Category: Uncategorized

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Saw Palmetto and finasteride together, is it better?

I was wondering what people’s experiences were taking these two together? I read that Saw Palmetto (if it does indeed inhibit 5ar) works on the type 1 and 2 5ar whereas fin works mostly on type 2. Based on this I figured it could add extra inhibition of DHT if it does indeed work. On the other hand, it might be possible that the two interact and cancel each others effects out somehow

Clinical studies on Saw Palmetto have shown that it is a very weak DHT inhibitor and as such can not be effective in the treatment of hair loss


2019-03-26 18:18:35Saw Palmetto and finasteride together, is it better?

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Dr Rassman on The Great American Dream Vote

Dr Rassman on The Great American Dream VoteI received quite a few emails today from readers of Balding Blog that saw me on the new Great American Dream Vote television show last night on ABC. Thanks for writing in to let me know you saw the program. I was only on there for a few moments as part of the prize package for the dream winner named Russ, but it was a fun experience. Russ is a very nice 22 year old college student with significant hair loss — Norwood Class 6/7 balding pattern (Class 7 is the worst with only a 3 inch rim of normal hair around the side and back of the head and Russ is already close to that pattern).

The basic idea of the show is that a number of everyday folks are selected to go up on stage to tell the audience what their dream is (from opening a flower shop to opening a dog rescue shelter to having a full head of hair) — and eventually the contestants are narrowed down to only 2. Those 2 contestants are then voted for by the home audience by a toll-free phone number, and the person with the highest amounts of votes gets their wish. Young Russ was chosen! He will receive hair transplant surgery at the New Hair Institute, as well as a bevy of other prizes (of which I have nothing to do with)! He’s been quite overwhelmed by all the attention he’s received and has headed back home to get back to his schooling. He’ll be back out to my Los Angeles office very soon to have his procedure performed, and I’ll be sure to post photos of his results as the updates are sent to my office. In the meantime, here are some photos I took at his consultation that really show off how much work he needs. Click the photos to enlarge.

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Scalp Aches After Laser Therapy

I am a 23 yr old male, suffering from thinning hair. I went to a Dr, and he gave minoxydil as part of the treatment, and laser therapy as the other. He uses a laser pen like device, and runs it through my scalp for about 15 min. Well my question is that: everytime he does the laser therapy, my scalp aches a bit. I told him about it, and he says that it is normal, but i need more reassurance.
Thank you

I am unfamiliar with this “laser pen” he is using, but if you think that the aching follows the use of the laser pen, then I would believe that the laser pen is the cause. Perhaps it would be helpful to read my past blog entries regarding the use of lasers in hair therapy, and more specifically, this blog entry about Low Laser Light Therapy. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, but if you could get me the actual name of the device, I might be able to research it further.


2005-12-28 13:03:26Scalp Aches After Laser Therapy

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Scalp MicroPigment SMP Review of Hair Transplant Scar

This is a review of a patient who was happy with his hair transplant results but his linear hair transplant scar bothered him when he wore his hair short.
We kept his hair long (not shaved) and performed the SMP procedure under local anesthesia. The following results were immediately after the first session. He will need a follow up session for better blending.


2014-09-16 14:06:30Scalp MicroPigment SMP Review of Hair Transplant Scar

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Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) to cover FUE Scars

This patient had visible FUE scars that he wanted to conceal. To accomplish this, we performed Scalp MicroPigmentation on the donor area with great results. FUE is a terrific procedure but it does form many very small scars for each follicular unit that is excised. When too many FUEs are performed the donor area becomes bald and looks more and more depleted. That was not the case in this patient. Click to enlarge.

fue scars before

fue scars after
Scalp MicroPigmentaiton used to conceal FUE scars

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Dutasteride vs Finasteride, What Is the Scoop?

Doc, can you write a post detailing the effectiveness of dutasteride vs finasteride for hairline and general thinning if you ever get the chance?

These two drugs work in a similar manner. These drugs are competitive inhibitors to the enzyme 5 alpha reductase, critical to the functioning of DHT. Dutasteride is reported to be 85% effective while Finasteride is reported to be 70% as effective. That does not mean that dutasteride is a better drug, with know side effects that may be worse than finasteride like sterility. Finasteride is approved by the FDA for hair loss while finasteride is not.


2019-05-15 08:54:17Dutasteride vs Finasteride, What Is the Scoop?

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Scalp Tattooing

I came across your post “Horror story with a happy ending” and I would like more details. I have had several surgeries beginning in the early 90s, from plug work to micrografts and FUE. Most of this was corrective work. Unfortunately it wasn’t particularly successful, and the distribution of hair is abnormal. Fortunately though my donor scar isn’t that bad, as I was careful with the scar revisions to minimize a bad outcome. I am left with approximately 1 scar from my last revision, where a trichophytic closure was used. It runs from ear to ear and varies in width from 2 mm to 8 in a few places. Overall, considering the number of surgeries I’ve had it’s remarkably good. I’d like to fill in the thin spots with the “stippling” type of tattoo you mentioned in your post. However I am very concerned with the discoloration over time. Can you provide contact information of the dermatologists who had the tattooing done, or some more information about it (eg. type of ink, who did it, etc.). I’d much rather put my faith in the hands of someone who has seen success with this than take chances on an unknown. FUE, etc aren’t really options for me at this point for filling in the scar.

Thanks

Although I don’t have any information about the tattooers of the patient you mentioned, from what I’ve seen, tattoos on the scalp and scars have turned green over time. While it may not occur every time, this is a real problem for the two patients that come to mind. For that reason, I would hold off doing the scalp tattoo for the time being unless you are sure that the color will last and this is what you want, as today’s tattoos are not reversible (laser removal is quite painful and may take many sessions to get a decent result).

A new product is coming sometime later this year that is reversible, so if you did not like it after getting it, then you can make it go away a lot easier. It doesn’t make the pain any less intense, though. For more general information, see InfinitInk from Freedom2, Inc.

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Effectiveness of DHT blockers

My question is; does finasteride and dutasteride lost effectiveness over-time in the body? Like, say in decades, would my body become used to dutasteride and it will lose its effectiveness and hair loss will resume or can I preserve my hair forever (until I’m a senior, theoretically) just from taking 0.5 mg of dut everyday for the rest of my life?

Another question, will the hairs that grew back become thick like how they were before they fell out? Is there anything I can do to make them thicker or do I just have to keep taking the drug and wait longer?

It is not the blood levels of these drugs that are important, but the tissue fixation that occurs after taking the drug. The tissue fixation of finasteride is about 7-9 days while the tissue fixation of dutasteride is about 6 weeks. These drugs generally do not lose effectiveness but the balding pattern is tied to apoptosis (cell death) which these hairs undergo over time. These drugs slow the process down but will not prevent the outcome, which is inevitable.

In the early stages of use, when miniaturization is high and newly formed, the probability that these drugs will reverse the miniaturization process, making these hair stronger and less miniaturized, will be good.