Balding Blog

Dear DR.
I have longer hair (down to chin) and i haven’t been able to find a hair gel to make it stand straight up. i was reading an article earlier today about got2b glued (hair product). do you know of any hair loss that can be caused by this product? i also saw this in an article:

“Yep, glue. Seriously… go with any stong hold gel and mix it 2:1 with good old Elmer’s. Remember those guys in the 80’s with the two-foot spiked mohawks? Elmer’s was key.”

is it safe to add elmers glue to hair gel? if so is this the right ratio? will glue cause hair loss?

i also read the comment about how “good commercail grade hair products” don’t cause hair loss. please explain this. Plz respond asap. thx soo much

I do not have experience with Elmer’s Glue mixed with hair gel and don’t know if there would be any effect on hair loss. I haven’t had a spiked mohawk since… well, actually, never.

With respect to your last question, any regular hair products should not cause hair loss (unless they advertise that it does). If it helps any, one of my staff members told me that he uses the Got2B Glued product in his hair every day and has not seen any problems.

My 62 year old wife had heart valve replacement surgery over a year ago. Since that time she has been steadily losing hair — not in clumps, but rather over her entire head. Her dermatologist advised that this may well be due to the stress of the surgery.

a) Do you agree? if so

b) then what can she do about this,and how long should it last before the hair
grows back?

Thanks

I agree with the dermatologist that the stress of the surgery may be causing your wife’s hair loss. We know that those people who carry the genetic hair loss genetics, can precipitate hair loss from stress. Furthermore, certain medications that your wife is probably taking (after the valve replacement) may also be contributing to the hair loss. There is not much you can do about this type of medication induced hair loss if these medications are critical to your overall health. Explore the medications with your dermatologist. You should never change or stop any medication without discussing it with your doctor first.

There is a good chance that the hair will return after the hair goes through its sleep (telogen) cycle. That generally takes 3-6 months. Minoxidil may help as well.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot in my head and got shots for the hair to grow back. I just got another one, but not as big. What is the cause of this? Can I prevent it from happening again?

What kind of shot did you get? Did your hair grow back after you got a shot a few years ago? I would hope a doctor gave you this shot. You should ask him/her these questions and ask him/her what they were treating so that you have a working diagnosis. Doctors have the obligation to educate their patients and communicate with them so that they are able to understand that is going on with their bodies. I would strongly suggest that you go back to your doctor and ask what was he/she was treating. I cannot diagnose your condition or even give you advise on your treatment since I do not have the advantage of examining you in person.

hi, i have been using proscar and minoxidil 7% for over 4yrs. while the results have been satisfactory, i have been told that there is no such thing as minoxidol 7%, and i should just use the 5%. I would like to know if i am getting scammed by paying $250 a bottle for 100mls of minoxidil 7%. and should i just go to my pharmacy and buy minoxdil 5% which is so much cheaper? by the way my bottle claims to have retinoic acid 0.01% which is suppose to make a difference. One other thing i was considering having surgery done on the front hairline, as there doesn’t seem to be any other solution. thank you for your insight. i am also 28yrs old male. thank you

I do not know of a minoxidil 7% solution that is commercially sold, but it may be privately labeled. I am more familiar with the standard minoxidil 5% solution. This does not mean the 7% solution does not exist. Moreover, a stronger concentration (such as the 7%) does not necessarily mean you will have more benefit and grow more hair. Higher and higher doses may produce negative side effect such as dizziness, fatigue, and dangerously low blood pressure as your body absorbs more of it into the blood stream. The use of retinoic acid essentially causes irritation to the skin (it is an acid and produces a low burn) which, in theory, is supposed to increase the blood supply to the scalp and hence the absorption of the minoxidil. I am not a proponent of this approach. Producing a burn just does not seem like the right thing to do.

I have used laser to remove body hair. Can laser have an effect on DHT levels in the body?

I do not believe that a laser that was used to remove your body hair will have an effect on your DHT levels.

I am a 31 year old Caucasian male. My facial hair is most prominent around the mustache and chin areas of my face.

I am concerned about what I perceive to be irreversible “damage” to some of the hair follicles on my face from shaving. I now seem to have small “bald” patches from improper shaving techniques (shaving against the grain, shaving without allowing enough hot water to soften the beard).

These bald patches in my beard show up pretty well as my facial hair is dark and I seem to have 5 o’clock shadow even after shaving.

Will these hair follicles ever repair? Can I use Rogaine to revive them? Are there any other suggestions you can offer me (besides being more careful with my daily shaving routine)? Help!

Unless your shaving technique involves cutting into the skin by 5mm and shaving off the the top skin layer, you cannot damage your hair follicle.

The bald spots on your face were likely there before and you are just noticing them or you have a disease like alopecia areata that is causing these bald spots to appear.

I’m a 52 year old male in good health. I had a series of small transplant sessions – first 3rd of the head with last one being 8 years ago. Was completely satisfied until the last year when hair throughout scalp has become thinner and crown more “shiney”. Could propecia reverse some of this change over the last 18 months or so?

Finasteride (Propecia) is well known to slow down or even reverse thinning of hair in the crown area. While I have seen patients with (as you call) ‘reversal’ of balding in the crown area, it is patient specific. Every patient is different and results will vary.

In a previous post, we have shown such a patient who maintained the full reversal of his hair loss for 10 years on Propecia. Of interest, this patient still has 40% miniaturization in the crown hair even though it is not visible with the naked eye.