Author: Dr. William Rassman

Hello. I am a 19 year old male. When I was 16, I had a really bad infection on my chest (follicultis) which destroyed a lot of hair on my chest. Now that I am older, I am showing lots hair starting to grow, but because of the infection, its growing in clumps and patches, and looks HORRIBLE. Is there any sort of topical thing I can apply to my chest that can possibly restore these damaged hair follicles? A response would be GREATLY appreciated, sir.

You might try minoxidil. It should grow or stimulate hair growth on the chest. Give it a full 6-8 months before concluding that it is not working and use it twice a day. Chest hair can be transplanted from the scalp. I have done that before, but I would hold off on that until you are older (25 years old minimum), as chest hair is often delayed into the mid-20s and through the early 30s.

Dr Rassman,

I appreciate your reponse regarding sebum question in whether it causes hairloss. You responded by saying it doesnt cause hairloss but it may cause your hair to be stuck to your scalp, then pulled out when combing or brushing, which leads me to 2questions.

1) IF hair is pulled out, would that loss of hair be permenant or would you regrow it once consistant washing resumes?

2) To put simply can hygiene like my case of not washing my scalp consistantly for 4yrs cause permenant hairloss? Like I said, its possible I went up to a month w/o washing with shampoo although the scalp got wet everyday because I did take a shower daily. Are all the factors that contribute to hairloss below the scalp, so even if a scalp was dirty or oily, it wouldnt make a difference?

As I said in my last response to you, not washing your hair will not cause hair loss, even for years.

If hair is pulled out once, twice or just a few times, it will usually regrow. If it is consistent, we call the hair loss traction alopecia (caused by pulling) and it can be permanent.

I remember a patient of mine with a beautiful hair transplant (one time surgery). He was mugged and the gang that mugged him, held him by his hair while they beat him and robbed him. After they finished with him, they yanked out his transplanted hair, laughed and left him with a broken nose, lacerations on the face, torn lip and scalp bleeding. He was taken to my office looking like a train wreck because he refused to go to a hospital Emergency Room. He only cared about the hair that was pulled out and gone. I told him that his hair would come back and sent him on to a hospital emergency room with the ambulance that brought him to my office. Later that year, he told me that all of his hair grew back within 4-6 months.

I am 21 years old and I have about 15 white hairs around my temples… I used to have about 3 or 4 last year but a lot of stress over this past year has spread the white hairs. I have been told that plucking out the white hairs will cause for the white hairs to spread. Is this true? Also, are there any spray on dyes or temporary touch up dyes that are available on the market? Any information would be helpful, thanks!

Plucking hairs produces traction alopecia and may cause permanent loss of the hair if you persist on doing it. Plucking hair in one area will NOT cause hair to be lost or gray in another area. You will almost certainly see more white hairs over the years. I would put my money on genetic causes, not stress.

As for hair dyes, you should ask your local hair stylist.

I had a gash on my head about an inch and a half that required 7 stitches. I received immediate medical attention and I now have a scar on that spot. It is close to my hairline, will hair eventually grow back?

If the ‘gash’ repair produced a scar, then the scar will not grow hair back. If the scalp repair was done scalp to scalp, it may grow hair back. The direction of the scar has a lot to do with what it may look like. Front to back scars near the hairline tend to do worse than side to side scars at the hairline. As you are in Los Angeles, pay me a visit in my LA office and I can tell you that answer after examining your scalp and scar.