Balding Blog

Hi doctor. how are you. I have asked you questions before and you have replied to my answers, and I want to thank you for that. Keep up the good job.

Correct me if I am wrong. In this article that someone posted to you it states that finasteride lowers T levels(testosterone) as well.
here is the link: http://baldingblog.com/2010/09/13/mercks-fda-submitted-propecia-documents/

Here is my question. I thought finasteride lowers DHT and increases testosterone by about 15% or something. Does finasteride lower testosterone as well? And how would this affect building muscle and body building?

please clarify this for me doc.

Propecia slightly raises testosterone initially but eventually your hormone levels should return to normal. The reports in the literature seems to go both ways. Some reports indicate a rise in Testosterone while others show a decrease. Unless you are a biochemist/pharmacist doing research, I do not think these are significant issues. Propecia will not make you into Arnold Schwarzenegger or Urkle.

You are trying to make sense and correlate biochemical hormonal variation with clinical issues that may not be related. If you are asking your question for pure scientific purposes, I would take a course a biochemistry for a better understanding or speak to a research pharmacist/biochemist. My desire to revisit my biochemistry days and contemplate professorial issues are not really there.

I do occasionally run into men who are heavily into weight lifting and body building and use anabolic steroids. One of them was convinced that Propecia made them weaker and gave them a disadvantage. A few have insisted taking Propecia to counteract the hair loss from their anabolic steroid use and didn’t report any changes in strength or muscle mass. But these are all anecdotal (non-scientific) and subjective stories. In my humble opinion, Propecia has negligible impact on testosterone and strength. Even the professional world of sports have taken the position that it is not a performance enhancing drug.

My earlier post about smelly hair systems generated a lot of good responses…

I loved yesterday’s question on the smelly hair system. It does not even compare to my problem. I have already found the secrets to keeping it from smelling decent, but that does not deal with the ladies when they want access to my head. I am working the internet dating scene and this problem is killing me. I find myself fearing the intimacy that I fantasize about. Now it is not fantasy, but a pending nightmare each and every time I start up a new relationship. If I do not wear the hair piece, I can not be myself. How does one deal with the no-touch zone that puts the fear of God into the rug wearer when a woman wants to run her fingers through the piece?

When a man embraces a woman, there is a tendency for the woman to want to run her fingers through her man’s hair. This is a deal breaker for hair system wearers and it puts them on-guard every time they establish a new relationship, often impacting behavoir as the wearer tenses up during intimate moments. I have spoken to many men and this is a common problem. The answer is that the rug wearer needs to keep one hand free at all times to fend off the roaming hands of the woman. It does put the kybosh on the freedoms one wants in real intimacy and it excludes such activities as bathing, swimming and the like. I have found that these problems are not addressed well in long term relationships either. I have done hair transplants on men whose wives have told me that they have never seen their husband without his wig on, not even after 30 years of marriage. I am afraid there is no real answer. Every hair system can be felt, even with the best of weaves. The only real answer to this question is a good hair transplant.

I have thinning hair at my temples. I am in the Army and have to wear my hair up everyday while at work. My hairstylist says that my hair will grow back once I stop putting it up. However, I will be in the Army for the next 10 years and am thinking about hairloss treatments for my temple area? Any suggestions?

If your hair dresser is correct and you have traction alopecia (hair loss from traction), then you can expect little relief. Whatever is causing the hair loss must be addressed by stopping the pulling. There are other conditions, such as triangular alopecia, where people lose hair in the temples from genetic causes. This is part of the differential diagnosis that you needs to have made. See a good doctor and discuss these two conditions with him/her.

I just turned 20 years old and for a year now my hairline has receeded and started to thin dramaticly. Which I am very self-conscious of. I have been taking a natural suppliment called Procerin and using a daily treatment called Curetage for a little over a month and a half, but have noticed no difference. Do external treatments work, and pills work? Or are they just a waste of time? I also heard that hair transplants can’t be done on young men, is this true? Is there anything else i can do to make my hair grow back?

I have written about Procerin before (see past blog entries: Procerin and Procerin Info). The only topical treatment that seems to work is Minoxidil. Many add compounds to Minoxidil to try to make it more effective (e.g. Retin-A, which adds irritation to the skin and some burn to it as well) or combine it with other ‘magical’ formulations to sell it at a high price to take advantage of the value of its marketing label. The best and only real treatment for you is Propecia. There are many things done for hair loss and many people making money from the panic of hair loss victims. ‘Curetage’ sounds like one of them.

Stick with what works and do not risk permanent hair loss to go outside the known effective treatments that are available. Get a good doctor to work with you.