Dr. William Rassman – Page 1519

January 21, 2008

24 Year Old Using Propecia and Minoxidil for Years is Still Balding! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi doc! I’ve been on propecia for about 4 and a half years now and i’ve also been using minoxidil 5% for about 3 years but I’m still balding! I’m only 24 and I’ve been balding since the age of maybe 16-17. I always see you answering to young people that they should try Propecia or Rogaine, but that stuff doesn’t work for me. What should I do?

I would love to have a hair transplant so that I can at least enjoy a “normal” haircut for the next 5 years, instead of waiting for my hair loss to stabilize (going completely bald) and THEN have a transplant and still look pretty bald.

While Propecia and topical minoxidil are great medications for male pattern baldness, they have their limitations. Your genetic predisposition will always win. Nevertheless, while you are still losing hair, I am sure the rate of your hair loss is slower than if you are not taking the medication at all. In short, these medications are likely working for you, but your genetic fate is winning the battle.

If you were to stop taking these medications, I am fairly certain you will accelerate your hair loss.

It seems your next step might be a hair transplant surgery. Of course, I couldn’t say for sure as I haven’t examined you, but options are limited if your loss isn’t stopping with medications. If you would like a private consultation with me either directly or by phone, please call our office at (800) NEW-HAIR (800-639-4247) and my staff will be happy to arrange it.

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January 21, 2008

Female Hair Loss and Depression – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female) I underwent a serious depression 7 months ago due to an uncomfortable house and sharing with another family. I didn’t know that iam sufering from depression really. towards the end my hands started shaking, and i felt a certain outward force is dragging me. i went and took some treatment in i. I am taking anatax, nexito and valence tablets. but i have tremendous hair fall. can i be cured. iam worried about it.

Hair loss in women is a complex problem. Your stress may be as much of a factor as medications that you may be taking. Please see an expert in-person in the hair field for analysis of this problem.

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January 21, 2008

I Made a Foolish Mistake in Experimenting with Anabolic Steroids — Now I’m Losing Hair! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am not 28 years old and made the foolish mistake of experimenting with anabolic steroids a few times a few years ago. My first two attempts, I had zero hair loss and then all of the sudden the third time I had quite a bit of hairloss in the diffused pattern all across the top. My question is was there a chance that I was not going to bald at all or was not balding at the time and the steroids started mpb that might not have started for another 10 years or not at all?? Just curious to if I would be losing any hair had I not experimented with the anabolics. Does it have the power to start mpb if you weren’t going to bald and can it start it up to 10 years earlier? I am asking this because my dad didn’t start to bald until his 40’s.

Thanks for the time.

Anabolic steroids can accelerate hair loss if you have the gene for male pattern hair loss. Even without taking anabolic steroids, you probably would have had hair loss at some point in your life. Anabolic steroids are illegal unless prescribed and managed by a physician and only for special health purposes. Anabolic steroids can not only accelerate hair loss (that is usually not reversible), it can also cause other medical problems such as liver damage, etc.

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January 21, 2008

If I Have Thick Chest Hair, Can I Rule Out Nutritional Imbalance As a Cause for Scalp Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Dr Rassman,

I am a regular reader of this blog, and really appreciate your efforts in educating all of us. I am a 37 year old male with thinning hair. However, I have thick body hair on my chest and back. Given this I have the following questions:

Is the body hair different from scalp hair in its structure/chemistry even though they look pretty much the same?

Wouldn’t the nutritional need for body hair be no different from scalp hair?

Can I possibly rule out nutritional deficiencies/imbalances.

Would really appreciate your clarification.

thanks

Body and chest hair is different than scalp hair in thickness, rate of growth, and the different hair cycles that determine how long they will grow. Think about it — do you regularly get a body/chest haircut?

The most common hair loss in men is genetic hair loss. Nutritional deficiencies/imbalance are probably the lowest on the list for the causes of hair loss, particularly for most well-fed men.

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January 21, 2008

My Hair Grows Extremely Fast — Will New Transplants Grow as Quickly? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am thinking seriously about getting a hair transplant. My question is,my hair grows fast.I can cut my hair short and 4-6 mos later my hair is almost at my shoulders When I get my transplant, will the transplanted hair grow as quickly?

Transplanted hair will usually behave like the hair from the area it was taken. It is likely that your transplanted hair will grow as fast as it originally did.

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January 18, 2008

100% True Sterile Aseptic Hair Transplant Surgery? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Greetings;

We all understand and trainned under sterile surgical technique. We know the importance of asepsis in every surgical procedure. We also have great understanding why the we can do our Hair Transplantation procedures under “Clean Technique”. EX. Vascularity of the head, local immunity, ect.

MY QUESTION IS THIS:

COULD WE ACTUALLY DO 100% TRUE STERILE ASEPTIC HAIR TRANSPLANATION SURGERY?

Thank you for your inquires and your advice.

More power to all the world of Hair Transplant! Give it up to the Hair Transplant Technichians.

Since we are working with hair, one can never really create the type of sterile field one does in an operating room. The presence of hair suggests that bacteria are present. The key is to get the bacterial count down to a very low, acceptable level. The use of hair washes with either Betadine or Hibiclens the night before and morning of surgery is the best way to reduce bacterial count to manageable levels. Even in the operating room, bacterial counts are never zero, as it would require autoclaving, something that would kill living tissue.

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January 18, 2008

After Restarting Propecia, I’m Not Seeing the Same Quick Results – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

i started on propecia in 06. after 3 months i saw tremedous results and my hair density and quality increased. then i stopped taking propecia for a while and my hair started thining again. now i am back on propecia and its already been 7 months since i started taking it again but i am not seeing the same quick results that i experieced when i took it the first time.Should i stay on it or stop taking it? is propecia not effective for me anymore?

Your experience is common. When you stop the drug and lose the benefits, the process is often not reversible. There is still value in the drug, but the greatest impact is for the initial use period and it must be maintained without interruption.

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January 18, 2008

Burned Area on My Face Doesn’t Grow Facial Hair – Balding Blog

Hey Doc,

My question is not to complex. I have a facial scar from a burn on my right cheek. When i grow facial hair it grows everywhere but the burn on my cheek. Looks kinda dumb! My question to you is can i have hair transplanted into the burn so that hair will grow and cover the scar? Have yo done this before with sucess? Thanks for your time in answering my question…. Happy New Year!

My answer is simple — yes. Hair transplantation to burned areas work and can disguise the burn on prior hair-bearing skin. The texture and the growth rate may be slightly different than the facial hair, but it should be better than a bald spot.

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January 18, 2008

Did Propecia Screw With My Hormones? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,

I’m 23 years old and a male. I was on propecia, when I was uncomfortable about my hair situation, though my doctor suggested it wasn’t a necessity. I have more thinning in the temple region (perhaps maturing hairline but I have a large forehead). After awhile, I decided it was not worth it to be on this pill forever and I hadn’t noticed a significant change in my hair. So, I decided to stop taking it roughly 7 months after I started. I have noticed lately some shedding (not of miniaturized hairs, but regular kind). I normally shed during the winter anyway, but I’m wondering whether I should be concerned that Propecia has screwed with my hormones, or I should expect hair growth to resume?

Screw It seems like you are describing a phenomenon called “catch-up” hair loss after stopping Propecia.

Patients sometimes do not understand that having no change is good, as it indicates stability. You may not notice new hair growing with Propecia, but you are also not losing more hair. Once you stop the medication after a few months, all the positive (silent) benefits of Propecia will reveal themselves, as the hairs the drug protected from falling out will be lost.

I do not believe Propecia “screwed” with your hormones. Instead, you likely have genetic hair loss and Propecia (while you were taking it) was keeping your hormones (DHT) from causing hair loss.

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January 18, 2008

Injections to Dissolve Fat Tissue in Breasts After Propecia? – Balding Blog

Body changes, Should I start with finasteride?

Hello Doc. All over the web I’ve read about side effects that can occur with finasteride. Despite a lot of trash talk (..and positive comments..)I find this product worth a try.

I’m 24 years old male and I start to notice more hair on my body and beard – but my head hair is thinning and hairline slightly receding with temples as proof.

Do you think I should start finasteride despite the fact that my body seems to still have some more missions to complete?

I also notice more fat tissue in my chest region, which makes me wonder if finasteride is more likely to cause male-boobs in users already having small ones to begin with?

I read about certain injections which can dissolve fat, if large male-boobs do develope, could such injections be helpful?

This is a forum for general questions. I do not give personal medical advice. I cannot tell you if you should start a medication without an examination or history. Sorry.
While finasteride may cause enlargement of breast tissue or tenderness, the risks are 1 in 300 or less. Again, I do not have the luxury of a examination so I cannot tell you what your risks are just because you describe having more “fat tissue” on your chest. Your fat could be dietary, and finasteride (when it causes breast tissue) is usually in the glands just below the nipple and not the type of fat you build up on your abdomen. Are you over-weight with lots of fat everywhere, including your chest? Or are you thin with just an abundance of fat on your chest? Did you have ‘man-boobs’ prior to starting Propecia? Either way, there really is no way to tell without going into it further.
There are no injections that I am aware of which have been proven to dissolve fat in the human body. That would be too easy. There is an emerging field of mesotherapy which claims fat dissolving capability (see Lipo-dissolve, but the proof is lacking from what I’ve read and much of it seems like hype. There are machines that compress your fat that claim fat reversal. I will admit ignorance in what, if any, ’science’ is reported in mesotherapy and in many of the other modalities being offered.

More on this Lipo-dissolve treatment can be found at the Washington Post. More on mesotherapy can be found at Wikipedia.