Dengue fever 2 months ago and lost hair

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

My wife and I caught dengue in Thailand 3 months ago.  She started having rapid hair loss two weeks ago and we jokingly said it was probably dengue (it’s a running gag, since that damn thing hit us with a good dozen different symptoms). Joke’s in us; it’s actually dengue. Apparently it’s common to have it happen 2.5 to 3 months down the line. Anyways, I read on it and it’ll apparently go on for a couple months. 

In women who have hair loss following a severe illness, a significant telogen effluvium develops and usually reverses in a year or so. In men, if they have genetic balding, they can kick in the genes and then follow their family pattern that is inherited and it could be that it would not reverse in men unlike women who often do reverse. I would expect similar responses to those people who caught Covid-19 Virus and got very sick but as our office is close, we will not see them for some time.

Is a Hair transplant at 20 ok?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Is it possible to get a transplant at around 20 years old if you have been on Fin for a couple of years, and had been able to stop further hair loss? Since Fin stops hair loss, and transplants are recommended for people 25+ in order to see what your balding pattern will be, why would you need to wait that much longer?

Never a good idea. Take a look at this: https://baldingblog.com/need-master-plan-think-hair-transplants-photos/ You must have a Personalized Master Plan in the case that your balding pattern follows this man. If he started at 20, he might have used up all of his donor hair before the balding became complete. That means that he might not look right, hair wise. Good planning starts when you begin the hair transplant process and you MUST know your lifetime donor supply.

Started Finasteride 3 months ago (photo)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Started fin in January. If you zoom in, are those miniaturized hairs new? Are those hairs that will be growing in or are they hairs dying off

Too early to tell. Wait a full year and then you will know. With the balding you have, I would doubt significant growth from finasteride, except possibly in the middle of the balding area where I see existing pores present suggesting that the hair loss in this area was more recent. A hair transplant may be the only real solution for you. See some of our patients here: https://newhair.com/before-and-after/hair-transplants-men/#results

10 years of finasteride, now my libido is down

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I’m a long term user of Fin since 21 years old. Can honestly say I haven’t experienced one single side the entire time I’ve been taking it.   I only take a quarter tablet every night 0.25mg  I’m almost 31 in a few weeks. I’ve noticed over the past month or so my libido has decreased enough for me to notice.. I don’t have trouble getting erections, and I still wake up with one as well But I can go days without feeling the need to masturbate where I used to get the urge every day. My interest in the opposite sex has seemingly waned as well, I’m more focused on working out/exercising and my other hobbies.  I’m trying to narrow down what could be causing it. Fin was obviously the first thing to spring to mind, could it be after years of no sides I could get them suddenly?

Yes, some men reported this to me. The problem is that as men get older, ED becomes a problem without finasteride and so does a reduced libido in some men, so it is difficult to tell if it is the drug unless they stop it and if they stop it, then the could lose considerable hair volume.

I found an alternative to SMP.

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I just tanned my head haha.  

Tanning works like anything that changes the contrast between hair and skin color. The darker your skin with dark hair, the less the contrast between hair and skin color.  I often recommend that men with very white skin get a tan.  Dying it blonde works even better for the white guys, maybe not for darker haired men. SMP also changes the contrast between hair and skin color, see here: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/

I Want to Start Finasteride (I’m 22) and Am Worried About My Beard Growth

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

My colleague Dr. Robert Bernstein states: “As you suggest, it would be reasonable to assume that since DHT stimulates beard growth, blocking DHT (with finasteride) would tend to inhibit its growth. In practice, this does not seem to be the case, i.e. we don’t find that Propecia has any effect on facial hair. The reason is not clear.”

I have not seen this complaint in young men either, just as stated by Dr. Bernstein.

Accutane and Hair Loss

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I was wondering if there was anyone who has taken Accutane in the past and experienced hair loss as a side effect; and has anyone been able to regrow their lost hair?

I noticed from some older pictures of my hair (a few months after I stopped Accutane) that my hair loss hasn’t progressed since I stopped taking it. This has led me to believe that my hair loss was due in large part to Accutane.

Hair loss is a common side effect of Accutane. It sometimes take over a year to get improvement after stopping the medication.

Left and Right handedness relates to finasteride side effects (article)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Apparently left handed dominant people have improved sexual function on fin rather than decreased sexual sides. I’ve been on fin for a short period of time now with the only side effect being a slight ball ache. I know this is a pretty tiny study but interesting to me nonetheless. What do you guys think? Article: https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.11580.x#ss7-title

This is a new one for me. I read the article and although the studies were relatively small, it is suggestive of the handedness issue. Thanks for the information