Month: October 2010

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What Happened to Your Baldness Calculator? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr Rassman,

Hello and good day sir. I wanted to ask you a question but I first have to thank you for this wonderful resource you have provided here. My question is simple. This post is dated July 5th, 2007.

Have you finalized that baldness calculator yet? It sounds like an interesting tool and unless I missed an update in your archives (sorry if I did) I was hoping to see how that patent of yours is coming along. It would be nice to finally have a way to gauge how bald someone will become.

Your time is greatly appreciated. Thanks

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The patent was filed but not ruled on by the patent office, which is now taking 3-5 years to process. We have held up doing more work on it until the US Patent office issues our patent, then we will have the economic advantage to produce it.

Here’s the patent application for those interested — Apparatus and Method for Mapping Hair Metric.

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I Had FUE Surgery a Few Months Ago – Where’s the Growth? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, i have had a Fue hair transplant on the 28th of May 2010. I Have not experienced or noticed any hair growth on the transplanted areas. I would like to enquire how long before the graphs become visable and noticable in the transplanted areas.

Thanking you for your assistance and helpful advice.

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It generally takes anywhere from 4 to 12 months to see results from a successful hair transplant surgery, regardless of whether strip or FUE was used. You may be on schedule. Be patient and check in with your surgeon if you have concerns going forward.

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Hair Transplant After Using Accutane – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doc,
I was taking accutane for 6 months and 3 months after I stopped it I had a HT. Now at 4 months after my surgery I don’t see new growth. I didn’t noticed any hair loss during the accutane treatment and I didn’t have problems with wound healing. My scar has healed very good and the scabs have fallen 8-9 days after the surgery without shedding of the transplanted hairs. Should I be worried about the final result of the surgery?

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AccutaneNot all hair transplants are the same. There are subtle things that different doctors or clinics do that can affect the surgery. In other words, you are not getting the same product as you would when you buy cars at different dealers. You need to ask your surgeon these things, because I don’t know what went on in your procedure or what techniques were used.

In general, it can take up to 6-8 months before you see results and up to a year to see the end result.

Accutane is well known to cause hair loss, but I do not know how that would impact a hair transplant in your case.

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Could There Be a Multi-Decade Delay in Feeling Head Trauma? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a problem with my left side that the hair want grow. There is a very bad stinging, burning spot that turns into a very deep, deep itch that is horrible. the hair in this spot is shot and straggly. I have been to 3 dermatologist, scalp swap for fungus and bacteria and blood work drawn. all negative for any systemic problems. Please help to solve this.

At age 17 i was in a car accident with this side of my head hitting the window. Could this be causing a delayed affect after 36 years. It’s only on that side of the scalp.

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Car accidentI doubt that I can contribute information to solve a problem that 3 physicians who’ve actually examined you have not solved. Maybe it is a psychological or a neurological issue or an atypical migraine issue? Just a shot in the dark though, as I highly doubt I can help with your specific issue without a physical examination.

There’s nothing that really stands out to help diagnose this based on your few sentence email. Sorry.

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Hair Transplant Surgery Looks Painful! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i need to know the hair transplant surgery pain and its procdure. i saw on youtube it was looking very painfull inserting many needles in your head please tell me about it.
thanks

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The application of the anesthesia can be painful for a few moments, but inserting the grafts during the hair transplant itself is pain free. The numb scalp and skull have no feelings under local anesthesia (like the dentist uses when he numbs your gums).

I’ve written about what you can expect here — Pain with a Hair Transplant.

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Could Short Term Stress Cause Hair Problems? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a stressful 3 to 4 week period after a breakup with my girlfriend of which I am totally back to a normal stress free life. Will such short term stress do anything to my hair in regards to it falling out or changing its texture? It looks ok but just wanted to make sure that I didn’t do any damage.

I am 43 years old with a pretty good set of hair on me and have been taking finasteride as a precaution for the last 2 years.

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It’s possible that you could see a classic case of telogen effluvium (stress-induced hair loss).

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Some Stuff on the Web About Finasteride is Scary – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor,
I have been prescribed Dr Reddys Finasteride. It is 5 mg but I have been asked to cut it so as to take only 1 mg. I read some reviews about finasteride on the internet and I am scared to try it out. I have read side effects like ED, impotency, low sperm count etc. In many people these effects have found to be irreversible. I dont know what to do. Could you please let me know whether I should take this pill? I have been also prescribed Elon’s Biotin tablet.

I really appreciate your contribution in this field. I look forward to your reply.

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Finasteride is a prescription medication, so you should be talking to your prescribing physician about this. Not sure why you were prescribed biotin unless you were deficient. The Dr Reddy’s 5mg finasteride is a generic version of Proscar, and since there isn’t a generic version of Propecia available in US pharmacies, cutting the 5mg pill into 4 pieces is a good way to save money.

I’ve written extensively about finasteride’s side effects so I won’t rehash it all here, but basically there’s a less than 2% chance for sexual side effects and no evidence that shows the side effects permanent. In fact, should you have any side effects and decide to stop taking finasteride, those sides should be gone within days. Some people might argue that, but I prefer to get my information from actual peer-reviewed studies rather than guys posting anonymously on message boards.

I’ve written before about forum outrage here, here, and here. You can read more about Propecia’s effect on sperm here.

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Elevated Estrogen Levels from Finasteride? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,

I’ve been on finasteride for three years now with some moderate success. The medication didn’t give me any regrowth, but after three years the miniaturized area is only slightly thinner than baseline, so clearly I have responded to the treatment to some extent. The problem is that I have elevated estriol levels (I am a male, by the way), and my doctor believes it’s a side effect from finasteride and wants me to quit taking the medication. However, I am reluctant to do so. Have you seen high estradiol levels in your patients who are on finasteride? This is not listed anywhere as a side effect.

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I do not order standard or special laboratory tests for my patients who use finasteride 1mg a day for hair loss, because there is no utility in ordering these tests. There are many variations in test values and there is no use in finding out a test result unless you know:

  1. Why you are ordering the test
  2. What you expect to learn from the test
  3. How you will interpret the test result, and
  4. What you will do as a consequence of the results

So no, I haven’t seen high estradiol levels in my patients. You should ask your doctor why those tests were ordered.

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Hair Loss InformationI’m Suddenly Losing Hair in My 40s – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr., Thank you for this forum. I have read your comments in all categories many times but never found one that mentioned what seems to be happening with my hair loss.

I have been losing hair from the temples and top my head at an alarming rate. I am in my early forties and always had medium length hair that I never had to comb since it is wavy.

Lately I noticed if I do use a comb I see that there are many many hairs that actually have the root ‘bulb?’ attached to the end of the hairs. It is like I am losing the actual cells that generate the hair. I do not know why this is happening.

Any comment is appreciated, thank you.

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With respect to your situation, I couldn’t give you a diagnosis or even guess at the the cause of your hair loss. There’s no clear reason I can come up with, but for men, most hair loss is generally related to genetics and it follows a certain pattern — thus the term male “pattern” baldness (MPB). While you are in your 40s, it isn’t impossible that your genetic loss would start now. You need to see a doctor and have a good examination.

What you are seeing at the end of your hair shaft may be white sebum (a waxy oily substance) and it is not related to hair loss.

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My Hair Started Growing Back After My Pregnancy, But Now It’s Falling Out Again! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a 16 month old baby who is still breast feeding. I had the expected post partum hair loss at about 6 months, and it seemed to be growing back in (short tufts of hair here and there) but at about 11 months my hair started to fall out in mass amounts again. And it has slowed, but has not stopped! Now I can see through my hair to my scalp and have very visible parts (which I’ve never had issue with before). It seems like my hairline has receded a bit as well. I am starting to get very distressed as I loose well over 100 hairs a day now and there is no visible regrowth. Not sure what to do except panic. :(

Thanks for your advice.

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Your best and most direct source for an answer would be your obstetrician. You may consider setting up an appointment with him/her. Many times the hair loss after pregnancy may take a couple of years to normalize.