Month: January 2023

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My Wife and I Both Started Losing Hair At the Same Time

Both myself (49) and my wife (47) had very very thick hair. Our parents in the late 70’s still has most of their hair. And no baldness in both of our family. But we noticed in the last year both of our hair is getting very thin and showing sign of pattern balding.

The perplexing question is why is it happening to both of us at the same time?

I am not sure what you meant by pattern balding and the overall information you supplied is scant. To do a proper investigation of the coincidence, would would want to look carefully at what this hair loss pattern is, what are the possible environmental factors involved and give both of you a very thorough hair and scalp examination, as well as take a very careful, detailed medical history.

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My Twin and I Lost Leg Hair

I’ve been reading some of the postings about hair loss on calf. You commented about not knowing age & also about role of DHT & hair being one of the benefits.

With that in mind, here’s another one for you. My fraternal twin & I have both lost the hair on the calves of our legs. Happened in late 30s-early 40s. All the males on father’s side are pretty hirsute, as we are. In my case, I have all the hair I’ve ever had everywhere else, including the tops of my feet and toes! I’m a little thin on top, too, as is my brother. But, I’m also now dealing with rampant eyebrow hair growth & hairy ears needing trimmed. I have pitting edema of lower calves as well, but normal warmth and good pedal pulses. What do you think?

Thanks!

Pedal edema (swelling of the feet) usually reflects some medical problem. With swollen feet, there may be a connection. Does your fraternal twin have pedal edema? Good chance that there is some genetic cause, but I am stumped.


2007-06-08 10:31:43My Twin and I Lost Leg Hair

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My Trichologist Told Me I Had Poor Blood Circulation and Oily Scalp That Can Be Fixed for $5000

Hi Doctor,
I just made a trip to a local trichologist (Svenson Hair). They did a scalp and minituarisation study for me. She commented that I have a few hairs growing from the same pore, as well as minituarisation at same parts. She also said I had dandruff that was not flaky, and a sensitive scalp (some slight redness).

So she said that I had these problems:

  1. Poor blood circulation (said my scalp was grey in some areas)
  2. Dandruff clinging to my pores (thus blocking the new hair from growing out. Said it was worse than flaky dandruff)
  3. Oily scalp

The treatment package was going to cost 5000 dollars, and she started to use the words VERY SEVERE as we got along, as she sensed my apprehension. However I’m not sure what she said was true. Can you help me verify the 3 points as above? Are they true??? I’m currently on Propecia.

Thank you very much. I hope no one gets pressured by such trichologists into a 5k package.

In my opinion, none of what your trichologist told you is true. We often grow multiple hair follicles (called follicular units) from one pore. If you have an oily scalp, you can treat it with shampoo formulated for oily hair/scalp, available at most drug stores or grocery stores. Grey scalp from poor circulation? Don’t waste your money! Now that I’ve saved you $5000, if that money is burning a hole in your pocket I suggest that you will get more satisfaction by donating some of it to charity.

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My Trichologist Said My Greasy Scalp, Itchiness, and MPB Are Connected

Greasy scalp/itch and MPB. Are these all connected?

I went to see a trichologist recently who told me that she could see plenty of miniaturised hairs at my crown. She also commented on how greasy my scalp was and said that this was linked with my hair thinning and the itchiness which i’d reported was probably also to do with this grease.

Can you confirm if this is true? My hair is itching/greasier again this week and I notice that I do have more hair fall when it gets like this.

Male pattern balding is a genetic trait. Greasy scalp is just a greasy scalp (unless there is a genetic cause of excess sebum production from the hair follicles of the scalp). People who have a full head of hair can have a greasy scalp. Same goes for an itchy scalp. There can be numerous reasons for this, such as dryness, dandruff, hair products, lice, poor hygiene, etc.

I do not believe genetic hair loss, greasy scalp, and itchy scalp are connected. In my opinion, it is a old wives’ tale. If you’re scratching your head and pulling your hair out because of it, that might explain the thinning. Otherwise, I don’t know of a proven correlation.

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My Transplants Seem to Be Thinning and I Can’t Find a Doctor to Prescribe Dutasteride

I am a 50yr old male that has had six strip surgeries over the years. I have continued to thin and even the transplants have seemed to thin. Most noticeably is the mid scalp area. I would like to try low dosage Dutasteride (Avodart 1 pill weekly) along with propecia, which I have been on for about 15 years. The problem is I can not find a doctor willing to write a scrip, and I have been to several Dermatologist as well as my primary care doc. All say they are not comfortable with it. The low dose seem reasonable. I feel I must give this a try before it is too late.

Any advice? Thanks very much!

If you are continuing to lose hair, it just may be from your genetic predisposition to male pattern (androgenic) balding. All drugs have limitations and drugs alone cannot completely stop hair loss. There is a reason why most doctors (including me) do not routinely prescribe dutasteride. Dutasteride is not FDA approved for treating androgenic alopecia and it has a higher side effects potential than Propecia.

As for your continued thinning, including the transplants — this is unusual. I haven’t seen your before/after photos and I haven’t seen your case file, but if the grafts were taken from the donor area (and not higher or lower), they should not fall out with your hair loss progression.

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My Transplanted Hairs Grew Out Kinky Like Pubic Hair

I had a hair transplant 8 months ago, and my hairs are coming out like pubic hairs. It looks horrible. What is going on?

Sometimes transplanted hairs grow out kinky with a different texture. This happens when the grafts were not handled well by skilled technicians or medical group. It can happen with bad recipient sites (too big, too small, too tight, too shallow, etc) made by the doctor. It can also happen to certain individuals despite highly skilled technicians and doctors. If it happens to many patients from the same doctor on a consistent basis, then it’s probably a technical issue (not your fault).

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My Transplanted Hairs Don’t Look Like My Natural Hairs!

Hi Doc,

I am 27, and stupidly got two procedures (~800 grafts each) done about three years ago. Have been taking propecia since the age of 18 and just started on rogaine a few months ago. I guess I’m about a Norwood 3, moving towards a 4 (except no thinning on crown).

Anyway, the problem is that the transplanted hairs came in much thicker and more wiry than the natural hairs, and they were not always individual hairs, so I’m about a year into getting them removed as best I can via electrolysis. The skin is slightly scarred, but I’m unsure exactly how it will end up looking once it gets time to really heal and start to fade.

I’m trying to weigh my options for proceeding as my hairline continues to recede, and am deciding if I should continue to get the rest of the plugs removed as my natural hair goes or if it’s worth more transplantation but done with more care. The question is really do you have any knowledge about different types of hair responding differently to transplantation? My hair is dark brown and curly, would it be more susceptible to coming in thick and kinky than someone with finer straight hair? Because the last thing I want to do is get more transplants and have them be obviously fake and just compound my problem!

Thanks a lot, and I love your site.

As I’ve said many times before, the good news about a hair transplant is that it is forever… but if you have a bad hair transplant, then you probably aren’t looking at that news as being too good. Even removing the hairs may still leave a scar and cause an unnatural hairline, as you’re noticing with the electrolysis. Something concerning me though is that you’ve had 2 procedures at 27 years old of what you describe as “plugs”. I hope you aren’t referring to the ugly, old hair plugs that you commonly see in men that had surgery decades ago. Perhaps you’re just using the wrong term and you meant “grafts”, which are made up of 1-4 hairs. Modern hair transplants will look natural and the hair shouldn’t change character or color.

There are still options even though you may have a bad transplant, but BaldingBlog is not a place for second opinions. You’ll need to have an evaluation to see what options are available to you since each repair case is unique, so you should see a hair transplant physician (just don’t go to the one you already had two surgeries with, obviously). If you want to come out to Los Angeles, our consults are free and we have plenty of experience with patients who are in your situation. We have performed corrective procedures on many sub-par hair transplants.

See Dean’s Story for an example of a repair process, and check the Repair category for even more posts about this.

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My Transplanted Hairline Was Too Low

im 22 and had 500 grafts done in my receding temples about 6 months ago. i experienced severe MPB at 18-19 and hairloss had been stable since then. the hairline was carefully marked by myself before the surgery so i cannot blame the doc, but now i feel it could have been 1/2 further up. the hair are very fine and not very dense, just as i wanted them on temples(not too dense, just enough to cover). in the future can these be moved 1.2 up??

Not really. It is very difficult to move transplanted hair. I tell patients that transplanted hair is always permanent and that is why it should be done right the first time. If removal was to be attempted, it would have to be done with a Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique. You can have a brow lift which will give you a higher hairline, moving the transplanted hair upwards, but that is fairly radical surgery for someone of your age.

I am disturbed that some doctor would transplant a 22 year old and that the hairline would be placed low. The fact that there were only 500 grafts also disturbs me, because it indicates that the balding is not severe. Were you on Propecia? If not, then there is clear malpractice here. You need an expert to assess your situation.

A hair transplant is for life. That is why I constantly emphasize the Master Plan in hair restoration. To achieve the maximum cosmetic benefit from hair restoration surgery, a personalized Master Plan should combine the best information available with a realistic assessment of what your future hair loss may be. It is an integral part of the patient-doctor relationship.


2006-07-24 08:50:41My Transplanted Hairline Was Too Low

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My Transplant Nightmare Has Ruined My Life!

Dr. Rassman, my story is long and will probably bore you. I would just like to say that probably the most humiliating situation a grown man can be in is having a very noticable hair transplant. I am the recipient of 2 procedure in 1991, 3-4 fin NYC 1992-1999. Since then the new hair outlived the existing hair and I had to resort to shaving my head-scars, cobblestoning, high hairline and every humiliating situation that goes with it. Before this, I was a good looking young man with the world for the taking. I remember the day after reading the sports section on the Daily News and making that quick decision. I was losing, but not that much. Cut to chase- I am a NYC Firefighter for 18 yrs and I haven’t relaxed and enjoyed one second of it. Always worried about comments (which have happened) and living in close quarters with crazy guys does not help. I have spent thousands on redistribution, skin resurfacing, and all the rest of the corrective procedures. WHen my hair grows in a bit, you can still see the doll hair look after just 4-5 days. What you can also see is the fact that I don’t need that much more in order to fill in. I have alot of scar tissue and my donor area is limited. I don’t know what to do. Your websites reveals very frank talk while revealing good work. Doctor, I am so tired of living this 100% selfconcious life. I don’t go to any events, social gatherings, funerals and wakes are a nightmare, weddings forget it, my kids events. I’m tired. It’s changed me. I find I can’t concentrate on anything.My self worth is zero bacause I see what I did to myself. My career is halted. Go where I can wear a hat. I am a member of SAG-whose going to hire an actor with lines going across his head. That’s another career that’s been halted. Can I send you some pix. I don’t think FUES are out of the question. The problem is sending photos with substantial growth since I cant’ grow it that long w/o looking like a freak. This sucks! Sorry but it totally consumes me. It’s easy for a friend or wife to say-” who cares, don’t worry about it” ” you have kids to worry about”- it’s not that easy. I want my life back. The Joe Penny article fueled this email. I hope I don’t sound angry but it seems like no one listens or can understand the pain. Why even live if you look like a freak, have no career, debt, scattered thoughts ect. Can you help?

Actor Joe Penny has been kind enough to share his experience with the repair process and some of what you are describing is just what Joe went through. Joe’s experience is a success story, while others who we have seen over the years have not been so fortunate. We’ve published the stories of many patients that just wanted to be bald again, with one example being that of a local doctor who fell victim to the process. Although his results seem to work for him, his solution was far less than I would have accepted (but one way to avoid a huge wig).

I am ashamed of the history in this profession where the old deforming type of surgeries created work like you are complaining about. It has impacted the lives of so many men and most of the doctors who did the worst type of this surgery are nowhere to be found today to solve problems like you have. Believe it or not, some of this surgery is still being performed today. You made a decision to improve yourself, and fell victim to an industry that was at best naive and at worst malicious by offering such surgeries. I wish you much success and good luck.

As you are in NY, Dr. Bernstein (with offices in NY and NJ) may be the best route to other solutions. Both Dr. Robert Bernstein and I have spent a great deal of time with patients like you. If you’re planning a visit to California, I’d be happy to see you.

For more information on repairing old hair plugs, please see: