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Bride-to-Be Received SMP Before Her Wedding to Cover Her Thinning Scalp (with Photos)

This patient is getting married soon and wanted her hair to look thicker quickly for her upcoming June wedding date. She was very concerned about not looking her best and wore her hair up (in a sort of bun) every time she went out to cover her thinning scalp. She could not imagine wearing her hair up in a bun for her wedding, and her husband-to-be preferred her to let her hair down. She came to us to have Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) done, and she was then able to take her hair out of the bun and walk around with the hairstyle of her choosing.

SMP is an excellent treatment for thinning hair and she saw results the day she started the process. That is the best part of this process — the speed of seeing results, most times on the very first visit.

Click the photos to enlarge:

After:

 

Before:

 

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Brevinor and Female Hair Loss

Hi, I am 35 years old and started losing my hair about a year ago. I had been taking Prozac for over 6 years and after some research discovered that this could be the reason for my hair thinning so much. I have managed to come off Prozac now (about 3 months ago) but haven’t seen much of an improvement in my hair. Then I started to think about the possible effects of coming off the contraceptive pill ‘Brevinor’ which I had been taking since I was 19. I came off the pill last May. Could this also be the cause of my hair loss? If so, is there anything I can do? perhaps some sort of oestrogen supplement? Do you think my hair could re-grow? Any information would be greatly appreciated since my GP does not seem to have a clue. Thank you

Both Prosac and Brevinor can contribute to hair loss. In some women with genetic hair loss tendencies (often evident in the female side of your family) these drugs may induce or precipitate the hair loss and it may not reverse. If the genetic tendency is not there, then it should return over a 6-18 month period with the drugs stopped. Of course, these drugs offer you value, so stopping them may cause you more problems; these are not easy decisions to make.

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Breezula

I have a lot of faith in Breezula. I think people really understimate the fact that Breezula not only protects hair follicles against DHT, but also against testosterone. That in itself is massive news. I understand there’s a lot of skeptics because of the trials. At 6 months it performed better than finasteride and at 12 it did worse. I would be interested in what u/wrassman thinks on this. Personally, I do not believe in the upregulation of DHT theory. I also do not believe that hair follicles would develop resistance to this medicine, either. There’s nothing in a hair follicle that would permit that. Anyways, it’ll be interesting to see.

Breezula is an antiandrogen presently undergoing tests on a Third level of clinical trial testing. There is great promise here from what I read about this medication and the best part it doesn’t seem to get into the body when it is applied to the skin. I don’t have experience with this drug.


2020-08-19 15:52:59Breezula

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Breast lump from finasteride, I think

I took finasteride for a year and developed gyno from it. When i noticed the lump in my left chest i stopped taking it. However, what happened was weird. After stopping finasteride for like more than a month, the hard lump in my left chest disappeared but at the same time a hard lump appeared in my right chest. My left nipple is still swollen and big though. But on pressing it i dont feel a lump.

I want to know whether this gyno will go back on its own or if surgery is must. I never had gyno before and i’m 100% sure its from finasteride.

If the lump remains, you should see a doctor. Breast cancer is very rare in men, but it does happen.


2020-11-03 09:20:24Breast lump from finasteride, I think

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Breast Cancer, Hair Loss, and Dismissive Doctors

I am among the many young victims of breast cancer (37 y.o. with estrogen+ progesterone+ Stage III breast cancer) who has undergone 16 rounds of chemo, 6 surgeries (including oophorectomy), and 35+ radiation tx, plus am currently on aromatase inhibitors. I am treated at one of the top 10 facilities for cancer in the US, yet trying to get help for my slow growing Ludwig Type II hair while on aromatase inhibitors, esp. 2 years after chemo is proving more daunting. First, my oncologist revers me to dermatology, then dermatology refers me to endrocrinology, then endocrinology suggests I see a hair specialist doctor….but now I read in your archives to defer to the oncologist. It frustrates me that I am being punted around between medical specialties who don’t want to have any liability or necessarily want to work together to come up with a treatment plan for this pervasive side effect which many women in my position are experiencing. No one wants to touch this hair loss issue with breast cancer survivors.

I researched all the medical literature, and although there is plenty of information on observations of hair loss, there is nothing about the treatment of hair loss for those of us who are on either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors after breast cancer. I already started 12.5% Rogaine with Retin-A along with 5% minoxidil foam, Aminexil with Madecassoside, and washing with alternating 1-2% Nizoral. Propecia isn’t even an option. Also, I feel I’m relegated to wigs which you deem may accelerate hair loss (although if it not bonded or clipped to hair, I don’t know how that would be the case). Is there anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that even has the breadth to tackle this problem?

Please tell me there at least some proprietary research out there that is addressing this issue on the horizon, because then I won’t be such a cynic about medicine. Clearly quality of life after cancer involves helping to alleviate hair loss as a result of aromatase inhibitors.

I am truly sorry to learn of your frustration (we’ve all been in situations where we’re referred back and forth and feel like we’re getting nowhere), but the hair loss issue really isn’t specific to breast cancer survivors. Hair loss in all women is a very difficult issue to treat. There are many potential causes, and especially with your medical history, it can be hard to pinpoint the cause. The only FDA-approved medication available to women to treat hair loss is minoxidil (Rogaine), but you should be careful with taking 12.5% and 5% minoxidil foam at the same time so that you do not overdose yourself. Some women have had minor success with Propecia, but that would be taking the medication off-label and there are potential serious risks for women that use this medication (so just to be clear, I do not recommend that approach).

Unfortunately, there are very few options available to women that are losing their hair. For men, Propecia slows the process down, could reverse it, or even completely stabilizes it for years; hair transplantation just rearranges permanent hair from the back to the front. For women, the hair loss may be so diffuse that there is not much to rearrange and there is no specific area of permanent hair like is the case with men. Approximately 20% of women may be helped with hair transplantation, so each patient must be individually evaluated. With regard to your specific situation, I would be willing to see you since you are somewhat local (I do have an office in San Jose) and maybe I can add something to help you, such as the possible use of concealers like DermMatch or Toppik. Wigs might work in your case, but one must be careful that there isn’t traction on the existing weak hair or that’s when you might run into problems with further loss.

I don’t know of any proprietary research, and I wish I had a specialist in mind that I could point you to… but I’m posting your message in hopes that it reaches a wider audience that might be able to provide more insight or assistance. As much as I might want to have all the answers, I fully admit that’s not the case.

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Breakthrough FUE Announcement by the New Hair Institute

In our constant efforts to improve the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) experience, we’ve figured out a way to perform FUE without shaving the donor area! We call this procedure a mini-FUE (mFUE). One of the great drawbacks to FUE has been the social disruptions that shaving the side and back of the head causes in people undergoing this procedure. Many patients choose to stay away from social engagements until the hair grows out (enough to hide the donor wounds made by the FUE technique on the donor area). Having long hair in front and on the top of the head with a shaved back of the head draws attention, and people wonder why you have this crazy haircut. It is hard to keep a secret.

We have developed and tested the use of FUE harvesting without shaving the donor area, which allows us to go directly into the donor area where we extract the FUE grafts. We advise the patient to wash the back of their head the next morning, then combing it, apply whatever products to hold the hair, and then go on with your day. With FUE, there are no restrictions with regard to exercise or lifting weights within 36 hours of the procedure and if a patient wants to run a marathon, we will not stop them.

At this time, we are limiting the size of these sessions to no more than 300 grafts per session and are introducing this technique at a cost of $3000. With careful planning, the patient can come back as often as they wish, adding 300 grafts each time. This technique works well for people needing small amounts of hair, for example: (a) advancing the hairline, (b) filling in a hairline, (c) filling in areas where further hair loss progressed, (d) touch-up as needed. We do not recommend large session, long hair FUE procedures at this time.

Call our office today at 800-NEW-HAIR to arrange a consultation!

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Brands vs. Generics

As a physician with over 30 years in the drug development and regulatory industry, I think the doctors and patients advising you may not truly understand the drug development process (and most really don’t, unfortunately). The FDAs Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) within the Center for Drug Evaluation in Research requires generic drugs to go through the same rigorous manufacturing process as non-generic drugs (and sometimes only bioequivalence studies showing similiar pharmacokinetic effects are allowed). Unfortunately, they have no control over drugs purchased online from foreign countries or bought in foreign countries (under the regulatory authority of those regions) – and the language of your blog writer above makes me wonder if this is the case (“Japanese generic”). Of course, a foreign company can also seek regulatory approval in the US, but I suspect this is not the case here.

What this writer is saying is important. You must know the source of your drugs if you do not buy them from a known, approved pharmacy.


2018-10-10 12:33:21Brands vs. Generics

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Brain Fog with Finasteride Reported by Young Man

I would like to continue the medication but this feeling of “brain fog” is very unpleasant. I was wondering if anyone who has been taking finasteride/propecia has experienced this so called “brain fog” in the first couple of weeks of treatment and they went away with continued use after your body has “adjusted” to the new hormone levels. Thanks in advance!

You might give it a few weeks and then if it continues, just consider that you might not be a candidate for finasteride. If you have just a localized area, topical finasteride might work for you.


2020-04-19 09:17:00Brain Fog with Finasteride Reported by Young Man