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Hello, I am an African- American 18-year-old with a very high forehead. I was wondering if the hairline lowering procedure would be successful because of my hair texture. Also, I have had numerous perms in my lifetime and will continue on with perming my hair.

Everyone is different and there’s no way I can tell you about success or failures without at least an examination. The texture of your hair doesn’t rule you out, though.

If you are talking about actually lowering the hairline with a brow-dropping procedure then you need to be evaluated by a surgeon that does these. Many plastic surgeons offer this procedure. If you want to consider doing this with hair transplants, then you (again) need to be evaluated by an expert hair transplant surgeon like us.

Hello Dr. Rassman!

I don’t have a question for you, but I did want to let you and your readers know that Target’s in-house pharmacy has added generic finasteride to their list of cheap generics.

For the longest time, I was paying $72.00 for 30 pills and splitting the them into fourths. Today when I went in to pick up my prescription, the pharmacist informed me that the total was just $9.00! I actually had her check the computer again because I was so shocked. She said that a newer generic was now being sold at Target, hence the tremendous price drop. This is great news!

Just thought I’d share. Thanks for all the wonderful advice!

We called a local Target pharmacy here in southern California and can confirm this pricing for the 5mg generic finasteride. I’m not sure if that pricing is at all Target pharmacy locations, but once you cut the pills that’s 4 months of 1mg finasteride for $9! You will still need a doctor’s prescription for the 5mg, of course. Thanks for letting us know!

Doctor

You’ve said you take propecia. Why don’t you use minoxidil as well? Do you feel it would be of no benefit? To be honest if you don’t take it one would wonder why they should start.

Also how do we know all hair treated with minoxidil won’t become dependent? Is this just a theory or has it been proven and if so how?

Thanks for such an informative site.

To clarify, I did use Propecia for years, but I stopped using it some time ago. I hoped that my hair loss stabilized and took a chance by stopping the drug, and thankfully I experienced no further loss. One of my sons is still using it daily, however. I didn’t use minoxidil for a couple of reasons — mainly because the twice a day application was cumbersome to me, but also because I was looking to maintain and not necessarily regrow. The Propecia was found to be sufficient for that.

As for minoxidil dependency to existing hairs, the drug spreads to the surrounding area, so some people will find the dependence extended beyond where they applied it. Sometimes it even spreads to the face, and in women, facial hair growth is a side effect of minoxidil.

To touch back on the reason that I considered minoxidil to be cumbersome — before starting any drugs or treatment regimens, one must consider the compliance factor. A pill a day is easy for most. Washing your hair then putting on minoxidil twice-a-day everyday takes time and most men are not the best at keeping to this type of regimen. Most men simply quit after a few months before seeing any results. This ends up being a waste of time and money. A drug or a treatment plan is only as good as the person who is willing to follow the plan.

Hello dr rassman,
I did 1000 grafts FUE hair transplant one year ago, which was my biggest mistake in my life from 1000 grafts half of them didnt grow back , my donor area damaged considerably, my density in donor area was 85 grafts in 1cmm before surgery now its gone to 55 grafts in 1cmm , i calculated approximate 2500 grafts been damaged. dont you think FUE is a basic method and must be banned?

I’m sure the donor impact of follicular unit extraction (FUE) is rarely a subject discussed by many of the doctors doing this procedure. When the donor area has a below average density, the impact on the donor area is very significant and it may appear to look like Swiss cheese. When the density is high, this is not a problem.

Some doctors and patients seem to think that FUE is the answer to the ideal method of harvesting, but your example shows that it is not. Of course, it is possible that in getting out 1000 grafts, 2000 punch holes were made, but as I was not there, this is only speculation about a doctor that has perhaps not mastered the process. Damage to the donor area does occur with FUE, the question is just how much damage occurs in the hands of a skilled FUE surgeon.

Just a general question to Dr. Rassman or any other doctor on the team. Regarding these topical fiber hairloss concealers such as toppik or HairSoReal I was concerned about 2 things.

1. Is the silica contained in them. I understand breathing in crystal silica can lead to silicosis and bronchogenic cancer, do you think the silica contained in these products can have a similar effect?

2. The D and C and FD and C colorings they use are FDA approved but do you think constantly using these products in your hair (where some might fall to the scalp) will lead to scalp cancer?

Thank you!

These camouflaging agents aren’t problematic if used correctly, but inhaling them in excess (either in a spray or in a powder that goes all over the place) could certainly cause problems. Generally speaking, the amount and type of silica found in cosmetics isn’t harmful… unless you happen to have an allergy to it.

I can not imagine that these concealers are carcinogenic to the scalp.

I have heard different lengths of time you should keep Rogaine on your scalp prior to washing. Ive heard from 4hrs to 20 mins. What time period should Rogaine be kept on scalp before I can wash it off?

You should be washing your scalp before you put on Rogaine. If you wash your scalp after applying it, you’re just washing the medication off. Read the instructions that are included with Rogaine for the full details, but in brief, it should be applied twice a day and left on the scalp until it dries.

Hello Dr,
I am wondering why there is no a magical cure for the baldness? is it because the researching costs, no ambitions, or the medicine maker companies are not investing to find a cure!

what do you think the new treatment in the near future? stem cells, PRP, Gene Therapy?

Thanks

One could theorize that there is some conspiracy to keep the world bald, but I tend to believe that the reason there isn’t a hair loss cure available yet is because there hasn’t been a successful cure developed. I suppose the drug companies are still working on it, but I really have no insight into how much they will invest into various hair loss cures. Treatments fail all the time and are quite costly in research and development.

Using common sense, I’d think that the company that comes up with and successfully markets a cure will be able to make a huge profit… and that alone would make it worthwhile to be ambitious.

Here are some past posts regarding stem cells and PRP (platelet rich plasma):

1. PRP Treatment Still Unproven?
2. Offshore Stem Cells Treatments Offer False Hope
3. Stem Cell Baldness Cure? Not Quite.

Snippet from the article:

Last year he decided to give up the dark hair dye and grow old naturally with silver locks.

But it seems Tom Jones hasn’t completely given up on his quest to look youthful.

His once receding hairline appears to have been transformed into a full thick mop, sparking speculation that he’s had a hair transplant.

The 70-year-old, now fit for a L’Oreal advertisement, was also showing off a healthy tan as he was pictured after appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York.

Read the full story (with more photos) — Tom Jones’ receding hairline is transformed into luscious locks

We’ve written in the past about the changing hair color of Tom Jones, but it appears he’s gotten himself a new hairline. It’s difficult to tell from the photos shown in the article since they aren’t really focused on the hair, but the thicker looking hairline could be caused by a hair transplant, a wig, the use of concealers, or even some creative styling.

What do you think?

I have been using minoxidil 10% twice a day for the past two months as well as propecia. Could you tell me if using hair oil (olive) before or after application could adversely affect the absorption or mitigate the effect that minoxidil has?…..

my hair looks very dry now and that is why I ask.

First, I don’t recommend 10% minoxidil for treating hair loss. Sometimes higher or stronger dose does not translate into better results. In fact, there are more side effects without necessarily increased benefits. Perhaps that is one of the reasons your hair is feeling so dry.

I realize there are many regimens that go along with hair loss, but I generally use olive oil for cooking and do not know how it would affect your minoxidil use.

Can I donate a kidney if i’ve been taking propecia/finasteride for the last 2 years?

I do not see why not, but you should ask your transplant surgeon or transplant coordinator as they would be better aware these things.