March 2006 – Page 7 – Balding Blog

March 23, 2006

Propecia and Frontal Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I heard from one of the hair transplant surgeons that I spoke with that Propecia doesn’t necessarily prevent the hair loss in the front of the head, but often helps in the back.

I’ve been taking Propecia for almost two years now, and have noticed that the hair loss in the back of my head has stopped, and perhaps sligtly improved. My hair has been gradually falling out in the front — I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. Is it true about the front vs. back loss?

In general, Propecia is more effective in the vertex (crown) area than the frontal area. I have seen it reverse hair loss in the front in a small percentage of young men (under 35) so I know that it does impact both regrowth (less common) and prevention (more common), but the results are statistically far more impressive in the top and back of the head. I recommend that you continue to be on Propecia.

March 23, 2006

My Homeopathic Doctor Treats Me For Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My homeopathic doctor is treating me for hair loss. Iv been losing my eyebrows lately…probably due to the medicines. Someone said that this can be due to steroids. Is there some test i can perform to find if there is any steroid content in my body/blood?

You need to see a medical doctor who can draw your blood and send it to a laboratory to measure the various steroids in your system and look for exogenous steroid (just like they do for athletes). A homeopathic doctor is not licensed to prescribe medication or conduct medical tests in the United States and if he/she is giving your steroids, there would be some serious licensing issues for his/her license to practice. There is no way for me to know what is in the “medicine” you are taking or what is the true nature of your hair loss but your doctor can have what you are taking analyzed.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 22, 2006

Who Do I Take After in My Family? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,
I guess like most other guys, I’m a bit paranoid about hair loss. I (age 25) got a haircut recently and my dresser said it was ‘thin’ in the front and that thickening shampoo will make it look better. After CAREFUL examination, I’m quite sure it’s NOT thin, it just looks that way because it’s right where I part the hair and after spiking it with gel, the distribution of hair is completely even. Not that I should even put stock in a hairdresser.

Anyway, I have a question about the ‘genetics’ of hair loss. I realize that it’s not a cut’n’dry thing where you get it from your grandfather. However, in your judgment, whom am I taking after – I have my dad’s color (light brown dirty blonde although he was balding by 20) but my maternal granddad’s hairline and texture (his was black but wispy/baby fine) and he kept it until he died at 84. PS: My mom was graying at 21 and and that is exactly when my graying started. Although my dad’s hair has thinned out majorly he has no gray. So I THINK I’m fairly safe.

Also, this isn’t a question but more of an observation – many people think that treating hair loss is failure to accept the aging process, just like skin creams and facelifts for wrinkles. HOWEVER, I’m pretty sure that anyone with baldness would take a few wrinkles and a full head of white/gray hair ANY DAY!!! So in essence it seems more like not a fear of getting older but the lack of power over an incessant degradation process. Thanks for your input.

Block Quote

It is normal to be worried about hair loss. We live in a ‘hair society’ and the history of every civilization has focused upon linking hair and health and virility. We are a product of those prejudices and each culture has its own twist on the balding process. Male pattern baldness (MPB) has a major genetic component, but it does not follow one to one from generation to generation. It can skip generations and what is inherited may not ‘express’ itself the same way as it moves down to the next generation. That is what makes the process so confusing to those that try to sort out some clear, predictive model like the Mendelian genetic predictable pattern.

If you are concerned about hair loss and want a scientific or medical approach, you need to map your scalp for miniaturization to see if the hair loss follows a pattern for MPB. You can setup a free consultation in my Los Angeles office by calling 800-NEW-HAIR or visiting the Request Additional Info page. Your options do not necessarily include a hair transplant. It may be just that you are noticing a mature hair line.

March 22, 2006

Removing a Sebaceous Cyst from the Eyebrow – Balding Blog

Hi. My 9-year-old daughter has what the plastic surgeon called a ’sebaceous cyst’ on her left eyebrow (actually sort of in her eyebrow). It started out very small about six months ago and has become so large it distorts her eyebrow hair. He is supposed to remove it on April 5. My question is that she is terribly afraid of scarring: the doc said it won’t happen bc he’ll excise it directly in the eyebrow line. Do all of these cysts HAVE to be removed surgically? Is there any other way to remove them?
Thanks!

When I was in residency training I saw a middle aged bus driver who had a sebaceous cyst on her buttock. It bothered her while she worked, sitting on her bus driver seat. I apologize if this is too graphic, but she finally came to see me when it was the size of a big orange with a foul smelling infection on top of it. When I asked her why she waited so long, she said she didn’t want surgery so she prayed for it to go away.

My point is, sebaceous cysts have the tendency to become infected and when they do, it does create a minor surgical problem, so the issue is: should they be removed? It might be in your daugther’s interest because the alternative will be, as you put it, a “distorted eyebrow” which could become a focus issues for her in her teenage years. All surgical procedures have risks. All surgical procedures will leave a scar and the eyebrow in particular may lose eyebrow hair that will not grow back. But as you have been informed by the plastic surgeon, he/she should take great care to leave a minimal scar in the most inconscpicuous place (along the eyebrow line to hide the scar).

March 22, 2006

Options for Regrowing Pubic Hair? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

After I had liposuction several years ago I had pubic hair loss (one of the places the canula was inserted was through the pubic hair area). The hair never grew back. The hair on the sides was not affected, just everything in the middle. Even tho no one sees it except my husband and myself, it’s still so embarrassing to me, and I really HATE HOW IT LOOKS!!!

I tried Rogaine For Women but it didn’t seem to do a thing.

What can be done about this? Of course the less expensive the treatment the better for me. We live in a very modest area, and have a modest income. We only have Kaiser health insurance, which is useless for things like this of course.

Would transplantation be my only option? Please help because I don’t want to look like this for the rest of my life. I just lost 40 pounds & am planning to lose more, have come out of a long depression, love my job and my life, feel healthy, do yoga, etc etc, but feel bad about how I look “down there”.

I’m happy to read that your life is going so well and you’ve gotten back on track towards success. I have done quite a few hair transplants into the pubic area with good success. As you’ve discovered on your own, Rogaine does not address your situation. Hair transplantation is probably the only method that would work. My office in Los Angeles is not too far from you if you’d like to come in for a consultation.

March 22, 2006

Non-Transplant Scar On Head — Will Hair Regrow There? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have a dime sized scar on the back of my head where I busted it and didn’t get staples. Will hair ever grow there? If I were to consider surgery, how many hair follicles would be needed to cover that area, and what would the cost of the transplant be? Are there any hair growth alternative to surgery that work on scars? thank you for your time.

If it is a recent injury and it was not a separated gash on your head, your hair may grow back. But if it has been many months to a year (or even more) and you still do not see hair growth or if it was an open wound that was not sutured or stapled, chances are that hair will not grow there. At that point, your choices are:

Leave it alone. It builds character. (I hate it when others say that to me)
Scar reduction surgery. (You’ll have a smaller scar and the surgery may just take a few minutes)
Hair transplant surgery. (Transplanted hair will grow on a scar but this may be overkill for a dime size scar)

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 22, 2006

I Have No Hair On My Legs – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

i have never had hair on my legs or arms well at least much not enough to see unless your looking right at it up close why have i never grown hair on my legs? I fell shamed to wear shorts cause i have no hair on my leg can you tell me why is this?

Pants You were born with a ‘bald leg’ and it is just the way you are. It’s in your genes. If you are asking for a surgical or medical solution to your bald leg, there are no medications for bald limbs, but there are always hair transplants, though there are lots of drawbacks to them. If you get hair transplants to cover your arms and legs, the hair will grow out to pony tail length (or longer) and it will take a great deal of surgery. You will have to cut the hair and keep it trimmed to normal body hair length. When it grows, it will look like scalp hair, not leg hair.

As you can probably tell, I am am not enthusiastic to the hair transplant option for leg and arm hair, but I am sure there are doctors out there who would want to take your money and perform this type of procedure. I can however, recommend pants.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 22, 2006

Hair Loss After Using a Hair Relaxer – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi. I have read a lot of your articles but still confused. I am asian american female age 18, and about 2 years ago I used a relaxer kit I bought from Walgreens for my hair becuase I had thick Frizzy hair. I asked the lady at the store to see if I can use it beucase I thought it was only for African Americans. She said yes so I bought it. After I used it my hair, it has been falling out really bad after showers especially. I let it fall all it wants knowing that I had thick hair for about a year and a half. About 4 months ago I noticed that my hair are growing thin. I have hair that is at least 16 inches long but my hairs that are newly grown comes out very easily. And the my short hairs come out very easily. When i get out of the shower, about 1/4 of hair that falls out are thin and decreased in size. And they look very thin and you can barely see them. the diameter of my hair has decreased to half the size it used to be but I don’t have any bald spots. Some of my friends I talked to say that it cant be the relaxers becuase chemicals can’t have an effect that last 2 years. And 2 years ago was the first and last time i have ever done that to my hair. I havent dyed my hair since… and my hair should be fairly healthy beucase there arent any chemicals i have put in these for 2 years.. All the relaxed hair has been cut off already… but the hair is growing thin. they said it could have been becuase i switched off and on Birth control. But i dont believe that is the problem. I have gone on and off birth controls before and never encountered this problem. And i only realized it right after that relaxer i used. My father is going bald at the crown but none of my aunts or uncles or grandmothers or father has this issue… even if I am a girl, could I have inherited it from my father… and if so why would it hit me so young. But I did notice that after I used the relaxer, i started getting dandruff and i have never had dandruff in my life before that.. Not the dandruff is still around… But it seems to run in the family from my mother. But the thing I dont understand is that why would i start getting dandruff right after I used that too.. Ugh it is ruining my life and I feel like I have nothing to live for..

Your problem does seem a bit serious and if the hair that is falling out is really much thinner that the hair that remains, this complaint is very characteristic of a genetic female hair loss problem. This is best determined by visiting a good hair doctor and having your scalp mapped out for miniaturization. If what you are experiencing is female genetic balding, it will show up in the mapping.

Since it has been over two years since you used the hair relaxer, it is very unlikely that it may have an affect on your hair now. Birth control pills can affect hair loss and hair composition, however, this is generally on an individual basis, so it is not absolutely clear whether it is the birth control that is affecting your hair. The dandruff problem you mentioned does not affect hair loss unless you are scratching your scalp vigorously, but you might want to check into some products such as Selsun Blue or Head and Shoulders. Dandruff seems more detrimental to your self esteem moreso than thinning hair. Getting back to the thinning hair and hair loss, it is normal to lose about 100 hairs a day, but these hairs should not be much thinner than those that remain.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 22, 2006

Follicular Unit Extraction Tool For Sale? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

i have run out of donor area and as a result of this i have developed a thick scare at the rear of my head, my doctor would like to try and use a folicular extractor and use my body hair as the donor. Could someone please advice us on where this FUE can be purhased from, as australian doctors have not used this before.

Tool? Even if you could buy an FUE tool, do you really trust a doctor who has never done this procedure before? This is without a doubt the most difficult surgery that is in the hair transplant arena. It took me many years to master it. Few doctors worldwide can do it well. If you and he decide to go forward with this, there is one word to describe you -rather than call you “foolish”, I shall call you “brave”.

Please note that the above photo is not used in the FUE procedure, in case you were curious.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 22, 2006

DHT Blocking Supplements – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I currently taking Propecia for the past three months. I would like to do more to help stop my hair loss. I have done reserach and found the following supplements that claim to block DHT. Any insight would be appreciated and I think your sight is extremely helpful. Thanks for your time.

Supplement #1
Saw Palmetto extract, Beta Sitosterol, Pumpkin Seed Extract, He Shou Wu

Supplement #2
beta-sitosterol: 250mg
saw palmetto extract: 200mg
pygenum africanum: 50mg

Saw Palmetto has been covered on this blog quite a bit in the past. It may be a natural DHT blocker, but if so, it has about 1/100th the strength of Propecia even in high doses. There are some investigations that mention all of the other ingredients in these supplements, but I have to tell you that none of this evidence is conclusive or compelling. If it were, I’d have put ALL my patients on supplements, since we have so few agents for stopping hair loss that actually WORK! As it is, you are doing the #1 best thing for keeping your hair, which is to take Propecia. Minoxidil can be helpul as well, and of course, hair restoration is an option for putting hair permanently back where you have lost it. However, for the most part supplements just (in the words of a PhD nutritionist medical school professor I know) “give you expensive urine,” so I recommend you save your money.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):