Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Before Selecting a Hair Transplant Doctor, Do Your Homework! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I wanted to share my thoughts with your readers concerning the selection of a HT doctor. I had several transplant sessions in the mid-1990’s. After many years, I find myself in need of a hair tune-up and will be scheduling surgery with Dr. Rassman this Fall.

I cannot stress enough that people do their homework when selecting a doctor. You only have so much donor area. When it is gone, it is gone. No amount of money can bring it back.

Through my research concerning HT doctors I have come to two conclusions. First, see a doctor that has been awarded the Golden Follicle award. This is voted on by their peers. Secondly, see a doctor whose primary specialty is hair transplantation. There are even winners of the Golden Follicle that practice other forms of cosmetic surgery. My reasoning is that I believe that HT is both surgery and art. The more a doctor performs quality HT, the better your results!

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This is good advise. And you are correct in that hair transplantation is as much an art as it is a surgical procedure. This is a cosmetic procedure, afterall!

For more tips on choosing your surgeon, we put together a checklist of sorts that I encourage people to check out — Selecting a Hair Transplant Doctor.

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Why Can’t We Move the Entire Permanent Zone to the Front? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor,

My understanding is that when you remove hair from the permanent zone, you want to leave enough so that the permanent zone does not look “thin.”

But what about sacrificing the permanent zone, especially in the back of the head?

Why not remove most of the hair there — so that the back may indeed look thin — while moving it to the top front and crown as desired by the patient?

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Bad faceliftI suppose you can do anything you want if you find a surgeon willing to cause you tremendous scarring in the back/sides of your head. I can’t say I know of any patients that would want to be the first candidate.

Doing what you suggest would leave a patient with a very wide and long scar on the back of the scalp as the scalp became tighter and tighter, stretching the scalp skin in the area of the excision. Even if the surgeon used follicular unit extraction (FUE), it would still not look natural, as the donor zone will be very depleted and look unhealthy (not to mention the tiny pinhole scars all over that may be visible). I have seen many patients with depleted donor hair, as too much hair was used by their surgeon for the front and top. These patients are not very happy with how their donor area (scalp) looks.

Keep in mind the entire point of doing any cosmetic surgery is to look natural (like there was no surgery done), meeting the enhancements and goals that the patient desires. Doing something extreme as you suggest is like an overly done facelift surgery, where it looks like someone is pulling one’s face back.

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When The Hair Loss Cure Comes, Wouldn’t Transplant Doctors Be Out of Work? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Doctor,
If they do infact find a cure for baldness, would’nt you and your fellow comrades be out of work?

thanks

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That same logic could apply to anyone that specializes in something. Like, what would a cancer treatment specialist do once cancer is cured? What will tire companies do once the flying cars are developed? I mean, there’s just so many possible outcomes that it’s not worth getting into in an in-depth way… but if there was a cure for hair loss developed, who do you think would be prescribing/administering it?

Are you assuming a cure for hair loss would have to mean regrowth of all hair and not just cessation of future loss? Suppose the “cure” just makes it so future generations don’t lose hair, but those with hair loss still need options. To answer your question, the good doctors will likely be able to adapt their businesses, but we’re still a long way off from the elusive hair loss cure.

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Alopecia Barbae – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Doc,

Great Forum..Is alopecia barbae reversible? I came across a number of forums that mentioned that the use of cortisone shots in the affected region to be an effective treatment regimen for such syndromes…Do you concur with this?

Thanks

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Alopecia barbae is a variant of alopecia areata, but where alopecia areata refers to spots on the scalp, alopecia barbae would be similar spots in facial hair. This disease has its course, at times may spontaneously reverse, and sometimes can be modified through various treatments (including variations of cortisone placed into the impacted areas).

See the National Alopecia Areata Foundation for more about research and treatment options.

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Is My Mind Playing Tricks or Has Propecia Worked in Just a Month? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

im 24 year old male, started balding around the age of 21. the crown started thinning about 2 years ago. ive been taking propecia for about a month. would it be uncommon for me to see results now? or is it just my mind playing tricks!

thanks for all your help!

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I guess it depends on what you’re seeing. As much as I do believe in Propecia, I would doubt that you’d see much in just a month. Hair grows at a rate of about 1/2 inch per month so that the most you might see is better hair growth from the new hair that appears. This generally gets better over time. Most people can see an almost immediate improvement in daily shedding from genetic balding causes. But I am happy to hear your are doing well.

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Hair Loss InformationDid Finasteride Make Me Stutter? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I want to start off by thanking you for acknowledging and attempting to help people in what can be such a stressful and consuming problem for people.

My question is in regards to the possible mental side effects of finasteride. I understand that you have touched on this in the past, but I was wondering if you could say based on your experience if you believe these claims have any merit. I took finasteride for about a month a few months ago, and thought that I noticed these symptoms(stuttering, etc) upon quitting. I really believe in the drug in the battle against hairloss and want to start again, but these claims and my possible experience with it prevent me. I am 32 years old, but I believe that my hairloss(mostly crown area) is in its early stages and I could benefit greatly from this drug.

P.S. I would try minoxidil, but am afraid of the experiences that I read online(bloated face, wrinkles, shedding, etc)

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When a formal drug study is done it is carried out on thousands of people and the side effects are reported. When the drug is actually used by millions of people, I am sure there are rare side effects that were never reported that will come to light.

I do not mean to dismiss or invalidate the unusual reports such as yours. In my practice since Propecia has been introduced into the marketplace, I have seen this complaint once (while the patient was on the medication, not after he stopped it), but I generally do not see or hear of these issues other than on Internet forums. The one experience a patient had does not prove anything statistically. It is also very difficult to pinpoint if there really is a direct cause and effect relationship, as there may be other factors.

For example, it is conceivable that men who take Propecia are also taking other medications with other medical issues (such a blood pressure or depression). Certain blood pressure lowering and anti-depressant medications are well know to cause decreased erections and libido. Certain anti-depressants can even cause stuttering (Ritalin, Prozac, as an example). Certain medical conditions which you may not be aware of can also cause stuttering. So I really cannot even begin to say what your particular cause of stuttering may be. I would discuss your issues with your doctor and see if there are other issues at hand as well.

I find it rather interesting that you were more scared of minoxidil’s side effects than Propecia’s side effects based on what you read on the Internet. The web can be a scary place when researching medical issues, as most users with positive results won’t spend their time telling people about it, but those that feel slighted will try their best to alert everyone. Again, go see a doctor for medical questions and get your answers in person, where a doctor can evaluate your case better without the back and forth delay of emails.

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Hair Loss InformationMy Entire Family is Losing Hair and Nobody Knows Why! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

My husband and my 8 year old daughter and myself have been losing our hair. It was really bad there for awhile. We have lost half our hair. No one seems to know why..We went to the Derm, A toxocl, and our family dr. Whats even more upsetting is no one is taking this serious. How can be like that? It hurts when your 8 year old asks “mommy why am I losing my hair” and you cant give her a reason.

do you know what it might be? We have also had blisters on our arms and back..and I had a rash that looked like a sunburn on my chest and back..and my head was on fire! Do you think it could be a chemical we may have came in contact with..and if so will out hair grow back? We have always had thick , thick hair now its real thin and fine…so confused and upset..please help..

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Question markThis is quite the mystery. I wish I could provide some insight, but there’s really no way I can seriously help when even the doctors you have seen face-to-face cannot come up with the answer. I’m at the great disadvantage of not having met you to learn more about your history. There’s just so many possibilities… anything from disease to infection to chemical, etc, etc. The blisters and rash are interesting, but I wouldn’t even know where to start with that. Are they coincidence? They could be related, but again, I’m at a total loss.

All I can suggest is to keep looking for that doctor who will listen to you and take you seriously. That should be your first step. Until you find out what is going on, there’s no way you can figure out how to resolve it. I do wish you good luck and hope you to hear from you when you finally get to the bottom of whatever is going on.

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Hair Loss InformationDoes Living in a Sunny Climate Mean You Don’t Bald as Fast? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Do you believe there is a link between lack of sunlight and the speed of mpb? I’m not talking about synthetic vitamin d supplements here. I’ve noticed people who tan do not bald and people in southern sunnier climates do not bald as much as those in the northeast united states and northern europe. I know age, lifestyles, and ethnicity are factors but could sunlight reduce the speed people lose hair?? I truly believe there is a link.

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ModelI don’t believe male pattern baldness is associated with sunlight, vitamin D, or geographic/climate variations. Perhaps people in sunny climates (particularly what I see here in Southern California) pay more attention to their physical appearance/ Maybe what you are noticing are good hair transplants or wigs on these people? I really cannot say for sure and I’m struggling to find statistics that show a breakdown of balding population by location/region. I’d be curious to see if what you’re noticing has any merit.

By the way, have you tried to correlate female breast sizes with climate and geographic locations? I’d guess women in sunny climates have a higher incidence of breast augmentation than women in colder climates where there is more skin cover.

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Doctor Says Hair Cloning Will Be Available in 2 Years! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

One of the doctors in this article says that hair cloning will be on the market in 2-3 years. Thoughts?

Link: Huge Breakthroughs In The War On Baldness

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I always find the prediction of when hair cloning will be available to be interesting. For the past 19 years since I entered this field, the predictions on cloning have always been 2-3 years out. I am hopeful as all of you, but any breakthrough will take years to work its way through the FDA.