Hello Dr. Rassman,
I have a question about a Today Show video that I saw, which mentions a possible cure for baldness using azt azidothymidine. Do you have any further information on this research?
Thank you for your great work!
No, I do not have information on this. Both AZT (azidothymidine) and HIV do produce hair loss. I’ve not heard about AZT as a hair loss treatment. When did this Today show air and is the video online? I’m curious to see what you’re referring to.
Why do many latino males have very low hair lines?
I’ve noticed that many Latino’s maintain a juvenile hairline for most of their life. You’ve mentioned in the past that Native Americans are genuinely different from any other race because of their genetics, they do not bald whatsoever. Is it possible that many Latino’s do not bald because many have these native american genes as well. Many Latino’s are what is known as “mestizo”, which means they have both European and Native ancestry. Does that explain why they have good hairlines?
I’m not a geneticist, but I believe you could be on to something. There are many Latinos who have concave shaped, strong hairlines. Your theory sounds good to me.
Hi there,
My question is, have you heard of ‘Hair Science International’? I went to see them last week here in Melbourne Australia and they say they can take a sample of my hair from the back and multiply up to 70,000 hairs in a lab and transplant however much I need back into my head and it will stay for ever. I’ve seen some of the results and in terms of coverage it’s great. But I don’t know how well this technology works in recreating the natural hairline and what kind of survival rate it averages.
Should I avoid them or is it worth investigating them more? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thankyou.
If this company told you they could take a hair from the back of your head and multiply it to 70,000 hairs, then transplant it as needed (and their site says without surgery?)… then they’re either from the future or someone was giving you a line of bull.
My guess based on the photos on their site is that they sell fancy wigs and laser treatments. That’s the only way I could explain how they can call this “hair multiplication” but then in the same sentence say that it is non-surgical. Even then, they’re using “hair multiplication” in a completely misleading way. The technology doesn’t exist in the way you described. So either you misunderstood what they told you or they’re misrepresenting themselves. It’s not cloning or multiplication.
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Post updated Jan 5, 2011:
I would be happy to read and review evidence that supports any claims about growing 70,000 hairs in a lab for transplantation back into the scalp, but until that time I’ve closed the ability to comment on this post due to complaints.
Hello Dr. Rassman and Staff
I am norwood 3 pushing 4. I recently had a FUHT with a very respected surgeon. I was transplanted 1500 grafts and ended up having a few hundred grafts left over after all of the desired areas were filled in. The left over grafts were placed behind the newly placed ones in the healthier hair. These grafts ended up being preventative grafts. This minor mistake was done by accident but if you know your likely to lose the hair why isn’t it a common practice to transplant more grafts for major preventative measures? (Initially we even planned for some preventative grafts but it ended up being more than what was planned.)
I have objected to preventive hair transplants for many years, because they line the doctor’s pocket with money and do not offer much for the patient. Preventive hair transplantation is quite common and many times they induce further hair loss.
On the other hand, extra grafts are not uncommon… and when I have them, I increase the density in the transplanted area. A well planned surgery should have predicted the ‘overage’ of grafts. When I see doctors performing preventive hair transplantation, I add them to my personal “bad doctor list” (which I never share with anyone).
Thanks a lot for this site, good sir. I have a question related to TE and MPB. I have diffuse thinning on the top of my head. While I haven’t been to a miniturization check, I would say some (though hardly all) of the hairs that fall of my dome are thin. I went through a 2 month phase where I lost very thick and dark hairs, but this has stopped (I guess they’re gone?)… I am possibly a NW 2, but I’ve always had a high forehead. The hairline has receded, but there are still hairs at the base of what is basically the original hairline. Basically what I’m explaining is a very unclean hairloss at the top of the head…the hairline is more of an abstract idea than a line, if you follow me…it’s very irregular and uneven.
Does TE ever “act” in this way? Or am I just kidding myself and it’s MPB? Father with hair, mother with hair, mother’s father with hair, father’s father with hair…
Cheers
I don’t think I quite understand what you are describing. I would be happy to examine you and then I will understand what you are talking about. As you state you have not gotten a miniaturization check, which could point to genetic balding. Moreover, it may be something very early, as you categorize yourself as a Norwood Class 2.
From what you describe, it sounds like you’re losing your hairline due to genetic causes and have a few remaining hairs that haven’t fallen out in the same area. A telogen effluvium likely won’t be focused at the hairline.
I have very little hair. I have very little hair anywhere on my entire body (except my eyebrows and chin hair). What little hair I actually do have is very thin and very fine. For my entire life, I have never had much hair. I am a female and tired of not having enough hair.
I cannot believe you cannot easily take some hair off a dead person (their not going to need it anyway) and use it for hair plugs. The body will actually reject hair plugs from another (dead) person? I thought hair transplants were superficial and not “deep” implants? I could not take the hair from my back or side of my head (or anywhere else other than eyebrows & chin) I simply do not have enough hair anywhere. I’m not losing hair, I simply never had enough.
Is it possible to get donated hair plugs from a son? My middle son has tons of beautiful thick hair (like my husband) and has offered to donate some? I’m tired of wearing wigs. DNA wise, I took after my father, hardly any hair. Got a very raw deal for a woman not having enough hair in this society sucks.
I’m tired of not having enough hair to be considered “average” looking. I’m tired of wigs. I’m really tired of hearing other women say “oh I have too much hair, it’s such a pain”. At which point I am tempted to rip some of their “too much hair’ right out of their head.
Nature plays dirty tricks on us (genetically). But if you use the hair of a dead person or even your son, it will be rejected just like any organ transplant (kidney, heart). The medications to stop rejection are dangerous, and as hair transplantation is not a life-saving procedure, the risks wouldn’t be worth it. I discussed this before here.
Dr Rassman
I have a script for Latisse and i added it to a bottle of Rogaine and started useing it,do you think it will help supercharge the rogaine and grow more hair.Can you please tell me what your thoughts are on it. Thanks
Although Latisse (bimatoprost) has been shown to grow eyelashes, the formulation is not known to be effective for scalp hair. If you do decide to try it, I’d be curious as to what you find, but I can not recommend this approach to you.
I recently had a hair transplant. I started shedding my newly transplanted hair on day 9 and lost most all of it shortly after. I started noticing new growth around day 24. Is my growth ahead of the average patient? Will my hair growth be suffice before the 8th month? ( I’m also very young and very healthy.)
About 5% of patients get growth within the first month, but most do not. Consider yourself lucky if it continues.
Hi doctor, i presently use dermatch to cover my hair line area, and i recently feel that the hair has been shedding . Is it because of the applicator pulling the hair or is it because the scalp pores get clogged? If it is does the hair come back.
Second question if i may, ive upped my dosage of proscar to 2.50 mg a day and ive seen big changes, 1 mg did the job before but stopped its effects. I think each person is different and larger dosages lower more dht levels. Any comments regarding this?
I don’t believe that DermMatch will cause hair loss with the applicator provided that you wet it when using it. Scalp pores aren’t the cause of your hair loss.
I have recently been advising some patients to increase their finasteride dose to 2.5mg (half of a Proscar pill) provided that there are no significant side effects. I make this recommendation when the drug is losing its visible effectiveness and some of the patients have reported a benefit, although it is early in my experience. You’ve already upped your dosage, but for everyone else reading this — I’m not suggesting everyone should be taking a higher dose, as it should be up to your prescribing physician. I’ve made the 2.5mg recommendation to a select number of my patients (and I have a medical history on them when doing so).
Hi Doctor Rassman,
I’m 28 and have had very fine/curly blond hair my whole life. I’ve never had to do a terrific amount of shaving and have very little body hair. My maternal grandfather was bald from a fairly young age. My younger brother (3 yrs younger) has darker, thicker hair and had to shave whilst in high school – he (now 25) has lost a lot of hair.
My hair began to thin out a lot starting about 3 yrs ago – I started finasteride about 9 months ago – it seems to have stabilized my loss and slightly thickened up the hairs I had.
That said, I’ve been studying pretty intensely lately, and have noticed the top/back of my head seems thinner. I was thinking of rogaine but am rather hesitant.
Do you typically see the patients get a shed on rogaine if they already had one on propecia about six months earlier?
Also: There are internet rumor that rogaine works better for coarser darker hair, and I’ve also read comments from people who had their hair shed with rogaine but not grow back – My hair has always been very fragile blond and fine, does this make it more vulnerable to a rogaine shed and the possibility of not growing back?
Thank you in advance for answering!
I don’t know of any correlation between Propecia and Rogaine shedding, but stress (like intense studying may bring) could bring on more hair loss. You can stick with just Propecia or give Rogaine a try, as it does tend to work best in the crown area that you’re describing. The shedding is pretty rare, though (see here).
I do believe that minoxidil works better on coarse hair from a visual point of view, but not from a pharmacological point of view. I say this because a 20% increase in thickness in a coarse hair may be equal to the total amount of bulk of doubling the thickness of fine hair, making it easier to see. Remember the pi R squared math formula means that small increases in the diameter of a circle will increase the area of that circle (or in this case, hair). Go to math.com or mathwarehouse.com to review the math formulas from a hands-on point of view.
