Im trying to grow my eyebrows back as i want them reshaping due to overplucking how long would they take to grow back?
Overplucking your eyebrow or any hair may cause permanent damage and the hair may never grow back. At that point, the only solution to get eyebrow hair back is hair transplantation. If you’re looking for a temporary solution, I found an overplucking remedy at About.com. No idea if it works — I don’t pluck.
I am 22 yrs. and I have very little hair around my nipples but no hair on my chest. Is there any way I can grow chest hair?
No. There is no practical way to grow chest hair. I guess you could try minoxidil, which is known to grow hair, but it might get you a big dose of the medication if you apply it all over your chest. At your age, I would advise you to wait it out. If you have any Native American lineage, you may not grow chest hair at all. And some men just don’t have much chest hair.
I’m 32 yo woman trying to conceive. What options are open to me in stopping hair loss and stimulating regrowth? My dermatologist tells me its hereditary and I’m out of luck until birth. Any suggestions?
The only medical option is Rogaine. If it is hereditary or genetic, there is not much you can do. Any medication is dangerous for a new fetus and it is not something I would recommend until you deliver your baby (a long waiting period, I know).
Every now and then we see patients who are willing to start or continue finasteride (Propecia) for treatment of his hair loss, but are concerned with the possible adverse effects on the baby. Below I put the exact paragraph as stated in the medication brochure based on the research that has been done:
Semen levels have been measure in 35 men taking finasteride 1 mg/day for 6 weeks. In 60% (21 of 35) of the samples, finasteride levels were undetectable (<0.2 ng/mL). The mean finasteride level was 0.26 ng/mL and the highest level measured was 1.52 ng/mL. Using the highest semen level measured and assuming 100% absorption from a 5-mL ejaculate per day, human exposure through vaginal absorption would be up to 7.6 ng per day, which is 750 times lower than the exposure from the no-effect dose for developmental abnormalities in Rhesus monkeys and 650-fold less than the dose of finasteride (5mg) that had no effect on circulating DHT levels in men.
In conclusion, it is highly probable that Propecia will not cross into the woman’s vagina in any significant quantity.
You have said in previous posts that in many young men it is normal to develop a “mature hairline.” By this logic a NW 7 seems to me to be simply a hairline that matured to a much greater extent then a mature hairline. Really there is no such thing as MPB by this logic just varying degrees of “mature hairlines” right? I just dont understand how some hair miniaturing through the MPB process we understand is not MPB yet a NW 3 for some reason is when they both occur from same exact processes. Could you explain?
Medical science is a descriptive science. Dr. O’Tar Norwood observed that men seemed to progress in a known pattern and then some of them stopped progressing. This is what eventually became the Norwood classifications for hair loss. It is what it is and Dr. Norwood was brilliant at observing and then recording his observations.
A Norwood Class 7 hairline (or lack of) is a result of genetic male pattern hair loss. A maturing hairline is what young men go though as they lose their childhood hairline (fuzz around the front corners, etc). The general public would not consider a maturing hairline to be balding.
My husbands eyebrows have balded about a 1/3 from the outside. What would make this happen?
Loss of eyebrow hair, especially the outer edge, may be caused from plucking it, or possibly evenhypothyroidism (low levels of thyroid hormones). Hypothyroidism is treatable by hormonal replacement. Eyebrow loss could also happen as a result of other diseases and conditions such as medications, endocrine diseases, autoimmune disorders, infections, inflammatory conditions and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
hi dr. rassman,
im having a procedure done of 2500 grafts and was told that coumadin and digoxin can cause hair loss. im on both medications right now for a-fib but may not be on them permanently. im 38 and in very good health otherwise. could you tell me if this is accurate to your knowledge as a leader in hair transplantation?
Coumadin and digoxin may cause hair loss. You need a good miniaturization study to see the quality of your donor hair and see if the medication has affected your donor hair quality, as you may have a small risk of further hair loss after the hair transplant. You should never discontinue any medication on your own, especially coumadin and digoxin, as prescribed by your doctor. Please express these concerns to your doctor so he/she can better address your concerns.
Dr.,
Is this true? http://www.skinbio.com/quickeyebroweyelash.html
I have my doubts. Copper-peptide has had many positive claims and I use it on patients to prevent redness after a surgery in people who are prone to it. So I think that copper-peptide has value, but doubt it would reverse eyelash loss.
Greetings doctor. As with most balding individuals I am stressing about saving my hair. I am African-American and I take Propecia currently to prevent future loss in the crown of the head, which is still pretty thick. I had 1100 grafts placed in the front of my head via a hair transplant in late October of 2006. It is now approaching 6 months since the transplant and I am not seeing any hair grow in (fine or otherwise), nor any stubble, shafts or anything. I went through the shock loss and feel the area itching sometimes, but no results. Is this normal? Should I wait for a few more months or should I get a refund since the hair is not growing? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Wait out a full 8-10 months before drawing any conclusions. At 6 months, I suspect you will see growth in another month or two.
Why is there such a difference between these two previous post’s photographs. They are both, by your report, Class 7 patients.
Thanks for asking this great, insightful question.
The rim of hair in a Class 7 balding pattern contains about 30,000-35,000 hairs. Considering that the normal total hair count of an adult is about 100,000 hairs, the only permanent hair that is never lost in any balding man, is the 3 inch high rim of hair schematically shown on the right (Norwood Class 7 pattern). The art of hair transplantation that I will show you below, reflects the way the surgeon redistributes these 30,000 (or less) hairs so that it looks like more than it is. The surgeon needs all of the help he/she can get from the characteristics of the hair on the patient’s head, including the quantity that can be safely moved.
The texture of the hair in these two patients is very different. The white/grey haired man (let’s call him ZU) has a hair shaft thickness that is easily three times the hair bulk (weight) as the blonde fellow (and for the sake of consistency, we’ll call him BF). The hair of ZU has a good character to it and holds a wave nicely, while BF has hair that lies limp and wimpy. Also, the donor supply of ZU is easily twice as good as BF and has a loose scalp which allows the surgeon to redistribute more hair from the permanent rim of hair around the sides and back. ZU received almost 10,000 grafts with easily 23,000 hairs in these grafts, while BF had only 4500 grafts (about 8,000 hairs). BF’s scalp was tight and his hair density was not as good as ZU. With that understanding, re-read the blog post titled Patient’s Guide — How Many Grafts Will I Need?, and it should be easy to see that we are not all created equal and the surgeon’s hands are ‘tied’ by patient’s hair characteristics (weight, texture, color, quantity) and therefore the hair transplant surgeon is not in control of every variable he/she needs. When putting the patient’s final results side-by-side, ZU has easily 8-9 times the amount of hair bulk (# of hairs and bulk) as BF. What is very important for you, the reader, to recognize here is that even BF is thrilled with his results. The thinly covered crown in BF (both men use a comb-back hair styling technique) is not of a concern for BF, because he looks at the man in the mirror and does not see his hair from behind. ZU also has a comb-back (which I showed in these photos by allowing the hair that is combed back to separate so you can see the scalp) with much better coverage of his crown area. ZU also had a considerable amount of hair transplanted into the crown, making his grooming easier and his crown looking fuller. From BF’s point of view, that man he sees in the mirror has a full head of groomable hair, just like ZU.
It is also important to note that these men started getting hair transplants at different points of their hair loss. ZU was already completely bald when he started getting transplants, where BF was thinning rapidly and on his way to being completely bald (it happened a few years before Propecia became available). So ZU had nothing on his scalp when we began transplanting his head, and BF eventually lost all of his natural hair up top (so what you see in the photos for both men is all transplanted hairs). If you took BF’s hair transplants away, he would look like ZU’s before photo.
This is reality and that is why I appreciated this question when it came in yesterday. People with a Class 7 balding pattern will never have enough hair to replace what was lost (and if any doctor said he/she can give such a person a full head of hair, well, he/she clearly is must be GOD). The key to a good hair transplant is the artistic hand of the surgeon and good styling from the patient, no matter what balding pattern exists.
ZU (before on left, after in middle, after crown on right — more photos here):
BF (before on left, after in middle, after crown on right):
