When hair turns gray, does the diameter change?
From my clinical experience I can tell you that the gray grafts appear thicker than the non-gray grafts. This is evident in the single hair grafts. Now that you sent me this question, I should measure the gray hair diameter and compare it with the non-gray hair diameter over the next few weeks and maybe get back to you with a small research study. Thanks for the great question!
Dear Doctor:
This is in response to a post that I saw regarding grapefuit juice and Propecia/Avodart absorption. Grapefruit juice inhibits the Cytochrome P-450 intestinal enzyme CYP3A4. It does not affect the hepatic enzyme apparently. Dutasteride is metabolized extensively by this enzyme. The serum level of any CYP3A4 substrate, such as Dutasteride, will be elevated in the presence of GF juice. Additionally, grapefruit juice takes quite some time to leave the body, so it’s effect is cumulative. If someone drinks 1 glass a day for 5 days, CYP3A4 will be significantly reduced. Additionally, one 8-oz glass of grapefruit juice inhibits CYP3A4 as much as 2-3 double strength glasses, so you don’t need much. Ketoconazole is also a very potent CYP3A4 inhibitor. Now, I am sure most readers would not be against elevated serum levels of Dutasteride/Finasteride as the effects of dutasteride (at least) is dose-dependent. However, many other drugs such as antivirals, statin drugs, antihypertensives, antiseizure medications, and many allergy medications are also CYp3A4 substrates. Elevated serum levels of these drugs can prove deadly, so as a general rule, patients should check with their doctors regarding any drug/food interaction.
Just my 2 1/4 cents. Thanks!
Thanks for the information. There are some medications that do not do well with grapefruit juices, but here some other links to explore about this —
And there’s more links in a previous blog post here.
The balding genes come from either side of the family, but even if you inherit it, the genes may not express themselves and therefore leave you with a full had of hair. Anything is possible.
2017-05-05 12:05:592017-05-05 12:05:59If both of my grandparents have balding, does that mean that it will happen to me? I am 18 years old.
I’m a 20 year old with a question about balding and family genetics. I have a maternal grandfather who is is almost in his 80s who has a huge full head of hair, and a father who is bald. What are my chances of going bald?
There’s no telling. The balding gene can come from the maternal or paternal side and can skip generations. There’s no easy predictor just by looking at the family history, but with your father’s baldness, you do have some risk.
2017-09-22 05:28:472017-09-22 05:28:47Are my grafts in the safe zone? (Photo)
I will assume from these pictures that your hair is coarse. The arrow I placed on your photo shows the location of the middle of the new hairline and a mature hairline shape. If I am right, then the number of grafts to do this job would be in the range of 1,200-1,300. If your hair is finer, then it will take more grafts. It might take 2,000 grafts to get a reasonable result with fine hair. Everyone is different so the amount of grafts required reflect not only the thickness of the hair itself, but the area that has to be covered. This takes an experienced surgeon to do proper estimates.
To determine the necessary number of grafts, I need a frontal picture with your hair pulled back and your eyebrows lifted high so that your forehead creases. This will show me the anatomic point that allows me to determine the proper position of the hair line. The estimate will vary with the thickness of your hair. You will require more grafts if your hair is fine and fewer grafts for if your hair is coarse. If I had to guess where the hairline is, I would expect to do 2500+ grafts with fine hair and possibly 1600 grafts with coarse hair.
Some people have complained about cobblestonning or irregularities of the skin in the recipient area after a hair transplant. This is an example of a technique used frequently, where the doctor’s team left the grafts stick out of the skin. When it heals, sometimes the skin edge of the graft heals elevated from the surface of the scalp and this is what many patients complain about. See picture of patient 9 days after a hair transplant and you can see that the grafts are all sticking out of the scalp and it is not cosmetically pleasing. Also for comparison, take a look at one of our patients compared side by side also 9 days after surgery with dense packing of the grafts but as you can see from the photo on the right, the two patients are night and day for comparison. I am showing this because you should demand this type of post operative appearance because you have to be social and can’t look like a freak like the guy on the left.
2020-08-12 03:42:222020-08-15 08:31:41Grafts in recipient area not placed flush with the skin
Thanks to everyone for the great emails. Keep them coming in! Here’s one I received on Tuesday, but didn’t get a chance to answer until today…
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I have a slightly below average donor density and I am wondering if a hair transplant would be sutable for me. I am 33 years old and last year started receding agressively. I think I am NW 5 heading to 6. How many graft can you take from my donor for me to have a full coverage? In other words: How many total grafts does my donor have?
Thank you for your attention.
There are five characteristics that vary with each person, that determine the value of the hair for a hair restoration procedure. They are:
The amount of hair needed to transplant depends upon many things. Look at our website and see the hundreds of patients there, many who show balding patterns similar to your. The number of grafts are clearly defined for you to see.
