To Itch or Not to Itch?

Article by HairlossTalk.com

Sebborrheic Dermatitis and Hair Loss

Many people who experience Androgenetic Alopecia (male and female pattern baldness)
express concern about a tingling and itching that can vary in severity from
a slight tingling to an extremely annoying inflammation. It has been hypothesized
that this itching, which almost always seem to appear at the onset of MPB, is
a response to the hormonal changes going on in the scalp. Even in the absence
of MPB, dermatitis on its own will result in a mild telogen
effluvium type hair loss, so in the presence of MBP, dermatitis can significantly
speed up the speed of your loss and inhibit the effectiveness of your treatments.
Both AGA and dermatitis are quite common and it is quite possible to have both
conditions together. Many people do. In fact, it has been hypothesized that
even in the absence of any noticeable itching, this same inflammation can exist
on a smaller scale and should be treated with a shampoo like TGel or Nizoral.

If you have a combination of both AGA and a the itch of dermatitis, then successfully
treating the dermatitis will not only slow down the speed of your loss, but
it will help with your hair growth. It would not stop progression of the underlying
AGA, but it would give some degree of hair growth improvement. There are two
main kinds of dermatitis to consider, seborrheic dermatitis and contact dermatitis.
Seborrheic dermatitis involves an inflammatory response to the oils produced
by the sebaceous glands while contact dermatitis is the result of exposure to
some allergic factor – most often a chemical in a shampoo or conditioner.
Both types of dermatitis can cause a fungal infection that makes things worse.

Anti Inflammatory in the Propecia Trials

When studies on Propecia were conducted, the drug users were all asked to wash
their scalps with Tgel
shampoo. The reasoning behind this was two fold. First, cosmetic hair products
do affect the look or hair and the trial investigators were going to take global
photographs so they wanted the volunteers to all be using the same shampoo product
throughout the study. Second, the issue of whether
dermatitis could influence the hair growth response to Propecia needed to be
minimized. Tgel is a reasonably effective treatment for dermatitis
(seborrheic or contact) while at the same time it has no known direct stimulation
or inhibition of hair growth. By using Tgel the investigators
could remove the question of whether scalp dermatitis was influencing any hair
growth response to the Propecia use from the clinical trial. Some
think the investigators were worried that Propecia might stimulate dermatitis
itself hence the use of Tgel, but there has never been any official word to
confirm or deny this, and at least to my knowledge there has been no reporting
of dermatitis exacerbation with the use of Propecia.

Why no Nizoral in the Propecia Trials?

Some people wonder why the Propecia trial did not use Nizoral as the shampoo of
choice. The main problem with this was that Nizoral shampoo was not readily available
when the trial started. If the Propecia trial was taking place today when Nizoral
is readily available it probably still would not be used. Although Nizoral is
officially used for treating dermatitis and combating mild scalp fungal infections,
the active ingredient (ketoconazole) has known anti
androgen properties and this may have some positive effect on hair growth.
The objective of arranging a trial to test Propecia was to examine the effects
of the drug, not the effects of Nizoral.

In one small clinical study it was even suggested that the
actions of Nizoral on hair growth were equivalent to the effects of 2% minoxidil
(4).

Nizoral and Tgel are not made by Merck, the makers of Propecia, so they are
not likely to promote the merits of combining Nizoral or Tgel with using Propecia
even though there may be advantanges to the consumer in doing so. However,
many dermatologists will recommend to their patients the use of Propecia, Nizoral
and Tgel. You can use all three in a combined regimen. Nizoral should
not be used more than twice a week. Other days you can use Tgel and normal shampoo
in rotation. The only problem with Nizoral and Tgel is that they can be quite
drying to the hair. You can remedy this with a separate conditioner.

(Continued on the next page...)

- Legitimate Proven Hair Loss Treatments for Men
- Legitimate Proven Hair Loss Treatments for Women

© HairlossTalk.com - All Rights Reserved.
The content found here is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.
For permission to duplicate any content, please Contact Us.
Make sure you're Subscribed to the Newsletter! We never share your info.