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Misdiagnosing MPB Due to Unsymmetrical Hairline Maturing?

hi dr rassman
i just had a question regarding asymetrical hairlines. if as a young child 12 or so you had a natural non symmetrical hairline and as time went on and your hairline matured, would it be possible to misdiagnose the patient as having androgenetic alopecia due to the unsymmetrical patterns produced by this condition?

thank you for your time

Early balding should show signs of miniaturization if your hair loss is genetic. Either see a doctor or take charge of your diagnosis by mapping your scalp. The choice is yours.

People with asymmetrical hairlines will develop maturing hairlines that may even out the symmetry (or they may not). Balding occurs in those with the genetic propensity for it, whether the hairline is symmetrical or asymmetrical.

As hair in the maturing hairline undergoes apoptosis (cell death, possibly because the number of hair cycles in the juvenile hairline may be limited and reached), it could just fall out without going through miniaturization. It could be an incremental fall-out, starting close to the leading edge of the hairline and then working its way back. I don’t get the opportunity to study the young man who matures his hairline and then keeps everything else without signs of balding, other than in my nephew as I watched his maturing hairline appear without miniaturization. One case study does not tell us the answers, so I look at these comments as academic.


2009-04-28 14:55:41Misdiagnosing MPB Due to Unsymmetrical Hairline Maturing?

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Minoxidil’s Potent Side Effects

I had used minoxidil 2% and then 5% when it became available. Roughly 7 years in total. I just stopped using it in May ’06.

The reason I stopped did not become apparent to me right away. I had two near fainting incidents. I went to the ER for both of them, saw my doctor, went to a cardiologist etc. One person, the ER Dr. suggested that it might be the minoxidil. Everyone else thought it was not a ‘new’ element in my life and looked for other causes.

Well, after I got a clean bill of health, I decided to stop the minoxidil and other symptons I had experienced, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, headaches, dizziness etc slowly are going away.

I figured I was getting older, 43, and that the above were part of aging. This has caused considerable distress in my life, including my marriage. My wife was concerned about my lack of performance and within 3 weeks, the ED is going away.

Please let your readers know that minoxidil is a potent drug. The side affects I experienced are considered rare, but they came on gradually and was hard to connect to the minoxidil.

I posted the above email as the sender wrote it, unedited. Minoxidil was originally a antihypertensive drug and those that used it noticed it grew hair. The hair came to the face and other body parts as well. Like any such medication, different people require different doses and the problem with minoxidil for the treatment of high blood pressure was that it was not as predictable as other drugs. Eventually the drug became out of favor for the treatment of blood pressure as better, more competitive drugs were on the market. What is important to note is that when a drug is put on the skin, it gets absorbed into the body to some degree in every person who uses it. The above story shows just that.

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Minoxidil in a young girl

I am 19 year old girl..started using minoxidil when my hair started falling at tremendous rate…i used it for around 3 months and then stopped using it…again hair started falling….and I again switched to minoxidil. Now, I have been using it for around 3 months. I read many stories about “after quitting minoxidil effects” and it really freaked me out. If I stop using it…will I really lose all my hairs…? Pleasssse someone answer my question… Is there any teeny tiny possibility of growing them back…?
Pleassse do reply…

When you use minoxidil and it grows hair, the hair that it grows will require the minoxidil to be used every day or the hair will fall out. Minoxidil grown hair is dependent upon minoxidil so once you get it working for you, you must stay on it.

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Minoxidil with No Propylene Glycol?

Doctor,

What do you think of minoxidil products sold by doctors with little or no propylene glycol? Do you think they’re still effective as long as minoxidil is the main active ingredient? (Tried Rogaine foam, very hard to apply through hair to the scalp)

It appears on the internet a large number of people are only using minoxidil once a day. Usually at nite. Do you see that at your practice? Are they having results or developing dependency?

Also, it appears I can only handle .5mg of Propecia due to side effects. I think you’ve stated it’s about 80% effective at that dose. Have you seen that 80% result in your clinical practice?

Thanks for taking the time everyday to answer everyone’s questions. I’ve learned more than anywhere else on this blog.

Rogaine FoamI don’t see why the lack of propylene glycol would make minoxidil ineffective. The propylene glycol is supposed to help the minoxidil penetrate the scalp better, but it isn’t used in the Rogaine Foam or in the Women’s Rogaine liquid (which is good for those that may have allergies to propylene glycol), so I’d expect that other delivery mechanisms, such as alcohol, work relatively well. I really have no opinion on the various ways the doctors make their minoxidil formulas. The recommended use is twice a day, but many people do use it once a day. I can not tell if once a day works across the board.

My comments on the 80% effectiveness of 1/2 mg of finasteride came out of a conversation I had with Dr. David Whiting (and might’ve been in something I read), not my own clinical study.

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Minoxidil twice a day at 5pm and 10pm?

Should I take minoxidil when I wake up and go to sleep or can I take it e.g at 5pm and 10pm

Wash your hair with a hot shower before bed and then use minoxidil just once a day. Wash it off in the morning


2019-06-22 09:12:32Minoxidil twice a day at 5pm and 10pm?

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Minoxidil transmission to others

Hi Dr Wrassman, was wondering if you could shed some light on this for me… After seeing the results on here and elsewhere, I’m considering using minoxidil foam on my beard area and potentially my balding crown. However, I have a young daughter and I don’t want her to be impacted in any way whatsoever. I’ve done lots of reading and question asking and the general consensus is that if I wash it off the minimal residue won’t do anything. However there are now reports to the contrary. So, I was wondering is there any way of removing all residual traces from your skin when using a topical medication like minoxidil? Sorry if I’m not allowed to contact you directly and I understand you probably get tons of questions daily but I’m at a bit if a loss as to who to ask this

I generally advise men who use topical minoxidil to take it at night (the liquid for the hair is better but the foam or the liquid for the beard should work) after a hot shower. This will soften the skin and possibly reduce the barrier to absorption. You daughter will be sleeping so at night there is no possibility of transmission. Then you can shower it off in the morning. I don’t believe that there is much of a threat.

 

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Minoxidil to grow beard hair, does it work?

I’m going to give it a go. Problem is in around 2 months i’ll hopefully be starting fin, and I’ve heard that the minoxidil will quit working for growing facial hair then. If i start now and use it for 2 months, will it still have any effect once i start fin? Is it worth trying minoxidil for facial hair just for two months?

No, it takes many months for minoxidil to induce hair growth. Minoxidil works on men under 25 to some degree. The hair growth may not be like a good solid beard however. We do quite a few beard transplants but require that you are over 25 because we don’t want to pre-empt your hair growth as you get older.


2019-12-10 10:46:27Minoxidil to grow beard hair, does it work?

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minoxidil taken orally (read this)

People always want to know if you’re dealing with sides. I’m on my fourth or fifth day now and I’ve had tachycardia and mild dizziness post dosage. The dizziness doesn’t really seem to be impacting me until I workout. They both seem to be beginning to lessen though. I’ve also been severely fatigued. My eyes just feel so heavy after taking them and I’ve been having difficulty staying awake, but my sleep quality is also horrible due to CPTSD so it may be unrelated. I was slightly hyptertensive previous to taking minox anyways so hopefully this will help out with that.

There are many side effects resulting from taking oral minoxidil like all drugs. You need to be aware of these side effects when you take this medication orally. There is even a dangerous rare risk of cardiac tamponade which can kill you if you don’t take care of symptoms of early heart failure. Don’t be your own doctor. Taking 5 mgs daily is higher than I recommend and is in the range where serious side effects can happen.


2021-03-11 07:45:46minoxidil taken orally (read this)