Dr. William Rassman – Page 1764

August 4, 2006

Dr Rassman’s Donor Area – Balding Blog

What was the shape of your donor area and what is the appearance after the surgery and healing? Does it look a little funny with the hair being a lot thinner in the back?

Below is a photo of my donor area. The scar is barely 2mm high and never visible unless you are looking for it, very close, and very carefully. Much of the ‘white’ you see in glare from the room lighting. If you look at the left part of the wound, you will see what the scar looks like without the lighting distortion. Click the image to enlarge.

Oh… by the way, the hand holding my hair up in the back of my head is not mine. My fingernails are not quite as nice.

Rassman_Donor

August 4, 2006

Hair Coloring Agents – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,
I am a 56 year old man and I started having grey hair when I was about 20. I have a full head of hair and little or no receeding. I have tried hair coloring like Just for Men and it burns my scalp and gives me terrible rashes for days. I have tried the Grecian Formula type of treatment with varying degrees of success, but it seems to yellow my hair and I am also concerned whether it is safe or not- I believe it contains lead? Finally, I think (or possibly I am imagining) that I am seeing very slow improvement with Melancor. Is this product safe?

Any advice that you could give me about Melancor and also the Grecian formula type hair treatments would be greatly appreciated.

I am a doctor, not a hair stylist. The answer to your questions would best be obtained from people who use or recommend the products. I have no way to tell you about the safety or ingredients. I did try to look it up, but there are only slanted views available in the public domain. Sorry.

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August 4, 2006

Mood Swings on Propecia – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I would justlike to say that I have also experienced the mood swings while on Propecia. I have been taking it for about 6 months now. I feel more anxious, stressed, and foggy headed. Please research this so more people are aware. Thank you.

It might be difficult to come up with the answer you are looking for. Men do get mood swings without Propecia. I can remember many moody men whose wives report mood problems that may turn out to be caused by many other factors. It is possible the finasteride is a cause of such swings as many other causes can be the etiology. I am not in a position to perform clinical research for this question, although it is a good one.

August 3, 2006

Analyzing the Results of the HairMax Laser Comb – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have added a link to some of the before and after pics of people who have apparently used the lasercomb.

What do you think?

http://www.lasercomb.net/beforeafter.htm

Thanks again Dr! I’m addicted to your site now!!!

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Ah, the HairMax LaserComb by Lexington International. It’s worth noting that lasercomb.net and hairmax.com both go to the exact same site, so the link you sent is the official site of this product. The page you sent (linked above) has 2 groups of photographs, each with multiple before/after sets. The 1st group is apparently patient results, and the 2nd group is of clinical trial macro photos.

So let’s start with the first group of photos — the patient results. I looked carefully at these, and there is a real question in my mind as to what I am seeing. A few of these pictures have longer hair that is possibly responsible for the changes that I can see. I wanted to get an enlarged version of the photos to see the details that would tell me what I was looking at, but they are not available on the site. The first before/after set in the group are a good example to start with. There is a suggestion that the scalp has coloring to it (Dermatch or something similar), but as I can’t enlarge the photos, I can’t try to determine what it might be. Could the difference be lighting or combing style? I don’t know, honestly. Many of the photographs suggest styling differences. In no case was there any significant change in the hair coverage, though. Either the person had plenty of hair when they started or there was not enough hair when they finished treatment.

Moving on to the 2nd group of pictures, the clinical trial macro photos —

We analyzed two sets of the before/after high-powered magnification photos, which also includes the data that they based their research upon. The actual hair counts as they did them are well presented and can be seen by magnifying the circular areas of hair density assessments. Each hair grouping was identified, numbered, and the authors put the actual count on each follicular unit as they made the measurement. They did not separate or identify those hairs that were miniaturized. Because all of the information is present in the material presented on their website, it was easy for us to repeat their measurements and to ascertain if their numbers corresponded to an independent assessment.

Here’s a breakdown of what I found in the macro photos that Hairmax presents on their LaserComb site.

Macro Photo Set 1 – Before picture:

HairMax’s hair count: 107

My hair count: 115

Of these hairs, 12 were miniaturized

Macro Photo Set 1 – After picture:

HairMax’s hair count: 148

My hair count: 128

Of these hairs, 10 were miniaturized

See the image on the LaserComb site

Statistically, the percent difference between the before and after photos (according to my count) is insignificant. Therefore, in the first set of photos the LaserComb made no real difference.

In the second sequential set of photos, I discovered that the after photo actually had less hair than the before photo —

Macro Photo Set 2 – Before picture:

HairMax’s hair count: 147

My hair count: 161

Of these hairs, 12 were miniaturized

Macro Photo Set 2 – After picture:

HairMax’s hair count: 184

My hair count: 159

Of these hairs, 10 were miniaturized

See the image on the LaserComb site

Yes, I actually counted three fewer hairs after the LaserComb was used. My measurements of the data on their official site do not support the findings they offer.

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I am comfortable saying that I am one of the world’s experts in hair densitometry. I can prove this as I am the inventor of this technology and hold the U.S. Patent on the instruments used by HairMax (or Lexington International) to demonstrate their findings (see: USPTO.gov). With that being said, I reviewed our findings and agree with our counts. I believe that HairMax’s photos do not show any objective evidence of hair growth on the first two sets of data and that the numbers that they derived do not correspond to the assessments made by us. Lots of good hype if you’re into it.

August 3, 2006

Why Might I Have an Itchy, Sore Scalp? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am an African American woman and my scalp started itching on and off about 2 months ago mainly in the crown area and the front area, then my scalp became sore for a day or 2, then I noticed, I didnt become bald, but my hair in the crown area and certain parts of the frontal area looks like it broke all the way down and left about 1 to 2 inches of hair in certain spots. This has happened to me about 2 years ago. But the hair always grew back. Can you tell me why this happens and what I can do to prevent it?

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There is no way to tell what is happening with your scalp or hair without a physical examination. Usually if you pull or scratch your hair enough it will break off at its tip. It is sometimes a compulsive act. This condition is known a trichotillomania. But if the root (pardon the pun) of your problem is an itchy scalp you may have a local dermatitis or ring worms (fungal infection) or hundreds of other causes. BaldingBlog is not meant to be a substitute for medical advice or second opinions. You should see a medical doctor if this problem persists.

August 3, 2006

Hair Loss InformationNeurontin and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,
I am female and 45. I was on Neurontin for nerve damage and most of my hair fell out quickly in clumps after being on it for about 3-4mos. I assumed the medication did it but then I had a biopsy and a diagnosis of alopecia due to either Telogen Effluvium or Andrognetic. At this point, one year later, I have very little hair and I am not sure if it is growing back or not. Do you have any thoughts on whether this is an accurate diagnosis and what my chnces are for my hair to grow back? Thanks

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It is difficult to second guess your diagnosis without a proper physical examination. Neurontin may have been a factor in your hair loss. Generally when hair loss occurs due to a trigger (such as stress, hormones, drugs, age, etc) it is impossible to tell if hair will return even if the offending trigger is removed. Hair loss is not an exact science. Scientists still cannot define and pinpoint the exact cause of hair loss.

August 3, 2006

Adderall and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

If adderall does cause hair loss, then what is the explanation behind it? i.g. lack of blood flow to the sclap, increase in stress hormones?

Thank You

This drug is both a neuro-stimulant and an appetite depressant. When it causes hair loss (side effect) the mechanism may be related to the weight loss that follows and could be nutritional. It could also be a direct effect of the drug on hair growth.

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August 3, 2006

FUE vs Hair Multiplication – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Sorry to bother you about my small scar again, but I have been doing a lot of research about Follicular Multiplication, and I have read that it is a lot like FUE, except they do not extract the whole follicle.(So the extracted hair will grow back). I was just wondering if that might be an option for me, becuase I have a very small scar on my scalp, and I would really like to fill it in with a small hair transplant, but I am afraid that the transplant will cause more damage to my hair than the scar is to begin with.

I don’t know what to do, because it is so small, but it bothers me, and I would really just like to get it repaired, but I don’t want to cause any damage to the rest of my hair.

An FUE procedure will not damage your scalp or hair. Hair multiplication is experimental and probably will not work. There are a number of companies like Aderans and Intercytex trying to induce formation of new follicles. Most researchers would accept anything, whether it be follicular neogenesis or rejuvenation or stem cell yields, or anything that will make a new hair, any way it comes. Unfortunately, this technology is probably years away, still.

Why not just fix this small scar if it is so bothering and get it behind you?

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August 3, 2006

Transplanting Hair Into Scar Tissue – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

If you transplant hairs into a scar, is it true that the scar gets worse before it gets better?(does the scar stretch before the scar actually has hair growing)? If so, does it eventually get better?

Disguising a scalp scar with hair transplants is an ideal procedure that is often done at NHI. There are other factors involved such as:

the location of the scar
your hair shaft thickness and the scar thickness
the contrast of your hair color to your skin color to minimize the appearance of the contrast
the character of your hair (wavy, curley, straight)
the length of your hair (very short hair will require more densities than longer length hair)

It is not true that the scar gets worse from a scar transplant and then gets better, nor does it stretch from getting hair placed within it.

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August 2, 2006

Was My Transplant a Failure? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor,

I had my transplant on 6th july this year. I managed to go through good post-operative care for ten days but on the 12th day, I started getting rid of my scabs by gently rubbing my scalp even when it was dry. That was basically because I misunderstood my doctor who actually told me to gently press scalp at times of any itching. So everytime the scab fell off I saw a hair attached to it too and in rare cases there wasn’t a hair to it. I still have many transplanted hair left on my scalp and I am currently 20 days post-op. I have doubts that I have possibly dislodged my grafts and I am afraid my transplant may result in a failure. Incase if I have dislodged some grafts, will this affect the grafts which have not been dislodged. And is the presence of graft noticable on the scalp with a naked eye?

I am well aware that I shouldn’t have done the rubbing on dry scalp but does that mean that I have made a BIG mistake and there is no point in expecting the new hair growth at all?

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I believe you are overreacting. If everything was good for the first 10 days, there is little possibility that you lost any grafts/hair. What you are doing is shedding the hair that was transplanted. It will go into a hair cycle of telogen and then ‘wake-up’ and start growing at about 3-4 months. This is normal and certainly nothing that you’ve said in your email indicates that what you did will have any negative long term impact.