Month: January 2023

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My Herbalist Says…

You know how the literature says that Propecia takes a few weeks at most to leave the body because of tissue fixation? How come when people start a new diet, such as cutting out milk, gluten, or soy, they say to wait 90 days in order to see results? An herbalist told me the threshold is 90 days because that’s the time it takes for the blood to recycle/cleanse completely or something.

Of note, red blood cells have a life span of 120 days, but this really has nothing to do with tissue fixation. Red blood cells are not tissue nor do they carry Propecia.

You are asking me about starting a new diet and things that herbalists practice. They generally do not have any good science behind them. Let me reiterate with an example: A few of my acquaintances heard about colon cleansing (colonics) and how it rids the body of toxins, so they went as a group to try it since they thought it was a great idea. Now personally, I find it a bit disturbing to go with a group of friends to have a stranger in a white coat put a hose up my bottom, followed by flushing gallons of fluid up there for a good sum of money just so I can watch the fecal waste come out. Granted, I’d find it equally disturbing if it wasn’t a stranger… but the point is, there is no good science behind colon cleansing. All of this is a bunch of B.S. (pardon the pun).

I realize I’m going off on a tangent, but people will believe what they want to believe. I also realize there is a community of alternative medicine supporters out there, but I’m a Medical Doctor. There are some alternatives that have been shown to work just as well as claimed, but there are also many of them that are just don’t work at all.


2009-11-17 08:59:44My Herbalist Says…

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My Head Was Shaved at a Year Old, So Is That Why I Don’t Have Thick Temple Peaks?

does shaving at an age of 1 to 2 years damage the follicles? I ask this because I had my head shaved when I was 1 year old and i’ve noticed like my friends, i dont have thick temple peaks. but my mother has that and my close relatives also have that

Head shaving at any age should not damage hair follicles. We all have variations in hair lines and temple peaks. This is more about genetic variations.


2013-04-24 11:01:47My Head Was Shaved at a Year Old, So Is That Why I Don’t Have Thick Temple Peaks?

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My Head Got Bigger?

hi there.
im a 17 year old boy who is worried about receding. i have a full head of hair but it is a bit thin in the left hand side at the temple. i have been told it has always been like this. my mothers dad went bald before 30, my dads dad did not go bald. but my dad has receeded a bit on top. when my hair is dry u cannot see my scalp but when wet it parts alot and seems thin!!also i was told that my head may have got bigger which may make it seem like it has receded! am i worrying over nothing??

Growing boys with growing and maturing heads, do not thin out their hair. You should get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have early genetic hair loss.


2006-06-23 08:22:41My Head Got Bigger?

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My Hairy Butt Is Perfect for Donor Hair!

Hello

I have little donor hair for a transplant, and not much on my body either. Except in my arse, it is very hairy there and when I shave it off it always grows back quickly. Please answer my
question seriously, would it be possible to transplant these hairs onto my head?

Thanks

This is the first time I have ever been asked that question. Yes, it could be done… but I am not sure it would be worth it.

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My Hairline Was Too Low, So I Plucked Some Hairs

When I was 19, I thought my frontal hairline was a little too low, so I unthinkly grabbed some tweasers and plucked out some of my hair from the left towards the middle of my frontal hair line (on more than one occassion).

Ever since then, my hair has not looked quite the same in that area and I occassionally experience a slight burning sensation there.

I am now 22 and am wondering if there is anything I can do to ease the burning sensation around there as well as encourage the regrowth of hair in that area. It just does not look quite natural and like it did before I did this plucking.

Have you heard of a situation like mine and do you have any specific recommendations for a situation like this?

I would really appreciate your help and advice.

Local irritation from plucking hair is common in people with chronic picking of their hair (trichotillomania), The hair loss from your frontal hair line is likely permanent, especially if you have transitioned from a childhood hairline to a mature hairline which is normal at your age. You should see someone like me (or find a doctor in your area at ISHRS.org) to determine a long term plan defining what to expect.


2006-07-18 08:40:36My Hairline Was Too Low, So I Plucked Some Hairs

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My Hairline is Receding on One Corner — Should I Consider a Transplant at 18 Years Old?

Hello, im an 18 year old male and was unlucky enough to be born with not a great hairline to begin with. Now however i notice that my hairline has become a lot worse on one side than the other. Is this natural? And also what would you recommend for treatment? i am already on regaine at the moment which seems to have help a bit and stopped hairloss for now. But would you consider a hair transplant?

it wouldn’t take many hairs being transplanted to have a huge effect on my self-esteem, how many do you reckon?

Please help, it can be really depressing at times, thanks!

You need an evaluation and a Master Plan. At this point, you really don’t know what type of hair loss pattern you have or if you will bald further than the frontal corners. If were to have surgery without a Master Plan with everything under consideration, you could end up with two patchy corner areas of hair and a bald head some years down the line.

You might just be developing a mature hairline or it could be early genetic loss. There’s no way for me to know what you’re seeing or what your treatment options are without an examination. At 18 years old with some hairline corner recession, I wouldn’t anticipate surgery being the recommended path at this time.

Address your depression and self-esteem by educating yourself and seeing a doctor for an examination and a Master Plan of your options.

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My Hairline is Receding and I’m 20. Please Help

Well from the last year i think my hairline has been receding. I am 20 years old and i just have a strange feeling that it has started receding from the sides.. Please help..

You should see a doctor who offers ‘bulk analysis’ with the instrument called Haircheck. This will tell you fairly definitively, if you are starting to lose your hair. Some doctors have not acquired the instrument, so as you check the doctors in your area, call them and ask their office in advance if they have the instrument. You can also have a doctor look at your under a microscope for a Minaturization test. This can give you some objective (measurable) perspective on your hair status. In general most common cause of hairline receding for a 20 year old is genetic male pattern balding (MPB).

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My Hairline is Great But My Doctor Sees Thinning on Top

Hello, doctor. My hairline is only a Norwood 1.5. But I have recently found out that the top of my head is thinning. It isn’t that noticeable. Meaning only the doctor could see it. Not my friends, family etc. The only one I know in my family who was bald was my great-grandfather. All my other male relatives have a great head of hair. Does my thinning on top mean i will eventually go totally bald or could this be as worse as it gets? Should I start rogaine?

If your thinning isn’t noticeable, what is your doctor doing differently to see it? Is he/she using miniaturization mapping or measuring your hair bulk?

I have no way to know if your loss will get worse and eventually lead to you being totally bald. It’s not quite as simple as that. Similarly, I have no way to know if you should be on Rogaine or any other treatment.


2012-01-15 10:53:21My Hairline is Great But My Doctor Sees Thinning on Top

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My Hairline Is Diagonal

Hi, I am 19 years old and have a thick head of hair. There is no thinning present whatsoever. However, when i pull my hair back to look at my hairline, i notice that it goes in diagonally, not quite at 45 degrees but still noticeable diagonally (perhaps the mirror exaggerates how diagonal it is), the right side more so than the left as well. I have shown my mum, grandma and sister, and they have said that my hairline is normal and not receding. I know its hard to tell without seeing it, but are they right and is this type of hairline normal or is it a receding hairline. Like I said, when my hair is not pulled back, I have a thick head of hair and you would not notice that I had this type of hairline.

This clearly bothers you. I suspect that there is some maturing of your hairline at 19, which is common in men. You could send me pictures with your eyebrows lifted high (a good digital photograph) and I will give you an opinion. Please reference this blog posting when/if you send photos. Thanks.


2006-09-21 15:00:12My Hairline Is Diagonal

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My Hair Was Transplanted with Micrografts Lower than My Juvenile Hairline!

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I had a couple of HT procedures in the late 90’s that placed several hundred “micrografts” and “minigrafts” into my hairline. While the result is not as bad as some of the super-pluggy transplants I’ve seen, I now know that an FUE procedure could produce much better results. The issue is that the surgeon placed my hairline too low – it was lower than my juvenile hairline, but still along the forehead muscle. Due to this, I have no room to have a “transition zone” transplanted in front of it.

Would it be possible to have my hairline taken back a centimeter or so over a few sessions by individual graft excision and then have some refinement with FUE? I have spoken to one doctor who wants to bring my hairline down further, but I am completely opposed to this (I would like it to be a little higher at the end of any repairs).

Without examining you, I wouldn’t be able to define your options (particularly based on your unique case, which might be very difficult to correct). Generally, a brow lift may essentially bring the hairline up to a level that can be worked with, but it’s really not a sure thing. There will always be some risk of scarring when you take out old grafts in the front, but with a brow lift and a surgery to bring up the hairline you might be able to have follicular unit extraction (FUE) to thin it out some. People have entertained using laser hair removal which may expose the micrograft scarring (I personally have not seen a successful one yet) and even with FUE there are issues of scarring and a risk of an unnatural appearance.

You need to find a surgeon that will work with you, and assess the risks and benefits. You have limited options, but you need an expert to analyze your problem.