Bosley

Yesterday, I got to visit the Washington D.C. Bosley office for the first time. For those who don't know, Bosley deals with hair restoration. What is that you ask. Hair restoration deals with restoring hair on men who are going bald for various reasons. There are different ways you can deal with balding. There are hair transplants which is the most expensive method. As far as I know, this can cost between $3,000 and $4,000. The reason for that is because you have to transplant a lot of hair to make a noticeable difference in the balding area. 5 or 6 strands of hair isn't going to make much of an impact. Another method is using Rogaine cream. Rogaine can cause new hair growth however, it isn't 100% effective in all men and, it requires to apply it to the area where you want the new hair twice a day. Yet another method is laser comb. Like Rogaine, it isn't 100% effective and, you have to use the comb every other day for at least 10 but no more than 20 minutes. I have 1 of these myself but because of the hassle of using it, I use it off and on. One advantage of the comb is it is a 1 time cost. You pay the $500 plus for it and, that's all you pay. If you take Rogaine, you have to keep getting new cans of it and correspondingly keep shelling out the bucks.

Back to Bosley. Before using Bosley, I used Medical Hair Restoration who I really liked. Sadly, Bosley bought them out. In order to get my Propecia prescription (it requires one) renewed, I needed to see one of their doctors. The doctor I met at Bosley was Dr. Peter Morse. He turned out to be a very nice, informed and helpful doctor. I found out from him how things work with name brand medications and generic with the Food and Drug Administration. By this, I mean he told me what kind of variance you can have with name brand vice generic. In the case of Propecia, if must not go over a 5% variance. If it's a generic of Propecia, it can vary as much as 15%! Obviously, that means you may not be getting the required dose. Worse still, with foreign generics, there isn't any way you can find out just how much of the actual drug you're getting if any at all. I confess I was wondering about that with the Fincom-1 (Indian Propecia generic) I've been taking. You don't want to find out the hard way i.e. your hair starts falling out. Because of our chat, I will be taking more of the name brand Propecia though I wish Merck sold the stuff for less. It isn't a cheap drug.

I was advised I was eligible for hair transplants but, I don't care to spend that much money right now. I did decide to get their hair treatment package. The package includes vitamins which are supposed to be particulary good for your hair, shampoo and conditioner that helps remove DHT (the male hormone that causes baldness) and Rogaine cream. I'm curious to see what if any difference taking these will make. We'll see. I'll post future observations on here after I've given them some time to work.

Overall, the Washington D.C. Bosley practice seemed very knowledgeable and professional. They have very nice offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland with a parking lot right next to their office. I stayed at the Bosley practice for over an hour and, it cost me $3 to park there. I think that charge covered 1 to 3 hours though I'm not 100% certain on that. Getting to their offices can be a bit of a pain as driving through Washington D.C. is never fun. Cheers all!

Hair Update

I haven't given a report on Propecia or the laser comb in a while so here goes. The Propecia is definitely working. My hair loss has totally stopped. However, there are some negatives to the Propecia. First, there is the cost. Sam's Club is slightly cheaper than Costco but a 3 month supply of Propecia will still set you back over $180. Second, you have to take the drug at the same time every day. This was a major hassle when I was travelling because of the time difference. It was a serious hassle to have to stop what you're doing in mid-day and make sure you took your pill. It's a lot easier to take it first thing in the morning.

In regards to the laser comb, I'm not sure how well it's working or if it is. That was why I held off buying the thing initially. There isn't any set success rate with the comb barring it is more than 30% effective and less than 90%. The comb has been a pain in 3 ways. First, I have to use a stopwatch everytime I use it. You must comb your hair/top of your head with it a minimum of 10 minutes. However, it doesn't do anymore good if you go over 15 minutes. Second, you have to remember to use the comb every other day. Using it more often than that doesn't do you any extra good. Lastly, you have to be careful using the comb with your eyes. It is a laser and it could harm them if it shines directly in your eyes. I make sure I have the thing over my scalp before I turn it on. The biggest advantage of the comb is what it could save you in money if it works. The comb costs approximately $580. A 1 year supply of Propecia would cost you $720. So, in the first year, it would save you $140 and the savings continue after that.

So, that is what is happening there. I still wish I'd started on Propecia earlier. But, I'm not going to go bald so I'm happy with that and I'll deal with the hassles. If you think you might be going bald and you don't want to, you might want to check into Propecia or the laser comb.

Laser Comb Update

I've been using the laser comb I bought for a week now. It's too early to tell if it's having any effect. I do know that it is annoying using the thing. You have to remember to use it 3 times a week on non-consecutive days. For me, that means using it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You also need to time how long you've used the comb. I've never used the stop watch function on my watch much but, I'm using it a lot now. It doesn't do any more good if you use the comb longer than 15 minutes. It's definitely easier to take Propecia vice using the comb. Thankfully, the comb's teeth haven't pulled out too much of my hair. According to the directions, you have to have the comb's teeth touch the scalp so the laser will hit the scalp. In regards to the laser on my scalp, the only effect I've felt is some tingling on parts of my scalp. I don't know if that's a sign the laser is working or not. According to the manual, I should be able to see some benefit in a couple weeks. Stay tuned for more updates.

Correction on Laser Comb

I have a correction to make concerning the laser comb. I spoke with Steve Hodgkins who is the one who told me the various options out there concerning hair loss. It turns out that the laser comb won't cause new hair growth. What it does do is break up more of the DHT hormone in the scalp. This can increase the blood flow to the hair strengthening the hair roots that are already there. Concerning the percentages, there isn't a set consistent effectiveness percentage using the laser comb i.e. 40%, 50% or whatever. The big advantage it has over Propecia is that it is considerably cheaper to use vice the drug. One year's worth of Propecia would cost you over $744 at Costco. The comb costs approximately $580. Medical Hair Restoration offers a treatment called laser therapy which does the same thing the laser comb does. The comb offers the advantage that you don't have to schedule visits to their offices. You can do the therapy yourself whenever you want. You must use the comb 10 to 15 minutes, 3 times a week for it to have any effect.