is there a product out there to stimulate chest hair growth?
No. If you are under age 30, you might be having delayed chest hair growth which might yet appear. Give me more details, like your age. I assuming that you are male — chest hair on women is not exactly socially acceptable in our society, of course.
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I have heard that shampoos containing sulfate can cause hair loss. Is this true if you have genetic balding? I was also told to buy a shower filter b/c the chlorine from the shower water can cause hair loss. Is there any truth to these statements? I am a 26 y/o male losing his hair and I am taking every precaution to prevent any further hair loss. I appreciate your help Dr. Rassman
I researched the relationships between sulfates, chlorine, and hair loss. There seems to be many opinions, good and bad. It all sounds hokey pokey to me — no science backing up the opinions I read. Who told you to buy a shower filter? I’m just curious to know where your source got their information.
If you believe that you have genetic hair loss, my suggestion, as always, is to:
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i had a procedure done at another clinic yesterday. they advised against washing the recepient (graph) sites for two days. essentially allowing scabs to heal and fall off two weeks later. I am in the public eye(professional speaker) and had to have a thorough celeaning today. So i di wash my scalp today against there written directions. i was able to see the removal of 75% of the one day old scabs and it looked like 8-10 graphs came out as well. I did not sit under the shower i used the cup pouring method and the gently rubbed the scabbs with my figertips..am i alright or did i maybe wash away my follicles unknowingly? again i saw about 8-10 in my scalp dislodged after the shower. did not look like many came out…no bleeding whatsoever by the way. your thoughts?
I always have the hair washed within the first day after surgery and offer that process in my office for our patients. The key to a fast recovery is to get the scabs washed off fast. The longer they stay in, the longer you must be gentle with the wash. In the hands of a professional wash, the wounds will be very clean by the very next day. We also wash it vigorously at the end of the procedure to get all of the crusts off quickly. Unfortunately, many doctors do not focus upon getting you looking spiffy in a day after the surgery.
This patient below came in one day after surgery and the pictures were taken immediately after he had his hair washed. The recipient area has an obvious pink hue against his white skin. His native hair was long enough (I told him not to cut his hair prior to the surgery) to cover the entire transplanted area when he combed it forward. White skin shows pink clearly and had his skin color been tan, the pink hue would not show much or at all. As you zoom into the picture, you can see the transplanted grafts and the hair contained in those grafts clearly without any crusts to increase the detection of the transplant in the bald scalp. People who have native hair with grafts transplanted between the hairs have automatic coverage from the native hair and the transplants can be completely hidden. Within a few days, the only evidence of a transplant will be the beard that appears in what is now the pink area. Click the photos to enlarge.
It’s well documented that minoxidil may cause some initial shedding. I’ve also read this can occasionally occur with Propecia as well. My question is, will this be only an initial occurance or is it possible shedding may occur in cycles?
I’ve been using both Rogaine and Propecia for nearly eight months now. Occasionally I’ll notice greater spurts of hair loss. But in the end, I find it hard to detect any overall thinning.
I’d like to get my hair mapped out for miniaturization. But the most prominant hairloss physician in the Orlando area basically used my $60 office visit for a ten minute sales pitch for a hair transplant.
What you described is, unfortunately, a doctor who has hia/her own agenda in mind, not yours. Hair transplant physicians should bring their expertise to educate you, diagnose you and answer your questions. If, after the visit, you do not feel that you are better informed, then you have learned something important — do not go to that doctor. The sales pitch is disgraceful behavior and as you probably know, I speak strongly against doctors who just try to sell hair transplants rather than meet their patient’s needs.
With regard to your questions on shedding, I believe that once you are on either Propecia or minoxidil for 8 months, any shedding from these medications should not occur. Hair shedding, other than the normal hair cycling that everyone has which impacts about 10% of the hairs on your head at any one time, should not occur unless the hair loss process is progressing more rapidly into a new accelerated phase of hair loss.
Hello Dr. Rasman
I have Norwood class 7 diffuse ‘patterened’ alopecia. I am 26. You have seen my scalp and said I am definitely not a candidate for hair transplant because my donor density is poor and I have ’see through scalp.’ I have been on propecia since then for almost one year. My question is: what is the current success rate of using non-scalp hair for a donor region, such as chest. Do you do these procedures for people with poor donor density? Last question: When will hair cloning become available w/Aderans?
Thank you very much.
Body hair is not the solution you are looking for. I do not expect to see hair cloning for at least 5 years or more. For the moment, if I saw you only once, then you should have a yearly visit with me to follow what is happening to you. There is not much to offer other than Propecia and possibly Avodart (something that I might consider using in your case).
hello
i had the strip procedure done about 3 months ago with 1500 grafts. within the first two weeks many shafts fell out as is normal, however about 80% of them have not. i am unsure if this is normal and if these grafts will eventually begin to grow.thank you for your help and this wonderfully informative website.
If the hair is still there but not growing, it just means that the shedding has not taken place. These hairs are dead, but new ones will arise in the next few months. Those dead hairs will eventually shed.
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I found that my penis seems to have no reaction everyday morning after take Propecia. I’ve been on Propecia for around one and half month. My doctor tels me not to worry and continue to take Propecia. He tells me the side effect is dramatic when taking it at the first month. Is it right???? I am worried that I will become sexual handicap if I keep taking Propecia. What should I do?
A small number of people get both a decreased libido and erectile dysfunction with Propecia. If you are one of these, I would suggest the following:
There are a small number of people who can not take this drug because of sexual dysfunction problems. Are you sure that you do not have a sexual dysfunction problem without Propecia? Don’t blame it on the drug if you have a problem even without it. There are many causes of sexual dysfunction which might be best handled by a good doctor/urologist.
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People have mentioned that they cut Proscar into 1/4’s or 1/5’s…I haven’t had any luck finding a pill cutter that will cut a pill into such fractions – do they exist at all, or are all these people just using a standard pill cutter and trying to slice them up by eye? Seems like it would be very difficult to cut them accurately given the size of the pills…?! Or do multi-way slicers actually exist?
Every pharmacy I have been to has had pill cutters. Just ask them! Many of the drug companies do not want you to cut their pills (Viagra, Cialis, Propecia, Proscar) so they round the pills to make it difficult. Use your creativity and you will solve the problem. I’m sure someone out there has made a multi-split pill cutter, but I’m not familiar with any off the top of my head. Many people (and I even recommend this) will cut Proscar into 1/4 and get 1.25mg of finasteride per dosage, because it is easier to cut that way.
Hello,
I’m 35 years old female. Due to my panic attacks, I was on Zoloft for 3 months and changed to Prozac for 5 days, but it’s was too strong for me and my hair was falling, so I stopped the medication and everything was great because my panic attacks also stopped, but after one month later, all of sudden, last 4 days or so, whenever i touch my hair, big clumps of hair falls out every day and I’m very concerned and worried. What should I do??? PLEASE HELP!!1
You need to see a good doctor who can figure out what is happening to you. Woman’s hair loss is complicated. Prosac or Zoloft can cause hair loss along with many other medications. You need to get evaluated by a good doctor. In New York, make an appointment with Dr. Robert Bernstein.
Once you have a follicular unit transplant (FUT), if the procedure was done with care, there is no question that the results can’t be detected in any casual encounter, or even on close inspection in most circumstances. Yet with that said, there is still a difference between patient results that go beyond the characteristics of (1) hair shaft thickness, (2) hair character, and (3) hair color.
Let’s take a look at a patient who had two hair transplant procedures. The patient is Dr. Jon Perlman, the well-known Beverly Hills plastic surgeon that has been featured on ABC’s television show, Extreme Makeover. After his first session, he had good results that nicely framed his face when his hair was groomed. But on close examination, his hair was somewhat see-through. Dr. Perlman has very fine hair, so the bulk of each hair shaft was lower than average. By undergoing a second procedure, the bulk was doubled and the results shown in the pictures below say a great deal about the change he experienced. He was more-than-satisfied after the first procedure and thrilled after the second one. A good transplant became a great transplant.
Sometimes patients will tell me something like, “I don’t want it too thick and I am afraid if I put too much hair there, it will look unnaturally thick.” In all of the years of doing this surgery, I have never, ever had a patient who told me that I had made the hair too thick in a single session. We have seen many of our patients (initially satisfied, but wanting more hair) receive another transplant and become transformed back in time to their youthful look. By performing NHI’s pioneering dense packing procedure, we can increase the density of hair in a single procedure, often reducing the number of procedures needed to obtain results like the one shown here, but when the hair is super fine (like the example below) then two sessions may be needed. For many people, hair is like money — the more you have, the better it is.
Click the photos to enlarge.
Before and After 2 procedures (2890 grafts total):
For more photos, click “read more” —
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Before (left) and immediately after surgery (right):
After 1st procedure (1529 grafts):
After 2nd procedure (1361 grafts):
