Dr. William Rassman – Page 1294

June 26, 2009

Do I Have Premature Balding? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Well I’m 17 years old and i have a few questions. My hair is completely different both in color and in type from my mum and Dad. My dad suffers from baldness yet my grandpa from my dads family tree didn’t suffer from baldness. My Mother’s family doesn’t suffer from baldness at all. Lately I’ve noticed some thinning in the crown of my head, but i don’t know if i suffer from premature baldness, I blow dry my hair every day, and i wash it everyday I hardly ever comb it, I also touch my hair alot which might make it oily, could all of this be the reason for the thinning or is it really premature baldness?

Genetic balding can start in the teenage years. I can’t say for sure whether you’re losing hair due to genetics as I haven’t seen you, but if your dad has balding you could’ve gotten the gene passed from him. It can come from either side of the family. Also, oily hair isn’t a cause of loss, nor is the lack of combing.

My suggestion is to do a miniaturization mapping of your scalp hair and find out if you are balding. You can learn how to do it yourself if your doctor can’t / won’t do it — click here.

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June 25, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHair Transplants for 20 Year Olds? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

do you do procedures under the age of 25 im 20, because for some reasons other surgions like bernstein wouldnt……also is there another alternative other than propecia that doesnt have side effects to prevent further hair loss?

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At 20 years old, you’re likely not a candidate for surgery unless there is obvious recession and you are realistic in your expectations. When Dr. Bernstein turns down a 20 year old, I generally follow his lead as we both are very concerned about your long term prognosis. Hair loss is progressive, so transplanting you now without planning for future hair loss is a bad idea, particularly if your future pattern is uncertain. You have a finite amount of hair that can be transplanted, so you don’t want to use it all up now and then continue to bald years down the line without enough reserves to follow the hair loss. There are many doctors eager to get your money, so you can find other doctors willing to transplant a young man of any age.

As for Propecia’s (finasteride) side effects — they are overblown. Propecia is easily the best medication for those men with early hair loss. The only alternative I recommend is minoxidil (Rogaine), as it is also FDA approved to treat hair loss. Minoxidil will not prevent hair loss in the same way that Propecia will, and has it’s own issues with side effects. Remember, each and every medication has the potential for side effects (look at Tylenol, for example), as each person is different and will respond differently to it.

June 25, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHair Loss from HGH – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,

Does the hair loss associated with HGH reverse with continued treatment or with discontinuation of treatment? That is, does the hair grow back? I just started using only 1IU of somatropin every other day, and 5 shots into it I am noticing some hair falling out when I’m styling it.

Thanks!

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I suspect that the genetic hair loss you have has been accelerated and is likely not to return. Men without genetic balding should not develop hair loss from HGH.

June 25, 2009

Can the Sauna Damage Hair? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello,
I would like to know what you think about the sauna. Average 80°Celsius (170° Fahrenheit). Some say it can damage hair follicles. Some say this is good for blood circulation system, helping the flow of blood to the scalp. Who to trust?

Thank you in advance. All the best.

Hair is above the scalp and it is dead when it appears from the skin. “Damage” is a relative term, because while you could dry out your hair and lose the luster that the oils bring to it, a sauna will not impact the hair that has not grown out through the skin yet.

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June 25, 2009

Nicotine and DHT – Balding Blog

I am a current smoker (10/day), who has for months been in a constant battle of giving it up and starting it back again. Aside from the obvious health risks, I’m feeling a kind of burning pain in my scalp where my hair is thinning, and I am wondering if this burning might be precipitated by the nicotine. I’ve read studies that purport nicotine can increase the levels of DHT.

My questions: 1) Is the burning in my scalp a sign of hair loss. 2) Could this burning be related to the nicotine’s effect on DHT levels?

Sidenote: During periods of intense smoke, the burning in my scalp increases, primarily where I’m losing my hair. Conversely, the burning subsides whenever I lay off the accursed habit for more than a week. Any thoughts?

Smoking You just answered your own question, as you show clearly a relationship between your smoking and your symptoms. What can I add in the face of such a clear association? Scalp burning isn’t necessarily a sign of hair loss, but if you’re seeing your hair fall out while you feel this sensation, it might be connected.

For further reading, check out this NY Times article — The Claim: Smoking Can Cause the Loss of Hair

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June 25, 2009

Will Female Donor Hair Fall Out? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is it true that female donor hair that is transplanted does not become permanent and may eventually fall out of the transplanted area whereas male transplanted hair will never fall out?

Whatever happens to the donor area will happen to the transplanted hairs in their new location. Female genetic alopecia is often diffuse and when it progresses, it impacts the donor area with miniaturization that is progressive, so you will see that impact in the recipient area for donor hair as the miniaturization progresses. In most men, the donor area is spared from miniaturization, so when this hair is transplanted into the recipient area it reflects that stability seen in the donor area and is not lost. In other words, men have that ring of hair around their heads (often called the permanent zone), whereas women aren’t going to necessarily have that same permanent area.

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June 24, 2009

How Can I Tell If My Finasteride is Real? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Let me start by saying this is a great site. I have gotten so many answers from here. I am 21 years old with a receding hairline, and excessive shedding. I also think my crown is getting thin, but nobody else seems to think so. Anyways I started taking generic finistride about 4 months ago. I order through a discount website, and I have heard that some websites send out placebos labeled as finistride. Being as how I have been taking it for 4 months and I still haven’t noticed any difference I was wondering if there is a way to tell if my pills are the real deal or just placebos..

Thanks alot

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Drugs Here’s the best way to tell — buy it from a reputable pharmacy. Seriously though, I don’t know of an easy finasteride test you can run on your medication to authenticate it. Generic finasteride 5mg tablets cost about $20 from Costco or Walmart, which brings the cost down to about $5/month… so why buy it from an unknown source? If you’re not in the US and don’t have access to either of those stores, I’m sure your pharmacy has the generic finasteride at a pretty decent price. Have your doctor prescribe the 5mg generic and then cut the pills into 4 pieces to get the same benefits of Propecia.

Those various “discount” websites that sell prescription drugs (in many cases without a prescription) aren’t high on my list of things I trust. Sure, the price might be great… but at what real cost? It could be real finasteride that you’re getting, but is it worth the risk of losing your hair if you’re just getting a placebo in foil wrapping? I just found an article from late last year that might be of interest — Fighting Fake Drugs in India.

June 24, 2009

Hair Loss InformationPricing Out a Hair Transplant is Not Feasible Without an Exam – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m on Norwood III vertex scale. The hairs on my crown are very thin so that the circle is noticeable already. Can you do transplant on this case even there are still thin hairs, or just prescribe me with either propecia/minoxidil? Honestly, I don’t want the latter because I want a permanent solution. I can only pay cash. How much is your estimate for my case?

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Calculator Without pictures I can not really tell you what it would take. If your donor density is low, fixing the crown may not be in your long term interests so pricing it out is not the way to go. Have you mapped out for miniaturization to try to determine the degree of balding you may find yourself with down the road on other parts of your head? Assuming that you do not have frontal balding now (could be age dependent) early crown loss can be treated successfully with finasteride (Propecia) alone. In the young man, the crown loss can reverse after taking the medication for a year or so, so maybe you can get away without a hair transplant.

Too many men just want the problem fixed, as that is a man’s way to manage a problem. Why would you not fix a broken car once and for all? But your head is not a broken car and hair loss is progressive in all men, so there may not be such a thing as a fix for the problem. Most important is that the hair donor supply is limited, so you must keep an eye on your donor supply as you receive more and more transplants. I have seen too many men just run out of donor hair with poor planning. Pricing out a transplant therefore, is a balancing act between short term needs and long term planning.

The frontal component for hair loss varies, depending upon how far advanced it is. Grafts for the front can range from 800-4000 in numbers, depending upon the findings on the examination. Pricing is usually done by the graft for most hair transplant surgeons.

June 24, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHair Loss and Lupus of the Skin? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a 43 year old African American female. I’ve used hair products all my adult life. In addition, I wore weaves from braiding and sewing tracks on my hair to gluing tracks on my hair. To braiding my hair as well. I used extensive heat from flat irons to hair dryers. Everything has come to a halt. The top portion of my hair is bald in the crown area of my head in many large spots. I had a small spot for years smack dead in the middle of my crown area and never thought anything of it. Well a month ago my hairstylist noticed the small spot is no longer there. There are huge spots now that is red and is tender. For years my scalp always felt irritated very strange… Even when I brushed my hair my scalp would hurt. I recently got rid of all the hair products that contain Sodium Laurel Sulfate and Sodium Laurel Lereth Sulfate. I purchased all natural shampoos and conditioners.

Well I went to see a Dermatologist. He kept saying something about a band…? Dead hair follicles that will not grow back. Well they did the Biopsy and now I wait. He thinks it might be Lupus of the skin…. WHAT !@&^*()(*_( What is that… My first cousin has Lupus (enternal). I’m stumped…. I am wearing wigs because my hair is not long enough to cover the bald spots… What a mess…. Your thoughts Doctor?

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You will know more when the biopsy comes back. If you don’t have Lupus, you have many causes for hair loss all listed in your first paragraph of your email to me. This is a complicated problem that will have to be evaluated with you sitting right in front of me and my obtaining the biopsy from your dermatologist. For more info, look to the Lupus Foundation of America‘s Lupus of the Skin page.

June 24, 2009

Hair Loss InformationRepair Scars from Plugs in Donor Area? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

can anything be done with plug scars from transplants in 93? scars in the back of my head. i mean im desperate for short hair but i know the scars will notice. i dont have time for make up and that might make more paranoid than i already am…

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Scars in the donor area vary by person, surgeon, and the amount of transplanted hair you had. Some of them can be repaired or reduced, but I would have to see you to make such a determination.