I am a 29 year old woman. 5 years ago a number of symptoms creeped up on me (this started 1 year after i stopped ortho-tri cyclen). The symptoms got progressively worse over the years. They included: hair loss, decreased metabolism (irregular bowel movement inspite of high fibre diet), cold intolerance, fuzzy headedness (lack of concentration), depression, dry skin, increasingly recurrent mild yeast infection.

My TSH was normal, so thyroid probs was ruled out. 2 months ago, i went to another doctor who listened to my symptoms and put me on synthroid. He thought i may be suffering from sub-clinical hypothyroidism. All my symptoms (except hair loss) have since compeletely clerared up … (i feel like i was given a new lease on life …and feel normal for the 1st time in years).

I am hopeful that the medication will resolve the hairloss as well, however i am worried since i have a lot of Hair miniaturization all over my head including back , side and top but most pronounced on top of my head and temples and sides. Do you think that thyroid problems could also cause miniaturization and i should wait and see if the problem gets helped. Or should i be starting another regimen…

Also , where can i get the desitometer measuring the progress or worsening of hair miniaturization, to figure out if my hair is improving with thyroid meds or not…

Thanks in advance !!

Female hair loss precipitated by birth control pills and thyroid disease in women programmed for genetic hair loss may not reverse. Only time will tell you.

The best place to get your own densitometer is at Radio Shack or a local small electronics shop. Look for something they call a hand microscope which should sell for around $15. Someone other than you will have to do the measurements at the same place each and every time you are examined and plot it out over time, possibly monthly.

2006-02-08 10:36:342006-02-08 11:06:57Thyroid Medication and Female Hair Loss

sir,
i sm 20yrs of age. i use to have very thin hairs. i not use any hair oil or any hair ointment, but use to shampoo twice a week. Also i have habit of applying my hand on my hair regularly, but now the problem is that my hair starts falling & shine is also lost. Please tell me if applying hair color is safe or not. so please send me the related information.i shall be highly thankful to you.

Daily washing of the hair is a good idea, but being gentle is important. Fine hair is more fragile then coarse hair, so damaging it is a real consideration with a strong massage or heavy handed brushing. Ask a good hair dresser for advice. Careful coloring should not be a problem provided that high quality materials are used by a professional skilled in the art.

2005-11-03 12:15:542005-11-03 12:54:57Hair Coloring and Hair Loss

Every bit of information educates the public. Interesting reading.

From the article —

We normally have, on average, 100,000 hairs on our scalp. And as evinced by our changing hair lengths, roots and visits to our hairdressers, those hairs grow; in fact, 90 percent of our hair is actively growing at any given time. Hair is the second fastest growing tissue in our body after (I’d love for you to guess) … bone marrow.

Read the full article by Dr. Judith Reichman: Today – What women can do to stop hair loss

2007-12-10 09:31:372007-12-05 13:43:22Today Show Tells How Women Can Stop Hair Loss

My son will be 12 this August, I have been noticing lately on his pillow in the morning, there is some lose hair on it, I would say about 12 strands. I have never noticed this before and I would like to know if this is normal or something I should be concerned about. I was wondering if this could be related to puberty, his voice is starting to change or if it is coincidental? Thanks for your time.

It is normal to lose 100 to even as many as 200 hairs a day. Furthermore hair grows in cycles (see below) and you may notice more hair falling out at different phases and seasons of the month. In other words, hair growth and hair loss can be a cyclical phenomenon. Other factors certainly contribute to hair loss such as hormonal changes, malnutrition, etc. While your son’s hormonal changes of puberty may be coinciding with the hair loss, it is my opinion that 12 strands a day is perfectly normal.

Hair follicle cells have three phases of growth:

1. Growth phase (Anagen phase) which lasts anywhere from 2 to 6 years. This is the phase where your hair is actively growing at approximately 10cm per year. 85% of hair is at this phase at any given time.
2. Transitional phase (Catagen phase) which lasts about 2 weeks. This is the phase where the hair follicle shrinks and prepares to enter the resting phase.
3. Resting phase (Telogen phase) which lasts about 1- 6 months. This is the phase where hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle. Some hairs are shed at this phase, but at the end the hair follicle re-enters the growth phase to start the cycle over again. 10-15% of hairs are at this phase at any given time.

2006-04-11 10:32:312006-04-11 08:57:21Hair Follicle Cells Growth Stages

I started finasteride but my hair loss had progressed a bit over the past few months in the temple recession and has thinned on the top and crown as well. A little over a month ago my GP prescribed me 5mg finasteride to be cut into fourths and taken daily. I cut the pills into 8ths and started taking them every 3 days initially. After three weeks, I could tel my nipples were swollen and looked bigger. I also had penile numbness, and I could not maintain an erection at all. After stopping finasteride, I was back to normal within a week. I am really sad that I was unfortunate enough to get side effects from finasteride… Now it seems my only options are to try topical finasteride, or to wait until I am old enough and my hair loss has halted to get a hair transplant.

We need to talk. Topical finasteride is a reasonable alternative which I can prescribe for you over a telephone consultation.

 

2021-01-16 03:32:532020-07-21 13:34:32Took finasteride and these were my side effects on just a small dose

Patients who respond to finasteride (many photos)

Jul 20, 2017/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Loss Causes

Dr. Robert Bernstein has put together a terrific group of before and after photos from people who used medications such as finasteride, without surgery. Look at this link: https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/patient-photos/

2017-07-20 05:19:062017-07-20 05:19:06Patients who respond to finasteride (many photos)

I am a 30 years old male, I did a perm 5 years ago to make my fine hair look a bit curly, so that it did not look as limp as it used to
be, that was actually the suggestion from the hair stylist based on my soft fine hair, I initially wanted to make it volumized, so he
provided the service of perm to my hair.

After five years, the effect of perm has been already gone for a long time. However, I roughly felt my hair growing a little strange in
recent years as the perm changed the growing pattern or direction to my hair, the hair did not follow the normal straight way to grow, so I
am wondering does it cause some extent of damage to my hair root? Thank you.

Perming your hair does not cause hair loss in general. Sometimes you can harm the hair or irritate the scalp with harsh chemicals involved but hairs generally grow back. Especially after 5 years the correlation of a perm and hair loss/texture changes seem less of a correlation.

Doctor I read that oysters raise testosterone levels. Can a person who has genetic balding lose more hair by eating oysters?

ANSWER: I doubt that there is an association between balding and eating oysters. Balding is hard grained in your DNA. Only taking steroids by mouth, could accelerate balding. I would doubt that any reasonably good food would impact hair loss as it is just the genes that dictate your balding status.

I got a hair cut in May and all my hair was growing except one spot
not its july and it’s getting bigger.

I would see a doctor about this. It may be alopecia areata from just the photo alone. If it is alopecia areata your hair will grow back over time without any treatment. But it may also return and it even can progress. See a doctor and get a definitive diagnosis.

This week I saw a man who had a transplant of 3000 grafts… and did not look normal. His examination showed a very low donor density and very fine hair, yet the doctor who did the surgery had placed these 3000 grafts uniformly around his entire, very large Class 7 balding area. The patient regretted his decision to do this surgery. Unfortunately, his options were limited and his doctor should have given him the information to avoid this terrible mistake.

Had I seen him before his surgery, I wouldn’t have been able to help him; however; today because of Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) there is an obvious solution. To help him make his decision, we decided to first address his large wide scar with SMP. Then with his scar taken care of, he can shave his head very closely and see what he would look like if he decided to have SMP all over his head. This would be an incremental decision for him, giving him the time to judge this last step.

What failed him was his previous doctor who never told him that he did not have enough hair to reconstruct his extreme balding pattern, nor was he told about scarring risks. The doctor painted a good picture and like most patients who believe in their doctors, he wanted to believe that his doctor was addressing his best interests. As there is no going back now, the solution of SMP to the entire head would give him the look of a buzz cut (see scalpmicropigment.com)