Many people seem to find a way to make a bundle in our litigious society. There is no doubt that hair dyes can cause problems such as skin allergy in some people, burns from improper applications of the dyes, etc. Television has many soap opera presentations of such litigations. A good company like P&G should have adequate disclosures on the products to cover the individual risks of particular patients. $12 million is a lot of money. The legal costs to pursuing such a case is high and for P&G, the cost is higher just to build and present a defense. Many times, companies like P&G will pay off the pursuers just to avoid the legal costs and internal management costs for nuisance cases. The lawyers that take on such battles know that, so this is like a game of Russian Roulette with money as the bullet in the chamber. As clearly stated in the article, “Once Ross’ firm determined the extent of Mack’s injuries, more formal negotiations began.”
35, male
I have read that Propecia can cause testicular cancer. Is this true? I was born with a congenital anamoly which increases my risk for it and don’t want to exacerbate that risk.
If my wife were to accidentally get pregnant while I was on Propecia, would it negatively affect a baby. I have read that a pregnant woman should not handle finasteride, but is there enough in the sperm to harm a child if a pregnancy occurred?
Can Propecia regrow hair at the hairline or only the crown?
What do you think about dutasteride?
Currently I take minoxidil+azelaic acid. I have no problems applying it regularly.
- I have not heard or read that finasteride (Propecia) may cause testicular cancer. If possible, please send me the link (if it was on a website) or the publication (if it was in print) that you got this information from.
- Most doctors ‘in the know’ and the drug company Merck believe that you can safely take Propecia while trying to conceive. For those who are still worried or their wives are preoccupied over risks, it is my standard practice to tell my patients not to take Propecia for the one week each month where the female partner is in their fertile time. Your hair will not fall out because you didn’t take it for one week. Some doctors (for medical legal reasons, not based upon any facts that I know of) tell their patients to use condoms during the first three months of pregnancy.
- Propecia is unlikely to grow hair in the hairline, as it works mainly in the crown area (sometimes in the top between the ears). That being said, there are rare cases that it does works in the hairline to regrow hair.
- Dutasteride is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss. It is a very potent medication and you should discuss using this medication with your doctor, only if Propecia does not work for you. If you are even remotely worried about using Propecia during your partner’s pregnancy, you should be very, very worried about dutasteride, which has a half life of 5 weeks.
hi doctor
I took steroids and now its been over 3 months since I stopped and my hair still keeps on falling out. I am trying to make an appointment with dermatologist and I cant get an earlier day than january 10th. In my opinion if I will wait that long my hair will be totaly gone by that time. I wonder is my DHT will ever get normal on its own. I dont know what to do. its very sad that I just turned 23 and I am going to be bald.
Try to see a good family doctor then. If you are a young man and have stopped the offending steroids, then a good doctor can easily prescribe Propecia for you. If you are in California, the wait for seeing either Dr. Pak or myself is not more than a couple of weeks.
I recently discovered a patch of my hair is missing in the middle of my head, the area is very tender and itchy. I went to a dr and he told me it was a fungus. Other than taking the meds I don’t know what type of fungus it is or how to keep it from happening again. Or if my hair will even grow back.All I was told was he saw that there was a black head in it……Iam confused
The appearance of a fungal infection may reflect:
- other diseases that you have (example could be HIV positive people)
- conditions on the scalp that change (wet conditions, sweat, gels or topicals)
- certain medications may make you prone to these like those which treat heart and kidney transplant patients
- a change in climate (people who travel may come back with these infections)
- poor hygiene
- injuries and wounds
- unknown causes (see: MedlinePlus – Tinea capitis)
If you are confused, I suggest that you ask your doctor to clear up the confusion for you.
I’ve read all of your posts on LLLT and the article on the NHI website. I noticed that the NHI article was written in AUG of ’05. Is there any update on that situation? I was thinking of buying a laser comb and was wondering if you had any suggestions?
Thanks
My experience is increasing with the large units. Many patients using it regularly have reported improvements to me. It is totally subjective, though. As I do not charge for these treatments (only for existing patients who have had surgery at one time or another with us), there is more objectivity in this type of report than in patients who have other agendas. With these patients traveling up to 3 times per week, braving the Los Angeles traffic, it tells a great deal about the value these people seem to infer. The final story is still officially out.
I am just wondering how long it takes for a dermotologist to get the results back from a scalp biopsy. I had one done a couple of days ago and am anxious to hear the results. I tried calling the doctor today and was only able to leave a message. I am a 33 year old female experiencing hair loss. Thank-you for any information you can provide for me.
The time it takes to get a biopsy back depends upon the doctor who is reading the biopsy. This is not a test that one get by running blood in some meter that gives a reading. It is a meticulous test where an expert doctor (dermatopathologist) prepares slides from the biopsy source (3-4 days) then looks at it under a standard staining process (1 day — not on a weekend day), and then if the diagnosis is not evident the entire process may have to be repeated with different colored stains (1-2 weeks) before a final diagnosis is available. Depending upon the complexity of the disease being tested, the time does vary between doctors, patients, diseases, facilities.
I am a 39 year old female. I have been experiencing hair loss over the past two years. I’ve seen two different dermatologists and was told the hair loss was due to teleogen effluvium . I’ve also had blood work done. Everything came back normal. My scalp is itchy all the time and it’s very oily. I did have dandruff for a while but it’s gone now from using over the counter dandruff shampoo, like Selsun Blue and Head and Shoulders. How long does teleogen effluvium usually last? I really want to see an expert in female hair loss and see if it is genetic female hair loss and check for miniaturization. Could you please recommend a good doctor? I live in the Los Angeles area. I appreciate your time and your help. Thank you.
We are doctors in Los Angeles. I hope that we are good ones and we certainly do miniaturization mapping as part of our routine treatment. I look forward to meeting you. You can call 800-NEW-HAIR to setup an appointment, or visit this page if you’d like to be contacted to setup a consultation.
A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot in my head and got shots for the hair to grow back. I just got another one, but not as big. What is the cause of this? Can I prevent it from happening again?
What kind of shot did you get? Did your hair grow back after you got a shot a few years ago? I would hope a doctor gave you this shot. You should ask him/her these questions and ask him/her what they were treating so that you have a working diagnosis. Doctors have the obligation to educate their patients and communicate with them so that they are able to understand that is going on with their bodies. I would strongly suggest that you go back to your doctor and ask what was he/she was treating. I cannot diagnose your condition or even give you advise on your treatment since I do not have the advantage of examining you in person.
I have used laser to remove body hair. Can laser have an effect on DHT levels in the body?
I do not believe that a laser that was used to remove your body hair will have an effect on your DHT levels.
Hi
I had a hair transpland done in May of this year and i am very unhappy and dissapinted in it, since i had it done all i do is suffer becase the docotor that did it made it to high and is very rude when i tryed to tell him the problem
Im 22 years olds and came into the clinic with NW 2 hairloss, my hair stated to fall out and stoped when it became a ugly widows peek. I had over 800 grafts done and paid over $7.000 with little or no change in my hairline, the only difference is my hair is a little thicker behind my hairline. I tried to call the docter and tell him about it but he would not listen he was very rude and told me he is a doctor and he knows whats better for me. thats all got from him. I dont know what to do, this has made my life very bad, all i do is think about my hair and look at people with normals hairlines that did not have a hairtransplant and compare it to mine and it hurts to see that i spent over $7.000 with bad results.Please tell me what i can do to convince the doctor to repaid the hair line. r to refund my money s i can find another doctor. If your intrested to help me i can send you the pictures if my hairline when you email me back.
thanks
If your surgery was done in May, your results will just be appearing at this point, so you really do not know what you have achieved in terms of yield. From what you are describing, I am appalled at this doctor’s attitude and behavior. Disrespect and rudeness is intolerable, especially from your doctor. Understanding and compassion is what you should expect from him and his staff — nothing less.
First, please send me pictures, preferably at the 7-8th month (and please reference this post when sending). Then, armed with a candid opinion from me, you can decide what you should do. A doctor is not legally required to respect his patients, nor to treat them with dignity, but that does not excuse bad manners. Having hair transplants at 22 years old is a bit young and if the balding was very, very early, he may not have met the ‘Standard of Care’ in making the decision to offer you surgery. Did you try to treat your ‘hair loss’ with Propecia before you elected to have a transplant? Are you on Propecia now (as you should be)? You need to work out and fully document just what is going on here. Yes, you can ask for your money back, but there is no obligation for the doctor to refund it. You can write a letter to the medical board of your state and file a complaint with them, but it is better to get that message to the doctor first. If you are not comfortable to speaking with him, then you can set up an appointment and be accompanied by someone older and wiser who can speak with this doctor with an authoritative personality. If you get an opinion from me, and I agree with you that you were not treated with the ‘Standard of Care’, then I might even place a simple phone call to him on your behalf, but for that, I would need to be your doctor and we would need to meet somehow. Let’s start off with a picture at the 8th month post surgery and then go from there.
You will never see me run from being a patient advocate and my heart goes out to you. Doctors have the legal responsibility to produce a full ‘informed’ consent for your surgery. That means that it is his obligation to be sure that you understood what you were agreeing to and what he was going to do for you. If you did not communicate with him adequately, it is his responsibility (legally) to close the information gap. Assuming that his behavior is as you described, I would think that you have every right to confront him, but you might need some help. I am hoping that you will be surprised and find that your doctor is not the ‘bad’ person you believe and he will surprise you with compasion and caring. Let me hear from you.
I’ve been feeding my Sphynx (aka Canadian Hairless) cat propecia and rubbing it with minoxidil on a daily basis to see whether hair can be grown. So far there’s been no response, however, I’m hopeful.
I honestly hope this is a joke, but you’d be surprised at some of the emails I receive that are completely serious. Most people would think that the funnier notes I receive were sent to just mess with me, but either way, I’ll answer it seriously…
Cats lick their fur and will ingest these medications. I suspect that the minoxidil may drop your cat’s blood pressure, if nothing else. Silly things like what you are doing to your cat, may make discoveries where no man has gone before. I don’t recommend experimenting on your pets though.
At least you made me smile, something that your cat may not be experiencing.
Apparently, this is pretty old, but I don’t think I saw it before so it’s new to me and worth sharing. Actor Bruce Willis was quoted earlier this year as saying…
“I’m a man and I will kick anybody’s ass who tries to tell me that I’m not one because my hair’s thinning.”
Strong words. There’s not much more to the article, but here’s the link for those interested:
I seem to have come down with gray hair at an alarmingly young age, but as per your website, this is apparently possible and common. However, I would like to know if such a thing is related to premature hair loss. Could you please answer, if you could spare the time?
- Gray hair is not related to premature balding.
- You can have premature balding withou gray hair.
- You can have gray hair without premature balding.
In my experience I have not seen a good correlation. It is just a genetic puzzle that we are still trying to figure out. We are all different.
An interesting point to note about hair color though, I have read that being a red head is associated with high pain tolerance. See Melanocortin-1 Gene for Red Hair and Pain Tolerance for details.
Im just wondering if you really need a prescription for Propecia? What could go wrong taking it. I ask this because I recently visited my doctor stating that I would like to try it – Im 40 with some thinning hair – no bald spots yet.
My doctor (who is 60ish with a full head of hair) said very few of his patients ever stick with it, as very little ever happens – and really I just needed to accept that my hair was going to fall out.
He then ushered my out.
Can you tell me what medical history type questions a more sympathetic doctor would ask?
Why cant I just buy it through the internet?
Yes, a prescription is necessary for obtaining Propecia (finasteride 1mg). You may not need to be on Propecia if you do not have male pattern hair loss. That is why in my practice I conduct miniaturization studies on all the patients that may be candidates for Propecia. That being said, there are many doctors who prescribe Propecia without a thorough examination. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it is my opinion that it is difficult to follow up with the patients after 6 to 8 months when there is NO objective documentation (miniaturization study pictures, numbers, data, etc) to see if Propecia is actually having an effect. To look at yourself in the mirror and feel your hair and say, “well, it looks a bit thicker/thinner”, is NOT scientific.
I recommend against just buying a prescription drug over the internet without a good physical exam. It is my opinion that you will be just throwing away money in most cases and even worse, putting your health at risk.
If you were to see any doctor for a medical problem, he/she should take the time to take a good history and conduct a good physical exam. The relationship between a doctor and patient should be thought of as a partership rather than a dictatorship.
The excitement continues on the possibilities of cloning hair from special cells located in the hair follicles of healthy hair.
The company says:
We take cells responsible for hair growth, multiply them and then inject them in the head. We tease out the cells responsible for growing a new hair… The hair is taken during a 30-minute operation under anaesthetic and replanted three weeks later after the cells have had time to grow.
The process for harvesting hair from the permanent zone is performed today using my Follicular Unit Extraction technique. If this is to be done on a larger scale, my patented instrumentation (of which, Dr. Jae Pak is co-inventor) will be employed (see USPTO.gov).
One license for this patented technology has been sold to a California robotic company which is presently attempting to automate the entire hair transplant procedure.
Update: Here’s another article about this — BBC News