It might kill some hairs. It is a risk worth taking. An eyebrow transplant can always put hair back into your eyebrows if you need to fix a problem that you don’t have now.
Skin Cancer and the Sun
Is it true that sun burns on the bald scalp causes skin cancer? Can hair transplants solve this problem?
Sun is a known carcinogen, which means in simple English that heavy doses of sun exposure can cause cancer in susceptible people. Susceptibility varies with skin color and the type of skin you have, but if you have a full head of hair, skin cancers are far less common than on someone with a bald head. I remember that my bald spot would burn during the summers when I went on vacation. After having my hair transplanted into the crown, I do not remember getting a sun burn. I have had many dermatologists send me patients who have had many skin cancers on the balding scalp. The patients echo my own experience and I am often told that the hair transplant helps to reduce the sun burn. I suspect that anything that reduces sun burn will help deal with the cancer problem, but hair transplants alone may not be adequate cover, especially if the supply / donor ratio is low.
Site Stuff
We’ve been having some problems with the contact form used on the site, so a lot of emails you’ve sent in never got to us! We changed the contact form up and added a little spam filter (simple math), and we hope that corrects the problem.
If you’ve sent in a message in the past week or two, we might not have received it. Sorry about that! Please send it again using the new form on the Contact page.
Site News for Friday
A few quick things I want to point out on this site and on the New Hair Institute site:
- Comments have been reinstated on Balding Blog. This is on a trial basis, but no problems are anticipated. You now have the ability once again to leave comments on each and every blog post (including this one), so comment away!
- Patient photo gallery updated. Almost 40 new patients have been added to the full face, hairline, and crown restoration sections of the NHI photo gallery. This brings our patient profiles up to 261, which is more than any other hair restoration medical group features online. We do this to let you see even more results that are possible in hair transplantation today.
- Upcoming seminars. We’ll be in San Diego next Tuesday from 6-8pm and Santa Barbara next Saturday from noon-2pm. Please call 800-NEW-HAIR for details and to RSVP for these free events. Next month, we’ll be in San Francisco. See the Events page for the full list.
Please feel free to let me know what you think either by commenting or sending a note.
2007-03-16 12:15:072007-03-16 12:43:55Site News for Friday
Sisterlocks
There is a Dr. JoAnne Cornwell who has claimed that she has developed a form of locking hair called brotherlocks and sisterlocks. She claims that they do not put any form of tension on the scalp meaning no traction alopecia. I was hoping you could look into this potential scam before it fools too many.
This is a styling option, not a medical or surgical option. I looked at the product’s website, but I am not sure what Sisterlocks is (aside from some kind of hair extension for African hair types) or how it attaches to the hair or scalp. It seems like it’s just a technique rather than a product, but I’ve spent 15 minutes going through this site and I’m still coming up empty. Anyone else have an idea?
Sorry, but I can not help you understand it any better.
Single Bald Spot on the Side of My Head
Yes hi, i’m 20 years old (male). i went to get a hair cut a few months ago and i noticed a bold spot on the side of my head. it has a little bit of thin hairs but you can totally noticed that i have a bald spot. its the size of a quarter. its been a few months now and the hair hasn’t grown back. can you help me with my problem?
thank you
You may wish to see a dermatologist. If it’s just a single spot on the side of your head, there could be a variety of reasons for it to occur — anything from stress to disease. There isn’t much else I can provide without an examination.
Singer John Mayer’s Hairline?
What kind of hairline does John Mayer have. He’s 33, but I seem to have almost the same hairline as him and I’m 21.
Based on the photo you linked to and other photos I’ve seen of singer John Mayer, I’d have to say that this is a normal, non-balding male hairline that he likely had when he was 12 years old. Appears to be a great head of hair!
Since You Suggested Minoxidil and Propecia Are Better Together…
I received 2 emails from 2 different readers about my recent post discussing using minoxidil and Propecia together —
EMAIL 1:
I was interested in your recent suggestion that minoxidil and propecia used together may be better than only one at a time. My question is concerning minoxidil. I tried it a while ago but got very bad itching of the scalp. Is there a form of minoxidil that won’t give me this side effect? (e.g. rogaine foam or some other variation). I would really love to use it in the hope that it will slow down the hair loss process. I know others have previously stated that they couldn’t use it due to the itching, so it would be great if there was something out there to fix that problem.
Thanks doc. I read your site almost every day and love it.
EMAIL 2:
In response to your new theory on the combination of Rogaine and Propecia. Would you then advise immediate combination of the two, or would you still prescribe a one year period of just Propecia? Could it depend on the results that one are looking for? i.e. regrowth vs. maintaining/slight regrowth. Thanks. Very helpful website.
I combined the answer of these two questions.
Although the combination of minoxidil and finasteride is reported to have a superior effect on hair growth over taking them separately, I generally do not start my patients on both of these medications at the same time. I may add minoxidil to the treatment regimen of a patient who has been on finasteride for a while and now feels that finasteride is not holding anymore. This usually happens after the first year of taking propecia when patients are done with the initial hair growth and stabilized in a new and better status. At this point patients’ rapid hair loss either stops or significantly slows down and the patient does not see hair grow as they initially saw within the first year, so they get disappointed and seek further help.
I like to leave at least 6 months to a year before starting a patient on the second medication and I also perform a miniaturization study before starting the second medication. This may give me some idea of the rate of growth with each of them. By starting one medication at a time, I know what medication is responsible for the good or bad changes. Also, if patient develops an allergy to one of these medications, it would be easier to find the culprit when you start them one at a time.
If you develop a contact allergy to minoxidil, it might be the result of the other chemicals in the solution and not the medication itself. You can switch between different versions of the same medication (i.e. minoxidil lotion vs. foam) to see whether you experience the same reaction or not with that particular product.
Since There Has Been No Leaked Information, Are Regeneration Attempts Failing?
Since Acell has failed and seemed a year ago to be “A Cure for Baldness in Five Years” its seems to me that the only 2 research institutes that are really getting substancial funding are Aderans Research and Replicel. Aderans uses a small piece of tissue that is removed from the neckline…”Cells are cultivated in controlled conditions where they are encouraged to multiply by the addition of proprietary growth media. When enough new cells are formed, they are returned to the scalp, where they are injected and elicit new hair growth and thickness, ultimately producing more hair than the client had before.” Replicel has a way to isolate dermal sheath cup cells and cultivate them. They are hopeful that injecting them into the scalp will cause regrowth on the scalp.
Since both Aderans Research and Replicel are in phase 2 of their clinical trials one would think that unless the subjects of the trial were locked in a room for 6 months someone would obviously have come out and said that these injections are working. If so…investors and inside traders wouldn’t flinch to buy Replicel stock (Aderans Research is a private company.) But Replicels stock…regardless of its clinical studies that have been going on for all this time…has a low volume of trade and is at 2.35 a share. With all of this put together…it seems blatantly obvious that besides the procedure being safe…both Replicel and Aderans Research Institute’s attempts at regenerating hair follicles is failing. What is your take on this?
I guess that is one way to look at it. I am unaware of any leaked information, and I’m not even familiar with the ins and outs of these particular trials. I’d have to assume there are non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements which prevent participants from discussing their results (if any). If they are successful, the results will be announced when they’re ready. Rushing things isn’t going to help.
As for looking to insider trading as a sure-fire way to know if a product is coming to market… good luck with that.
Since I’m Terrified About What I Read Online, I’m Going to Take 0.25mg Propecia Twice a Week
I am a 22 year old male who has had thinning hair for almost 5 years and have got to a point where my quality of life has deteriorated, due to this I decided to take the plunge with propecia.I took my first dose of propecia yesterday at 0.25 mg and plan to take this twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, having read about success with this regime.
I know propecia only has a half life of 8-12 hours but it takes the body around a week to start creating the enzyme that creates DHT in the body and studies show that 0.25-0.5 mg has up to 80% success of 1.0 – 5.0mg. This is because I’m terrified of sides on propecia and also I would not be comfortable taking any medication every day of my life. I just wondered what you think of this regime?
When the Propecia (finasteride) studies were performed that eventually led to the medication’s FDA approval, various doses were tried. The 1mg dose gave the most consistent results for treating hair loss. Above the 1mg daily dose, the results were no better than the 1mg daily dose; however, below the 1mg dose, it was found to be less effective. In your case with taking a 1/4 dose only twice a week, the medication will be out of your system for days at a time, so the benefits might be fairly limited.
The side effects you are concerned about may happen, but statistically it is a small risk; however, I have found that the risk of sexual side effects increases in those young men who obsess over the possibility of having side effects, somewhat talking themselves into it. It is your call, of course.