’ve said something like, “if a father has a balding gene he may not express male pattern baldness in his whole lifetime.” Using the “if“, I was discussing possible considerations. If you call this pessimistic, the language speaks to itself. It has long been said that writers are accountable by their words. Mine are right in your question. Do you have a personal problem with me?

There are well over 100 genes controlling hair loss and hair growth and hair cycles and hair death. Hair is one of the more complex organs in the body, because it has elements that arise from all three of the germ layers of the embryo and the control and coordination of those three layers and their contributions to grow a single follicular unit is so complex, that we still don’t command it or understand it all. That is the crux of the research going on. I hope that this helps.


2007-10-04 15:33:45Dr Rassman, You Are So Pessimistic!