I Don’t Trust My Doctor After He Recommended Rogaine and the Laser Comb

Hi Doctor Rassman, first let me start off by thanking you for running the balding blog the way you do. Its the only real source for hair loss questions/answers that I trust in terms of reliability and i would be lost without it.

I am a 23 year old male who noticed a bit of a “wider part” and “larger cowlick” around 2 years ago. I’d wager I’ve thinned a bit since then, but i still have full coverage with no pure bald spots, thinning primarily noticable in the crown region. I took propecia for 8 months and then, like an idiot quit the medication out of fear it was doing nothing and i was throwing money away. approx. 4 months later I realized the thinning sped up so now I am taking the medicine again. I don’t really trust my prescribing doctor’s knowledge…he recommended using the laser comb and rogaine before I attempted propecia but I was persistent.

my questions:
1. Who can map my hair for miniaturization in my surrounding area?
2. assuming I will end up a norwood 6(like my father)what type of coverage could a transplant offer me if we assumed I had average scalp laxticity and average hair density?
3. Do you believe there will be breakthroughs in the next decade that will prevent most of my generation from being forced to live their lives as bald men?

Thanks again for this site

We have written in the past about the LaserComb — basically, we don’t feel it works for treating hair loss. Rogaine, however, is an option if you are persistent enough to apply it twice a day, everyday. In my opinion, most men are horrible at keeping to a regimen and it is a factor you must consider when starting any daily routine like this.

Thank you for sharing your experience on Propecia. It seems that you experienced “catch up” hair loss after stopping the medication. While you will not gain what you lost, restarting the medication was probably a good idea.

Now to answer your questions —

1. On the east coast, I would trust Dr. Bernstein in New York. He was with New Hair Institute until he branched off to start his own clinic and he’ll be able to map your scalp for miniaturization.
2. Coverage really depends on your hair character + hair/skin color contrast. If you’ve got black hair, white skin, and a very fine hair character… you won’t have good coverage. If you’ve got thick blonde wavy hair, you’ll have better luck.
3. Certainly there is work being done and there is a huge market for it, but what you’re asking about is essentially a cure for hair loss. While I do hope something happens within the next decade, I really have no way of knowing if the current work being done is the answer we’re all looking for. Keep your fingers crossed, but your expectations realistic.