Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Anemic Teen Girl Losing Hair

i am an 18 year old girl and for about 6 months my hair has been falling out-particularly in the shower. it used to be fairly thick and now has become so much thinner. The doctors have said i am anemic- with very low ferritin in my blood. i am on iron pills and have been for two months. how long should it take to restore these levels and thus stop my hair loss? i have no problems with thyroid and no genetic history of premature balding if balding at all. what else could you suggest and is it worth buying any hair loss products? please help!

Iron deficiency in one of the medical conditions that could lead to hair loss or could accelerate hair loss due to other causes. Its treatment is not always easy and it may take a few months. You need to be checked with blood work periodically to assure that you are heading in the right direction with your treatment. When the iron deficiency is treated, your lost hair may re-grow within a few months.


2007-04-02 11:33:29Anemic Teen Girl Losing Hair

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Analyzing the Results of the HairMax Laser Comb

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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Announcing Follicular Unit Extraction Enhanced!

 

We have made a significant breakthrough in the way to perform Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and we have put a substantial effort into giving our readership some practical basis to understand how to evaluate the significance of our breakthrough technology and the FUE process in general. There have been recent claims about FUE that I frankly can’t believe which are now appearing on various websites around the world. Considering that I literally pioneered the FUE field, I believe that I am an authority worth listening to. I have not spoken up about this before, but there is no time like the present to address my concerns publicly.

Please see our latest FUE writings at newhair.com/fue.

Also, we just announced a huge fee discount on our FUE breakthrough, which we’re calling FUE2 — or Follicular Unit Extraction Enhanced. See newhair.com/fue2 for more on that.

 

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Anagen Hairs Early in Growth

If you count the number of hairs in this follicular unit, you can see 4 hairs exiting at the skin edge, but the anagen hair just starting to grow has not reached the skin yet so there are at least 5 hairs in this follicular unit. This is why it is so important to use a high powered microscope to evaluate the ‘grafts’ when a hair transplant is done. We don’t want to waste any hairs, regardless of how small they appear because these tiny hairs will eventually grow up and be a full ‘terminal hairs’.


2020-12-14 16:34:31Anagen Hairs Early in Growth

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Angle of Hair Growth (Photo)

The angle of the hair growth is determined by the surgeon who creates the recipient sites. The direction of the recipient sites, which is made with a needle, has an angle that will eventually dictate the final hair growth direction. I can’t tell from these photos the direction apart from the curl to your hair. I would have to look closely at the angle that the hair exits the skin to determine if the angle is correct. I have seen many hair surgeons create the hairline like the wheels of a bicycle spoke, circular from a mid-point in the center of the head. When it is done this way and the hair is straight, it is impossible to make it normal looking.

 


2018-09-14 09:44:32Angle of Hair Growth (Photo)

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Another failed FUE performed by a technician with photo

The picture says it all. Yes, it was a bargain but at what cost? This patient had over 3000 FUE grafts permanently removed from his donor area (possibly had only 6000-7000 total for all hair transplants in his lifetime), plus he is now scarred and he will have to go after another transplant just to look normal. When that is done, he will be depleted in his donor area and probably be bald there. Switching balding from the top of the head to the back of the head is not bargain.


2020-07-27 15:19:07Another failed FUE performed by a technician with photo

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Another article on microneedling and minoxidil used in combination as a good treatment for early hair loss

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29028377

2017 Oct 13. doi: 10.1080/14764172.2017.1376094. [Epub ahead of print]

Randomized trial of electrodynamic microneedle combined with 5% minoxidil topical solution for the treatment of Chinese male Androgenetic alopecia.

Bao L1, Gong L1, Guo M1, Liu T1, Shi A1, Zong H2, Xu X1, Chen H1, Gao X1, Li Y1Abstract

BACKGROUND:

In treating androgenetic alopecia, 5% minoxidil is a commonly used topical drug. By using electrodynamic microneedle at the same time may increase absorption of minoxidil and further stimulate hair growth.

OBJECTIVE:

A 24-week, randomized, evaluator blinded, comparative study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of treating Chinese male androgenetic alopecia using microneedle combined with 5% minoxidil topical solution.

METHODS:

Randomized subjects received topical 5% minoxidil (group 1, n = 20), local electrodynamic microneedle treatments (group 2, n = 20), or local electrodynamic microneedle treatments plus topical 5% minoxidil (group 3, n = 20). A total of 12 microneedle treatments were performed every 2 weeks with 2ml 5% minoxidil delivery in group 3 during each microneedle treatment. Patient receiving topical 5% minoxidil applied 1 ml of the solution twice daily over the course of the study. A total of 60 Chinese male subjects with Norwood-Hamilton type III-VI androgenetic alopecia were treated.

RESULTS:

The mean improvement in total hair density from baseline to 24 weeks was 18.8/cm2 in group 1, 23.4/cm2 in group 2, and 38.3/cm2 in group 3. The hair growth in the 3 groups was significantly different (P = 0.002), but there were no significant differences in toxicity found between the 3 groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

Treatment with microneedle plus topical 5% minoxidil was associated with the best hair growth.

KEYWORDS:

Androgenetic alopecia; Chinese; microneedle; minoxidil


2019-10-26 07:11:33Another article on microneedling and minoxidil used in combination as a good treatment for early hair loss

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Another Hair Loss Following Pregnancy

I have experenced hair loss after each one of my pregnecies. I have three kids,while I was pregnant my hair was fine. I have seeked medical advise, I was told stop having kids. Can you tell me if hair loss after pegnancy will ever correct itself, in other words will it grow back?

Some doctor’s amaze me with ridiculous comments like, “Stop having kids”. Hair loss with pregnancy is common and most women who experience it, like you, will see the process reverse within the first year after birth of the child. Have as many kids as you want. The hair loss, unfortulately, may recur with each pregnancy on a non-permanent basis, unless you have genetic female balding.

I answered a similar question about a week ago, found here.