Hi! I recently overplucked 1/4 of top of both my eyebrows and this just happened once but I was just wondering if they will EVER grow back and for how long do I have to wait. I naturally have thick and dark eyebrows. Please help I need your advice.
Only time will tell. Most people will regrow the eyebrows.
I had the gastric bypass surgery in January 2007 and I understand that my hair loss is due to the surgery and I need to continue my vitamins. My question is will i ever get my hair back?
Gastric bypass is a surgically produced malnutrition that generally includes all components of the food. The vitamins, minerals, and proteins are generally substituted by post-surgical diets. It may take several months until you get your hair back.
The combination of the stress of surgery and micro-nutrient malnutrition are known to be pushing hair into telogen phase and if you have any genetic balding you may have pushed yourself (through the stress of the surgery) into the beginning of genetic hair loss. Just wait and make sure you are on top of your vitamins and high protein diet that is generally recommended after gastric bypass.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
As you know, cosmeceuticals cannot be patented so you may want to reverse engineer FabuLash.
I was told about it by an esthetician who had marvelous eyelashes (no, I don’t believe what I’m told) so, rather than pay $150 for a tube of it (it’s applied as is mascara) I went on to eBay and bought some and began to test it almost a month ago.
Whereas one usually would easily see my eyeliner, for both my lashes and eyebrows are terribly thinned, I now have to dampen and then brush my eyelashes BEFORE putting on mascara to both untangle and to keep them from tangling while applying mascara and can also feel the tips of them on my brow bones. Yesterday I noticed that I’m going to have to do some judicious plucking on my middle eyebrow area.
I have NO idea how this works… or why. It’s NOT just a thickening of the hair or a darkening of it for there is no color change of the hair … there are hairs on both my eyelids and eyebrows that haven’t BEEN there in years (and I never DID have lashes like this, even when I was modeling) so I haven’t a clue. I have eyelashes into both the corners of my eyes and way out on the ends of the eyelid. The stuff does NOT sting my eyes either.
I started putting it on my hairline as well to see what may show up there but that was just 3 days ago and I’d have no noticeable results in so short a time.
Thought you might find this of use.
This email actually came in from an acquaintance of mine. Take what she said here as an honest report of one woman’s experience.
I’m often asked about regrowing eyelash hair, and while I can’t give a medical reason for this phenomenon, I nonetheless wanted to share it with the readers of this site. I do have great doubts that what she reported reflects reality, so take this for what you will. Cosmeceuticals are cosmetic products which claim to have drug-like benefits (anti-aging creams, for example), and Revlon FabuLash would fit that loose definition if it did indeed regrow eyelashes.
There is a tendency for us to talk ourselves into believing that the impossible is possible. If anyone else tries this, please let me know the results.
Hi Dr Rassman,
I think your readers will be interested in the following patent. This was filed by Intercytex on September 27, 2007. I would like your comments on this invention, as well as their claims that they have produced “proto-hairs” in vitro, which may then be implanted into the scalp.
Here is an excerpt:
“We have for the first time produced such proto-hairs in vitro. A proto-hair may be considered as a part-formed follicle. It can be identified and isolated at a stage of development between the dermal papilla cell stage and the fully formed follicle stage. A proto-hair has a structure which develops from the dermal papilla cell but is no longer a dermal papilla cell as such. The structure of the proto-hair is also not that of a follicle, but it can be seen to have elements of follicle-like structure. A proto-hair is capable of further development. It can develop into a mature hair follicle in a suitable in vitro culture. It can also develop into a mature hair follicle if implanted into a recipient : this means that an in vitro produced proto-hair can subsequently produce a mature hair follicle in vivo.”
At the recent International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) meeting, a paper was presented by Intercytex and it discussed the proto-hairs. This is an exciting development, but there is still a long way from producing these hair precursors to a clinically, reproducible process for creating hair where none existed. There have been other breakthroughs in the past that produced hair from stem cells, but these have failed to produce mature hair organs. We must be patient and see what comes down the pike.
Hi I was diagnosed with alopecia two years ago and was receiving treatment and had hair regrowth then stopped treatment and got pregnant I am now 7 months and I’m having rapid hair loss. My question is about the baby, does my problem have any effect on the baby and will I pass it on to him in any way. I also want to know if i will loss all my hair or what should I expect to see after the baby is born and what kind of treatment is best after pregnancy.
I could have answered your questions much better if I knew the type of your alopecia. “Alopecia” just means hair loss. For example, is it female pattern alopecia, alopecia areata, or another type? You need to see a hair specialist to diagnose your hair loss. Most types of alopecia disorders have genetic influences. Genetics go from father and mother to children.
I recommend you to see a good dermatologist for treatment of your own condition and speak with your obstetrician about your concerns for your baby.
I recently had surgury for removal of 2 uterine cancerous tumors… the surgery went fine… but when i woke up in my room i had a very large bump on the back of my head. I mentioned it to my dr and to some of the nurses, but nobody seemed to know how it got there… anyway after the bump went away I lost all of my hair in that spot… should i be concerned or just wait for it to grow back
Sounds like something happened in surgery to cause these bumps on your head if you woke up and they were there. To lose your hair with the appearance of the bumps might confirm that. Hair loss from trauma might reverse, depending upon the type of injury. You will know in about 6 months, but I would certainly press your doctor/surgeon/anesthesiologist for what happened to you.
I am 41 years old. I suffered from Trichotillomania for many years. The hair on top of my head never completely grew back, but there was always some. About 5 years ago, my hairdresser gave me some hair pieces to clip in to my existing hair. This has worked great until recently. It seems that over time, this has made me completely loose the hair on my scalp where the clips attach. I am interested to see if I would be a candidate for your services.
If you have stopped picking at your scalp, hair transplants work well for dealing with either the bald area from the picking or the area where the clips caused hair loss. They key is that the offending process must be stopped or the balding will return again.
For more about trichotillomania, see Trichotillomania Learning Center.
I have noticed that my hair has been thinning the more cocaine I do. If I stop using the coke, will the hair come back? If so, how long do I have to have it out of my system before it comes back?
-thx
You know the relationship between cocaine and your hair as you described it and you ask me if you should stop? Yes, I’d highly suggest stopping the illegal street drug use. Stopping it can’t hurt you hair! As for how long it will take for regrowth — I don’t know that your hair will fully regrow, if at all.
Thanks for your informative blog.
I recently decided to shave my head bald and I noticed an unsightly age/sun spot on my scalp. Do you recommend using a product with hydroquinone to lighten the area? Alternatively, are they any other products you’d recommend?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Skin abnormalities should be evaluated by a dermatologist because there are many skin cancers that cause ‘spots’. If you are thinking that this is the aging discoloration of the skin that shows up usually on the exposed parts of the body (hands and arms), I can not tell what to do about it. I know enough to tell you to get a professional opinion before using products like this, and then get advice from that doctor on what to do.
Hello Dr. Rassman and staff.
1st – Thank you for this Q/A blog. I am sure it benefits many people and speaks well of you and your organization to take the time to help people with their situations.
I will not bore you with a long story of my situation and contempt for the HT doctors out there (not so much the procedures, rather the blatant lies as to the outcome to expect), I am sure you have heard them all. I will try to keep it short and to the questions. I did search most if not all previous posts, but none seemed to directly hit the mark on my questions. If you can, please forward your thoughts:
Desired goal:
Shaved head with as little evidence of past misguided decisions. No desire what so ever for further surgery, even if given an iron clad guarantee that it would give full coverage and a great result.
Current Situation:
- 42 y/o male
- 3 “procedures” in 1991 in 3 consecutive months
- Mini and micro graphs – approx. 240-300 graphs total
- 3 scars in donor – approx 1-1/2 to 2″ in length
- these scars feel slightly raised, particularly on ends
- Can not tell the width of the scars, but appear to be fairly narrow (Not pencil thin as promised)
- Continued loss after HT, probably a NW 5/6
Recipient area:
- Darker coarser hair in “V” shape, all alone in front of bald head
- Some dimples, approx 5 to 10
- No raised graphs
- slightly pink color at many of the graph sites
- Wear a hat all time, so no tan skin in this area, very white and greater contrast for the pink and the coarser hairs present.
- When I shaved a test area in the recipient area, the skin surface seems to show little dark marks with the pink still present
Questions:
- Can the raised scars in donor area be cut out and reclosed using a more aesthetic plastic surgery type closure that would truly leave a pencil thin and flat scar. Other scars on my body heal very well, thin and flat. These other scars even take on some what of a tan.
- I assume that the majority of the dark marks in the recipient area is the thicker, darker hair below the skin surface showing through. I believe laser removal of this misplaced hair would remove the majority of these marks – with the hairs gone, would that eliminate the majority of the pinkness also? If not, what can be done to address the pinkness?
- What affect do you feel the laser hair removal, a tan and microdermabrasion, if needed, would have on these marks and the over all skin appearance.
- If microdermabrasion is recommended, what negative effects can this or even laser hair removal have on the recipient area? Could I end up more scarred? Could the recipient area end up not taking a tan like the rest of the head?
I realize a lot of answers are dependent on ones own body and its ability to heal. I am looking for general outcomes as I find I usually fall with in “normal” ranges of just about everything. If these are questions you can and will address, but would like to see some photos, please let me know and I will obtain some pics of the recipient area in varying lights.
Again, thanks to you and your organization. I suspect that your group is genuine and in the field of HT, that is truly rare.
I would have to see you, or at the very least, I’d need to see some good photos as a starting point. Of course, I will keep your photos absolutely confidential (as a doctor this is not only a moral obligation, but a legal requirement under California law). If sending, please reference this post. Then we can talk over the telephone and discuss the matter. Face-to-face meeting is much more preferred though for your situation.
What you are looking for may not be possible. What you want is not standard and I would not want to represent anything that is not reasonable. The use of hair removal lasers can cause loss of pigmentation and microdermabrasion produces permanent changes on the skin quality. In other words, I don’t want to be adding to your suffering. Just from your questions, the caution I must give you is “buyer beware” and to suggest that you do your research before you start any process. There is no price for honesty and integrity and had you known what you were getting into 16 years ago, you would be in a better place. Normal balding is not freaky, as it is the norm for half of the male population to some degree.
My heart goes out for you, but it sounds like you need a personal consultation and even pictures won’t be the same as a one-on-one meeting between us. I look forward to hearing more from you and offering my assistance.
