Month: January 2023

Posted on

Could Aggressive Styling Cause Uneven Hairline Maturation?

Dear Dr Rassman

I am a male in my early twenties with extremely fine hair (which tends to get curly/wavier as it gets longer) and so I tend to have to style it aggressively to make it look the way I want (i.e. make it look straighter, imitating coarser hair). This usually involves blowdrying and hairspray, and combing through with a wide-toothed comb, even after it has gone ‘hard’. Sometimes this involves straightening too. I’ve done this for years without worry, though a few years ago I did notice my hairline was moving up a bit (when I was around 19), and in my panic I consulted the internet. I found the concept of ‘mature hairline’ and was reassured. However I’m not sure if this type of aggressive styling could be causing it to develop prematurely or unevenly (since the left side has indeed risen higher than the right – though I know you say this isn’t completely unusual), or lead to some patchy baldness.

On hairspray, it seems as though you advise people with any form of alopecia to avoid rough brushing lest they make hair loss worse: Hair Spray and Hair Loss

Is it otherwise okay for people without alopecia, so long as it is not extremely rough? It seemed okay before I noticed some recession, but now I am concerned about styling practices when I know my hairline is changing. I would hate to inadvertently cause some form of hairline or uneven progression. Will hairs that are pulled out grow back fine so long as the trauma isn’t severe?

First, you need to be evaluated by an expert in hair. You can try to quantify the degree of thinning by measuring hair bulk throughout your scalp to see if there are components of genetic hair loss present.

Yes, you are right, people can damage their hair from aggressive styling (extreme form is traction alopecia from tight braids), but I don’t know exactly what you are doing in this regard. Generally, I tell people to be gentle with their hair when styling and use only good grade commercial products for grooming.


2013-04-19 11:18:19Could Aggressive Styling Cause Uneven Hairline Maturation?

Posted on

Could a Traumatic Experience Cause My Transplanted Hair To Fall Out?

Have you ever had or known in your experience of a man having a hair transplant and everything was going wonderful for the first six or seven months and then a traumatic event reversing things? My age is 62 and I was doing well until I started having severe stomach pain at about 6 months after the procedure.

I guess I passed out and was taken to the hospital unconscious. I had to have a transfusion of a small amount of blood. I had a stomach aneurism and almost died. I had to have some metal clips placed in my stomach so I had to have general anesthetic. Could this event have caused me to lose a lot of my transplanted hair? I seem to be losing more all the time.

I’ve been taking iron pills because I’ve been told that I’m anemic. Is it possible that the implanted hair could be coming out due to this incident? If that is true do you think my transplanted hair will ever grow back again once I regain my full health again? I have asked my surgeon these questions but feel like I’m gettin the “run around”. My surgeon has recommended that i start taking propecia or rogaine. I did take propecia for at least a couple months before my surgery and about 5 months afterwards. I did have some sexual side effects with the drug so was told that I had taken it long enough.

It has been 10 months since my surgery and I am feeling like I went through all this and may not end up with all the hair I had after about 5 months after the HT. Could you give me your thoughts and feelings on my story because I read your column frequently and I do respect your opinion. I would be willing to have another HT if you think that would be the answer to this mess. I had 2400 implants the first time. Thanks for your opinion.

It sounds like you are lucky to be alive. We do know that stress can cause hair loss and I guess it could delay the growth of your new hair for 10-12 months, so all may not be lost.

Most people who lose hair after a traumatic event, will lose their non-transplanted native hair, but I have heard and have seen some patients lose their transplanted hair some 3-5 years after the transplant was done. We say that transplanted hair is permanent, but that is a general rule… and all rules can be broken.

Your hair growth is clearly delayed, so I would wait out another few months and see if the Rogaine helps. I am assuming that your transplant doctor knows what we/she is doing and generally gets good responses from the transplants he/she performs.


2013-03-04 10:49:03Could a Traumatic Experience Cause My Transplanted Hair To Fall Out?

Posted on

Could a Little Sun Each Day Damage a Hair Transplant?

I received a hair transplant about 5 months ago on a norwood 3/4 scalp. I have been told that I should begin looking for regrowth between now and the 5 to 8 month mark, so I realize I am just at that point. My question is, given that I use minoxidil and wear a hat for any prolonged sun exposure, could very light sun exposure on a hatless head, like 5 or 10 minutes total a day, have damaged the transplanted follicles? Thanks for the help.

No, I highly doubt 5 to 10 minutes of sun exposure will damage the transplanted follicles. The UV rays from the sun can however discolor your scalp wounds immediately after a hair transplant. It wouldn’t have much effect on the follicles. I would follow up with your doctor.


2008-06-17 11:58:08Could a Little Sun Each Day Damage a Hair Transplant?

Posted on

Could a Hair Transplant Cause Tinnitus?

Hi Doc,

I suffer from tinnitus due to tension in my neck. I am unable to figure out anything about it besides that when I am nervous or I am slouching for a long time, it comes.

My question is – Is there any swelling in the neck area or behind the ears or in the sinuses from a hair transplant? If so, would there be anyway to avoid it? Have you heard of a transplant causing tinnitus? I’d like to get a transplant but the thought of it worsening my tinnitus makes me nervous!

I’ve never heard of a hair transplant causing tinnitus. Tinnitus generally has to do with the inner ear problems or even certain brain pathology. I would follow up with a specialist.

With hair transplant surgery, you may have swelling of the neck and ear area. I would follow up and raise these concerns with your doctor before having any surgery.

Posted on

Could a Fungal Infection Mimic a Norwood Classification of Baldness?

Does fungal infection if not treated mimic Male pattern baldness say (norwood 5)?. Could u explain types of infections or fungal infections in general a little better?? would we see hair loss in patches or one might start losing hair from the front due to infection to all the way back? if treated do these conditions reverse back to having a full head of hair??

Simply put, if you let the fungal infections go on for years, it might look like patterned hair loss to the inexperienced eye. For more on fungal infections, see Wikipedia – mycosis.


2007-09-13 09:31:25Could a Fungal Infection Mimic a Norwood Classification of Baldness?

Posted on

Could a Fraxel Laser Damage My Hair Transplants?

i had an HT-surgery in the late 90ies with a 20 centimeter linear scar. a year ago i made a scar repair (FUE-technique) and i can cut my hair now from 1.8cm down to 0.9cm which is a great improvement.

now, i am considering to do a fraxel treatment on the scar and wanted to ask if the FUE-transplants (~250 follicles) would be damaged with the laser

FraxelFor those that aren’t familiar with the Fraxel laser treatment, it is an outpatient procedure that renews the look of your skin. The depth of these lasers do go into the dermis and therefore create a partial 3rd degree burn, but apparently the damage is limited to a narrow column which is claimed to heal quickly. If the laser took the burn into the depth claimed, any hair could be killed… and in theory, there could be an infection risk, as 3rd degree burns open that possibility, even if it is an a narrow column.

Check with the doctor offering this treatment, as he/she has practical experience. You might also wish to research a little about safety issues on your own. For more info on how the Fraxel laser works, see here.

Posted on

Could a Beanie Cause Traction Alopecia?

I have a few questions about traction alopecia. Firstly, I understand that it comes from pulling on the hair.

However, my questions are:
1) In which cases can traction alopecia arise from wearing a hat/beanie? Suppose the beanie/hat isn’t tight, but it is placed on your head in a way that holds long hair back (sort of like in a pony tail without actually tying the hair back)? I am not sure if this causes pulling, I do not think it does, but the main concern is with the fact that the hair is being held back.

2) Sometimes when I wear a beanie for a long time, I feel that the area around the nape of my neck is getting a bit sore or irritated. I think this is because the hat begins to “ride up” and it causes my skin to get irritated. Is this cause for concern when it comes to hair loss?

Thanks.

A beanie can theoretically cause traction alopecia if you wear it all the time and the beanie is either too tight or fixed with a set of clips at the same location each time it is used. This is all within reasonable limits. If you notice the irritation then it isn’t a good sign. You don’t need me to tell you this, do you?

Posted on

Cost of Donor Scar Repair

I’m a former NHI patient with a bothersome donor scar. Say I came in and it was determined a certain repair treatment was indicated — would you charge full freight as if I were from another clinic?

Scars come from either the patient’s healing traits or the techniques used. For this reason, we have not charged any of ‘our’ past patients for a donor scar repair, providing that we did not have to transplant the scar. I believe that the new surgical techniques we have developed where scars can be removed, can improve scars that come about for failings of the older techniques. I believe that we should take care of our patients and that is part of our responsibility.

If we have to resort to an FUE for the repair, we have a charge between $1000-2000 per surgery (much less than our going rate) and most of these can be done in one or two sessions. In the past year, most of our patients have successfully improved their donor scars with this new technique and as a result we have not needed to do any FUE repairs in the past half year or so.

Posted on

Cosmetic Follicle Therapy?

What’s your thoughts on the procedures on Cosmetic Follicle Therapy?

I believe the procedure is to take a sample from your head (where there is hair). Take it to the US have it replicated 50-70k times. What this means is match with synthetic hair of some sort. Then attach it to the burn skin material and then place it on the balding part of your head. Similar to a system or wig type piece but more refined.

Do you know and understand this type of treatment?

Thanks

Burned skin? Implanting artificial hair is dangerous (due to scarring, infection, and irritation)… and not legal in the US. I’ve warned people about artificial hair implants on this site for over half a decade now. If you’re suggesting that some company is creating 50-70k real hairs in a lab and re-implanting those, well, that technology doesn’t exist.

It’s more likely an expensive hair system, and if that’s the case, the name would be the only thing unique about it. I’m hoping you’re just misunderstanding what some company is offering, though. If they are trying to sell you on having your hairs cloned in a lab, it’s a scam.


2011-01-21 11:40:19Cosmetic Follicle Therapy?

Posted on

Corrective Hair Transplant Questions

dr.rassman, hello. as a former patient i cannot give you enough praise for the corrective work you did on my scalp. my reason for writing is to ask a couple of questions. first, can my old punch style grafts, be redistributed to create a softer look? secondly, can my donor area which is according to you less than a 2 be used to soften and thicken my hairline. i still wear a hair system behind my frontal hairline about 2 inches back. i am afraid of my donor area being bald yet i want a softer look in front to disguise my system. i would stop wearing a hair system but i now have a medium sized bald spot on top and i don’t see a way of covering it up with a very small amount of donor hair left. dr. can you help me? maybe i can fly in to california and have a procedure done to correct my first 2 questions.

People who have depleted donor areas are very difficult to treat. Yes, you can redistribute hair from the old plugs that you received years ago. What you must do is define your problems and your goals, then prioritize them, then visit me or some other competent doctor who can address your problems. Without seeing how you look today, I can not reassess your situation with the new tools and techniques that are now available.


2005-08-19 22:30:14Corrective Hair Transplant Questions