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Hey doc! I’m a longtime reader and follower of your blog and I highly trust your advice and recommendations. I want to thank you in advance for taking your time to provide your insight to my question. I’d first like to provide a short description of my hairloss observations and results from treatment:

I’m nearly 23 yrs of age and have been on Proscar daily (cut into quarters) since January 2006. The efficacy of the pill peaked by the time I turned 21 and so far, all its been doing is maintaining my existing hair. I’m more of a gradual diffuse thinner than a genetic balder. Ever since last year, my head has become rather itchy and I’ve always felt a sore burning spot right in the centre of my vertex. It became quite unbearable to the point where I shaved my entire head last November just to make it stop.

By December I started using Nizoral 2% and Head & Shoulders everyday (I currently use them every other day). Although some soreness is still present, it has subsided quite a bit and the itching and flaking isn’t as bad anymore. What’s interesting is that my hair has gone from relatively sparse last year to a lot more fuller and abundant this year. I believe that, from my observations, I’ve regrown perhaps 80% of previously lost hairs due to genetic balding. I’ve also noticed that, from continued use of Nizoral, Head & Shoulders and T-Gel plus Proscar for maintenance, I’ve seen individual hairs reverse in miniaturization (hairs with thicker roots and thinner ends)

Am I seeing things or could I be responding well to inflammatory shampoos? My hair is about 6 inches long and tends to get very oily overnight.

My other question is,
In my crown area, especially near the spot where I feel a sore/burning sensation more often than naught, my scalp produces thin hairs and although cosmetically it looks as if there’s no sign of genetic baldness present in that area, I would like to tackle this problem before it does become apparent. I was wondering if you would recommend using a lotion which contains copper peptides to compliment my regimen? I would rather not use minoxidil due to cost issues as I’m still a student.

Thanks again!

It takes at least 2 years to maximize the value of finasteride. That may explain part of your experience with hair regrowth. Also, there are some reports that ketoconazole (Nizoral) may help with treating hair loss, but the studies are limited. If you’re seeing these treatments work, that’s great!

There is been no proven benefits of copper peptides in the prevention of balding or regrowth of hair. That does not mean that it does not work, but it means to me that the value has not been proven scientifically. If you have used minoxidil and then you stop, it will cause a reversal of the benefits (if the drug produced value) and as hair that was lost is known to be minoxidil dependent, stopping the drug can cause hair loss.

Doctor Rassman, I’m currently taking dutasteride for hair loss. Under the microscope, is there a way to tell the difference between new hair growth and a minaturizing hair?

If you can always return to the same location on your scalp and visualize it with a video magnifying camera (check out part 1 of the 3 part series), you can see the difference in the hair thickness.

Keep watch here over the next few weeks and I will introduce a way to determine the value of drugs on hair thickness. It is a way to measure hair mass with an invention by Dr. Bernard Cohen. This is a picture of the device (see right), with more to follow in about 2 weeks when Dr. Cohen will produce a guest editorial on his invention.

Hello,

My dad has a full head of thick hair at 63. My mom has thick and curly hair. I have the thick and curly hair as well. I am 21 years old. I believe I have a Norwood 2. My uncles from my mom side are bald on top but have hair around the head. My uncles from my dad side do not bald. I have just recently, I believe seen my mature hairline. I had my hair thinned out before I got it cut. I have a feeling of thinness in my mid scalp region. I am scared that I am balding. What should I do. I lose about 50-60 hairs daily.

Thank-you

Its normal to lose 100 or so hairs a day, so you’re within reason. You probably lose more each day without realizing it (showering, outdoor activities, etc). You can try to find a doctor in your area for an examination — but I can’t tell you if you’re in the early stages of genetic hair loss or not without an exam. Try to find a doctor in your area by using the physician search at ISHRS.org.

Hi Doctor

I am a 23 years old female. I used to suffer from hair loss 3-5 years ago but now I feel better with the hair loss although it seems to me that the hair that fall doesn’t grow again because I am noticing the shiny scalp. I had been using revivogen for around 8 months and I noticed new hair growth but not many. Then I stopped it one year ago. Three months ago I did hair test from Hairgrowth UK which shows the toxicity and they found out that food like wheat, animal milk and alcohol causes toxicity and they recommended that I take omega3:6:9 twice a day and oxylift and Royal Jelly as well. I’ve not noticed that my hair is getting better at all. I really don’t know what I am supposed to take to be recovered. plz help me

There is a lot of money to be made by testing victims for bogus hair loss causes. I really do not know anything about this particular company or the value of taking the products that they recommend. Buyer beware.

If you’re concerned, I’d think you’d want to see a doctor that can examine you and perhaps run some real tests for female hair loss.

Hi
I’ve been losing hair for the last 4 years, only on top and crown and in front hair line, temples. I tried minoxidil, but I had only a shedding, more hair loss, but used for 4 months without any difference. So I tried different products all without positive results. A friend that lives in LA talked about Therapy-G products. It is Shampoo, Follicle stimulator, Conditioning Treatment and Volumizing Treatment . I don’t know if this is a good product or has good results. Do you have any information about this THERAPY-G products?

Regards

I just looked at the Therapy-G site, and to me, it looks like just another package of shampoo and conditioner that makes hair growth claims that they can’t prove. They say there is a “92% success rate”, but I have no idea where these numbers came from and what constitutes a “success” in their eyes. If you use a shampoo that cleans your scalp, that is a success. So what are they claiming? The “follicle stimulator” product itself is marketed as something that, “Stimulates blood circulation to the hair follicle”… but it’s been shown that circulation is not a cause of hair loss, so it appears that this is just capitalizing on misconceptions.

Another popular misconception is that shaving causes hair to grow back thicker or coarser…. so why not sell a razor and call it a hair thickener? Because it would be wrong. Why do these products get to legally sell their products while fooling people with misguided logic? I have no clue. I guess it is all in the careful wording they choose.

So back to your question — is Therapy-G any good? I really don’t know. I can’t find any results, but they do include plenty of stock photos on their website and five small testimonials that provide zero photographic evidence (but if they did have photos, it would be weak evidence). I have no idea if it works as a scalp/hair cleaner, but I’d like to know how they can prove the claims they make about hair growth.

Hi there, in the past 2 months I have noticed my hair thinning in my crown area. I am Caucasian male, 23 years old. Since then I ordered Propecia online (it’s not the generic kind) and have been using it for 3 weeks now. I did not go and see a doctor in person to get a prescription.

Now I am getting a little paranoid that my hair is falling out even more since I have been using Propecia. I feel like my hair is thinning all over. Could this just be a placebo effect and me just being overly anxious and paranoid? I mean is it safe to use Propecia or does it make your hair fall out if it is not needed or prescribed by the doctor? I do not have any of the side effects that are listed on their website. Could you please advise as to what to do? I just want to know that what I am taking is not harmful to my existing hair as I might have not needed Propecia in the first place but became paranoid that i was loosing hair in the crown area. Thank you.

The first question you should ask yourself is, “Am I sure I got real Propecia?” If you just bought a prescription medication from an online vendor without a doctor’s prescription or any verification, I wouldn’t necessarily put a whole lot of trust in it.

What I really want to know is, why are you treating yourself? You should never take a medication if it is not needed, and you should’ve been under a doctor’s care before treating yourself with prescription drugs. A doctor can tell you if the medication is right for you. You couldn’t really expect me to encourage or even condone your actions, could you? That being said, Propecia shedding is reported by some people.

Follow the many posts here on the drug Propecia (use the search), get the diagnosis of hair loss, find the presence of miniaturization, and on and on. I can not practice medicine on you over the internet and it sounds like you need to see a doctor.

hi doc

i’ve got a general question about maturing hairline. while a hairline is maturing, can the total volume of scalp hair diminish? is that possible?

If the hairline and the hair that disappears reflects 2% of your total hair count, then the reduction will be 2% of your hair (total volume measurement). While it is maturing, the impact (if you do not have genetic balding) will not affect you anywhere other than the first 1/2 inch of hairline. In other words, if you’re losing hair beyond the hairline it isn’t just a mature hairline.

Hello Dr.

First of all thank you for having such an informative and helpful site. I wish other doctors would spend the time to have a site like this rather than having their sites full of promotional and marketing tricks. My questions is very simply.

I recently had ( 3 weeks ago ) a FUE procedure of 2600 fues to the zone 1 and zone 2. My question is… how soon can I start wearing a baseball cap/hat WITHOUT being extra careful with it. Meaning that the hat can touch the recipient area and also be a bit tight. My doctor say to wait a YEAR before I do this but it seems to be a bit too much. He said I can wear a hat after 30 days but making sure it is very loose and that it doesn’t touch the scalp. I find this very difficult to do given the locations where I received grafts.

I would like very much to know your opinion on this. Thank you!

Once the scabs are off, you can wear a hat or do anything that is reasonable. The donor area should be healed by this time. I’m not your doctor and I don’t know how your procedure was done, but that is the instructions I give my patients. You should double check with your surgeon, of course.

Are there any new developments in the study of prostaglandins as a treatment for hairloss?

Dr. Farjo (one of our editors) feels that this drug group may have value in the future development of medications for treating hair loss. I don’t have any information about specific new developments, though.

For everyone else, see this article from 2003 and this article from 1996 for information on this subject.

For Dr. Farjo please: Are you still working with Intercytex on trials or have you lost confidence in the project? Based on what Dr. Rassman said (he doesn’t see a breakthrough in cloning/multiplication for at least 10 years) whereas intercytex predicted a product in 2010… Do you think it’s worth putting off a hair transplant for about 2 years if not urgent for something to come out of Intercytex? Or did they fail? I am confused about this because you had said the results were good at some stage… please let me know if something changed your mind.

The following response is by UK-based physician Dr. Bessam Farjo:

Response by: Dr Bessam Farjo United Kingdom

Back in 2007 and early 2008, Intercytex genuinely believed that good news was around the corner. This was based on the very promising results of the laboratory work. What happened was that the positive results of clinical trials were not as efficient as the lab ones. In other words although promising and exciting, not quite good enough to justify applying for a therapeutic product for the public. Since then three things have happened. Firstly the credit crunch hit the biotech sector hard in that major investors pulled out. Secondly, an unrelated Intercytex product did not come up with the goods, which meant negatively affecting the company share price. Thirdly, money aside, Intercytex agreed that the future probably lies in their ongoing lab research of making fully formed hairs from the cloned cells before taking them back to the donor. At this point, I dont know when this work will result in a clinical trial.

At the moment you could say I am in between contracts with Intercytex as there no trials taking place. I was never employed as such by Intercytex.

If your donor hair is good enough for now and the future then I would encourage you to go ahead with transplants if you are a suitable candidate. Hair cloning, when it becomes available, is more relevant where donor hair is a problem. Another point depending on your age, you are probably more concerned about your loss now than you will be in 10 years time. The top doctors in the field will be able to advise you of your suitability and potential future hair loss.

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Learn more about the author of this article, Dr. Bessam Farjo, on his BaldingBlog profile or at his website.