Author: Dr. William Rassman

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A Doctor Told Me Trichology Was a Hoax

Dear Dr Rassman,

Hi, i am a 20 year-old Asian male serving my country’s conscription policy and i am suffering from male-pattern balding. My receding hairline is most obvious at my temples. I have realised that this spurt in receding is particularlly so during my service, which i blame the constant wearing of the helmet for. Moreover, my hair is rather greasy. Is there any tips to stunt the hair loss or is there any products recommended to cause hair regrowth?

I have also heard from a medical doctor that such thing as trichology is a medical hoax. Companies masquerading as the solution of hair regrowth lack any proof of medical and scientific evidence for their claims. Is this true? Last but not least, my twin brother is also suffering from a similar fate and i strongly suspect that this is highly hereditary given my father’s current look.Looking forward to your reply. Thanks.

To practice trichology, you do not have to have any medical qualification. If you are interested in learning about hair and helping people with their hair problems, you can focus on this field and get licensed in most states in the same licensing branch as cosmetology. On surfing the net, I found The Institute of Trichologists (based on the UK, but with offices all over the world), which is just one of many such sites pushing for trichologist training.

Hair loss is genetic — wearing a helmet or having greasy hair/scalp will not cause more hair loss. If your twin is identical he will have the same hair loss pattern you have, if your hair loss is genetic.


2008-10-02 15:00:13A Doctor Told Me Trichology Was a Hoax

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A Few Weeks After Switching from Finasteride to Avodart, I Saw Major Shedding

Hello Doctor,

My question is: Ive been taking proscar 2.5 mg for a while with good results, after some time i felt that it wasnt working that good anymore. Regardless, one day i visited a local hair surgeon and after a brief talk about surgery the discussion moved on to hair medications, which he told me that i should switch to avodart (which he’s taking as well) so i did.

The first few weeks was awesome, after that i am experiencing major shedding which continued for the past 2 months (i’ve been on it for 2 1/2 months) so i dont know whether to switch back to finasteride or wait to see what happens with the avodart?

Honestly, you need to ask your doctor. This is a prescription medication that I did not prescribe to you. I can’t tell you whether you should switch between medications. Sorry.

avodart, dutasteride, finasteride, propecia, hairloss, hair loss

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A former patient of mine came in to see me today (photo)

He asked me if I knew how he selected me as his surgeon some 20 years ago, so when I said no, he went on to tell me the answer. The day he came to my office, he recognized two of the most famous producers in Hollywood sitting in my lobby. He knew that I would then be his surgeon, a decision he never forgot. He had two surgeries with me totally 4025 grafts. He send on his four best friends to see me as well. The hair they got from me makes them happy today, 20 years later. I tell my patients that you don’t want to take chances with results, because when happens to you everyone will see for the rest of your life. You don’t want to (1) have it failed to have it redone, (2) to have it done poorly so that others can tell you had a hair transplant, (3) have it done without a future plan so that as the genetic hair loss progresses, you don’t have enough hair left to follow the loss as you get older. His before and surgical pictures are show here as well

 


2019-10-26 11:20:23A former patient of mine came in to see me today (photo)

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A Free Hair Transplant Would Solve My Depression

Dear Dr. Rassman,
I started losing my hair after using hair gel at the age of 15 and now i am 19 years old. i lose hair from the top of my head and from the sides, is there anything that i can do to stop the hairloss. also could you tell me please if i could get a hair transplant from the NHS in england for free, because the hair loss has caused me to become very depressed and a hair transplant would solve my depression.

Hair loss is not from hair gel. If your loss started around the time you started using gel, it’s a coincidence. I doubt England’s National Health Service (NHS) would just hand out hair transplants because you wanted one. Genetic hair loss is found in roughly 50% of all men, so your case is not unusual. To halt the hair loss, you should talk with your doctor about the genetic process and a prescription for Propecia if your doctor believes it is genetic in origin.


2009-06-16 12:11:22A Free Hair Transplant Would Solve My Depression

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A Hair System or SMP, what should I do?

22 y/o here with rapid mpb. i’m already too far gone for a hair transplant to look halfway decent so am looking into some alternatives. i rocked a buzzcut last year and thought it was ok but for my wildly receeded temples so smp has caught my eye but there are also some incredibly good hair systems out here. ideally, i want to not have my hair bother me anymore and have a frame to my face for my 20s! what do you reckon?

There is a huge difference between a hair system which requires annual maintenance, daily maintenance and social adjustments to get what looks like a full head of hair. With good hair systems, the look is a good as if you never lost hair, just like with a good hair transplant. With SMP, however, you have to determine if you want the look of a shaved head of hair with no actual hair. It has the advantage of minimal maintenance once it is done, but it is not hair. The good news is that if you have SMP done, you can always switch to a Hair System or a Hair Transplant. It is a personal choice.


2020-11-05 16:36:39A Hair System or SMP, what should I do?

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A Patient that Followed Hair Transplant Aftercare Instructions

Dear Dr. Rassman:

Thank you for a very comfortable and professional session yesterday. You and your competent staff made my day enjoyable; quite different from my prior experience in the early 1990’s.

I experienced no pain last night before bed at 9 pm and took no medication, until I became a slight bit uncomfortable around 1:30am. I took one Vicodin and one Valium, and slept until 5:30am. This morning I took the Prednisone.

I used one half cup of hydrogen peroxide and one half of cup of water for 5 minutes, as directed. I washed my hair; the donor and recipient areas as directed, and experienced very minimal bleeding in the donor area, a couple of drops in one location in the frontal area, and none in the crown area. There was minimal crusting in the donor area, and it was cleaned with a cue tip. This will be done again tonight. My wife also applied the anti bacteria ointment, as directed. I have not taken any Vicodin today, and am not experiencing any pain at all.

I will wash my hair again before bed as directed.

Best regards

I don’t usually post testimonial style emails like this, but I just received this note from a patient who had 2159 grafts earlier this week. I wanted to show how a patient is following my post-operative instructions for washing and medicating, and isn’t experiencing any pain or heavy scabbing.

The lesson here is for anyone interested in getting a hair transplant — follow your doctor’s aftercare instructions!


2009-03-27 09:23:37A Patient that Followed Hair Transplant Aftercare Instructions