Month: December 2006

Posted on

My Daughter Had Lice and Is Now Losing Hair Where the Infestation Was the Worst – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My 10 year old daughter had head lice at the beginning of the school year-shortly after, like 1 week, I noticed that she was very rapidly losing her hair..It appears to be concentrated around her ears and back of head, where the lice were the worst, and she scratched the most!! I took her to a ped dermatogist..she diagnosed her with alopecia areata..All the lab work was done, and it was negative.. I am not convinced that she has alopecia, I feel it is related to the lice!! Either an infection, or reaction from the Nix!?? Would love your opinion, please!! Thank you

Infestation with lice can cause itching due to an allergic reaction and inflammation to the bites. This is a known cause of hair loss. Any irritation of the skin in patients who are prone to alopecia areata, can aggravate its occurrence. Clearly the differential diagnosis is alopecia areata in conjunction with lice or lice by itself. If you cure the lice (easy to treat) and the hair comes back, then the diagnosis will be evident. Hopefully, if she has been harshly scratching the scalp, that could have caused the hair loss.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


Posted on

I’m Using Olive Oil in My Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My hair is still thick, but it’s slightly receding on the left side, and a little from the front. I’ve using olive oil once a week, it seems like it’s ok, do u think I should keep doing that???

Do you use extra virgin?

I would add a bit of balsamic with a pinch of onion powder to make a great vinaigrette. All jokes aside, olive oil has been used as a wetting agent for the scalp. It has no value for hair loss, but if you like it, you can continue to use is relatively safely.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


Posted on

Exercising After a Hair Transplant – Balding Blog

First of all, a great blog – so thanks and I hope you get lots of patients from it!

I’m a 35 year old male. I had a hair transplant 10 days ago (1400 grafts) and am due to have my stiches out on day 12 (the doctor said that 10 days is ideal – but today’s a Saturday).

I’m a regular gym-goer and would like to know when I can hit the gym to my usual intensity. My doctor said that I should exercise only lightly initially. But I’d like to get back to my usual heavy weights. When would you generally say is safe to lift heavily?

Many thanks!

Exercise after hair transplant surgery is a concern for many people who are physically active and want to get back to their normal routine. You are facing two risks after a hair transplant:

  1. The risk of losing new hair grafts from scratching or rubbing the skin of the recipient area. If the hair and scalp are washed well after surgery, the risk of graft loss after 3-5 days is small, as the risk occurs as long as the scabs are present.
  2. The incision in the donor area, which is primarily closed by sutures or staples. The body takes 3 weeks on average for the wound to be reasonably secure. The healing of the incision of the donor area follows a general wound healing process that is standard no matter where the wound occurs. The process of healing starts from the moment the wound is closed. The body lays down the supportive infrastruture of fibrin from which the stroma for a secure would builds. Any vigorous activity should be avoided within the first week and then any aerobics can be done as long as the wound is not stressed (no heavy weights at all). After 2 weeks, the strength of this newly healed skin is not anywhere close to its final level, but between weeks 5 and 6 it reaches better than 80% internal strength. You can probably start your regular aerobic activities after the first week (the sutures should hold the wound together), but no weight lifting should be undertaken for 4-6 weeks. The process of wound maturation takes up to six months after the surgery.




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Posted on

Hair Loss InformationBald People are Bitter and Mean Spirited – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

Why are many bald people bitter and mean spirited?

Block Quote

I haven’t been aware of that concept being part of the myths that are associated with bald men, but there are stereotypes that are unfortunately part of our culture. Some are realistic based on history, e.g. the man sick with tuberculosis would frequently become bald because of the wasting nature of the disease, so women looked for hairy men to avoid getting men who would not live long enough to support them and their children. Of course, women with TB also became bald, but as they were not looking to marry other women, the observation never took hold as part of the culture of the times.

Hollywood may be partly responsible for some typecasting. The romantic lover in films almost always has a full head of hair. The audience associates a full head of hair with virility and a high sexual drive. In old Hollywood films, the castrated priests (eunuchs) were often portrayed as totally bald men (this is not genetic unless they have a form of genetic alopecia that is relatively rare and takes the eyebrows, underarm and the pubic hair as well), linking the image of sexual impotency to their appearance, but that was a razor cut by the Hollywood make-up artist, not the impact of genetics.

Prejudice: In an issue of Men’s Health Magazine a few years ago, a study of the linkage between successful politicians and hairiness was made. Less than 10% of bald men got elected and made it to their political office. We see the same prejudice in job promotions, which seemingly ties trustworthiness to appearance. Could this have been the result of some defamatory movie, play, or novel that worked its way into our culture?

Bald men, unfortunately, take more than their share of hits. In the young man who is sensitive to balding changes, all of the issues involving health, sexuality, and styling come forward and feel ‘second class’. They feel excluded from the norm. When there is not enough maturity or a poor self-image, balding becomes a curse in the very young men. Imagine a lion without its mane (it would look like a lioness). For those targeted as victims of this typecasting, please realize that bigotry is bigotry and unfortunately it flies in the face of logic and common sense.

Posted on

Vitamin A – How Much is Too Much? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr, how much is too much vitamin a. I take supplements and a few of them have large amounts of vitamin a like 5000 iu of vit. a.

For most people, up to 25,000 IU (7,500 mcg) of vitamin A per day is considered by some authorities to be safe, but the Food and Drug Administration has established a daily recommended allowance (RDA) of 5,000 IU for vitamin A. Toxicity in the fetus of pregnant women may occur in doses above 10,000 IU. A complete analysis of vitamin A is presented in Solgar Healthnotes.

The dose should be adjusted for pregnant women and children and a doctor should be involved in that. If vitamin A is being used for treatment of vitamin A deficiency, higher doses are required and it should be done under a doctor’s supervision. Complications (overdose) include liver damage, hair loss, blurred vision, and headaches. Sound like you are in the normal dose range.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


Posted on

Hair Loss During Pregnancy – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

i’m in my 28th week of pregnancy and me and my husband whose a doctor noticed recently more hair loss and increase in body hair growth. i’m very concerned and worried. please help. Thanks in advance

I am assuming that the hair loss on your head and the growth of some body hair will be a temporary finding, which should stop once you deliver and reversal is most probable in the months following delivery. There are many hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy, so I would not get alarmed.

Posted on

Diabetes and Hair Transplant Complication – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have a related diabetic question and would like your opinion… I am diabetic, and I had a 1000 graft procedure done at a reputable shop. I had a severe complication, my scalp ulcerated, the “skin” just disappeared and left me with a large hole. I then had to have balloons placed under my scalp to stretch the skin and two surgeries under general to close the hole. Do you have any knowledge or experience with such a disaster?

I generally tell my diabetic patients that they are no more at risk from a hair transplant than any other person. I would want to know more about the surgery and what happened at the time of the surgery. This complication is one I have seen before when poor decisions were made at the time of the surgery by inexperienced doctors. I am not saying that this is your situation, but if your doctor was a good and experienced hair transplant doctor, I would probe more about why this happened to you.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


Posted on

Alternative to Propecia – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I do not want to go on medications for the rest of my life. What are the alternatives to DHT blockers like Propecia (finasteride)?

Alternatives for finasteride (approved by FDA for treating hair loss) and dutasteride (not FDA approved for treating hair loss):

  1. going bald
  2. getting balder
  3. getting thinner and thinner hair
  4. receding hairline or hairless crown

The choice is yours!

Posted on

Will I Follow My Dad’s or My Older Brother’s Hairline? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Sir,

I have read many forums on hair loss and I find yours to the best and most unbiased. My question has to do with balding progression. My dad started loosing his hair at 17 and progressed to what I would believe to be a Norwood 7. However my brother who takes after my Mom’s father has alot of hair except for a very slight recession at the temples and a slight bit at the crown… He has had this since he was 27 and even at 32 it has not progressed any further… Recently I myself have noticed that in my crown it is getting a little thin, in the exact same place as my brother. In your opinion would my hair pattern mostly resemble my brothers? I am now 22 with no real hair loss just a slight thinning of the crown, and worried that I could become a norwood 7 like my dad. I have recently went on propecia however just in case.

Just a guess, but I suspect that your father (with his Norwood class 7 pattern) had balding that must have been fairly extensive by the time he was 22. You could be following the pattern exhibited by your brother. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization and you can make a better educated guess.