Month: October 2009

Hello there, I noticed that you have given some very useful advices to other people. I also have a question, whether i will be bald. My father is 40 years old, and he is showing some minor signs of balding. My father’s father is 68 and is not bald, still has a full head of hair, and my mother’s father has full head of hair. The problem is, that my mother’s mother’s brothers are both bald. What are the chances i will go bald? I really appretiate any answer.

The genes responsible can skip generations and can be passed down from either side of the family. There’s really no easy way to pinpoint your chances of losing hair, but there is a genetic test that will tell you if you carry the gene. There’s no easy way to give an estimate of when you’ll lose hair just based on family history.

Dear Dr Rassman,
thanks for taking your time to help where you can with our balding problems. This has been discussed before, but wouldn’t it be better (and possible) to restore a Norwood 7 patient to a norwood 3-4 with a very high, feathery forelock (like Sting) IF he also wants coverage in the crown and has “only” normal density and calibre? I know that too much density is bad with high lying hairlines is bad (eg Nic Cage) whereas Sting does look good with his current hairline. Have you ever done that or would do it if a patient requested it?

We do what you are stating all the time! We focus on the frontal area first to frame the face. That almost always works and the hairline is put in the normal mature position. We negotiate with the patient where else to put the hair based upon how much he has available for transplantation. You can see our before and after photos here. Patients who are Norwood 7 may not get their entire head of hair back, but we can create a non-balding “frame” to their face and give them a hairline and a stronger forelock (if they choose).

I often show Patient ZU, who was a Class 7 with very advanced balding and had a remarkable hair transplant result. That patient had a very high hair density, so he was able to achieve such wonderful results. When we started to do his surgeries, I placed the first hairline in the normal mature position and initially we worked out that we might not have enough hair to fill in the crown. We were all surprised as his donor hair supply kept up with our desire for more hair.

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Dear Dr.

I’ve written to you before about different scientists in the world trying to find the gene which causes hair loss, and my own story about me facing hair loss when my dad first was facing hair loss in the age of 35. I’ve been so satisfied with your answers! Really!

I always try to keep up with the new questions to you. I saw the post about Nizoral shampoo and I would to add a comment.

In the past year and a half, I’ve been experiencing hair loss in such degree that I was very concerned. It came in strong. In the same period and still, when I was taking a bath my skin was so sensitive that when I robbed my palms against my chest, shoulders neck and face it was as if my skin came off in little white rolls. I really can’t and couldn’t understand this. I was wondering if my hair loss and my sensitive skin had something to do with each other. I talked with my doctor, and after convincing him I started taking propecia. It seems to help. I don’t know yet. I’ve only been taking propecia for two months.

I was still cornered about my skin, so I was sent to a specialist. She looked at me for 5 sec. and said I was suffering from some kind of fungus. I can’t remember the name. She prescribed 2 % Nizoral crème and shampoo. I’ve only been washing my hair with this for one week and it is as if my hair has gotten its life back. Without knowing, that some people claimed that Nizoral can help with hair loss, I was wondering why my hair suddenly felt so different. Maybe there is something about it. Even though my personal opinion about my skin “falling” off is that this isn’t fungus, I still think that I was suffering from some kind of fungus because of dandruff in my hair and some dandruff looking white flakes in my ear, and my not noticeable skin redness on my chest and face. I’m still trying to find out why my skin is “falling” off.

Best regards.

There is an association between dandruff (from seborrhea) and a fungus. Some people with dandruff seem to have a fungus called tinea versicolor (otherwise known as pityriasis versicolor), a condition which causes patches to develop on parts of the body, like the scalp, and many professionals believe that there is an association between the fungus and the dandruff. Nizoral (ketoconazole) is a good shampoo used to treat a scalp fungus. Keep in mind that Nizoral does not cure genetic hair loss, but people with genetic hair loss often have dandruff.

Skin is composed of a compressed layer of cells which are dead. Some people pay hundreds of dollars to go to beauty spas to have their facial dead skin rubbed off (exfoliation).

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Dear Dr.Rassman

I’m 25 years old male and I have dandruff really bad. I’m losing more hair than usual and they start to get thinner even though I have no family signs of baldness. I went to the dermatologist and he said I have seborrheic dermatitis. Does minor and chronic seborrheic dermatitis cause permanent hairloss?Is there anyway to regrowth your hair.

Thank you very much

Seborrheic dermatitis is more commonly known as dandruff… and no, dandruff does not cause permanent hair loss. I suppose if you scratch your scalp and pull on your hair enough it can cause patchy hair loss. Your dandruff and your hair loss are most likely unrelated though, particularly if you’re experiencing patterned loss.

The gene can come from either side of the family and can skip generations, so when you say you “have no family signs of baldness”, I want to be sure you’re looking at more than just your father or uncle.

Movie critic Roger Ebert reviewed the blogs of people that comment on his own blog. One of the reviews mentions a blog that writes about a Michael Jackson hair conspiracy, of sorts. Ebert writes:

“The Michael Jackson Hair Accident Hoax” is exposed by Richard Voza at “Brainsnorts.” Oh, yes it is. He includes Jackson photos from before the accident (”notice the corners developing on the sides of his forehead? notice the balding that has begun? he’s losing his hair, so he’s taking pieces of the remaining hairline and greasing the hairs on his skin to cover up the bald spot.“) Then there’s the famous fiery video footage, in which you can’t see if it’s really Jackson.

Obviously Roger Ebert was poking fun at the craziness of one of his own readers, but coincidentally, I had a recent social opportunity to talk about Michael Jackson’s fire accident with a few plastic surgeons from Beverly Hills. One plastic surgeon knew someone who examined Jackson, while another surgeon had heard some details through the grapevine (though both stories were not consistent with each other). What seemed to be a common thread was that Michael Jackson had a 3rd degree burn to the scalp, the size (area) of which is unclear. Third degree burns are very dangerous. I am also of the impression that he had genetic hair loss going on, but the degree of loss is also unclear.

Note: These are rumors, and was I was not involved in his care I have no firsthand knowledge. Granted, if I was involved then I would never speculate about his situation either.

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