Dr. William Rassman – Page 1033

February 3, 2012

I’m 16 and Have Thought of Suicide Because of My Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hey.
im a 16 year old boy presently living in auckland. im fighting to cope with my problem…ie hair loss….
i keep losing a lot of hair every time i comb my hair…about 20 of them…..and i lost all my confidence and courage….i just cant go to my high school any more….and there are times that i thought of suiciding also…

pls help me…i tried talking ti my parents but they just tell me that im paranoid…..again pls help me….im really struggling

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Teen depression I am sorry that you are having a hard time with hair loss. Losing 20 hairs a day is very normal, as one can lose 100-200 hairs a day and this can be normal in many men. In its place new hairs are growing without you even noticing it to replenish the hairs that have fallen out.

If you have genetic androgenic hair loss, there are medications that can also help. Empower yourself with education and knowledge about hair loss. If there are other issues, speak with your parents, your counselors at school, your friends, or relatives. Someone will listen, so don’t give up. The problem may not be as large as it seems. Get a medical assessment to find out if you are really losing your hair.

February 3, 2012

Hair Loss InformationHepatitis B Vaccine and Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I just started the Hep B vaccine and am experiencing hair loss at 54. Will it grow back?? I’m very concerned because of my age.

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All health care workers receive hepatitis B vaccine, yet health care workers are not at any increased risk for hair loss. What you may be experiencing may be coincidental or very rare.

I did find this quote from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases: “There have been rare reports of hair loss after hepatitis B vaccination, with the majority of individuals regrowing their hair (Wise, 1997). Studies are in progress to better quantify the possible slight risk of hair loss.”

February 3, 2012

The Only Side Effect I’m Getting from Propecia is Needing Less Deodorant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

Hello and Good day.

I just wanted to say thanks to Dr. Pak. At 25, with only slight recession, Dr. Pak saved me a great deal of time and heartache by getting me on medication first. Believe me, I consulted other clinics and they were all too willing to transplant me. In addition, I saved a great deal of money by getting the generic drug instead of Propecia (NHI was the only clinic to offer this and save me money!)

I also wanted to quickly chime in on the whole Propecia side effects debate. To be clear, I am now 27 and healthy. Since Dr. Pak started me on Proscar a couple of years back I have had no negative side effects from the drug. Everything is normal.

The only side effect I have experienced since starting the drug (other than not losing hair)is a palpable decline in the amount of deodorant I have to use. What was one a daily routine is now limited to heavy exercise. Have you ever heard of something like this from any of your other patients?

Weird, huh? Thanks again!

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Thanks for the kind words. Glad to hear the we also saved you money on your deodorant use. What you’re reporting is unusual, but I have heard of a similar side effect only a few times in the many years. It must be rare, along with reports like less body hair growth.

February 3, 2012

Syphilitic Alopecia – Balding Blog

How do you distinguish between Syphillytic Alopecia and DUPA Androgenic alopecia? I’m probably experiencing Andro Alopecia diffusely around my entire head but I just want to make sure. Is Syphillytic alopecia treatable? How do you test for it?

Thanks

In a very basic sense, physicians diagnose patients by taking a history and examining the patient face to face. In more recent years with the advent of the Internet, many self diagnose and run into conflicting information and/or scare themselves with wild diagnoses.

If you think you have syphilitic alopecia, diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), androgenic alopecia (AGA), or any other form of alopecia, a good start is a visit to your doctor. And if you do believe you have syphilitic alopecia, I’d think hair loss would be the last among your list of concerns, since other symptoms of syphilis would be hard to ignore. Tests are available to diagnose syphilis.

February 2, 2012

How Does Propecia Prevent Shock Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

My question regards shock loss and the use of Propecia to prevent it. What I don’t understand is, if Propecia’s role is to prevent the conversion of testosterone into DHT, but shock loss is due to trauma rather than DHT, how does the use of Propecia prevent shock loss? It seems like if shock loss is due to the trauma of the surgery, a DHT blocker would not help much. Thank you for your insight.

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While we do say that Propecia can prevent shock loss (hair loss following a hair transplant), there is no study I can cite that shows it. The appearance of Propecia on the market in the early days clearly changed the course of hair loss after transplant surgery. We have extensive experience both before and after Propecia became available. In the days before Propecia, I can tell you that the accelerated hair loss after surgery was a real problem which I had to confront, and I frequently chased the hair loss after the first transplant. After the drug was introduced, the accelerated hair loss on patients with Propecia seemed to disappear.

The important idea is that when a patient is on Propecia it is working on the DHT susceptible hairs. Thus when a hair is transplanted in those areas, Propecia will still be ‘helping’ to sustain the native hairs. We do not know the mechanism, but we can postulate that hairs that have been exposed to Propecia seem to be more resilient.

Finally, you do not have to be on Propecia to have hair transplant surgery, particularly if you are above the age of 40-50, have had a stable hair loss pattern that has not advanced in the past 10 years, or have had a recent hair transplant in the previous 2-3 years without experiencing accelerated hair loss.

February 2, 2012

Body Hair and MPB Link? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello, thanks for being a boat of sanity on a sea of panic driven nonsense. I have a question about risk of balding. I remember before that you said body hair and MPB were genetically distinct processes. Now I have found a new entry on Wikipedia (not always accurate I know) saying there is a correlation between body hair and head hair thinning.

Given I am quite hairy myself (but have made it to 35 with a full head of thick hair) this is a bit of a worry. Do you have any thoughts on the matter.

Wikipedia

(I couldn’t find the source for this – on the androgenic hair page there is a reference to a 1947 article but no link)

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As you said, Wikipedia is not always accurate. Anyone can post information there. For that matter, I just noticed that the post of follicular unit extraction (FUE) on Wikipedia is not completely accurate either.

Body hair is not necessarily linked with MPB, but even if it is, what would you do and how would that information help us/you? I wish I could give you answers on the presence of a link between head and body hair loss, but I haven’t seen anything reliable that ties the two together.

February 2, 2012

Scar Revision Patient Results, Follow Up – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,
Re: Patient Results – 7846 grafts & scar revision. Very impressive images! Please provide more information regarding the patient and the procedure:-
– Patient’s age and history?
– Norwood class?
– Hair density?
– Hair weight?
– Scalp laxity?
– Donor hair depletion?
– Propecia and/or Regaine user?
– Time span of treatment?
– Further surgery required?
– Did you carry out all three procedures?
– etc.
Thank you.

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This is the post you’re referring to — Patient Results – Over 7800 Grafts and a Scar Revision.

His hair weight was medium-fine, his scalp laxity was good, his hair density was slightly above average, and he was placed on Propecia. I don’t remember if he continued with the drug. He was a Norwood class 6 evolving pattern balding patient when he started the transplant process. The treatment spanned 6 years and I personally performed the surgery on him.

February 2, 2012

I Had No Side Effects Before I Stopped Propecia, Now I Have Them After Restarting It! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i quit propecia for 3yrs i did not get sides back then i tolerated the drug well but now im restarting i got sexual sides after a week of taking it which decided me to quit. i do not understand why did this happen? got no sides on first use but when i take again i get sides for the first time.

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I am not sure how it is related. It is possible you can have side effects now even though you didn’t have side effects 3 years ago. It is also possible the side effects may be unrelated and you have other medical issues. I don’t know why you stopped the medication 3 years ago or which side effects you’re seeing now, so please discuss this with your prescribing doctor.

February 1, 2012

Can The Horseshoe Pattern of Hair Loss Eventually Bald? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I will try to keep this simple: Once a man with hairloss can make out his “horseshoe” pattern, is it possible or common for any of the “horseshoe” hair to bald at a later point?

I am 26 and, while I don’t have any bald spots, the hair on top of my head is thinner and more limp than the hair on the sides and back of my head. My “horseshoe” hair goes all the way up the sides of my head, and does not dip down low at the back of my head. Given that this hair has remained unaffected for the past 8 years since I’ve been thinning, is this indicative of hair that will remain unaffected for the remainder of my life?

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The thinning in a young man at 26 years old which can produce an apparent horseshoe pattern, may be stable for years in the horseshoe itself. I have seen men that have a horseshoe pattern which is much more narrow than most Class 7 pattern patients. I often classify them as a Class 8 pattern to reflect the narrow band.

The normal height of the posterior part of the horseshoe is somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 inches high (not counting neck hair). If this Class 8 patient was to have a hair transplant to cover his entire head (assuming the Class 7 pattern) he will likely have moved some of his non-permanent hair in the procedures. With the strip method of harvesting, the scars can be vary bad for cases this large. I have unfortunately seen this type of pattern with the scars produced by overly aggressive surgeons, and each one is a real challenge.

I couldn’t tell if it’ll dip down further as the years progress, but measuring the bulk of the remaining hair should be able to tell you if that area is continuing to thin.

February 1, 2012

Switching from Propylene Glycol-Free 5% to 2% Minoxidil – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Doc..

I can’t take the PG in minoxidil formulas and the foam seems to get more on my hair than my scalp. I have been taking 5% non PG Formulas from Dr. Lee who is now out of business. How much hair can one expect to lose going from a 5% formula for years to 2%.. which I’m assuming has less PG. is that a correct assumption?

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You can get 2% minoxidil from the drug store without propylene glycol (woman’s version of the product). I can not predict what the effect of reducing the dose would be, but I might suggest more frequent use than just twice a day as you ‘crank’ down the dose. As everyone is different in their response to minoxidil, I really can’t tell just will happen.

Although this isn’t a prescription medication, talk to your doctor about changing dosage, as there may be other effects that can occur based on your medical history.