Author: Dr. William Rassman

Posted on

I’m 20 Years Old and Losing Confidence Because of My Hair Loss! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i am 20 years old and live in Mi. I started losing my hair since when i was 17 years old and after 3 years that now i am 20 years old i have lost enough hairs that i look 10 times older than my age. I have lost a lot of hairs from and middle and day by day it is increasing due to this reason i am losing confidence and every time try to cover my head with something so people don’t see my baldness and right now i have short hairs which make it more obvious and make me look a 30 year old like man.

Please advice me should i get done hair transplant from your surgical institution or is there any other way to get my hairs back. Because i told you i have almost lost a lot of confidence in myself. Please doctor your advice is required. Thank you

Block Quote

At 20 years old, you’re more than likely not a candidate for hair transplantation. I understand that you’re losing confidence and covering your head — this is common among many men that are seeing hair loss. I don’t know how bad your loss is, but my suggestion is:

  1. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to make a diagnosis on the presence and degree of pending hair loss
  2. Talk to your doctor about a prescription of Propecia. I’ve seen this medication work well in younger men with early hair loss like you describe.

There are many doctors that would be more than willing to take your money, but realize that you’re just going to cause problems for yourself in the future if you rush to surgically treat your hair loss today.

Posted on

Hair Growing Slowly 19 Years After Chemical Burn – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

19yrs ago, my hair was burnt w/relaxer on the scalp and then combed out removing my hair. the forehead and top of my head were most effected. Though i’m 37, the hair has slowly been growing back. so im wondering if there’s a hair regrowth product for someone who lost their hair through mal-treatment instead of balding

Block Quote

This is a very difficult question that I can not provide a straightforward answer to without examining you. Based upon a 19 year history since the initial injury, it is highly probable that the hair will not be significantly better over time, nor are there any treatments I can think of that might work after that much time.

Posted on

Leaving Shampoo on the Hair – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Dr. Rassman, I just have a question. How long should one leave the shampoo on the hair? I ask this ’cause I usually leave it on for quite some time (around 10 minutes), could this affect (or benefit) my hair or cause any other effects (hair falling out, etc)? Thanks.

Block Quote

You can leave the shampoo in your hair as long as you like. It should not cause hair loss, nor will it grow hair. It’ll just be a longer shower. Follow the directions on the shampoo label if you are still worried. Is there a particular reason you leave it in your hair for 10 minutes? That does seem quite excessive.

Posted on

Hair Loss InformationI’m Holding Out for Future Technology Instead of Getting a Hair Transplant Today! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, thank you so much for all your help and knowledge. We greatly appreciate it!

Can you please tell me your thoughts as to when if ever we will see a more progressive approach to fixing hair loss? Such as through stem cells or tissue engineering. i am holding out getting a Hair Transplant in hopes one day this will come. Do you think holding out will be worth any wait?

Thank you for your help!

Block Quote

Imagine that your father and grandfather had prostate cancer and that you run a very high risk of developing the same disease. Rather than get tested to get a diagnosis for you in advance of getting this terrible disease, you decide to just wait until a cure is available. Then you die because the cure never came in time to save you. I realize this logic may be a stretch to bring up the point I am trying to make, but stick with me…

Waiting just means paying the piper of the process as time, whether it is cancer or hair loss, just works against you. Hair cloning or a hair loss cure are still not even close to being available to the public. In fact, I believe it will take decades before some more solid solution to hair loss comes along. People still think that hair transplants can be socially detected on any person who had it done, will always cause terrible scarring, are extremely painful, etc. Well, it may be the perfect solution today. I would challenge you to pick out a hair transplant amongst my patient population (assuming I started the transplant process on the patient being examined myself).

Drugs like Propecia are great at stopping or slowing hair loss with minimal side effects for 99% of men. Why hold out? You could be enjoying your hair now instead of waiting on something that isn’t guaranteed to come in your lifetime. The decision ultimately is up to you.

Posted on

Balding With No Miniaturization Present? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor Rassman,

I have a question concerning my diffused hair loss. I am 40 years old and have been thinning quite rapidly all over my scalp and losing hair for over a year and a half. Through your excellent advise to your readers, I decided to do hair miniturization testing with a surgeon I procured in my area through the ISHRS.

The surgeon was very professional and empathetic towards my hair loss concerns. He did the miniturization testing and some blood tests for me. He indicated that I had no evidence of MPB. My blood work all came back normal aside from some higher than normal white blood counts which he indicated may be related to a minor infection. I have since taken antibiotics to remedy the problem. My concern is that I am still rapidly thinning and losing 100s of hairs daily. My hair texture has gone from very thick and spikey to very fine and flat. I really notice the thinning after I take a shower and my hair is wet.

I am currently taking propecia and minoxidil 5% daily and have used both for over a year and still no slow down in thinning or hair loss. At this stage, I am very concerned that I will go completely bald. Is there anything that you could advise me on. Thank you in advance and keep up the good work in informing your readers about hair loss and hair restoration!

Block Quote

There are a variety of diseases that can cause hair loss and a good dermatologist might be able to ascertain the existence of such a disease. I would imagine that there is a diagnosis out there, but maybe the doctors you met with missed the ‘boat’.

As you indicated that you’re not local to me, we should have a telephone consultation. First, I need good pictures of your loss… and the frontal view should show your eyebrows lifted so that the forehead is creased. Along with the photos, please send me the results of the blood tests that were done. The email address for sending photos is on the Contact page, and please reference this posting since I get a lot of emails. I may ultimately not be able to help you, but this is a start. Without seeing you and doing a miniaturization study myself, I can not really judge what is going on.

Posted on

Does Dr. Rassman Still Take Propecia? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor Rassman. Thanks for this very informative blog. My question is: Do you personally take propecia? and if so, for how long? Be honest about it lol

Block Quote

Although I’ve written in older blog entries that I took the medication, I actually do not take Propecia at this time. I used it for years starting when it first came out, but at my age I did not think I had progressing hair loss and eventually realized that the drug would not be too valuable to me. I know I’ve said that you run the risk of “catch-up” hair loss when stopping Propecia, but I did not believe that I benefited from the drug and the decision appeared to be correct when I did not lose hair after stopping it. I had no libido problems on the medication, though.

One of my sons takes Propecia daily and it clearly stopped his frontal hair loss, and in fact, he was the exception to the rule as it did regrow some frontal hair in the area that was heavily miniaturized. Frontal regrowth isn’t a common occurrence in most patients.

Posted on

Transplanting Between Miniaturized Hairs – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey doc. How are you today?
I have been diagnosed as a Norwood 5 thinning pattern. Originally when I started finasteride I was a Norwood 3 vertex only, but obviously the medication is only slowing the process down. I had a consultation with a reputable Toronto Dr and he said it would not be be worthwhile performing surgery at that time. But now that things have progressed is it possible to perform surgery just to give me more density? I am fine with my hair line. Or is it dangerous transplanting in between miniaturized hairs? I’m 22 and have been on finasteride for 2 and a half years with a gradual decline in my hair count but hairline is still thick for some reason. What do you think ?

Block Quote

I am fine. Thank you for asking.

Transplanting between the miniaturized hairs may likely result in you losing those weak hairs, so you won’t be any better off than you are now (except with less donor hair and less money in your bank account). I can’t say for sure since I haven’t seen you, but based on your description the surgeon you saw might have done you a favor.

Posted on

Propecia and Coffee – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a casual conversation with a dermatologist recently, who suggested that taking Propecia in the morning might not be the best idea given I drink around 4 (on rare occasion 5) cups of coffee every morning. The dermatologist said that, generally speaking coffee/tea reduces the absorption effectiveness of finasteride and many other drugs.

Otherwise, he stated that mornings are generally a good time to take medication. He further suggested that 1-2 cups of coffee would be less problematic. Any thoughts on this suggestion?

Block Quote

There are some suggestions I’ve read about on the web that point to some decreased absorption with coffee or alcohol because of the increased frequency of urination… but there’s no certain connection that I know of between drinking coffee and Propecia absorption. You should be fine with the coffee, but grapefruits have been shown to decrease finasteride’s absorption.

Posted on

Hair Loss InformationTemple Hair Loss and Transplantation (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey Doc,great site!
I know people ask about temple thinning a lot, but are usually referring to the corners of the hairline. Well, I have a question about the real temple area (above the sideburns). If this area is thinning does that point to MPB or something else? Thanks!

Block Quote

Losing hair in the area that I call the “temple peaks” may be part of the balding process in some men. Hair transplants to this area takes a special skill to make it look truly natural. I have seen more problems with the transplants done in this area from doctors who have not mastered the hair process. I posted an example of one such patient that came to see me for a repair after he went to a doctor that obviously didn’t understand the art of transplanting to the temple area — Temple Hair Transplanted in the Wrong Direction.

Here’s a patient we did at NHI with 150-200 grafts places into each temple. The before photo is on the left, after on the right. Click the photos to enlarge.

 

And here are even more patient temple hair transplant examples:

Posted on

Propecia and Rapid Heartbeat? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am 46 years old, and my baldness can be described as worse than your Class 6 patient. I am not planning on having any more children. I have a rapid heartbeat (mytral valve prolapse). Here are my questions..

1. Would I be a candidate for hair transplantation?
2. Would I be asked to start taking Propecia or Avodart before or after the procedure?
3. Would taking any of these medications aggravate rapid heartbeat?

Thanks

Block Quote

  1. If you have male pattern baldness and your donor hair is in good standing, I would assume that you could be a hair transplant candidate. In fact, patients like you (Norwood class 6) are some of the happiest after a hair transplant, because it can dramatically change your appearance (for the better). See our galleries of hundreds of before/after patients to get an idea of what to expect.
  2. I generally recommend Propecia (not Avodart) for patients with male pattern baldness, but it is not a mandatory requirement. You are asking me about generalizations without an examination, so my answers are generalized.
  3. Propecia would not produce a rapid heartbeat.