Dr. William Rassman – Page 1776

July 13, 2006

Rapid Growth in Frontal Area, Slow Growth in Crown After Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a 1565 follicular unit transplant 3.5 months ago and I seem to be experiancing a more rapid pace of growth on my frontal hairline compared to that of the growth on my crown. I am curious to know weather of not this is common and if the number of hairs within each follicular unit impacts the rate of growth? The doctor who operated on me put 3 and 4 hair follicular units on the crown and 1 and 2 hair units in the frontal region.

Almost every patient will experience varied rates of growth by where in the scalp you are looking. I have seen the crown exceed the frontal growth rates and visa versa. You must have patience. Generally you can expect newly transplanted hair to grow within 8 months. You seem to have a relatively early growth and I suspect the transplanted crown area to catchup.

July 13, 2006

Rapid Weight Loss and Gain Caused Female Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female) I have been on Topamax 200mg twice a day for over a year now, I have also been taking Ritalin 20mg twice a day for the same lenght of time, and taking Xanax 2mg three times a day and Baclofen 20mg three times a day for about six months. I have also had a problem with anorexia and Bulimia for quite a number of years now and been up and down on my weight from about 72 pounds to around 145 to being stable at around 90 pounds for quite awhile now. I am a strick vegetarian and am now taking 65mg of iron twice a day and drinking a protien drink every morning. But for about the last four months my hair has been falling out all over the place, it falls out when I shower,in my sleep, when I run my fingers through it, blow dry it, brush it, on my clothes, ect..I am taking all the vitimans I can think to take but it just keeps falling out…and I had stopped taking my medications to see if that was the problem but it hasn’t helped. Could you please advise any helpful information on what I can do to stop the hair loss and get it to regrow, your help would be greatly appreciated.

You have “been there and done that” with things that are known to cause hair loss, including the medications, severe changes in diet with weight loss, and dietary problems that could lead to a variety of vitamin deficiencies (too many to list here). These stem from your weight problems. Looking over your list, I would not know where to start. I think that you should find a good doctor that you trust and can form a bond with, and then tackle your hair loss problem as a matter of focused attention. This is not something for internet medicine. I wish I could offer more, but I’m limited to what I can do through text on a screen.

July 13, 2006

Why Am I Losing Hair At Only 17? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am a 17-year-old male that is experiencing moderate hairloss. I’ve had this problem since I was a pre-teen have gone throughout highschool with this embarrassing feature, as it has increasingly gotten more and more noticeable. The problem is I don’t know why or how this happen as the hair loss take on no typical male pattern hair loss pattern and is thin throughout my entire scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and a dermatologist and all they did was prescribe rogaine and propecia. I’ve tried rogaine for a series of months with no results and propecia’s outside of my budget. Can you please give any clue as to why this is happening to me at such a young age and how i can treat it. I have no medical conditions.

thankyou for your time.

There are many causes of thinning. These can include changes in your hair character itself, something that happens as a person matures. I have seen young men with a coarse hair character change to a finer hair. If this is your situation, then this is the new you. Of course, the first thing you must do is get a diagnosis. Genetic balding, the most common cause of hair loss in men, can easily be diagnosed with a process I call mapping our your hair for miniaturization (which most regular readers know that I mention quite a bit). Even without patterns of hair loss, miniaturization does occur in a variety of medical conditions. I never tell people to go at this blindly. Get your diagnosis first, then go from there figuring out how you might deal with the problem, that is, if there is really a problem there.

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July 12, 2006

I Don’t Have The Kind of Money to Spend on Treatments – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello!
I recently had a free consolt at the Hair Club for Women to discuss options for my thinning hair. I was disappointed with the options I was left with, which were: use the hair care products their company sells for $2400, or do nothing and continue losing hair. Since I have nowhere near that kind of money to spend, I was unable to purchase their product. Now I am left trying to find another option. They talked to me about taking vitamins, but I was never told what kind would be helpful. I am only 25 years old and it makes to sick to think that I may be close to blad by the time I’m 40. I have been losing hair for the past 10 years, and I have probably only half the hair I had as a child. Is there anything you can suggest for me to take or do that will help regrow my hair, or at least stop from further hair loss, that will not drain my bank account?

I would suggest that you should be evaluated by a medical doctor to find any medical causes of your hair loss. Once you have been evaluated for any treatable medical causes of hair loss, you may want to be evaluated by a hair transplant surgeon or dermatologist that can map your scalp hair for hair loss patterns that may shed more light into the cause and the prospect of future hair loss. I agree that $2400 is a significant amount of money to spend on hair loss, but consumers spend billions of dollars on hair loss products each year. Vitamins, special shampoos, and hair loss supplements all promise hair growth, but it is a buyer beware market. Good luck.

July 12, 2006

I Stopped Propecia for a Month, Then Restarted — It’s Not Working the Same! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am only 18 but I have been noticing hair falling out since I was little, and it only became more pronounced a couple of years ago. Last year, I began taking Propecia and I was on it for about four months. It was so expensive that I stopped for one month but decided that I really needed to continue with it. I have now been back on it again for just over a month, but I’m still noticing a large number of hairs falling out daily. After stopping treatment for a month, will I never experience the previous effects of Propecia, or do I just need to be patient for it to start working again?

Other men, older and wiser than you, have come to me almost in tears about the same experience they had when they stopped using Propecia and experienced an accerated hair loss. Usually, they stopped for longer than a month. In theory, the drug should remain in the hair follicles to some level up to a month or so, but the blood levels disappear in a day. It is unfortunate, but if you are losing hair from stopping the drug, your hair loss may be permanant, though it is possible that much of it may reverse because of maintained tissue levels. It is probable that some hair may come back if you go back on the Propecia immediately to replenish the tissue levels of the drug in the hair follicles. On the brighter side, Propecia may prevent further hair loss.

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July 12, 2006

I’ve Experienced Severe Diffuse Thinning in Just 4 Months – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a 22 year old who has experience fairly severe diffuse thinning over a period of just four months. I first noticed the problem in March eventually going to see my doctor in April. He said he could see nothing wrong with my hair but noted that I have two patches of Alopecia Areata and some form of dermatitis on my scalp. My hair continued to thin and in June visited a dermatologist who was similarly distracted by the patches of alopecia and inflamed scalp and also said he could see no sign of MPB. However I feel my hair has continued to thin rapidly since then so I have booked another dermatologists appointment for two weeks on Wednesday but fear I will have little hair left by then.

Is four months considered rapid progression?
I have had an extremely stressful year so far but feel I can rule out T.E because I read you can not have A.A in conjunction with it.
My diet is admittedly poor but a blood test in April turned out to be fine.

Do you have any thoughts?

Thanks

I am assuming that you are a male. Men with genetic hair loss do, at times, develop alopecia areata. There is no connection between the two. With that said, if your hair thinning is diffuse and reflective of some other form of hair loss like diffuse telogen effluvium or diffuse unpatterned alopecia, you should have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have an early subtle patterned genetic hair loss. A hair pull test would also have value for you. Has your doctor done both of these things? Have you had blood tests for endocrine abnormalities such a thyroid disease? The stress you are having can accelerate genetic hair loss or diffuse unpatterned alopecia. If you get the idea, you need a doctor to make the differential diagnosis here.

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July 12, 2006

Propecia and Working Out – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi.

I’m 35 and loosing hair. It’s likely that Propecia could be one good solution. However, from what I understand Propecia blocks DHT by limiting the creation of testosterone which is why it can stop balding process.

Now, I am working out seriously 4 times a week and trying to add on muscle. Muscle growth is due to testoterone. My question: how can my work out be still beneficial in terms of muscle growth if the testosterone is lowered because of use of Proprecia.

Thanks for your time.

Propecia does not decrease testosterone. It decreases the byproduct of testosterone known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is what is implicated in male pattern hair loss. Taking Propecia increases testosterone by about 15% and benefit (although not proven) muscle building. Propecia can also apparently be used to mask muscle enhancers. You may recall from the recent Olympic games the controversy surrounding Propecia — Olympic Athlete Banned from Competition for Propecia Use.

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July 12, 2006

Rogaine After Hair Transplant in Woman – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Thank you for your forum…. it is so helpful. My question is I had a HT of 1480 units about 2 weeks ago. How long should I wait to start using Rogaine again? As a female can I use any oral medication to help maintain the hair I have?

You can start using topical Rogaine after about 1 to 2 weeks after a hair transplant, and it may be a good idea to use it at least for the first 4-5 months after surgery. To date there have been no FDA-approved oral medications available for female hair loss. Propecia is not recommended for women.

July 12, 2006

Saw Palmetto for Women? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

What course of action do you recommend for women with thinning hair? I have low thyroid and take medication for this condition (.75 mg levoxyl)

Should women take Saw Palmetto, or any other product that reduces production of DHT? I am nearing menopause and my estrogen levels are reading very low: >.32. Would HRT help?

Does a completely bald father and mother with thinning hair compound a child proclivity toward hair loss in middle age in women?

My hair loss started 10 years ago mainly in the forhead area and temples. It has now progressed into a triangular pattern stretching toward the back of the head. Luckily I had a thick head of hair to begin with or I’d be wearing a wig by now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You should discuss these issues with your regular doctor — especially with respect to HRT. HRT may help with your low estrogen levels and overall well being. However, there are breast and cervical cancer issues that your doctor needs to discuss with you before starting HRT.

Saw Palmetto has been implicated with DHT reduction (correlations not based upon good clinical science) however if your hair loss is not DHT related it would not work. Women rarely have such a connection. You should be evaluated by a good specialist who can correctly diagnose the cause of your hair loss. Please note that just because there is a diagnosis, it does not mean there may be a solution, as is the case in many women with genetic hair loss.

July 12, 2006

Using Straight Razor to Shave Head Stimulates Growth? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My hair has been thinning since I was about 18. But it seems to have accelerated in the last year or so since i grew my hair long. (I am now 23) I decided to shave my head, and boy did that reaffirm my receding hairline. When it grew back it looked a little bit odd to me. My left side had no border; it has basically a 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch patch of thin hairs (with more density towards the top) with hugh gaps between them from my “peak” in front to the side areas. On my right side it is thinning but there is a border and it is a lot thicker and less receding. There is a major difference. How many years could have stress and growing it long accelereated my hair loss, if what I described is normal. Secondly, I used a straight razor to shave my head thinking that would stimulate hair growth, eventhough i was told about it scarring and or killing the follicles.

I do not believe using a straight razor will stimulate hair growth. If that is true, I would be in the hair shaving business!

You make an interesting observation of being able to see the pattern of hair loss with the short shaved head. What you are seeing is the miniaturized hair, which has less bulk than normal hair. This is fairly difficult to see in patients with average men’s hair lengths. That is why I often write about mapping your scalp for miniaturization with the densitometer that we routinely use at New Hair Institute. Alternatively, if you can not find a doctor able or willing to map your head for miniaturization, you can get a very short hair cut and see with the eye where the miniaturization is.