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Doctor Suggested Rogaine, But Should I Ask for Propecia?

I’m an 18 year old male and was recently told by my dermatologist that I am starting to bald. My dermatologist told me that I should just take Rogaine, since I was able to catch the balding early. However, the thinning is happening in spots just behind the hairline, and I know that Rogaine has not been proven to work in that spot. Should I go back and ask for Propecia?

If your only concern is hair loss at the hairline and the immediate area behind it, you should be aware that most of the studies, which documented positive effects of Propecia, were done on crown and vertex area. This is also true about Rogaine. With that said, Propecia is the best medical treatment for genetic balding, but you need a diagnosis by mapping out your scalp for miniaturization to determine if this is indeed genetic balding or just the maturation of your frontal hairline. One reason I usually recommend finasteride (Propecia) to my male patients, because of its ease of use (one pill a day rather than applying Rogaine solution to the bald area twice a day).

In the office yesterday, I saw a young man who was started on Propecia a year ago. He responded well in the frontal area, reducing the miniaturization from 70% to 30% and he had more hair in the frontal area from picture comparisons we had of him and his own assessment. What this means is that just because the official line is that Propecia may not work in the frontal area, clearly we all respond differently. He was smiling (certainly not complaining) about all of that new hair in the frontal area.


2007-02-02 12:40:10Doctor Suggested Rogaine, But Should I Ask for Propecia?

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Doctor Says After 10 Years on Propecia It Looks Like How You Were Before Starting

I read an article written by a Hair Specialist from Saratoga Hair Transplant Center that Propecia works great for the first 4-5 years for most men, and then slightly each year the hair gets worse again and by the time you been on the drug for 10 years you are back to where you were 10 years ago, this sounds really good to me! But is it really true?

I always believed that after 2-3 years you will start going downhill.

I don’t agree that after 10 years on Propecia, you end up right back where you started. Some men fully maintain the benefits from Propecia in the long term, and others just do not. Everyone is different and will react differently to medication. I have patients that have been taking the drug each day for over a decade and are still seeing the benefits from it.

Think of this as a war between balding and the drug holding onto your hair. May the better side win!

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Doctor Recommended Dandruff Shampoo for My Fungal Infection

Hi,
I have been losing hair on my scalp right at the centre. My doctor says its fungal infection and has advised me to use anti-dandruff shampoos. Is this ok? Can my hair be restored?

How do you know that you have a fungal infection? If you have a fungal infection, then you need to treat it with anti-fungal medications, not over-the-counter shampoos. You might want to get a 2nd opinion.


2006-09-13 09:45:49Doctor Recommended Dandruff Shampoo for My Fungal Infection

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Doctor recommended 10 sessions of PRP and I’m 22 years old.

The doctor recommended 10 sessions of PRP at $500/session. I would guess you might purchase a good used car for that $$ amount. So if you were shopping for a car, you would research it, right? Doubt that you will stop your hair loss with PRP and reversing it is another story! Some doctors are just not honorable. I can tell you that I would doubt that you would get much value from this PRP package.


2020-07-14 06:53:41Doctor recommended 10 sessions of PRP and I’m 22 years old.

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Doctor Rassman, there is evidence that Saw Palmetto works, see below

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12006122

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8142312

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7577710

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3218455

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=prager%202002%20saw%20palmettohttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12477490

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8922564http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6708534

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8876706http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8922564

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8876706http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20300369


2019-05-19 10:26:00Doctor Rassman, there is evidence that Saw Palmetto works, see below

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A Doctor Offered Me 8,000 Grafts in One Session (About 12 Hours of Surgery)

A doctor offered me 8,000 FUE grafts in one session, about 12 hours of surgery. Is this reasonable and safe?

There are many problems with that large number of grafts for a hair transplant, including:

  1. The length of the surgery
  2. The amount of time the grafts are out of the body and
  3. The access to your head with the team placing the grafts.
  4. Can the donor area support 8,000 FUE grafts without becoming bald?

I don’t believe that I ever met a patient who can support 8,000 FUE grafts. If you choose that route, you will have a see-through, possibly bald back of the head as most of the hair would have been removed there. You should ask to meet other patients who had the same number of grafts done in one session and to see the results, not only in the donor area but also in the recipient area as well. You might find that unless your density is more than twice the density of the average Caucasian, this will not be a safe or a productive procedure in terms of a complication-free hair transplant after the surgery.


2018-09-14 08:59:35A Doctor Offered Me 8,000 Grafts in One Session (About 12 Hours of Surgery)

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Doctor Gave Me Betamethasone for My Hair Loss

Hi I am 26 years old and I recently moved to a new country for the 6 months but I noticed that I have been gradually losing hair for the past year or so(even while I was still in my home country). I’ve seen a local dermatologist here in Taiwan but I am having some reservations about him. He did a hasty (literally) 2 min. check-up, where he just casually looked over my scalp and he didn’t bother to ask me any questions about my family history or my lifestyle hair. He just immediately related my condition to the stress of moving to a new country. Afterwards, he sprayed nitrogen of some sort into my hair, he told me to come back once a week and then gave me a prescription for betamethasone (apply 4 times a day) and polytar liquid to wash my hair once a day. I am wondering if it’s time to find a new doctor? What kinds of procedures should I expect in my first meeting with my doctor? How should I go about finding a good one? Thanks in advance

I believe that you are right to consider getting another doctor. You actually know what to look for in a doctor by your description:

  • One that gives you the time for him to ask questions about you and your family history of hair loss
  • One that does a thorough hair and scalp examination including a study of the hair for miniaturization analysis
  • One that answers your questions and engages you enough to give you the trust you need

Sounds like his treatments are everything (including the kitchen sink), but I think that you know that the kitchen sink will not bring your hair back. If you were my patient, I would advise you to stay away from betamethasone, as it is a steroid which might hurt you with regard to producing even more hair loss. Good luck.