Category: Uncategorized

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Anyone Taking Propecia for a Decade? (with Photos)

Hi, I just want to know: do you have many patients who have been on propecia for 8-10 years and yet still have a healthy head of hair on their heads?

Alternatively, do you have many patients who have taken propecia for a long period of time and have gone bald?

I have a number of patients who went to Mexico to get Propecia (finasteride) before it was sold in the United States (maybe 10 years or so ago). One in particular (24 years old at the time), who was balding in the crown, reversed quite nicely on Propecia and maintained that reversal without any progressive miniaturization over the 10 years. Because he was young, the drug worked beautifully. His crown was never transplanted but he did receipve alightly over 6000 grafts in the frontal area. He now has a crew cut.

I have not seen anyone who stayed on Propecia go bald, but I have seen many, many men who were taking it and decided to stop, who then went either very bald or very thin.

Before Propecia on left; After Propecia on right:



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Why do I have so manys scabs on my head after a hair transplant one week ago? (photo)

The recipient are requires daily washes as well to keep the recipient area free of crusts. I generally recommend the use of a sponge and supply my patient with a surgical sponge to fill with soapy water and press on the recipient area daily. By repeating this daily, all crusts can be washed off without any fear of losing grafts and you should be clean of crusts within a day. IF any crust are present, use a Q tip and dip it into soapy water, and roll it on the crusts and that will lift them off without dislodging them, but never rub them, just roll the Q tip on the recipient crust. I like to see no evidence of any crusting in the recipient area and the crusts from the donor area gone in 7-10 days with daily washing, You will have to leave the shampoo on for a good 15 minutes and gently rub the crusts with your fingers. Be sure not to pull them off, just let them shed with the shampoo and it will take a few days for this to happen. You can wash twice a day if you wish to accelerate the process.

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Are Allergies Causing My Miniaturization?

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I am a 25-year-old male and I have been noticing a rapid thinning and recession for about a year now. 3 years ago I got on propecia cause I was shedding real badly. I stayed on it for a year, noticing less shedding and darker hair but that was it. I got off of it cause I thought it wasn’t doing much. Then I started to notice miniaturization forming at the front of my head. My family (both sides) has thick hair, really thick hair.

Fast forward to now and my entire front to mid scalp is miniaturized (looks like a thin doll hair forest) and I am continuing to recede. I tried starting up Propecia again; for 5 months a year ago but stopped cause I felt like maybe it was the cause of this thinning. This is also the time that I was diagnosed for Prostisitis and Epiditymitis. I still have prostititus and it’s been about nine months. I am also continuously shedding except now they are very fine hairs, most of them have bulbs on the end and my hair feels very brittle and dry all the time (even after conditioner)

What I do notice when with the receding line is that before I loose the hair and it goes further back, I get red bumps, kind of like pimples, they are really itchy I noticed it back when I first started receding 5 years ago. They usually cover the entire line then once I recede past, no bumps and the skin is fine. I have these little bumps all over my head and they itch and burn really bad. Almost like ant bites. (The bumps were also there while I was on Propecia). Do you think I have an allergic reaction to something? Can allergies cause hair loss and miniaturization? Or can it be the prostisitis causing something? Or the propecia?

Please note: I have been tested for STD’s, irregular kidneys, regular blood tests, urinalysis, testosterone levels, thyroid problems. They all came back negative. I’ve talked to one dermatologist and he said I might be allergic to dairy. But I have been drinking it all my life. Any type of info would be helpful at this point.

Thanks

Your case is not simple and one would want to know far more about you than this summary will allow. The most common cause of hair loss in men is genetic male pattern baldness, and while anything is possible, it is not too likely that allergies are causing your miniaturization (especially if you are thinning in the typical male pattern). If you think there’s a dairy allergy that suddenly came on as an adult, then avoid dairy and see if your hair grows back or hair loss stops. My guess is that it won’t make a difference to your scalp though.

Starting and stopping the Propecia means that you are acting like your own doctor. Stopping that drug will kick start the hair loss again and restarting it again may do less good each and every time that you make a change. The red bumps you describe on your head just confuses me more, as I can not put it all together. You should seek out a second opinion from another dermatologist in your area and have him/her examine those itchy bumps on your scalp.


2009-02-26 11:16:01Are Allergies Causing My Miniaturization?

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Masturbating to Avoid Acne While Taking Finasteride?

Hi Doctor,

I’m 23. I’ve been taking Proscar 5mg for over 6 months and see some improvement. However, I keep getting mild acne. When I stop the medication, the acne stops. However, recently I started masturbating observed the acne stopped even during medication. Are the two activities connected? Do I continue masturbating to avoid acne? Please advice, thanks.

That’s quite a question…

If you are taking Proscar (finasteride 5mg) for the treatment of hair loss you are over doing it and overdosing. You should take one quarter tablet of Proscar a day. You will not gain any benefit by taking the extra dose.

I do not see any correlation between acne and masturbating. And I highly doubt you just started masturbating to observe this phenomenon and must be pulling my leg on this aspect of your question.

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Are My ED Problems Porn-Induced or From Propecia?

What is the longest time Propecia side effects can appear? I been on Propecia for almost 4 years and within the past several months I got ED when I have sex I can’t even get an erection to penetrate but when I masturbate to porn I can maintain a strong erection! After enough research I’m almost positive I got porn-induced ED! So now I’m in the process of recovery but since I’m on Propecia, I wonder now if possibly that after such a long time side effects could appear!

Propecia has halted my hair loss and I don’t wanna stop it. I’m 25yo it’s too early for me to be bald!

Side effects from any drug can appear at any time, but this is relatively rare. Most side effects would appear in the first few weeks — not after 4 years. If you think Propecia is causing your erectile dysfunction (ED), talk with your prescribing doctor and consider stopping the medication or cutting the dosage. If you think porn is causing your ED, stop watching porn or talk with your psychologist. I really have no way to know what is causing your erection troubles.

Here are some ED statistics that might be interesting to you (source: MMHC) —

  • One in 10 men in the world have erectile dysfunction.
  • 30 million men in the United States have erectile dysfunction.
  • 50% of men with diabetes have erectile dysfunction, frequently within 10 years of diagnosis.
  • The likelihood of erectile dysfunction increases with age: 39% at age 40, 65% over the age of 65.
  • Smokers have a higher likelihood of erectile dysfunction. Men who smoke more than 1 pack per day have a 50% higher chance of impotency than nonsmokers the same age.
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Does maturing hairlines happen because of a males testosterone?

I don’t know for sure but I suspect that you are correct. We know that females generally do not get the receded mature ‘male hairlines’ that men do. Could this be caused by genes related to our sex alone or is it that two X chromosomes with the high estrogen levels in females protected against the mature hairlines. No one has been able to study this. These hairs in the zone between the juvenile and mature hairline certainly have an ingrained number of hair cycles which then produce ‘apoptosis’ (cell death) of these hair cells possibly triggered by testosterne,

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Are You Sure Minoxidil Doesn’t Block DHT?

You’ve stated on your website that minoxidil doesn’t block DHT. How do you know this? Perhaps this is the mechanism by which it regrows hair. I’ve tried finasteride and dutasteride with virtually no results. While my result with minoxidil hasn’t been spectacular, it has definitely been superior to the other two drugs.

Minoxidil has a known side effect, in that it will grow hair when it is taken orally or applied to the skin. Women complained of the appearance of facial and chest hair when this drug was used as an antihypertensive drug. I can’t state with 100% certainty that it doesn’t block DHT, but that is not what is reported. What has been reported is that minoxidil is a vasodilator, not a DHT inhibitor.


2010-03-09 08:59:23Are You Sure Minoxidil Doesn’t Block DHT?

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Medscape and Dr. F. Perry Wilson questions the value of stems cell treatments and relates it to doctors making money

Welcome to Impact Factor, your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I’m Dr F. Perry Wilson.

I want to start with a compelling narrative being told to patients across the country. It goes like this: We physicians are going to use cutting-edge science to unlock the healing potential of your own cells to treat your chronic medical conditions. Sounds amazing, right? And it can all be yours for just about $5000 per treatment.

I’m talking about stem cell therapy. Stem cells are cells with the potential to differentiate into a variety of other cells or tissues. And to date, the FDA has approved their use in a number of hematologic malignancies and hematologic genetic conditions—and that’s it.

Stem cells are not FDA-approved for joint pain, cataracts, depression, autism, dementia, or heart disease, and yet hundreds of stem cell clinics around the country are offering them for these very conditions, as shown in this study appearing in Stem Cell Reports,[1] which documented the activities of 169 stem cell businesses in the United States.

These for-profit companies charge patients thousands of dollars for unproven treatments. Patients bear the brunt of the costs, as most insurance companies won’t cover the therapies.

Up until recently, this was basically unregulated, though the FDA has started to change that.

The Stem Cell Reports study characterized 169 stem cell clinics in the Southwestern United States to systematically measure just what they are selling and who is running them.

As you can see here, the range of conditions being treated is incredibly broad, with inflammatory and orthopedic conditions topping the list.

From Frow EK, et al. Stem Cell Reports. 2019;13:1-7.

Who’s running these places? The majority are run by MDs, though there is a smattering of other providers, as you can see here.

From Frow EK, et al. Stem Cell Reports. 2019;13:1-7.

What raises my hackles a bit are the clinics where the training of the provider doesn’t match up with the services offered. It’s one thing for an orthopedic surgeon to offer stem cell injections into arthritic knees, but the authors documented clinics run by cosmetic surgeons offering treatment for lung disease and autism.

Are these clinicians providing cutting-edge treatments or is it a shameless cash grab? Maybe both? These treatments are not entirely benign. In 2017, several patients went blindafter their own adipose-derived stem cells were injected into their eyes. Infection remains a risk as well, as the cells are removed from the body, processed, and reinjected.

There is a reason that we demand well-conducted, randomized clinical trials before we embrace new therapies. In no small part, it’s to ensure that we are abiding by our Hippocratic Oath to first do no harm. Can these providers honestly say that they are meeting that standard? Look, I’m not saying that stem cell therapies are modern-day snake oil. They really may work. But we don’t know if they work and we don’t fully understand the risks. Why are certain individuals — MDs — willing to expose patients to risks they don’t fully understand?

Well, I can think of about 5000 reasons.


2019-08-08 07:38:59Medscape and Dr. F. Perry Wilson questions the value of stems cell treatments and relates it to doctors making money

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Do men or women lose more hair per day naturally

Men actually shed more hairs per day because they have a shorter anagen cycle. Women can grow their hair much longer than men so they lose less per day and regrow less as well. Women can grow hair as long as 3 1/2 feet while men can’t and often grow their length to no more than 18 inches in length. That means that using the formula of 100,000 hair on the head for a typical Caucasian, if the hair is shed after anagen, the women with 3 1/2 feet length hair will lose about 50 hairs per day while the male who will grow to a length of 1 1/2 inches will lose up to 100 hairs per day.


2019-03-22 07:59:18Do men or women lose more hair per day naturally