I recently had a FUE procedure to place hairs into my wide strip scar. How long do I need to wait before having SMP done to blend the scar?
Generally speaking, you should wait at minimum 2 to 3 months until the area has healed. Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) would not affect hair growth or hair loss.
I’m a 49 year old caucasian male who stopped using propecia because i can say with 99 percent certainty that it reduced the amount of hair on my legs and stomach. I had been off propecia for about six months and can already see hair returning to my stomach and legs. I also believe, though am less certain, that taking propecia contributed to a brief bout of alopecia on my face. Again, the hair in my beard is coming back now that i’m off propecia, though it’s growing back gray (i’m 49).
In short, I think the makers of this drug should DEFINITELY be required to list loss of body hair as a known side effect. And doesn’t it make sense that surpressing DHT would slow the loss of hair on the head while also increasing the loss of body hair in some people?
Feel free to use what i believe is an informed opinion of someone who will never go back to propecia after using it for about 8 years. Best regard
I’ve heard reports of body hair reduction in a few cases with Propecia use. It may deserve to be in the official side effect list, but I haven’t seen any good study about the effect on body hair, and it doesn’t seem to be very common.
Hi, great blog filled with lots of good tips and reassuring words of encouragement.
I’ve been suffering from diffuse shedding for a year and a half now, losing upwards to 100 strands per day. I’ve been diagnosed with male pattern baldness since my dermatologists were unable to find any other cause. I have my doubts as I’ve been lead to believe that male patter baldness is a gradual thing of the hair whereas I’m shedding hair all over.
I’ve had countless blood work done (all normal) and a scalp biopsy that showed the majority of my hair in the anagen phase.
what could be causing my loss? please please help!
Your issue and statements are confusing and contradictory. I will outline some simple facts that may help.
It is normal to lose 100 – 150 hairs a day. In its place, more hairs are/will grow at other areas to compensate (for those who are not balding). So seeing or counting 100 hairs lost each day is not necessarily diagnostic, since non balding people can have 100-150 hairs lost in a day.
Diffuse shedding as you describe it may not be diffuse shedding in objective terms if you were diagnosed with male pattern baldness. If you have male pattern baldness it would not be diffuse. It would show a pattern. Generally for men hair loss is genetic and there is no specific blood test or biopsies to diagnose male pattern baldness (also known as androgenic alopecia). Male pattern hair loss is a diagnosis mostly made by a physical exam. Good bulk measurements can help establish a diagnosis, as well as a through microscopic examination of the scalp looking for signs of miniaturization. This is offered by many hair transplant doctors and if not, find one that does offer this service.
There is help, but you need to see a doctor for that. If you indeed have MPB, there are medications (Rogaine or Propecia) and surgeries as options.
Hi,
Thanks in advance. Couple questions –
1) How long does it take the hairline to recede…can it take 10 plus years?2) If you take Propecia for years then quit, and if it was working, how long does it typically take to revert to the state as if you never took the medication? Is it possible that the loss can be worse in the 2nd year off the medecine?
As a general rule, catch-up hair loss happens in the first 6 months after stopping Propecia. It occurs over several months, and usually brings you back to wherever you were in the hair loss process when you started the drug. The degree of hair loss or how much your hair will recede is based on YOUR genetics. Everyone is different.
If you stopped Propecia 2 years ago and are noticing hair loss now, it is not catch-up hair loss. It is likely natural genetic hair loss taking its natural course.
Hi
I went to see a few trichologists in London. The first was a free consultation by [name removed] at The Westminster Practice. He told me I was losing my hair and it would get worse and I should pay £2200 upfront for a year treatment of Vitastim and Biostim and hair care products.
I saw 2 other trichologists who couldn’t see a problem with me except I have naturally fine hair. They had never heard of the products and I have since researched both those and [name removed] (who is not a registered trichologist) and found every single mention of these products online was written by [name removed]. I also found on the ITN website he was on a program called ‘Salesmen from Hell’ and he was recorded trying to push expensive products and was fired from his position for fraud.
I was very very close to handing over the money a few months ago until I took a second opinion and need to share my experience with others. However, he instilled a seed in my head that the products he mentioned could thicken my hair and give me a “curtain of hair better than I had before” and I am unable to put this seed out of my mind. Are these products available anywhere else under a different brand name?
Many thanks
I blanked this person’s name because it is our policy not to slander anyone. I am free, however, to reference publications like newspapers or official news releases if they are in the public domain. You did the right thing to research the person who was selling you a line. Don’t believe people when the promises made are outlandish and not realistic. £2200 (around $3500 US) is a lot of money to gamble on a sales pitch.
There’s no magic product that will give you better, fuller hair than you had before you started losing it… particularly for women, since they have more limited treatment options.
Hi guys –
I wanted to share an article about sexy bald women in sci-fi that you might be interested in: the 4 and a half sexiest bald women in sci-fi.
Here’s the link: Hairlossgeeks.com
Personally, I thought it was a bit of positive fun about a pretty serious topic for your readers. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Thanks!
There are absolutely bald women with sex appeal… but the blue skin would turn some heads.
Hi, what countries are the best for hair transplant? Trying to debate whether to find HT center in india or go abroad. Cant seem to find one here and its not easy getting centers to let us interract with patients as most patients want their confidentiality.
Also, in your website you mention it may take about 6000 hairs for a class 6 to get coverage. Does this mean full dense coverage?
I would be biased to say the best hair transplant surgeons are in the United States as a whole, but I am sure there are great doctors spread out all over the world. Look at the patient results and meet patients. Most patients do want confidentiality, but we have open house events every month where past patients come in to meet with and talk to prospective patients… so it’s not impossible to find live examples if the patient is really pleased with the work. With an ‘open door’ policy, that means that anyone can come in, even if there were patients who may not be pleased with their results. In 20 years of doing open house events, there has never been an unhappy patient showing up at our ‘open house’ events.
As for the second question — you will never get a completely full dense coverage with ANY hair transplant. It is mathematically impossible! Hair transplant surgery is basically moving your existing hairs around, so the density will never be full as it once was. For a Norwood 6 patient to get good coverage, about 6000 grafts is what is typically needed. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It also depends on many variables such as your hair texture (fine, medium, coarse), hair character (straight, curly, wavy), length (long, short), color contrast (between hair and skin color). These subtle factors all contribute to the results of a hair transplant. So while we strive to create the illusion of full density, it simply can’t be as full as it once was because those hairs are gone.
Hi Doc,
I’m 39 and have a Class VI balding pattern. Tried propecia a couple years ago for a few months but stopped due to side effects. Am I too old to try it again or should I give it another shot? Would I need to take it before a HT (to avoid shockloss) and for how long before?
Oh, by the way, why are most HT docs balding?! You would think that if the procedure is so good, they would get it done first! I mean, just look at Dr. Farjo!!!
There is no specific age limit to when you should or should not take Propecia. Your doctor can give you a better assessment based on YOUR specific goals and issues. You do not need to take the medication in order to have a hair transplant, but it is often recommended. You could take it temporarily if you have shock loss concerns.
As for why some hair transplant doctors are bald, we’ve answered this before here. Some doctors, such as my good friend Dr. Bernstein (who is a great hair transplant surgeon), are bald. For some it may be a personal preference, for others it could be that they simply weren’t candidates for surgery.
Im 20 yrs old guy and 2 weeks ago I saw the hair in my left temple looked fine. It’s thinning out really fast and I dont know what’s wrong. My hair in the left temple is thinning fast.I noticed this after getting head and shoulders. I used a comb to scrub my head with H&S (I tried to clean something out of my head) Could this be the cause? My temple thinned in a 2 week span. Also I notice I have about 2 scars in my left temple now.
Shampoo isn’t going to cause scars on your head. It’s possible that you had the scars, but they were covered by surrounding hairs and not noticeable.
If by “temples” you mean the corners of the hairline, the loss you’re describing sounds like a maturing hairline (particularly at 20 years old). Many people call the hairline corners the “temples”, even though the temple peaks are actually the points between your hairline and your ears.
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I understand that exercising may increase the amount of Testerone and possibly DHT. For someone concerned about hairloss what level of exercise is recommended? Personally I am on propecia, and I dry to drop a couple of pounds.
Normal exercise has nothing to do with hair loss or DHT that causes hair loss. If you wish (or do not wish) to exercise, do not correlate it with hair loss.
