February 2010 – Page 2

February 24, 2010

Hair Loss InformationIf There’s No Growth a Year After My Hair Transplant, Should I Just Get Another One? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

sir,

i would like to know that if hair don’t grow as expected after 1 year of transplantation then what should we do? can we go for 2nd surgery? what could be reason for that?some white marks are still there. how can i get rid of them? is it possible that after transplantaion some hair root was not fixed properly? i removed some of them on 4th day. could it be reason? plz help me.

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Fail Hair transplantation that failed is a subject you should discuss with the doctor who performed it. This doctor should give you a reasonable opinion as to why the failure occurred. When a hair transplant is unsuccessful, it is almost always caused by technical failures of the surgeon and his team. On rare occasions, the patient can have some disease like alopecia areata, but that should be evident to any educated doctor (which means the surgery is unnecessary and should not be done). As for removing grafts, perhaps you just got rid of scabs. I don’t know.

If your doctor does not give you a logical explanation, go get a second opinion and certainly do not go back to the doctor whose failed transplant was not a good experience. Why would you consider going back to the surgeon that has wronged you? You have a limited amount of donor hair, not to mention the value of your time, money, and confidence.

Here are some recent posts we’ve made about hair transplant failures that you might find interesting:

February 24, 2010

Hair Loss InformationTransplanting Just the Temples? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

First of all i would say that i appreciate your website and the information you give.

Im am 33 years old and still have a fair amount of hair. Lately I am bother by my temples, its not bald but it’s not what it used to be.

Last year (september) I started to take propecia to keep the hairs I have. I am now thinking of taking a hairtransplant to insert some hairs in the temples to make it full again. I don’t think I will need a lot of hairs or grafts. What is your opinion about a hairtransplant for the temples? I am afraid that if I do it now maybe later on the hairs ‘behind’ the temples will fall out. Of course I dont want a hairtransplant to make me look like 20 again but just some hairs added to the temples. Do you think its wise to do that considering im now 33 years old?

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First, I want to make sure you’re talking about the temple peaks on the sides of the head, and not the corners of the hairline (many people refer to the corners of the hairline as the “temples,” but that isn’t right). So assuming you’re talking about the temple peaks (the prominences above your ears), then I’d have no problem transplanting those if you didn’t show miniaturization on the top of the scalp. If you meant the corners of the hairline, I’d need to see what your loss pattern is looking like.

Your question is a good one, because sooner or later you will bald behind the hair transplants if your hair loss pattern is still progressing, which is why the Master Plan is created by you and your doctor with the primary focus of keeping you always looking good. Really, the best way to answer this question is to be seen by a good hair transplant doctor who doesn’t just want to take your money.

February 24, 2010

My Hair Loss Started Suddenly at Age 62! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a healthy 62 yr old caucasion male. Throughout my life time I have enjoyed a full head of hair. Over the past month to two months, I have noticed significant hair loss in the front of my leading to baldness. I am concern for the abruptness that I started losing my hair. Is this unusal to happen at my age? I’ve been taking blood pressure medicine for the past several years as well as tamulosin and cholesterol medicine. I do not abuse drugs or alcohol. Thanks for you answer

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Genetic hair loss can start at any age, but as you suggested, this is unusual. If your medications have been the same medications you have always taken, then it is unlikely that they caused the recent thinning.

You should have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you are miniaturizing hair and will progress with the balding process. I know if it were me, that I would want to know why I had it and where it is going, but that would best be determined by a visit to a focused doctor in the field.

February 24, 2010

Actor Taylor Lautner’s Hairline – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Dr Rassman, just a quick one here. Does Taylor Lautner look to be displaying the signs of early MPB, or is he simply sporting a mature hairline? What Norwood class do you think he would he be?

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I had to look up who this young man is (he’s in one of the Twilight movies), but it looks like he’s got a normal juvenile hairline, so a classification for hair loss does not apply. His rounded corners, which is typical of an immature hairline, has been lost in his recent photos but otherwise, I suspect he had the exact same hairline at 12 years old. There’s no early balding from the photos I’ve seen. He’s young though, so who knows where his hair will go.

February 24, 2010

If My Juvenile Hairline Was Asymmetrical, Will My Mature Hairline Be Too? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey Doc,

My juvenile hair line was asymmetrical. The right side of my hair line was higher than my left.Now im starting to develeop a mature hairline. Do you think my mature hairline will be asymmetrical? Have you ever seen a asymmetrical mature hairline?

thank you for you great site.

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Only time will tell. It is possible that when and if the juvenile hairline is lost, that you will balance out what you see.

February 23, 2010

Hair Loss InformationPropecia Benefits Won’t Last Forever? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Note: I believe these were from two different people, but the questions are related so I’ll answer them together…

Email #1

Now doc , i have a suggestion to make just like you do.You write “Every person will eventually lose the benefits of this drug, but the open question is when” – there is no proof for this , or you do have one ? Even if this statement is based on your experience , you are aware that this is not official and there is not way to be.The official one is that after 5 years only 10 % of the people lose some hair , and please attention – more of teh 50 % of the rest CONTINUED to improve even after this.So unless you can prove the opposite ,please flag those ones as “my opiniion ” or “may” or “might ” , but please do not make statements which are neither proven nor stuided in the medical literature – 10x

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Email #2

Why do you recommend Propecia to people that come to you for hair transplants if the effect is only temporary? I just ask because you emphasize a master plan for long term benefits, and it seems like as soon as the drug stops working, the hair it saved will fall out and the patient will have that embarrassing pluggy look -bald head with transplanted hairs. Isn’t it setting up people for more misery to take a drug that temporarily grows their hair back, only for it to fail and then they experience going bald again?

Thanks for your time

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Read the official study posted at Hairlosstalk.com and you can draw whatever conclusions you want from it. I believe that this drug has a forever component, but that does not mean that it will hold all of the initial benefits forever. Each person will react differently and I can’t give an exact timetable for when you’ll start to see thinning continuing (if ever). So yes, the medication does work “forever” as long as you continue taking, but the benefits may eventually appear to be less. It could be 5 years, it could be 20 years. The only facts at our hands are in the official Merck/FDA studies.

Propecia’s benefits aren’t quite temporary. It’s not just going to suddenly one day turn itself off 100%. The entire point of a Master Plan is to create a roadmap for a worst case scenario of hair loss so that nobody is taken by surprise if the progressive nature of MPB becomes more evident a decade after you start Propecia. With the modern hair transplantation, the “embarrassing pluggy look” you described shouldn’t occur.

Propecia is a miracle drug for many people, as it gets them some (or a lot) of their hair back… and it largely slows or stops the hair loss. Many of my patients swear by this medication. This is a type of medication in that if it grew hair back and stopped or slowed hair loss, them some benefit will probably last ‘forever’. Of course, you can test this by just stopping the drug and seeing what happens. Most people who saw substantial benefits and then stopped the medication saw hair loss, which suggests that the drug had some residual value. The alternative is that you can elect to take your natural balding process to its conclusion, reflecting your genetic makeup. Your choice, of course.

February 23, 2010

Hair Loss InformationIs Minoxidil Giving Me a Tired, Darker Appearance? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr Rassman, I have been using minoxidil 2% for over 12 months with ok results but have noticed a change in my eyes. The lids are thicker and my eyes look darker, tired. The skin above my eyes also seems less smooth and hangs lower. Do you think is could be Minoxidil or something else. Thanks

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Minoxidil I don’t know how to answer your question without knowing more about you. How old are you, for example? If you are 60, maybe you are having changes that are age related and are now just noticing it. If you are 20, well that is a different story… but without seeing you myself, I don’t know.

Minoxidil should not impact your eyes or skin color on your face, but there are comments on an old post that would tend to disagree with that. Take those comments with a grain of salt, as none of them are independently verified and could just be people messing around or confused about the cause of their change in appearance. There might be something else going on, so I’d talk with your dermatologist.

February 23, 2010

Hair Loss InformationTransplanting Hair Into a Cranial Morcellation Scar – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a scar that is about the width of my pinky finger that goes from ear to ear on my head. This is a result of a surgery I had done when i was younger from cranial morcellation of my skull. I was wondering if there is anyway to get hair put into this scar.

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There are ways to address such scars, including hair transplantation (in some people) or scalp surgery by those who are experts in the field. From what you described, I can not tell you which way to go, but scar repairs from brain surgery is one of the areas where what I do works very well. I need to see some good digital photos of the scarring and possibly would need to meet you to examine your head before giving any real options. Tentatively though, it does seem like you have some options.

February 23, 2010

Hair Loss InformationAzor, Toprol-XL, and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,

I am currently taking Azore for high blood pressure and occassionally toprol xl for heart palpatations. Can these medicines cause hair loss of a significant nature?

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Azor (amlodipine and olmesartan) does list hair loss as a possible side effect. Taking Toprol-XL (metoprolol succinate) can also lead to hair loss in rare cases, as we’ve mentioned before. With the combination of these two drugs, you do have a higher likelihood of seeing thinning hair.

February 23, 2010

If I Have Increased Libido from Propecia, Does That Mean I’ll Lose Hair? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Drs

I have recently started a course of Propecia. Based on what I’ve read, I understand that the drug can, in rare cases, cause sexual side-effects, namely decreased libido, reduced ejaculate and even erectile dysfunction. I’ve found that it has had the reverse effects on me, that is, it has heightened my libido and increased my ejaculate, as well as the frequency with which I get erections.

Does that mean that the drug will, in my case, also have a reverse pathology on my hair loss (that is, make me lose more hair instead of arresting the hair loss process)?

Congrats! You are one of the few people with a good side effect appreciated by some men (but not all women married to those men). The results on saving your hair have no correlation with the sexual side effects of finasteride one way or the other.

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