June 2007 – Page 11 – Balding Blog

June 7, 2007

Hair Length Before Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 22 and am scheduled for a hair transplant surgery on July 9th this year for the frontal cortex, coming up soon obviously. My question is , How long should the donor area be in length?? I normally cut my hair short to hide the thinning, but if its crucial that my hair be a certain length, i need to know if i should get a trim instead of a full blown cutting as normal if my surgery is scheduled 5-6 weeks away from now.

This is a question that your transplant doctor should answer. Generally, I tell my patients to keep it as long as possible. Length will hide the surgical donor site best.

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June 7, 2007

Lasers for Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Dr. Rassman

I was wondering if the hand held LLLT (Low Laser Light Therapy) Lasers work at all. If so do they work as well as the expensive ones in the doctors office? Is there a certain type and name brand that you would recommend? Thank you very much for your time.

As of right now I am open and hopeful that LLLT will show the benefits that are proclaimed, although I am not 100% convinced about them. There are some encouraging studies from a well respected researcher who supports LLLT in concept. I can not comment much about this subject until I have more data and have reviewed better scientific papers on the matter. You are correct, the handheld systems are less expensive, but the only study that I’m aware of was published and sponsored by the manufacturer, making me skeptical of anything I read about them. In my opinion, when things sound too good to be true, they frequently are too good to be true.

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June 7, 2007

Cortisone Shots to Scalp – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female)
Over a period of three months, I’ve received cortisone shots to my scalp for thinning hair. The dermatologist stated it was chemical damage from using relaxers. I’ve now noticed small indentations in my head and also hair loss and redness in the same area of the indentations. Did the corisone shots cause this to happen? Will my hair grow back? How long before I see any improvement, with regards to the dents in my head, will they ever go away?

Cortisone or steroid shots to the scalp for hair loss have been done by doctors if they believe the hair loss is due to an inflammatory type of process. However, I have seen patients that have lost their hair from this type of treatment. Unfortunately if you lost more hair, it may not grow back and the indentations may be permanent! I do not know what your diagnosis was or what your examination showed, including a miniaturization study, so it is difficult to advise you on your specific condition.

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June 6, 2007

Thank You for Explaining the Maturing Hairline! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello,

I wanted to send this e-mail to thank you for running such a great site, specifically in regards to your information on “mature hairlines”. I’m turning 31 this year and have noticed over the past 4 to 5 years that my hair has thinned slightly above the temples. I would say I’m between stage I and II. The rest of my hair is thick (for a redhead that is) and my crown hasn’t changed much over the last 10 years.

My father is somewhat bald but the men on my mother’s side have decent hair for their age. When my thinning started, I, like probably every other male out there, started scouring the internet for information. It wasn’t until today that I actually found more than cursory information about normal, mature hairlines. Funny how all those other sites selling “miracle cures” don’t mention that. What you described in your blog entry explains what I’ve been seeing with my hairline over the past few years.

I generally try not to worry about hair loss and I’m truly thankful for what I have; it’s nice to read useful and reassuring information though for those moments of doubt. If I do start losing my hair, at least I know where to look for more information!

Thank you again.

You’re very welcome!
For those interested, I’d recommend reading Maturation of a Hairline — Moving From Juvenile to Mature.

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June 6, 2007

Making Assumptions About Genetic Inheritance – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hey Dr. Rassman I have a genetics question if you can find the time. My dad and brother look alike and have all of thier hair and are 61 and 24 (no widows peak). I’m 22 and during the past year ive developed some recession which your site has allowed me to call a mature hairline. My mom and i have always had widows peaks. Would it be reasonable to assume i’ve developed my mothers family hair genes while my brother inherited my fathers?

It may be reasonable to assume, but I really do not know. Nobody knows for sure! Genetic hair loss does not follow specific predictable patterns that we have recognized. Many have hypothesized and observed that male pattern hair loss is slightly more dependent on the mothers side (51% get the balding genes from the mother’s side).

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June 6, 2007

1mg vs 1.25mg of Finasteride Daily – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr,

Firstly i would like to thankyou for this amazing site keep us the good work. I would like to know what are the greater benefits and disadvantages of using quarter proscar tablets (1.25mg) as compared to the 1 mg propecia dose. How much of an effect will the 0.25 mg have ie: sexual side effects and hair count.

One other thing, what is your say on taking 2 mg every second day? Will it give the same benefits as taking 1 mg every day? would it have higher side effects?

please reply urgently. thanks

If you are cutting 5mg finasteride in to 1/4 tablets to make 1.25mg, I doubt it would have any significant impact on side effects.

Finasteride (1mg or 2mg or 5mg) should be taken everyday since most of the drug is out of your blood stream by the end of a day. If you skip a day, your body will not have any benefits of finasteride for that day.

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June 5, 2007

Scalp Pimples Are Becoming Resistant to Treatment – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a 25-year-old girl. I -and my sister also- have a severe -I don’t know if by inheritance or not- predisposition of scalp pimples. When we were younger, we used to get rid of it -even for a short period of time at least- using Betamethasone and Clotrimazole lotions along with an anti-dandruf shampoo. But now the pimples seem to become resistive to any sort of treatment and besides They are too severe that have involved the hair follicles and caused a very intense hailoss. Two years ago, I used a solution consisted of Dalacin, Betamethasone lotion, Salicylic Acid and P.G. in the base of Ethanol and my scalp responded incredibly: All the pimples were disappeared and no more hair loss; I got all my hair back… But after I stopped it, it got worse and the scalp never responded to the same treatments again and no specialist could cure it ever again. I wash my hair frequently, almost everyday so there should not be any hyper-occurrence of sebum-sort problem. What should I do? Any new typical (or oral?)antibiotic should I use or should I try a different steroid or both? I’m Eagerly awaiting your response.

You need to see a good dermatologist and get a good treatment regimen. I cannot advise you on a medical regimen, because I am not your doctor. Nevertheless, your acne problem seems to need some form of medical attention. Do not try to randomly guess by trying various medical treatments without being under the care of a doctor.

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June 5, 2007

Restoring the Crown – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Dr.Rassman,
I am 25 yrs old and have experienced thinning (slightly noticeable) throughout as well as the formation of a bald spot at the crown of my head. I have sought help regarding this and was told that transplant procedures were not typically done to replace hair at the crown. Is there no way to correct hair loss at the crown surgically? I have been on Propecia for about a year now.

Take a look at Patient’s Guide- How Many Grafts Will I Need? and you will see that the crown loss can be huge and take up a considerable number of grafts that could deplete the donor supply. You can transplant hair anywhere on your body, including the crown! If you are bald (have no hair) on the crown area, a hair transplant may be indicated. At your age, if you are truly thinning with MPB, I would explore the possibility of a medical treatment such as Propecia. Propecia alone may restore your crown area. The misconception stems from the fact that hair transplant to the crown area often requires more hair to accomplish the task for patient satisfaction and many doctors are reluctant, because the patients may not have enough hair after filling up the crown to address frontal hair loss, if it should occur. The crown area typically requires more hair, because the hair on the crown does not layer well as the hair changes direction at the swirl. There are many patients with good results (when appropriately indicated) from hair transplant to the crown area. See NHI Photo Gallery – Crown for examples.

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June 5, 2007

Hairless Spots in Facial Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a 28 year old male living in the east bay area california, and I have a question in regards to facial hair loss. There are two different areas of my face that are being affected, one on the right side of my face 1″ from my chin, surrounding a mole and the other to the left of my face that starts just under my chin and ends about an inch and a half to the left. Both spots are circular in nature.. and seem to be growing. In the past i had hair in both spots, but now the skin is smooth and the hair (if any) is blonde-ish in color an extremely sparse (almost like the peach fuzz you get when you are in your early teen-age years before hair growth really starts. What could be causing these bald spots on my face, and is this something that I should be concerned about?

thanks

Sometimes hair loss that occurs in patches on different parts of the body may be caused by a condition known as alopecia areata. There is no definitive treatment, but usually hair will grow back in many of these patients. You should see a dermatologist for this condition. For more information please see National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

June 5, 2007

Feels Like Something Is Crawling In My Scalp – Balding Blog

(female) My scalp is alway itching and it feels like things are crawling in my scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and I think I need help from some other source. I have hair loss in several spots. I have used a lot of products and nothing is helping. Please help tell me what I need to use

Many people want me to guess at what is wrong with them without at least some pictures. Seeing you would be ideal. You could have Ringworm, alopecia areata… and on and on. Get a good doctor and if you don’t get the answer from one, go to another. I am in California and would be happy to see you, but perhaps a local dermatologist would be much more convenient for you.

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