Month: January 2023

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Do Blondes Have More Hair Than Brown or Red Heads?

What do you think of the comment in the side box, “Do blonds have more fun ? No – but they do have more hair. People with blond hair have more hair on their head than people with brown or red hair“.

Link: KidsHealth.org – Taking Care of Your Hair

That’s wrong, Isnt it?

Blonde hairI don’t know that there is a significant difference in hair densities between blondes and those with darker hair, even though it is recorded in various places on the web. I’ve seen pages like this one, but can’t find a source for their information. I have made a point to check the hair densities of the blondes who have come into the office to see me over the years since I started the hair practice nearly 20 years ago, and I couldn’t find any real difference.

However, there is a difference in hair densities between different ethnic/racial groups. Caucasians have the most hairs on their head. African/black hair types have the least amount of hair on their head. Asians fit somewhere in the middle. The reason for this difference is not clear, but Caucasians probably need the most hair on their head because their hairs are the finest. This fine character requires more hair to look like the equivalent of say, Africans, who have the least amount of hair, but their curly hair makes up the volumes. Asian hairs are often coarse, so they may make up for the less numbers that way.

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Do Black Women Have Less Hair Loss Treatment Options?

I interesting in learning what can be done for Black Women who are lossing their hair. And the physcians are saying it from the chemicals that we use. Ex. perms. they say the only treatment is rogaine and injections which will also cause complete baldness if we can no longer afford that treatment while they give the white women hormone replacement. Can you help and give better advise

Black hair permChemicals (like relaxers) can cause damage, but many black women will also see traction alopecia, which is permanent hair loss caused by the pulling of tight braids, many times from when they were very young. For women, the only FDA approved hair loss treatment is Rogaine (minoxidil). Hormone replacement likely won’t regrow your hair and I’m not sure which injections your doctor is recommending.

This isn’t an issue of race so much as gender. For men, the great majority of cases of hair loss are from genetics and there’s an oral pill for that. For women, there’s a large list of possible causes of hair loss and no truly great solutions. So it’s not that black women have less options, but rather, all women have limited treatment options.

See this page for more — Female Genetic Hair Loss Is Different From Male Genetic Hair Loss.

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Do Birth Control Pills Treat or Cause Hair Loss?

Bottom Line with hair loss and birth control pills?

I read conflicting information about the birth control pills and hair loss. It can trigger hair loss yet is also a treatment for androgenic alopecia.

I experienced heavy shedding after discontinuing Ovcon 35 several years ago. I became pregnant shortly after stopping the pill, and the hair loss ceased. I had moderate TE after all three of my subsequent pregnancies. I am now finished childbearing (at 32)and looking for contraception. My mother has severe androgenic alopecia and I’m quite sure I’m destined for the same fate.

So, for my case (there are no other known health problems in myself or my family) should I take BCP’s to prevent the alopecia? I was thinking of trying Yaz or Yasmin because of the drospironone that is derived from spironolactone and has anti-androgenic properties. But is it the estrogen or the progesterone in the pills that cause the hair loss? Should I stay away from BCP’s completely due to my history?

You should have this conversation with your OB/GYN doctor. I do not prescribe or recommend birth control pills (BCP) in my practice, but more importantly you should not be taking BCP for hair loss. All medications have risks and benefits and potential side effects. As such, these matters are highly specific to each and every individual.

I wish I can give you a blanket answer saying one birth control pill is better than the other at hair loss or hair growth, but I do not know of any firm proof of what is good/bad for what. From a theoretical perspective (as you seem to have done your research), spironolactone does have anti-androgenic properties. From a practical and real world perspective, spironolactone does not stop or help with androgenic alopecia, which is why I do not prescribe spironolactone for hair loss either.


2008-11-13 13:34:31Do Birth Control Pills Treat or Cause Hair Loss?

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Do balding patterns stabilize as you get older

When you say hair loss has stabilized what do you mean? You were born with that pattern and won’t advance? Just want to clarify. Thank you Dr. Rassman

We generally believe that we inherit a balding pattern (assuming that you get the genes for hair loss about 50% of the male population) and that once you achieve that inherited pattern, you stabilize. I, for example, lost my crown hair and became stable even after a hair transplant without balding elsewhere


2020-08-31 08:50:17Do balding patterns stabilize as you get older

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Do Balding Men Shed More Than Normal 100 Hairs a Day?

I’d classify myself as one of the many worrying teenagers (18 years old) as I have always had a really high hairline. I was wondering how much of a telltale sign is shedding? The reason I ask is because I don’t actually notice any shedding whatsoever, which is why 2/3 in my towel after a violent rub manages to unsettle me which I know is ridiculous. However, I seem to have a slightly receded hairline at the corners. I didn’t notice shedding whilst this was happening and I believe it may have stabilised.

Do balding men necessarily shed more, or is it possible for a man to shed the same amount as a non balding man, and just not have it grow back?

Men who are actively balding do usually shed more than non-balding men. So while it is normal to lose 100 hairs a day, those that are losing hair will probably see more than that. There are usually hairs that fall out throughout the day that you wouldn’t notice, too. Vigorous rubbing of your hair with a towel will cause more hair loss if you have genetic balding occurring, as the weakened hair will more easily get pulled out.

If you do not know if you are balding, then I recommend you get a bulk analysis done.

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Do all transplanted grafts shed after the surgery?

I know that theres a small chance that your grafts don’t shed at all, but thats not what I am talking about. I had my surgery done 2 months ago, most of my transplanted grafts shed until the 1 month mark, since then i have kept around 30-40% of the others and they grew like my other hair. Is this normal that not all shed, or should i expect them to also fall out in the next weeks?

It is common to lose all or some of the transplanted grafts between weeks 2-5. Many of the grafts that stick around will grow, similar to your native hair. I transplanted my cousin, and in just 4 months, he had a full head of hair. He told me that he never shed any grafts. Then I did another transplant on him to thicken up the previous transplant because his hair was “fine”. He didn’t shed grafts the second time either. I find that one in 30-50 patients, will not shed their grafts.

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Do alcohol based shampoos harm SMP?

I’m planning to get scalp micropigmentation SMP on my FUE scars soon. I currently use minoxidil foam which is essentially just minoxidil dissolved in pure ethanol. Does ethanol applied to the skin longterm cause significant fading or blurring of the SMP dots?

The use of alcohol based lotions should be avoided for only the first 3 days after the SMP is done. After that the wounds heal so that the alcohol can’t get to the pigment to have an impact on it. The skin is an effective barrier to protect the SMP from everything except direct long-term sun exposure


2021-05-25 11:16:07Do alcohol based shampoos harm SMP?

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Distilled Water and Hair Transplants

You state in this article that distilled water solutions are harmful to grafts during surgery. However, my surgeon’s office told me to rinse my grafted area with distilled water to avoid the impurities found in tap water.

Will this damage the grafts post-surgery?

Distilled water and normal water are harmful to grafts DURING surgery if you are using it to soak and store the grafts that have been cut, but distilled water after the surgery is fine to wash the scalp as part of the cleaning process. Always check with the doctor/surgeon who performed your surgery if you have concerns, as you should have established a good trusting relationship with him/her.

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Dissecting Cellulitis of the Scalp

I am a family medicine resident finishing up my last year. I unfortunately have a condition which I discovered doing my own research called Dissecting Cellulitis of the Scalp. It is horrible!!! This is a rare condition that usually affects black men in their 20’s. It is a very painful, cosmetically disfiguring disease that I have dealt with for about 4 years now. I have tried all of the antibiotics and medical treatment that you can think of and have seen many dermatologists that in my opinion, are not really aware of how tough this is to treat. I have read some studies that state that Laser therapy has been used with some success and others that state that complete scalp excision is successful. Of course, I don’t want my whole scalp taken off, but I am willing to try Laser therapy if it really has good results. At this point, I am really ready to try anything. If you are familiar with this or can even refer me to someone who is, I would really appreciate it.

This is a rare condition and as you said it is very difficult to treat. Before going as far as having surgical excision of your scalp, I found a case study in which they had success in treating recalcitrant dissecting cellulitis with Nd:YAG laser. The study was published in Dermatologic Surgery in August 2004, Volume 30 Issue 8, and was written by Eric C. Parlette MD, Nathan Kroeger, EVictor Ross MD — Laser Treatment of Recalcitrant Folliculitis Decalvans.

Unfortunately, I can’t post the text here and the publisher charges a fee to view the text, but it may be worth looking into. Good luck.