Suggest Remedies for My Hair Loss

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

I have been losing my hair strands for the past two years. I have also tried hair lotions like ervamatin and indulekha, but the result is NIL. Please suggest me some remedies. As far as I know my family does not have any history of hair loss.

I can’t suggest remedies if I don’t know the cause of your loss. It could be genetics, it could be stress, it could be medication related, it could be allergy, etc. You need to see a doctor to determine the reason for your hair loss. Once you know why, you can look into treating it.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss

People on Forums Swear by RU58841

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /,

I hear about a substance called RU in a bunch of the forums on the internet.Many of the people using it swear it helps the hairline. Do you have any on this at all?

I assume you’re referring to RU58841, which I still don’t know much about besides that it is an experimental anti-androgen out of Europe. I mentioned it earlier this year in a post, but I can’t comment on forum members swearing something works or doesn’t work. I prefer published proof in peer-reviewed medical literature, which I haven’t seen yet.

Tags: RU58841, hairloss, hair loss

Great Hairline, Thin Top and Crown, Low on Donor Hair (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./9 /, , ,

This patient had 4608 grafts. As you can see from his photos below, the frontal area is great, but the top and crown are lightly covered. He lost much of the original hair in the top and crown from the balding process and as the transplant process was going on over a 10 year period in three sessions.

I am posting these photos to show that frontal hair can go a long way to making a balding man look fuller. We will still do one more surgery on him to fill in areas that need more density and then offer him Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) to finish the creation of the fullness he wants.

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

Tags: hair transplant, thinning hair, donor area, hairloss, hair loss, photos

Why Do You Carry Revivogen In Your Office Now?

/by William Rassman, M.D./10 /

Dr. Rassman,

I noticed you sell Revivogen in your office. I thought you do not endorse or believe these products work! What gives?

For the record, I do not endorse many products out there. I still maintain my buyer beware mantra, and I will be the first to say this to all my patients. But I also recently acquired a Dermatology / Cosmetic practice (Wilshire Center for Dermatology) and expanded my medical services with new physicians who offer non-hair related services.

The office also sells a variety of skin and hair care products, and Revivogen is just one of the many products we offer. Revivogen is a natural supplement (non-medical) line of products.

Tags: revivogen, hair product

Living Proof Shampoo?

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

Have you heard of a shampoo, condtioner, cream and spray system called “Living Proof?”. There was an article in the NY Times which mentioned a scientist at MIT who was involved in its development.

It claims to work very well in increasing hair volume.

I did find an article in the Wall Street Journal about the company signing on actress Jennifer Aniston as their spokesperson (and as an investor), but I’m not otherwise familiar with their product line.

The MIT credentials sound nice, and perhaps their products may work for conditioning or volumizing hair. The hair styling products market is huge, so I can understand the need for a celebrity endorsement to stand out from the rest. I wouldn’t suggest this is the answer to thinning hair, though (nor does it seem that they’re claiming these products are hair loss treatments).

Tags: living proof, shampoo, conditioner, hair products

Does a Scalp Roller Actually Help Absorption of Topicals?

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

Can I have your opinion on scalp rollers please , if they help with hairloss / absorption of topicals / etc ? Thanks

In theory, it is supposed to help. The concept is to produce very small holes in the scalp, creating a kind of micropuncture of the skin. If it bleeds, then these rollers are going too deep. If it does not bleed, then it may be nothing more than a way of developing more uniform distribution of the medication.

I do not know if it really helps, and I haven’t seen any studies that show one way or the other. Any readers out there want to share their experience with the scalp roller / dermaroller?

Tags: scalproller, dermaroller, hairloss, hair loss, minoxidil, rogaine

Will Histogen, Replicel, or Aderans Play a Larger Role Than Hair Transplants in the Near Future?

/by William Rassman, M.D./3 /,

Hello Balding Blog!

Firstly, I would like to compliment you on a fair and unbiased blog, which really has comforted me since my hair loss has developed!

I would like to gauge your opinion on the developments in cell based treatments for hair loss. I recently read the following announcement from Histogen (Initial Results from Phase I/II Clinical Trial of HSC) detailing the result of clinical trials, which to a my untrained eye, looked very promising!

In general, do you think this and similar treatment (Repicel, Aderans) will play a more exigent role in hair loss treatments, over transplants and medications, in the near future?

Thank you for your time

At the ISHRS meeting last month, there was a great focus that the cure for hair loss will come from mechanisms that awaken the stem cells that are already in the head of balding people. Prostaglandin D2 seems to prevent hair growth, while other prostaglandins compete with it to control the growth. If a drug can block the effects of prostaglandin D2, this could be the cure for balding that we are all looking for.

I can’t say if Histogen, RepliCel, or Aderans will have the next great hair loss treatment, but it’s a big enough market that I think if any or all of these can prove to be effective and safe, they’ll each have their supporters. But that still remains to be seen.

So will these new treatments play a larger role than hair transplant and medication in the near future? Well, I guess it depends on how near you’re talking about.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, stem cell, histogen, replicel, aderans, prostaglandin, pd2

Har Vokse

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /

I was just curious about the new product “Har Voske”, their claims are that “in clinical studies it was shown to stop hair loss and promote regrowth in 90% of participants.” Have you ever heard of this product and would you happen to know if it is FDA approved or even effective?

Thank you.

“HÃ¥r Vokse” literally translates from Norwegian to “hair grow”. The product site says it is a blend of “marine polysaccharides”. There’s more than a few products out there that use these fish proteins and offer claims of hair loss treatment, but I would doubt that it actually does what its name implies.

There’s no FDA approval for this (or any supplement like it, since it isn’t required). The most well known product like it is probably Viviscal, and I wrote about that one many years ago here.

Finally, the site talks about a study published in the Journal of international Medical Research, but I can’t locate the study to see what they’re referring to.

Tags: har vokse, hair grow, hairloss, hair loss

HLCC Scripts Complete

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

Hi,

I have a question about a product that is a “advanced herbal alternative” to Propecia. It is called HLCC Scripts Complete: site

Can you comment on the efficacy of this product? The site mentions studies show that the product is effective, but I can’t find any information on the studies. Did they provide research that was peer reviewed? Were they funded by a non-biased third party?

Any help you can provide would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

This appears to be just another saw palmetto supplement with various ingredients. I’ve written many times about saw palmetto before, but basically there is no good science behind the claims attached to this herb for treating hair loss. The rest of the ingredients are also commonly used in herbal hair loss treatments… but remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

I can’t speak to whether this product was researched and published in a peer reviewed journal, but I doubt it.

Tags: hlcc scripts, herbal, hairloss, hair loss

PCOS, Hair Dye, and Hair Loss

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

I am a female that was just diagnosed with PCOS. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to prevent hair loss in the future with my condition? Thank you

I also have a question about bleaching/dyeing. I have dyed my hair a total of 20 times (at 27 years old). I have a sensitive scalp and stopped dyeing my hair because I don’t want anything on my scalp. However, last time I got my hair highlighted, they put a color solution on my scalp. My scalp is extremely sensitive and became red and itchy after 2 minutes of this solution and I made them wash it out. Could that have caused permanent follicle damage, especially in light of my condition?

Thank you

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) often produces more androgens and can cause hair loss as a result of these hormones. For a young women, Propecia (finasteride) in contra-indicated because if pregnancy should occur while on this drug, the hormone impact on the fetus will impact the sexual development of the fetus. With this in mind, doctors may make an exception in the use of this drug in a young woman; however, such a patient must not get pregnant. For this reason, I would not prescribe finasteride in a young women.

Dying of the hair should be done by professionals who know how to test for allergies. There is a high degree of allergies with the dyes used, so what you may be experiencing are such allergies.

With regard to damage to the hair follicles, I would have to know much more than what you told here and examine you as well. Get an appointment with your doctor and ask him/her about hair damage.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, female hair loss, hair dye, pcos

Estradex for Women?

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

(female)
Hi, I have been using a product spelt Estradex drops 2% but have read somewhere it has been banned? My hair has started growing using this product, I have been informed I have female pattern baldness by a trichologist. Would you use this product? and is it safe. Thankyou.

I’m not familiar with Estradex, and I have no idea if it was banned (by whom?). I did look it up, and although I could find very little about this lotion, it appears to be something sold by a UK trichology clinic. I don’t know about its safety profile, but I do know it’s not something I’d likely recommend to my own patients. If you were using it with good results, you can talk to your doctor about continuing it.

The only product I recommend for treating female hair loss is minoxidil, as it is the only FDA approved female hair loss medication. You can get boutique formulations of minoxidil with various ingredients, but the active ingredient is still minoxidil.

Tags: estradex, hairloss, hair loss, female hair loss

Borage Oil as a Hair Loss Treatment?

/by William Rassman, M.D./4 /

I’ve heard that borage oil, taken either orally or topically, can help with hair loss, and I don’t see any posts about that here yet. What is your opinion? I’m a guy in my early 30s with mild hair loss, diagnosed by my dermatologist as MPB.

Borage (also known as starflower oil) is used by herbalists to treat PMS issues in women. At least, that’s what I found via Google… because I wasn’t familiar with it.

It’s just another herbal treatment that some people claim can treat hair loss. It doesn’t. There’s no herbal treatment that I’ve found to treat MPB anywhere near the claims people make. If you decide to use this to treat your genetic hair loss, that’s your call to make — but don’t be too shocked when your thinning continues.

Tags: sunflower oil, borage oil, hairloss, hair loss herbal

I Added Biotin to My Regimen, But It Made My Forehead Oily

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /

Hi Doc,

i recently added to 5mg Biotin to my regimen (i’m on Finasteride since 14 months, for maintaining). However i noticed that Biotin made my forehead so oily after 6-7 days of Biotin usage. i took biotin for 12 days, then i thought Biotin could cause sebum on my skin so i decided to give up on it. then my skin returned to normal conditions and dont have any sebum any more.

i need something which can speed up growth of my hairs and nails, also considering my nails are weak and grows late. Would you please advice me something instead of Biotin? or i should decrease the dosage and continue on Biotin, such as 5mg for 3-4 days?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for sharing your experience. If your side effects from biotin supplement produces oily skin, the simplest thing would be to stop using it. I do not know of any supplements in medical literature that have been proven to make hair grow. If you’re on finasteride already, have you talked to your prescribing doctor about this?

I’ve written my thoughts about biotin being used as a hair loss treatment here, and my advice is “buyer beware”.

Tags: biotin, hairloss, hair loss, oily

Hair Cream and a Lack of Specifics

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

Is using hair cream good for a young man going bald good?and is afro american good for my type of hair.

I get questions like this from time to time, but I have no idea what you’re referring to as “hair cream”. Perhaps it is a language barrier, but you’ll need to be more specific as to what product you’re talking about. Some creams are good for hair to keep the looking vibrant or for styling, but I don’t know of a cream that treats a balding young man (even though I’m not even sure of your age).

Tags: hair cream, hair products

My Hairdresser Told Me Paraffin Regrew Hair

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /

My hairdresser told me her father used liquid parafin on small balding patch on his head and it grew back. Is there any truth in this?

Paraffin is a substance made from hydrocarbons with many uses (treating hair loss not being one of them). I don’t know what your hairdresser is talking about.

Tags: paraffin, wax, hairloss, hair loss