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Mark Brassia Dear Mark: I’m thinning a little in the crown area and I went to see my Physician and he recommended that I try Rogaine. I used it for about a year and it has worked well in growing back the hair that I had lost, however I have noticed that I have gained weight and I am having a very tough time getting the weight off. I’ve heard you say that you also had some weight gain. What do you recommend as I do exercise regularly? Mark Brassia: There is a slight chance that since it is being absorbed by the body systemically that Minoxidil could be causing water retention. Now lowering your salt intake and drinking a lot of liquids has worked well for me. I also run on the treadmill as much as I can and sweat. It does sound like from what you’re saying that it is the minoxidil that is causing the weight gain and all that I can say is that you just need to work hard and keep flushing out of your system. Dear Mark: Nine months ago I started to take a shampoo called Nizoral 1% and and all of the research that I’ve been reading online is based on the 2% so I got in online because that’s the only way that you can get the prescription Nizoral from Canada. How well does Nizoral work and is their a difference between 1% and 2%? Mark: Well you can actually get a prescription from your physician and you can get the 2% Nizoral here in the U.S. and there has been evidence showing that Nizoral does lower DHT. It’s definitely not going to stop your hair loss significantly although it will help in your regimen. The problem that I hear from most people about Nizoral is that when you’re styling your hair, it kind of makes your hair a little flat so I tell people to mix Nizoral with a thickening shampoo. This way you get the same effects from the Nizoral and you’re also getting a better cosmetic effect. I took the 2% for four years as part of The Big Three that you always hear me talking about and over the past few months I’ve been taking the 1%. The 1% doesn’t seem to be as effective as the 2% but for me it seems to be holding it’s own and I’ll probably go see my dermatologist here again soon and get back on the 2%. Dear Mark: You seem to talk a lot about natural treatments for hair loss and seem to imply that just by eating right, you can save your hair? Mark: I will tell you that about 10 years ago I sensed that there was definitely a correlation between eating bad foods and losing hair or I should say I could see how bad foods would affect the look of my hair. I am a big proponent of “The Zone Diet” and do believe that it will regulate your hormones and it will help you with your Dht levels but it will not grow your hair back. I believe that while being on a healthy diet, it will help make your hair loss treatments more effective. Dear Mark: Hey Man! I listen to your show and think that it’s great that you talk about hair loss. However, you have me real confused. You were saying something about never being able to shave your head if you get a hair transplant? How do you figure? I was planning on getting $6000 worth of grafts put in and if I didn’t like the way that it turned out then I was planning on just shaving my head but now you are making me nervous about doing anything. Please advise? Mark: Look Man. Surgery isn’t something to take lightly. It’s not the first thing that you should be thinking about when you’ve realized that you’re losing your hair. I know that there are these big organizations out there such as Bosley that are constantly promoting hair transplantation and the late night commercials make it seem so natural and easy. Remember something and I preach this constantly on my show. Once you’re cut that’s it, you can’t shave your head. Even if you’re doing Follicular Unit Extraction, you may be able to cut your hair down real short such as a military style without seeing any noticeable scar, but you will never be able to shave it down to the skin. Once you’re outside and the sun hits your scalp, you’re going to be exposed. You will have all of these little white dots appearing on your head in the areas where the hair was implanted. If you have a regular transplant you’re going to have a linear scar across your head from ear to ear. Dear Mark: I hear you talking negatively about Avacore and I made the mistake of buying it anyway. I’m realizing now that I got ripped off as I paid $200 for a three month supply and my hair loss is getting worse as I no longer take it. Is this normal? What should I do? Mark: When Avacore first released their product they never mentioned to anybody that the main ingredient was minoxidol and that would be the only ingredient in that concoction that could actually regrow your hair. Why though would it make sense to get the minoxidol with the Avacore when you can purchase it at any local drug store for much less? What they do at Avacor is basically try and buy the public’s opinion thru commercials and radio advertising. You should try the Big Three as your hair loss probably isn’t getting worse and you’re probably just experiencing a massive shed from stopping the use of the minoxidol that is in the Avacor product. Dear Mark: I’ve heard you mention on your show that some hair restoration clinics actually throw tissue away? Is that true? That sounds absurd to me! Mark: Yes, it’s true. I have heard some horror stories. I just recently heard of a situation where a guy paid for 1500 grafts to be placed and there were an extra 500 grafts that were left over from the donor area, so a represenitive came in to the operating room while the guy was still sedated and basically offered to place them and told the guy that they would charge his credit card. That in my opinion is very unethical. Dear Mark: My boyfriend is thinning on the top of his head and I said something to him about it a few days ago and he seems to be really bothered that I said something. Was it a good idea that I mentioned it? Mark: It’s a real tricky situation and one of the things that you should be very careful of when you are dealing with a guy who is losing his hair is to point it out to him. It can really affect a guy’s self-esteem especially coming from a woman. He probably was already aware that he was losing his hair. Dear Mark: I’ve been listening to you for about two years and I remember when I first listened you said that you felt that you were at about 95% of the way there as full as you maximum results from The Big Three. Do you still feel that was a right assessment? Mark Brassia: No. I think that I was way off. I think what you’re referring to is that at that time I was at the 1 year mark of taking the big Three and when I began The Big Three regimen , I had planned that it would take me one full year to get my maximum effectiveness. After one year I thought that I had gotten 95% but now that I look back at that, I feel that at that time I probably was really at around 65%. I’ve very fortunately gotten a lot better results from this regimen then I ever expected. I actually thought about discarding minoxidol recently until my better half reminded me that I’m getting greedy and that minoxidol still plays a big part in the success. I still think today, I am still improving and sometimes I stop and think that at the rate my hairloss was progressing four years ago, I would without a doubt have a serious bald spot on the top of my head and would be a different person today. Dear Mark: I seem to have an extremely greasy and oily scalp. Does this mean that I may have hair loss? I’ve noticed that it just seems to look thinner. Mark Brassia: I too have had oily skin and an oily scalp my whole life and I do believe that high DHT levels attribute to this. I noticed that since I started taking Nizoral 2% that my scalp is no longer oily. Nizoral seems to keep your scalp at balanced levels as far as build up of sebum. I also noticed that when I took a break from Nizoral that my hair texture started looking oily again. Dear Mark: Do you recommend The Hair Club? I’m starting to feel that you don’t speak very highly of them and I know that they have at least 300 other guys that go to my center. The more that I listen to you I can see where they seem to be getting more corporate. Mark Brassia: These people are great marketers and like I’ve been saying all along they seem to provide the worst service, in my opinion. From reading some of the emails that I receive, the quality of the hair also seems to getting worse. I don’t recommend them. Dear Mark- I’m about a NW3 and I’m thinking that if I start using Toppik that it will help my hair look a little fuller and kind of fill in the thin areas. Why don’t you use it and have you ever tried it? Mark Brassia: I actually have never tried it although I strongly considered it about two years ago. Luckily, I have been able to regrow much of my hair by using the big three over the past couple of years. I have always been very nervous about using Toppik or Derm Match mainly due to possible embarrassment. I hear that you really need to know what you’re doing before applying this stuff as it can be very messy. I also can see it being an awkward situation if you happen to fall into a pool in front of people or if you happen to be at the gym and start sweating. You really must have a significant amount of hair in the back in order to use it and make sure that you don’t put too much in the area where your hair parts as it will look fake and real obvious that you did something strange to your hair. I’ve also heard of many situations where people would go to the dentist and the back of the dentist chair would be black or a guy would hook up with a chick and the next morning the white pillow that he slept on was black in the morning. It just seems like too much work that could lead to possible embarrassment. Dear Mark: I’m seeing this commercial on all the time for Scalp Med. I think that I would like to try it. Is this a product that you would recommend? Mark Brassia: This is a company that got together with a Doctor and all that they did was mix a 5% Minoxidol solution with Retin A. The price of this concoction is exorbitant in my personal opinion as you can go to your local drugstore and just get generic monixidol and you will get the same benefits as you would with Scalp Med. The only thing that has been proven to regrow hair in both of these products is the minoxidol. So what’s the point in paying twice as much for it by getting the Scalp Med product? Dear Mark: I have been on Minoxidol for a couple of years and although I do feel that it’s working it’s very sticky and messy & I just can’t tolerate it anymore. I tried Propecia for about 6 months but I didn’t see any real results and it made my sex drive off the wall. Do you know if there is anything else besides the Big 3 that I can try? Mark Brassia: Minoxidol does work but what we aren’t real sure about is for how long? Some people say that Minoxidol is just a band-aid and that it will only work temporarily. I would recommend to stick to Minoxidol but to switch to Dr. Lee’s formula as that is not nearly as messy as the Rogaine brand. I would give Propecia another try as it was probably working for you & you didn’t realize it. You may even want to reduce your Propecia applications to one milligram every other day if it’s causing your sex drive to go crazy? I would think that taking Propecia once ever other day has got to be better then not taking it at all. Dear Mark: I listened to your show and think it’s really good for my support. I am 19 and my MPB started process at late 16, it really sucks because I feel like I am dieing slowly. I am pretty much at rock bottom right now because I am a student at university and I should be living it up, this should be the best time of my life, this is what I was looking forward to for years when I was in high school. My confidence is really low, I hate going outside and talking to people. My hair loss type is more to that of women as I am thin along the top and front and quite thin all over as well. I have put all my hope in the big 3 and my current status in the medical treatment is: 4th month of propecia, 4th months of regaine 2nd month of Nizoral. 2nd month of Multi-vitamins and minerals Right now I don’t know whether I am coming or going, as I feel that my hair loss is getting worse or staying the same. I have had some shed but it has not been major, the only side effect I am getting from the big three is an itchy and flaky scalp but that is because of the minox. It is really killing me and my pocket as well especially being a student that is broke I have to pay round about $200 for a 3 month supply of propecia. I have been to see the dermatologist and basically they do not care. I was expecting that from them because our National Health Service (NHS) in Britain is really crap. I am always checking hairloss forums for updates, that what I spend doing most of my time now, it has become an obsession. As before I use to be outgoing, I use to do sports, work out, have girls, etc. like a regular teenager. Now I feel like I have had my teenage life stripped from me and this is suppose to be one of the best times in my life. I recently went to a family gathering where I saw relatives I have not seen for years and the women were all suffering from hair loss obviously they were all married and happy so it didn’t effect there confidence. Most of the men were nearly a norwood 7 but they were all married so didn’t care. My dad is a norwood 7 and my mum is quite a big bald spot at the front. So basically the hair loss gene in the family is so aggressive that there is no point in me trying any further? Most people start to seeing results in there 4th month. I was wondering, could I send you pictures of my hair loss, and sum pictures of it so far so I can get your opinion. Also would it be advisable for me to take proscar instead (and break it into 4-5) to be lighter on the pocket? Mark: Hairloss definitely sucks but I think that you have a good plan and I would stick with it. You can always fall back on switching to proscar but for now you are way too early on your Big Three regimen. I actually didn't really see that it was starting to work for me until around the 6 month mark and I started seeing real good results around month 9 so just stick to what your doing as it is working. Sometimes it's hard to tell that it's working and that is why people give up too soon. If you really can't afford the propecia then yes it may be cheaper to go to the proscar but what ever you do stick to the 1 mg per day. We may get lucky as I hear that in June Propecia will probably be much cheaper as Merck's patent will be expiring so we will be able to buy generic finasteride which should be much more affordable. Let's keep our fingers crossed! Dear Mark: I read on a forum that some guy went to get a hair cut by a new hair stylist and when she told him that he shouldn't where a hat he took it like the sylists was implying to him that hat's can cause hair loss? What do you think about her advice? Mark Brassia: I would take her advice. She sounds like she has been around for awhile so I'm sure that she's not stupid. She wasn't directly telling him that the cap is going to cause hair loss but she probably was smart enough to notice that he had androgenetic alopecia and she probably knows that baseball caps aren't for people with androgenetic alopecia as our hair is weak and weak hairs are more susceptible to falling out more often then people with strong hair and someone that doesn't have androgenetic alopecia. And she's absolutely right when she told him that "your scalp needs to breath" The top of your head exhurts body heat. Haven't you ever been told to wear a hat when it's freezing cold out? That's because the hat will help keep body heat from exiting thru the top of your head and will keep you warm. Even when it's not cold out if you're working up a sweat and your body heat is high and you are wearing a cap you will start to develop bacteria which is where that itching comes from. Believe me, I know from experience and I can guarantee you that if I had been wearing a hat regulary over the past 10 years that I would be a Norwood 4-5 instead of a norwood 1.5. Wearing that hat and dealing with bacteria build up and the itching just makes the fight against DHT much harder. It's my opinion that wearing a hat once or twice a week is fine. But if you are a hair loss sufferer, we need all of the help that we can get and by wearing a hat regularly will definitley effect your hair loss pattern over the long term. Dear Mark: I listen to your ReGrowNow radio show on the internet and I noticed that you are constantly talking about the great results that you have gotten from the Big Three. Quite frankly, the results that you say that you got sound "too good to be true" Have you ever gotten a hair transplant or do you wear a lace system similar to that of Matthew McConaghey. Mark: It's funny that you mention Matthew McConaghey as I have been very fascinated with his total 180 that he has made with his hair loss. Many experts do feel that McConaghey wears a lace system hair piece. McConaghey once claimed that he was taking Regenex. Who knows? As far as I go, I was looking worse then McConaghey around four years ago as far as hair loss goes. McConaghey's hair loss was getting quite obvious on that famous mug shot of him a few years ago when he was arrested for running around naked and drunk. At that time my hair looked very miniaturized as well as I was probably close to a NW 3 and on m way to becming a NW 4. I ordered the stuff from Regenex although I knew that it wasn't going to work and then I just made a commitment to the Big Three. This was at a time when I thouht my life was over. I was only 35. I used to stay home on Saturday nights and dread about my hair loss. The Big Three has definetly give me second chance. I sometimes forget about those dreadful times of 4 years ago. You need to believe that it really is possible to REGROW NOW. I have never had any kind of hair transplant and thank god I have never worn and do not currently wear any kind of hair system. My hair is 100% natural and my own hair and thanks to the Big Three and most importantly Propecia my hair has regrown to where it looks about the same today as it did about 8 years ago.