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Is It The Micro-needling Or The PRP That Grows New Hair?

Hair growth has been reported with PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections which utilize many injections into the scalp and doctors are now doing this wold wide to induce hair growth where there is great need for it. I have been hesitant to accept this treatment because there are no good studies that prove it works. Maybe it does in some people, but clearly not all people, so that is the problem.

Nicole E. Rogers, M.D. reported (in the Hair Transplant Forum, January/February issue, on some research done in India where doctors used a roller micro-needling technique to produce multiple wounds in the scalp to see if it grew hair. Each session lasted 20-25 minutes. These treatments were given every week for 4 weeks, then every other week for 11 sessions for a total of 15 sessions. At the end of six months, three patient reported a greater than 755 increase in their hair. The forth patient reported a 50% increase in his hair. At the end of 18 months, all patients reported that they maintained their new hair.

It was interesting to note from Dr. Rogers, that PRP is like the micro-needling. So I ask: Is is easier and less intrusive to do micro-needling with a roller rather than PRP?

So like any good capitalist, I went on to the Amazon website and found you could buy a dermaroller which essentially does the same thing as I discussed above, for under $20. Of course, you cold come to my office and I could charge you $1000 for each 20 minute needle treatment, but you won’t get a dermaroller to take home to try to save you the money the next time (the material I wrote here on the dermaroller is written to be funny, of course). Is this Black Magic?

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Is Minoxidil Only for Men?

I am a 58yr old woman. My hair is falling. A hair doctor has put me on to MINOXIDIL TOPICAL SOLUTION USP 2% HAIROUSE-MX. 1ML 2 X DAILY along with multivitamin tablets. I have been on it since 45 days. But to know more about this solution i googled it. To my surprise i found out that this solution should only be used by men, not women. Secondly,when stopped hair falls again.

What should i do? i am worried. I dont want to use it for the rest of my life. How do i stop it and being a female using this, am i harming myself? Please help.

2% minoxidil is sold as Women’s Rogaine, 5% minoxidil is sold as Rogaine (for Men). It is the only medication that is FDA approved for treating female hair loss. Some doctors may prescribe the stronger minoxidil (5%) for women, but that is on an individual case by case basis. Besides, it looks like your doctor put you on the 2% anyway.

You do need to use it for life if you want to continue seeing the benefits, and stopping it will result in a disappearance of any benefits you saw from it. In 45 days, you probably didn’t notice too much of a difference, if any. You should talk to your doctor about your concerns.

Propecia (finasteride) is only for men, so perhaps you’re confusing the two medications.


2012-02-07 10:52:13Is Minoxidil Only for Men?

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5 Year Old Daughter Has a Scalp Scar — Too Young for Transplant?

My five-year-old recently had something fall on her head, and it cut her and left a scar. It is on the front of her head, so it is fairly nodicible. I could part her hair differently, but I know this will probably bother her when she gets a little older. I was wondering if there is anything you can do to help. Is there any was of restoring hair where the scar is? Is my daughter to young for a small hair restoration procedure? Please help, I know I should have been watching her closer to prevent it.

Hair transplants are great at covering up scalp scars from accidents. It would be a fairly easy procedure depending on the size and the location of the scar. However, at 5 years old, your daughter may not tolerate the discomfort of the anesthesia and comply with the healing process. As it is a cosmetic procedure, it is my opinion that she should wait until she has a better appreciation of what is involved in such a procedure and drives the process herself.

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Is My Hair Loss Normal?

Hi, i been taking propecia for a month and 1 week, this last 2 week i notice that i lose over 150 a day ( Each morring i lose around 50 hair on my pillow and around 80 in the shower). It been going on over 2 week.
Will this stop and Is this normal for taking propecia? if yes how long will this hair lost last? Do propecia cause initial hair lost?

thanks

A typical person does lose 100-150 hairs per day. If what you see more recently reflects a change in your norm, you may be experiencing an acceleration of your hair loss. The relationship with your taking Propecia may be circumstantial and I would believe that the two are not related, but you can stop taking the drug and see what happens. The drug is out of your system usually in a day or two. If it stops the loss, then maybe there is a connection, but I have never seen that connection in others. If the loss continues, then I would go right back on the Propecia because that is the best hope for you.

There are some doctors who believe that some shedding after starting Propecia or Avodart is due to an acceleration of the hair cycling. See my previous posting on this subject here.

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Age 22, and worried about balding

I know it isn’t a super bad case of MPB yet but I really don’t like these temporal recessions. They make me look old and I want them to go away. I’ve traced where my hairline used to be and I’m wondering: can it be restored with just fin + min or will I need to buy a hair transplant at some point?

I am not 100% sure that this is balding. To be sure, I need to see a frontal view with your eyebrows lifted high so that you forehead creases. That will tell me exactly where your hairline belongs, if it is receded, and by how much.

This may be an early Class 3 pattern of balding. If you are under 22, it will likely respond to minoxidil and finasteride. If you are over 26, if it doesn’t respond to the above medications, then try microneedling for 6 months, which should regrow your hair. If not, you can get a hair transplant if you have tried it all and are over 25, which will work well if this is balding. The design of your hairline you sent to me is clearly feminine. You need a good doctor to design it properly if you get a hair transplant, and it should be a mature MALE hairline.

 

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Is Propecia Causing Kidney Issues?

I’ve been taking Propecia for over a year now and had a blood test recently done. It shows that my serum creatinine is in the slightly above normal zone which is an indication of possible kidney dysfunction.

Can propecia cause kidney damage? If not, can I still continue taking it?

As I’ve written before, there is no documented adverse effect of Propecia on the kidneys.

Elevated creatinine is something that you should understand. I’ve written about that before as well, here. What I generally do is first repeat the test in the case that the lab test is in error. Then your doctor will dive into it more deeply. Ask your prescribing doctor if you should continue taking the medication, as I cannot give personal medical recommendations.

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Is Taking Propecia to Prevent Shock Loss an Indefinite Necessity?

Hi Dr Rassman,

Fantastic site, and I’m really enjoying your cautious matter-of-fact coverage of the new A-Cell technology!

I’m a 28 year old male, slowly but surely experiencing diffused patterned alopecia. So far it’s not visible except when wet, but miniaturisation mapping shows I’m probably headed for a NW7.

I’m interested in whether you think it’s possible in theory for a surgeon to insert A-Cell treated hairs into the balding areas, thus gradually replacing the DHT-affected hair with permanent hair, and ensuring coverage “continuity”. Obviously this will depend on whether the A-Cell hair is in fact permanent.

Also, I believe you indicated in a previous post that finasteride is recommended to prevent shock loss. Do you believe this will be an ongoing necessity? i.e. assuming the new hairs take root and are unaffected by DHT, would a patient need to remain on finasteride indefinitely or only for the months following surgery?

Perhaps you need a good diagnosis of what you have. Do you have diffuse patterned alopecia (DPA) or androgenic alopecia (AGA)? I suppose you can have both, but that would be rare. It’s important to determine the proper diagnosis, because diffuse patterned or unpatterned alopecia is generally a contra-indication to a hair transplant surgery. The donor hair area is questionable in its permanence in those cases.

Thus, even ACell technology would fall into the same uncertainty. In other words, the hairs transplanted with ACell may not be permanent if the donor hair is not permanent. The technology is so new that I do not have an answer for you.

Finally, Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is recommended for men with androgenic alopecia (AGA). Patients who take Propecia need to take it indefinitely if they wish to slow down or keep the hairs that are at risk from falling out. Many doctors (including us) recommend Propecia to decrease the risk of shock loss. For practical reasons, patients who do not want to be taking Propecia indefinitely (but wish to decrease the risk of shock loss), usually take the medication for about one year. Once they stop taking the Propecia they risk the same ‘catch-up’ hair loss phenomenon. The main thing one needs to understand is that Propecia is an OPTIONAL medication and the only thing that we (doctors) can do is to recommend it.

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6 Months on Finasteride (Photo)

The before picture is below and some benefit can be seen in the upper photo on the left corner of his hairline


2020-04-19 10:39:586 Months on Finasteride (Photo)