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Does propecia effect blood test in anyway.Also I have had a scalp biopsy and was told I have anadrogenic alopecia.So now I have been on propecia for 11 months and now I’m losing hair all over my head like D.U.P.A or something.Also for the last month or so I have been losing my eyebrow hair and eyelashes. I have been to the doctor so many times and they cant find out whats wrong with me.Please help I’m so scared of waking up one day with no hair on my entire face.

It has been long thought that finasteride 5mgs can reduce an elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen test for cancer of the prostate). For this reason, we always ask men over 50 (over 50 because they are at risk of prostate cancer) to get a PSA test prior to starting Propecia. As cancer of the prostate is almost unheard of in a man younger than 50, we do not require a PSA test before starting Propecia. With that said, recent publications indicate that Propecia (1mg dose of finasteride) does not impact the PSA test, even if it is elevated. To my knowledge, only the PSA blood test has been associated with Propecia.

It is impossible to diagnose your condition over the internet. BaldingBlog is not a place to make a medical diagnosis (which you may need). Aside from a scalp biopsy, you may benefit from a scalp hair miniaturization study so that a good doctor can put a listing of possible diagnoses before you. You should get a focused answer. If you are not satisfied with the information your doctor has provided you, see another doctor.

Dr. Rassman:
I’m a 32 y/o physician and have had a high temporal hairline for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, over the course of the last few years it has gotten higher. I’m thinking about doing something about it but have concerns about transplantation. My concenrs include the durability of transplantation and the potential need for more and more procedures as time goes on. I also wonder about the variability in outcomes from physician to physician, even in your group. Do you keep track of graft yield/take statistics within your group, do you know who the best is as far as the above is concerned, and do you share this information? After deciding on proceeding with transplantation, can one ask that you specifically be the one to do it and, if so, do you charge more? Thanks.

Wow, that would require a long dissertation to answer it all. Yes, there are differences between medical groups in the survival of grafts and the yield of hair as it relates to different procedures. As you may know, there are many techniques being used today. The golden standard is Follicular Unit Transplantation, a process which we pioneered. See Follicular Transplantation: Patient Evaluation and Surgical Planning? and The Aesthetics of Follicular Transplantation for more.

Hair transplants, once grown out, are quite durable and they should last your lifetime. The issue you should be concerned about is the progressive nature of hair loss in the balding man. Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is a good way to address this problem and in most men with a good Master Plan, they (in conjunction with a good doctor) should be able to define what will happen to your hair situation over time. Good miniaturization studies are critical to the development of a Master Plan for hair loss and treatment.

The average clinical doctor does not keep records on graft survival, but the different doctors have learned over time that they must have graft survival if they are to survive in the competitive marketplace. So what they have done is modify what they can do effectively. Some doctors do not do Follicular Unit Transplants (FUT) and instead have developed modifications of this technique so that their survival will be high. But, in my opinion, the FUT standard is the Golden Standard and has been so since the day we first published the article on it 9 years ago. The reason that it is the golden standard is simply, it produces the best and most natural results possible.

Pricing does vary between medical groups and even within my medical group by doctor (my price being higher than the other doctor because of availability issues). I suspect that the quality of work in any one medical group should be consistent with doctors in that medical group. Dr. Pak, for example, does as fine work as I do as he uses the same staff and the exact same techniques. As you should realize, the crux of the quality of the work you get is tied to the staff as much as the medical group, something we proudly show off at our monthly open house events, where our patients come to meet with prospective patients.

For further reading, here are some past blog posts that I’d recommend:

• Doctor Availability
• The Truth About Cheap Hair Transplants
• How Do I Know I’m Getting the Amount of Grafts I Paid For?

I am 21yrs old (male) Ever since i used the ‘Heads & Shoulders’ shampoo i started to get scalp pimples with sticky yeast on the pimples so im guessing that shampoo has a ingredient that im allergic to. My question is, if its just an allergy and i stop using that shampoo, will my scalp pimples and yeast disappear? or do i have to do something about it?

Of course, if you believe that the pimples and the shampoo are related, it is easy to stop the shampoo and find out. It should be obvious to you. Sorry, but at 21 years old, you have to start using the logical side of your brain.

(male) You wrote this in response to someone asking about agressive styling, “The only way blow drying can cause hair loss is if you actually leave the blow dryer too close to your scalp for a long period of time, causing burning to your scalp, thus possibly leading to hair loss.”

I think I may have done this to my hair. Is there any way to get it back? It is thining in only the particular places I used to blow dry it with a rather hot dryer to make it lay down flat. Is there any hope??

I am 39 years old and used to have very thick hair. I noticed thining a few years ago, but after I thought about it I relzed that it may be due to the hair dryer. There is no history of MPB in my family. HAve you heard of anything similar of do you have any sugestions?

Thanks for any help you could offer.

It is possible to damage your scalp and make your hair pay for it. We get reports all of the time by people who had hair stylists damage their hair with rough handling (like you) or as a result of dyes and chemicals. You need to be evaluated in-person by an expert to understand just what is happening. Maybe there is another cause of the thinning, and just maybe you are misjudging what you see.

Hi there. I am a 21 year old male that has experienced hair loss. I’ve always had wavy hair but at around 19 I started losing my hair and it reached Stage 2 on the Norwood scale. My hair stylist recommended Nioxin for me to use about 5 months after my hair started falling out. Since using Nioxin, my hair loss has either stopped or slowed down tremendously (not really sure) but no new hair has grown in. I have grown my hair longer and styled it so most people cannot tell that I have lost some of my hair. Since it has been 1.5 years since my first loss of hair, is there anything that I can take with Nioxin to help regrow my hair? What are my options? Thank you very much!

What you are calling a Norwood Class 2 pattern, I might call a maturing hairline, which is something common in young men of your age. The first 3/4 inch from the highest crease or the wrinkled brow is the juvenile component of the frontal look. Behind this first 3/4 inch starts what I call the mature hairline and if this is what you believe is a balding Class 2 pattern, then you are not balding at all — just developing the mature look.

If you are truly concerned about hair loss, you should want to see a doctor to have your scalp mapped for miniaturization. If genetic balding is present, Propecia (finasteride 1mg) would be a good choice, especially at your age. It is available by prescription only, but it is one of only 2 FDA approved medications for the treatment of hair loss (the other being minioxidil). As I have said previously about Nioxin, they make a good set of products that are popular but there does not appear to be anything in it to stop hair loss.

Dear Dr. Rassman:

I am curious to know what you think about taking 1/4 of a dose of Proscar twice daily as a way to counteract its short half-life thereby theoretically increasing its efficacy by increasing its duration sytemically?

There is no evidence that more finasteride is better than the 1mg dose. I do not see a problem with it provided that it does not increase any side effects.

My 6 yr old son has developed a small, oblong bald spot around 3 months ago. The spot has no signs of hair growth and is very smooth as if no hair was ever there. What could be the cause and should I take him for blood work?

You should have it look at by a good dermatologist. The possibilities are extensive, and infections are not uncommon. Ringworm (a fungal infection) is one of the more common causes in a six year old.

Hello Doctor,

I’m currently a 21 year old male with some signs of MPB. I would say that I currently am between a NW II and III and I do have a family history of MPB on my mother’s side.

My question is more for future reference as I know you advise against most people under the age of 25 to get hair transplants.

Now for the question, I’ve always had “fine” hair (much like my mother and her father). Would this affect my ability to get a hair transplant in the future since my donor area’s hair would be much finer and not cover as much as personal with “full” hair? Have you ever turned away a patient because of this?

Also, which technique of hair transplantation would you recommend for someone with “fine” hair? The FUE or the Strip procedures?

A transplant with fine hair will produce coverage that you have always had. The transplants bring you your hair, with all of its characteristics. Most people with fine hair have a see-through look when they at 12 years old, so a hair transplant will bring you back to the see-through appearance you had all of your life. Fine hair is not a contraindication for hair transplants. The harvesting mechanism should be up to you and your budget, the supply of the donor hair you have, and the size of the bald area you are transplanting. FUE is not a good surgery for extensive hair transplants in a very bald man, just because of the number of surgeries you have to go through to achieve the numbers of grafts.

Hello Dr – I read with interest your answer about MRI scans and how there is no link from them to hairloss as they use magnets. What then, would be your opinion on CT Scans? Could these cause hairloss and if so over what time period? i.e – a few days after the scan or a few years? Thank you for your time.

The amount of radiation that a CT scan (also known as a CAT scan) will administer is not sufficient to cause hair loss. It takes much, much more radiation to cause radiation sickness and have the side effects to cause hair loss.

For more information about CT scanning, please see: Wikipedia – Computed tomography

Hello Dr. Rassman,
My hair is extremely porous, yet certainly not over-processed. I colour the gray roots once every 4-6 weeks and do not blow dry or straighten. No matter how expensive the salon or the hair product, it’s always porous. In the Summer it loves the humidity and in the Fall and Winter it looks like string.

I am also at 6 months post-hair-transplant, and I am hoping for the best hair possible. Is there a relationship between female pattern baldness, which began in my teens, and porous hair? Can you recommend anything at all for my hair, which has been treated very carefully all my life. Thanks a million, and God Bless you! xoxo

I generally do not like to make recommendations for daily hair grooming and hair management. There is clearly dry and moist hair and the difference does reflect the porous nature of the individual hair shaft for that person. The transplants should behave as it did when the hair was located in their original ‘home’ in the back of your head. I would stick to the recommendations of a good stylist who works with individuals with different hair characteristics (porous and non-porous) every working hour of their lives.