Dr. William Rassman – Page 1702 – Balding Blog

December 4, 2006

Can Toppik Cause Hair Loss if Left In Overnight? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have read through yours blogs and did get some great insight but im still not understanding one thing. I just bought Toppik to help with my thin hair but i left it in over night and when i washed it out, i found that i had alot of hair loss in the area it was in. Can Toppik cause this? I had a transplant already and it didnt work at all since the are that was treated is the area that the hair is still falling out from. So thts wht i tried the Toppik product but if it causes hair loss or more hair loss i will stop. Please help as i do enjoy the fullness it gives. Thank you.

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I have not heard from anyone that Toppik has caused hair loss. You might want to try DermMatch if you do think Toppik isn’t working for you.

December 4, 2006

African Scalp Pigment Different in Balding Area – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

1) Is there a point of no return that it’s pointless to attempt to regrow hair, like an age or length of baldness?

2) I have accepted my baldness, but NOT the two-tone scalp that comes with it, even with close against the grain shaving, the scalp pigment/melanin makes my hair loss obvious. I’m light-skinned black and would prefer that the side and back lighten to the rest of skintone rather than darken entire body to remedy this. Cost effective solution?

To answer your first question, the skin from under the scalp (the skin that is balding now) was protected from sun exposure (the sun adds color to the skin by increasing pigmentation). The lighter color you are seeing resulted from the protection of the hair cover that is now disappearing. When the hair is disappearing, the skin also changes. It becomes progressively thinner and as the fine hair get finer, the lighter appearing skin shows up more. The skin also loses its support infrastructure made up by many of the blood vessels that were there to support the hair follicles that were growing. At this point, only a hair transplants can bring back the hair. The vascular infrastructure that comes from stem cells and fat located in the transplanted hair, will also return more of the supporting infrastructure that supports a hair transplant.

Obviously the less contrast between the hair and skin the better the less noticeable will be the lighter skin. You can do two things to improve this contrast. You can either increase the darkness of the scalp using topical cosmetics like DermMatch (this requires some hair to be present or it acts like a can of spray paint) or have a tattoo (I do not recommend a tattoo), or you can dye whatever hair you still have left (add bits of white color to it) or even cut it very short (afro style). I can give you a referral to a doctor in Los Angeles who can help if you want pigment cell transplants instead of hair transplants.

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December 4, 2006

FUE on Women? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am one week away from my 8th month post-op. 1600 hairs were transplanted into my top scalp. I also asked the surgeon to take care of a thin area around the crown would sounds much like the person who wrote to you about: “Diagonal Balding Line on Scalp ….. It starts about where my cowlick is and runs diagonally for about 4-5 inches…..”

The area does not seem to be improving so I am getting my mind around getting a FUE procedure done when I reach the 12 or 15 month mark.

What do you think about FUE on females?

I am worried about shock loss as I did have a noticeable amount.

Please write …

God Bless

Hair transplantation in women is often unwise unless there are certain situations where the transplant can actually benefit the patient and the donor hair is normal. Many women do not have normal donor hair, impacted by miniaturization, which means that the hair will grow in weak and most of the miniaturized hairs will not grow. Sounds like you may have a problem with goals, diagnosis, and setting expectations that are realistic. I find that if a transplant doctor does work on many women patients, that doctor is often less reputable. I find that less than 20% of women qualify for a hair transplant, which means that the donor hair is healthy in adequate quantities and the goals are realistic and confined to small areas. FUT or FUE can be done on women and men, but first you need to probably get a second opinion before going down that road again.

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December 4, 2006

Is Facial Hair Growth Related to DHT? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I always had little facial and body hair until I was about 20. Now my facial hair grows faster and thicker. Coincidently my hairloss is much worse then before and itches a lot more. Is facial hair growth related to DHT fluctuations do you think?

I believe that DHT is one of the hormones that stimulate our male sex characteristics, like voice change, beard and chest hair, and hair loss in the unfortunate men who have the ‘genetic hair loss’ curse. I have seen in very rare cases some patients that have disappearance or decrease of body hair with Propecia use.

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December 4, 2006

St John’s Wort and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Does St Johns Wort cause hairloss as much as prescribed antidepressants? Thank you

Antidepressants are known to cause hair loss, however there are no reported cases I can find of hair loss from this herbal treatment. With that said, as this is not an FDA controlled drug, there is no regulation covering the ‘need to know’.

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December 4, 2006

Why Would Libido and Breast Side Effects Occur with Finasteride Use? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

Is it unhealthy for a young man with a normal size prostate to take a drug (finasteride) which shrinks his prostate? It seems as though shrinking an organ that is a healthy size is a bad idea?

Also, since propecia actually causes more testosterone to be released in a man’s body, why is breast enlargement (which seems like too much estrogen), and loss of libido, etc a potential side effect? It seems more logical to me that with increased testosterone, a man would have an increase in libido, stronger erections, more ejaculate, more muscle (smaller breasts), etc.. But the reverse side-effects are listed as being caused by finasteride. Could you explain why?

There is no evidence that finasteride (Propecia) shrinks normal sized prostates, but to the best of my knowledge, the prostate size in young men has not been studied. The reason that testosterone levels rise simply reflects the brilliance of the human body, which recognizes that DHT levels are dropping on Propecia so it compensates with increasing the levels of testosterone. Men need a certain level of male hormones and the human body regulates that level by pushing the testicles to make more or less testosterone to achieve those levels. Testosterone levels rise an average of 15-18% when a person is on Propecia, which does increase the sex drive in some men (about 10% in my experience). That happened to me when I started my Propecia, so I know this from personal experience. One possible explanation for the other effects you asked about might show that finasteride might directly antagonize androgen action in breast tissue. If that was the case, it might indirectly increase the estrogen concentration in the body and cause these effects, but this is strictly a guess on my part as there is no evidence for this. I can not explain the other things you asked about. Sorry.

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December 4, 2006

Woman with Unusual Body and Facial Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I’m a 21 yr old female… since i was about 14-15 i’ve had hair growing in strange places .. for a female..

now at 21 i have a beared… sideburns.. upper lip hair… chest hair.. and ive found 1-2 long black hairs on my shoulders…

i’ve had tests done and everything nothings been found … id really like to know if this treatment could help me .. or if u have any idea what could help me..

its only getting worse.. hope to hear from u soon

Male pattern hair growth on the face and body in women is usually secondary to hormonal imbalance and a thorough evaluation is necessary in most cases. Twenty percent of these patients have a normal hormonal level and may suffer from idiopathic hirsutism (IH). Idiopathic hirsutism is typically due to increased numbers of androgen receptors or increased 5 alpha reductase activities. Patients with IH may respond well to antiandrogen or 5-alpha reductase inhibitors like finasteride. Of course, this group of medications should not be used in women who may become pregnant, because of their effect on the baby’s genital development. You can discuss this issue with your doctor for further diagnosis and possible treatment.

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December 1, 2006

Persistent Forelock of Actor Jude Law – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a 27 year old man with straight jet black hair. I’ve been thinning since I was 21. I still have alot hair left but a really bad receding hairline and a sharp widow’s peak similar to Jude Law in this pic.

What kind of procedure would you recommend for some one like me or Jude Law?

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The photo you linked to (and others I’ve seen online) suggests that Jude Law has a Norwood Class 3 balding problem and he seems to have a strong persistent forelock which will probably last as the corners progressively go back. Some people are fine with this pattern, but if he were my patient, I would suggest that he go on Propecia and stay on it for life. Otherwise, he may suffer the fate of actor Bill Murray or late-night talk host David Letterman, both of which had strong forelocks at one point, though Letterman seems to still maintain his.

As for what I’d suggest for you, I’d have to see your actual hair loss before making a recommendation. You can send photos (please reference this blog posting) and I’ll be able to provide further information.

December 1, 2006

Worth Taking Finasteride for Temple Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a 23 year old male and starting to recede at the temples, and I was wondering if it would be worth it to consider taking finasteride. My hair does not appear to be thinning anywhere else.

Also, my hair loss began when I began taking wellbutrin and adderall. Can these drugs jump-start the hair loss process? Or was this merely a coincidence?

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Norwood 3 Drugs like wellbutrin and adderall can jump start the hair loss process. Finasteride can address any form of hair loss in men that have miniaturization. You need to have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to be sure that there is no genetic patterned hair loss as you are suggesting. Many people will not see their miniaturization with the naked eye, but the high powered microscopic mapping will show it if it is there. When some people talk about their temples, they mean the corner hairline and that can be seen with the Class 3 Norwood patterns. The side temple fringe extending forward from the ear can have a unique form of genetic hair loss called triangular alopecia. I would need to examine you for this condition, but it is unclear what you are referring to. You can you send me pictures here (please reference this blog posting).

December 1, 2006

My Body Rejected Propecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor, im 19 and have had frontal hairloss, some recession since i was about 15 i started early. i tried out Propecia for over a year and prognosis was it didnt work.. actually i had a weird side affect from it, my body would reject it and id have weird sensations in my throat and then my hairloss would accelerate, anyways stuff happens. im just curious since Propecia is the King of hairloss meds and it didnt work, what route should i take from here, is there any hope?
thank you very much for your time and generousity

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I would need to examine you to understand what you are telling me. I would want to map out your hair for miniaturization as well. If you can make it to one of my offices in California, I would be glad to see you. At this point though, I can not really tell you much. The body rejecting finasteride? I’m just not clear on this. Sorry.