July 2011 – Page 6 – Balding Blog

July 13, 2011

At 72 Years Old, I Saw Hair Loss After Testosterone Replacement Therapy – Balding Blog

I am a 72 year old male in excellent physical condition. Because I was starting to feel a lack of energy, after a blood test for testosterone level, he said I was on the low end of the acceptable scale for testosterone. He prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. I started weekly shots. After about a month I started noticing a very definite loss of hair on my head. I stopped the testosterone injections. My question is “Will my hair grow back over time now that i have stopped the testosterone injections?”

I have started taking Shen/Min DHT Blocker and using Ovation Cell Therapy to help. Thanks

I am sorry to hear you noticed androgenic hair loss after testosterone therapy. At 72 years old, I would have guessed that would have been a very minimal risk. I do not know if the hairs may grow back, but you will know in a year or two if the loss was permanent. Although a bit late, I would try to go on the drug finasteride if approved by your doctor.

I would ask your physician the same question you posed to me, as well as his thoughts on possible finasteride (Propecia) therapy.

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July 12, 2011

I’ve Found a Bald Spot in My Afro – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, I am a 23yr old black woman, ive been processing my hair all my life and recently opted to keep it ‘natural’ (Afro) i have very thick hair and about a month ago i was washing my hair and noticed a bald spot… My Hair is still thick all around the rest of the head but the area around the bald spot is starting to thin and fall out…
What could be the cause? I am Petrified!!!!

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There’s so many possible causes for bald spots producing female hair loss that I dare not list them. It would be impossible for me to pinpoint the cause via email. Here a list of potential blood tests women might have to find a cause for the hair loss if it is more diffuse, but a single balding spot may be simply a fungus effect or a more complex autoimmune disease. Or it could also simply be due to some error or allergy in the chemical process that could have damaged a spot.

I wish I could tell you more, but without an examination it would be too difficult.

July 12, 2011

Hair Loss InformationHow Do You Diagnose DUPA? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I am an 18 year old male. I have experienced diffused thinning on the top and sides of my head for the past 10 months. I’ve probably lost 50% of my density. My sides are slightly thinner than the top. I was wondering if this would be diagnosed as DUPA?

The reason I’m asking is that my back is as thick as ever (of course there might be miniaturization that cannot be observed by the naked eye). Also, is it possible for a person to get DUPA this young?

In case it helps, no one in my family has MPB or DUPA. All 4 of my grandparents have quite thick hair on their sides, back and top

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DUPA (diffuse unpatterned alopecia) is a condition found in men where the hair on the fringe area (back and sides) have significant miniaturization (greater than 20% of hairs). And yes, teens can have it.

No one knows what causes DUPA, but it looks like the pattern we see in women with significant female genetic hair loss, although their miniaturization may extend to other areas of the scalp.

July 12, 2011

SMP and Scarring Alopecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have lost alot of the hair on the sides of my head due to a form of scarring alopecia. Would it be possible to have micropigmentation done just on the sides as haircuts that are buzzed on the sides and a bit lengthy on top are very common and in style?

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Generally, scarring alopecia with balding from it does well with Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP). We have done a few severe cases which I could show you if you visited my office. One particular patient who had very extensive scarring and balding would rather not have his photos online.

July 11, 2011

Hair Loss InformationCan I Still Have Transplants After Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP)? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a 29 year old male who’s been dealing with hair loss since I was 19. I’m very interested in the SMP procedure because I use a ton of hair loss concealers that are costly and messy. I wear my hair pretty long (4 to 5 inches) and was wondering if SMP is a good option. If so, will I still be able to have hair transplants in the future?

Thanks for everything you guys do!

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Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) may be a good option, but only for certain hair colors and people with specific goals that can be met with this solution. Everyone is different and the goals for some people who will accept the SMP solution may not satisfy others.

You must always consider the progressive nature of hair loss if you elect to have SMP. As you bald, you will probably have to follow the SMP process back to keep up with your balding. Hair transplantation may also be an option… and YES, you can still have a hair transplant after SMP, but you must make sure that the person doing the pigmentation process understands the balding process and develops a Master Plan for you over the years to come.

July 11, 2011

My Young Daughter Had Ringworm That Left a Bald Spot – Balding Blog

My 8 yr old daughter got a bad case of ringworm a year and a half ago. The lesions became a superinfection and eventually cleared. She was left with a quarter size bald area on the top of her head and now has some small amount of hair growth. Is there anything out there could be doing for her to promote hair growth? Are there any specific doctors i should see? She is 9 and I believe it is bothering her a bit socially. Thanks

Hair loss from infection and scarring may be permanent if it has not regrown in over a year. One possible treatment worth using may be Rogaine (with approval from her doctor) topically applied, but you need to apply the medication twice a day everyday for about one year before may see any improvement.

Another option may be a limited hair transplant to the area which we have done on occasion. This may be a better solution, as it is a one-time event for most people. I realize she’s only 8 or 9 years old, but depending on how bothersome the bald spot is, it might be a consideration.

July 8, 2011

If I Won’t Take Propecia or Rogaine, What Else is There for Me? – Balding Blog

I am in my early twenties and am in Type II of my hair loss. I started losing here about 2-3 years ago and in the past year it is becoming quite noticeable, i am losing hair at a faster rate then ever and am concerned that I will end up like my father (type 6). I have been staying away from Propecia and Rogaine due to their irreversible side effects concerning sexual dysfunction. Is there no viable alternative other than hair transplant for me?

Nope.

Side effects are not proven irreversible from Rogaine and Propecia, but if you don’t want to try either of the two FDA approved hair loss medications, that is your choice. Unfortunately, hair transplantation is the only permanent solution at this point if you do not want to manage your balding problem with medication.

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July 8, 2011

Hair Loss After Chicken Pox? – Balding Blog

Sir,
Recently I had chicken pox and it caused a lot of scars on my face. So for the last 2 weeks I have been using a cream named Dr.Reddy’s Venusia (vitamin E cream). After the application of the cream my hair loss rate increased drastically and I really doubt its the effect of the cream. I apply it on every night on my face. Plz help me to clear of this doubt!

It’s possible that your bout of chicken pox may have been a large stress, causing you to lose hair or to accelerate an inherited genetic pattern. I don’t know anything about you though (age, for starters). I really can not help you without seeing you. Plus, I only deal in hair (not face) problems, so a good dermatologist might be a better initial choice.

Dr. Reddy is a large Indian generic pharmaceutical company that has run into problems recently with the FDA relating to their Mexico manufacturing plant. With that said, I wouldn’t expect that the Vitamin E cream they produce is the cause of your loss.

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July 8, 2011

Gray Hair in Children – Balding Blog

A doctor via CNN wrote about a young child with gray hair. I thought it might be of interest to you and the visitors of this fine site. Thanks for everything, doc

Link: Why does my 4-year-old have gray hair?

Thanks for sending this!

The article was written by a pediatrician for CNN and contains some good information for parents of children with gray hair. Causes for graying hair in a child can range from anemia to genetic causes. Check out the article for more info.

July 8, 2011

Complaining Doctors and Pushy Patients – Balding Blog

I am sure you guys see a lot of patients, and I just read an article on CNN about a site that lets doctors complain about pushy patients. Do you have any horror stories about patients that gave you a hard time? Here’s the article: Are you giving your doctor a headache?

From my regular reading of this blog I can tell there are plenty of people out there that fancy themselves as “experts” when it comes to hair loss and love to show off their armchair medical degrees that they earned by surfing the web for a few hours. Its great to try to learn as much as possible about various problems one might have, but at what point does it become a headache for you when the person insists a medication is causing their issue or insists that their hours of research are more accurate than your many years of treating patients in person?

Thanks and keep up the great work!!!

Dr Rassman People are people and they come in all personality traits. As a doctor, you expect to see a wide variation of patient personalities, and if you didn’t, you should not be a doctor. I demand that doctors treat every patient with dignity and respect. If a patient does not behave properly or is disruptive to the goals of a first consultation, I use my people skills to try to end the interaction with a frank discussion that maybe we (doctor and patient) are not compatible. This has been very rare for me to find such a patient.

What usually happens is that if there is a patient who is upset about their hair loss circumstances, or afraid of an uncertain future, or were treated with less than proper respect, or achieved less than the results than they expected from a surgery with another doctor, then my job is the communicate with them. Many times what is thought to be a difficult patient, actually turns out to be a patient who is just afraid and if I take the time to listen to them, I almost always calm them down.

I believe that all people deserve the best efforts I can manage and I approach everyone that way. Sometimes I look back upon the interactions with patients and laugh to myself at the happenings. I remember one patient, for example, who had a hair transplant with me and the next day came in with a poster sized blow-up of his transplanted scalp with individual pins placed into every graft in the head that he could see. He claimed that I cheated him and overcharged him for the number of grafts that were given to him the day before. I sat down calmly with him, showed him grafts that he did not see (no pins in the picture) and suggested that he come in another day so I can show him a live surgery and demonstrate why the picture did not really show the actual hair graft count. He did just that and everything was fine after. Especially difficult patients produce difficult challenges and it is the doctor’s job to address the needs of the patient, always.

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