Month: January 2023

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So Hair Loss Can Be Slowed Down, But Not Stopped Completely?

Dear Doctor,
I have always heard you can slow the rate of ones hair loss, (especially if the pattern is the infamous “horsehoe”), but you can’t stop it? This has come from a couple of Dermatologists, M.D.. They paint a bleak picture, why would they be so negative, if it weren’t true?

Thanks

Yes it is true. It can be bleak. Drugs such as Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil) do not stop hair loss completely and forever. Sometimes the drugs can grow back some hair, but sooner or later the hair loss will continue (albeit at a slower rate).


2007-09-21 09:32:58So Hair Loss Can Be Slowed Down, But Not Stopped Completely?

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So Does Finasteride Actually Reverse Miniaturization?

My understanding is that for those who suffer MPB, that “miniturazation” is inevitable. Finasteride is used to stop or slow that process. My question is can Finasteride actually reverse “miniturazation” in other words thicken back up the hair shaft as it grows vs. just stop/slowing it? Thanks in advance.

I believe that Propecia can reverse miniaturization in some people and that would easily explain the results we see in young men (in particular) who have increased fullness, not just associated with hair count. The best hair that responds to Propecia are those that are not near the end stage of miniaturization. This does not occur in everyone.

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So Could There Be Birth Defects If I Get Someone Pregnant While Taking Finasteride?

Dear dr rassman
I have currently been researching the side effects of Finasteride online, on one site it stated that your sperm while using finasteride may effect your partners health, it was not very clear on the subject, perhaps you could shed some light on this for me?

If my partner was to get pregnant while I was using finasteride is there a chance of birth defect? She is currently using birth control and we are not planing to have another child yet. And I have not started using the drug. If I were using finasteride and wanted to have a child how long would it take to get out of my system to ensure healthy baby development.. Cheers

For personal medical questions, you need to speak with YOUR doctor – don’t just search for information online that can be erroneous or confusing.

In general, as long as your partner is not taking finasteride or handling finasteride herself, there is really no risk of birth defects. You can take finasteride while trying to conceive and there should be no issue. If you are still concerned about it, the simple solution would be to stop taking finasteride.

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SMP vs hair transplant

I have been reading and seeing some SMP done on bald/balding men. So it is basically a hair tattoo. To be honest, in my opinion, it doesn´t look that different than a bald head. It says that it should resemble a buzzcut, or a really short hairstyle visually. But it sounds like some bullshit too me. It is also pretty expensive. For that price, I would rather pay a little more and get a hair transplant in the future when I get older. Have any of you heard about it/try it? What is your opinions? 🙂

SMP is a good solution for some people who can accept a shaved head for rest of their life, but for others, not as good a choice as a hair transplant. Of course, you can start with SMP and if you decide at some point in the future to get a hair transplant , that is an option. The best thing about SMP (a name we coined and published) is that you don’t have to worry about progressive balding. If you get a hair transplant when you have a Class 3 pattern and then progress to a Class 6 pattern, with SMP, you don’t have to do it again while with a hair transplant, you will have to transplant the new bald areas. See our site: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/

SMP is also a great solution for people with thinning hair as it makes it look fuller because the contrast between skin and hair color can be made closer to each other

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SMP vs FUE for Donor Area Scars?

Questions: I haven’t quite yet determined what plan I will do yet. In your honest opinion, to best resolve the wide scar issue, is it better to go with SMP, or perhaps a FUE over the scar, or perhaps a combination of both?

Scars treated with FUE or in fact with any form of hair transplant, does not completely cover the scar area because the density needed is too high to achieve in one session or possibly even two sessions. The scars tend to be white, and the whitish color of the scar seems to always dominate whatever transplant was done. It is easy to do FUE from just above and below the scar, but easy does not mean good. I have done many of these FUE scar procedure, and even after a couple of such procedures, they just don’t really hide the scar. When we started doing Scalpmicropigmentation into the scar, it was clear that this is a better way of dealing with the problem.

Scars themselves, have other problems related to them including hypertrophic scarring (elevated scars) or depressed scars that form a gully (like a lengthy divot) which is never addressed with either SMP or FUE alone, so when this occurs we take still another step by treating the hypertrophic scars appropriately and we use dermal fillers to deal with the gulleys (divots) in the scar which gives us great power in dealing with all of the scar issues. Those who offer SMP and are not doctors, or doctors who are not experts in the treatment of hypertrophic scars or dermal fillers, can not address these other problems.

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SMP to scar in scalp (photo)

This is a great example when Scalp Micropigmentation is used properly to hide a scalp scar. The operator (I don’t know the operator) did a great job in hiding the scar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click photo to zoom in

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Can SMP Activate Alopecia Areata? Photo Shows Histology of SMP.

I see you mention Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) being a solution for patients with Alopecia Areata, but doesn’t the trauma from the head tattooing spur an autoimmune reaction? I have a diffuse pattern and would love to make a contrast between black hair and white skin. I have AA on my face (barbae) that resolves itself, however, I’ve been told a hair relocation surgery would not work because it could make these conditions very angry, although I’ve never had it on my scalp. Wouldn’t the permanent hair resolve with treatment even if transplanted since mild AA doesn’t actually “kill” the hair?

We have performed Scalp Micropigmentation on many patients with Alopecia Areata. We have also performed Scalp Micropigmentation on Alopecia Totalis. There has been a problem in our hands activating the primary disease or aggravating the Alopcia Areata. The pigments only go to a depth of about 0.6mm below the skin, while the hair follicles go down between 5-7 mm below the skin, much deeper than the SMP pigments go (see below).


2019-02-20 07:50:29Can SMP Activate Alopecia Areata? Photo Shows Histology of SMP.

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SMP Over the Years?

How does SMP look like after 5 years? 10 years or 20 years down the road. I’ve seen some really bad SMP jobs on YouTube where the color looks smeared all over the scalp. Maybe these SMP jobs were done by novices or bad tattoo artists but if only a handful of Dr’s do it and do it well. How can there be a guarantee that a Dr with proficiency will be around in 20 years performing SMP when I need a touch up? I am interested in the procedure but worried that the color fades too easily or the dots expand to form a cloudy look. The bad SMP jobs on YouTube make the head look like there is a permanent giant bruise on the entire head. Looks like some sort of disfigurement.

Has any of your SMP patients been unhappy with the results after so many years?

We have been performing Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) now for two years, so I can not address a longer time frame. I have seen one patient who had scalp tattoos done elsewhere about 9 years ago and he touched it up often (possibly too often). His scalp took on the appearance of smeared color. The black ink turned green and when it covered the entire scalp, the scalp appeared green. Certainly, it was not a good end result. He was experimented on, so his result probably reflected the many techniques that evolved and possibly many different pigments.

With regard to our practice, yes, we have had dissatisfied patients. In analyzing the reason for the dissatisfaction, we concluded that: (a) they really did not understand what they were getting, (b) they were expecting Toppik level concealers which produces better camouflage and are much darker, (c) they noticed irregularities in the ‘dots’ where some of them were larger than others, (d) the pigments faded irregularly, (e) they came from long distances and needed touch-ups that required them to make another trip to California and (f) the color changes in the black to a green or blue tint was more than they expected to see.

A few patients tried to push us to repeat the process more times than we wanted to do, and early in our experience we wanted to make them happy, so we were swayed by their desire far more than we should have been. Now, we stick to our guns and keep to what we believe is in the best long-term interest of the patient. Even though we still want to make the accommodations that will make the patients happy, we will not do anything that will lead to a complication or poor result.

We have addressed these complaints by spending a huge amount of time with each prospective patient, explaining every detail of the process and expectations. The patients seemed to be more satisfied with the end results.