Dr. William Rassman – Page 1135

December 8, 2010

I Have More Body Hair Now Since Taking Propecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman, this is in regard to body hair and propecia.
I have been taking propecia for about 1 year now, and I definitely have more body hair. I even get a little hair growing around my ears which I did not have before and I have to trim my nasal hair frequently. The Hair on my arms, legs and chest is definitely longer. I am okay with it though (even though it is rather unusual for black people).

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Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is taken for the treatment of male pattern baldness on the scalp. There aren’t official statements or side effect reports that indicate that Propecia affects body hair. I do hear on occasion that Propecia decreases body hair, and some of our readers have commented that they actually lost body hair from Propecia use. Your case would be the opposite.

If I had to make a guess, I would tend to think Propecia decreases body hair since it decreases DHT (dihydrotestosterone) levels. DHT is responsible for genetic hair loss in men with the genes that predispose them for balding, but DHT is also responsible for some of secondary male sex characteristics like the growth of body hair, nose hair, ear hair, etc. Thus, it makes sense that decreasing DHT will decrease body hair… but this seems to be an uncommon effect.

In a private communication with a doctor that will remain nameless, he told me he saw a set of identical twins, one on finasteride and the other not on the drug. The twin on finasteride had distinctly less body hair than the twin who wasn’t taking it. Not that this conclusively proves anything, since obviously your situation is the opposite and you’re seeing increased body hair growth, but it is food for thought.

December 8, 2010

What Can a Woman Do To Help Her Hair Transplant Grow? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have had a HT 10 days ago and wondered as a female what else i can do to help the hair i have grow apart from minoxdil. What foods can i eat and will hairmax and biotin work? Is aloe vera good to put on the scalp as it helped with the transplant pain.

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There is really nothing you can do to make your hair transplant grow (this goes for both men and women). If the hair transplant was a success, then only time will tell. Women’s hair transplant surgery is a bit different then men’s for a number of reasons, with a main one being that the donor hair for women may not be permanent like it usually is for men.

I’ve written about Hairmax many times before (I assume you mean the LaserComb) and here’s a post about biotin that you may find interesting. I don’t know what kind of surgical techniques were used during your procedure, so you should be asking your surgeon what he/she recommends you do going forward.

December 8, 2010

What Age Will I Know If I’m Balding? – Balding Blog

Hi doctor, i will like to know how long will it take to know if you are balding or just have a mature hair line. is like if my hairline have stay the same for 2 years does that mean that im not balding now? or i have to wait more time like 4 – 5 years

There’s no way to tell when you’ll go bald just based on an email. You need to be examined for miniaturization and then re-examined again in 6-12 months to compare the results. Then an educated guess can be made as to what type of loss you’re going to be seeing down the line. It’s not as simple as just applying a deadline to your hair loss based on an age range.

Balding (in men) can start in the late teens or in the 60s, but usually most people who bald will have signs of it in their 20s. The most sensitive test for balding is when the hair bulk is measured on the front, top, and crown and compared to the fringe area on the sides and back of the head.

December 7, 2010

Hair Loss InformationHair Transplant at Temples Resulted in Hairline Thinning? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is it common to experience hair thinning as a result of shock loss? I ask because I recieved a transplant at my temples a few months ago and suddenly now my hair in the front is thinning as well as my hair at the crown.

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Temple vs Corner In general, thinning hair in the front and crown sounds like male pattern baldness. I am confused by your description of the temples and wonder if the area you’re referencing is actually the corners of the frontal hairline, which is commonly confused terminology. See the photo at right for clarification.

Regardless, shock loss would be mostly limited to the near the recipient area, which in your case may include the hairline… but I wouldn’t expect the crown to be associated with shock loss if your surgery was just in the frontal area (corners or temples). In other words, it sounds like a coincidence to the surgery and is more likely just the progression of your hair loss.

Not all hair transplants are the same. I don’t know anything about your hair loss history, age, or any knowledge of the surgery you have had done. Please follow up with your doctor to address these concerns.

December 7, 2010

Can I Inherit MPB from the Female Side of My Family? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

For several years I have had thinning whilst stressed; but it has always grown in. However, this year my hair thinned out due to stress, unlike times before I also had spot areas of hair loss. That has grown in however my hairline has started fall out in a ” V” shaped peak. It’s not dramatic or noticable; with this said I have no male blood relatives suffering hair loss; only female. Is it possible to inherit hair loss through females if you are male.

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A common myth is that male pattern baldness comes from the mother’s side of the family, but in reality, the genetics can be passed to you from either side of the family (paternal or maternal). It can skip generations, too.

Without seeing the loss you’re referring to, I’m having a difficult time figuring out how pronounced the “V” shaped hairline you’re seeing actually is. It could be that you’re just experiencing a maturing hairline, or it could be that you’re seeing genetic hair loss that is starting at the hairline. I don’t know enough about you (age or history) to make any kind of real guess online.

December 7, 2010

Hair Loss InformationExperiencing Hair Loss After Back Surgery – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

(female)
I recently (5 weeks ago) had back surgery. Now I find that I am losing hair. How long does this last?

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It could be a few weeks, perhaps even a few months. It may have nothing to do with the surgery, or it could be related to the stress your body experienced from the procedure. Have you talked with your physician about the hair loss?

It generally takes one year to see if you regain some hair.

December 7, 2010

In the News – Low Iron Doesn’t Cause Female Hair Loss? – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Although past research has suggested a correlation between iron deficiency (ID) and female pattern hair loss (FPHL) or chronic telogen effluvium (CTE), a recent population-based study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology finds no such association.

Elise A. Olsen, M.D., of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and colleagues assessed 381 women with FPHL or CTE and 76 controls to see what, if any, role ID plays in the two conditions.

Read the rest of the story — Iron Deficiency Not Likely Culprit in Female Hair Loss.

The study shows that while iron deficiency is commonly found in women, it doesn’t appear to be increased in those women with hair loss or telogen effluvium. This goes against what we previously believed to be one of the many possible causes of female hair loss.

I’m sure there will be more research to come, and I’ll post more about this as I find it. Read the abstract in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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December 6, 2010

Can I Remove Scalp Scars I Got From a Car Accident? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

(female) I have a couple scars on my head from a car accident when I was around 4 years old, and I am now 21 and was wondering if there are any ways to get rid of these scars? One is about three inches in length and the other is about one inch. The hair has never grown back, and I would love to wear my hair down but cannot because the scars are then very visible.

About how much would a procedure cost to fix this problem? Thank you so much for your help, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

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Langer's lines Hair transplantation works well for scars. I would imagine that a transplant would be in the $3000 range. We would, of course, need to evaluate you first and then a quote can be offered.

Removing the scar may not work well if the scar falls outside of the directions seen in Langer’s lines, which are lines that “correspond to the natural orientation of collagen fibers in the dermis and epidermis” (source).

See if your scalp scars are in line with Langer’s lines. If so, this would imply that they might be removable. The image at right is a quick view, and you can see the larger version here.

December 6, 2010

In the News – Scientists Reverse Aging in Mice – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Toss the Rogaine and Viagra? Not just yet.

But Harvard scientists have found that some effects of aging, such as hair loss, infertility and decreased brain function, can be stopped. And not just stopped: the scientists’ research, published today in the journal Nature, showed that it’s possible even to reverse the signs of aging.

“Basically, what this study teaches us is that there’s a point of return in aging,” senior author Dr. Ronald A. DePinho, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told CBS News.

Mighty Mouse Read the full story at CBS News — Aging Reversed in Mice: Have Scientists Found Key to Immortality?

Not all research on mice can be applied to humans, but regardless of that, the published research sounds quite intriguing.

Hmm… mice living forever? Probably good for the pest control industry, but that would be a whole lot of rodents in this world. What’s next — flying, muscular mice?

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December 3, 2010

ACell and DUPA? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi doctor,
Great site. My question is about ACell and all the other in development treatments like it. Will this in theory work for those who have dupa or fpb? I mean I understand the are years away and a big ? If they will even work. But if they do will the help those individuals as well. Eventhough there us miniaturization in the donor, or is there no hope for us?

Please answer… Thanks again.

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Clearly, ACell will not impact DUPA (diffuse unpatterned alopecia) or female pattern hair loss unless it was used in conjunction with an auto-cloning procedure. We need to take one step at a time. We still need to see how well ACell works when used in an auto-cloning fashion. We do not know if you pluck a hair from the permanent zone that is not miniaturized in a person with DUPA or female balding, if that hair will grow at all. How it would be compared with a plucked hair in a non-DUPA patient is yet unknown.