Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Boar Bristle Brush, Water, and Wheatgrass

Dr Rassman, like many others, I keep an eye on my head every day, not liking what I see. I’ve already been on propecia for a couple of yrs, seemingly with no significant benefits. This has lead to explore other options, theories etc. That being said, I would really appreciate your thoughts on 3 things and whether they earn a spot on the list of possible contributors to hair loss. They would obviously be an aside to the most common ones ie genetic, infection related, stress

1. The first is not drinking enough water, because generally speaking there are a number of ramifications for not doing so.

2. Second one is, benefits from using a boar bristle brush with the theory being: “The other excellent feature of a boar bristle brush is the massaging effect. The hard bristles stimulate the scalp, increasing the blood flow which can be very relaxing and soothing. The stimulation of the scalp also spreads the natural oils of the scalp – the sebum through the hair and down the hair shaft. This results in smoother, healthier hair that is soft and manageable. Increasing the blood flow to the scalp has been linked to stimulating hair growth, creating thicker and longer hair as well.”

3. And last, possible benefits from “supplements” such as drinking wheatgrass or matcha based drinks, both of which seemingly have a number of overall health benefits.

Thanks very much in advance for your time and valuable input!

We have said many times that genetic hair loss is not a curable or completely reversible process. It is what you are born with. Drugs such as Propecia (finasteride) work, but in the long run your genes will catch up. I’m not sure what benefits you’re looking for from Propecia. Are you merely looking for regrowth? Or have you seen continued loss at the same pace?

  1. Drinking water and hydration have nothing to do with hair loss.
  2. Massaging the head with brushes do not impact hair loss (either positive or negative). Blood flow is not the issue. Your hair follicles are programmed to die due to their inherent genetic programming tied to a particular number of hair cycles.
  3. I realize supplements are a big thing in our society, but it really does not impact the hair in my opinion.

Sorry for the negativity, but it is how I see it. Everyone is free to try their own remedies in hopes of stumbling on the cure.

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Body Hair Transplants, Revisited

I am interested in transplants using body hair. Does it work and do you do it? Thanks

Chest hairs and pubic hairs can be harvested for hair transplantation. However, you must realize that body hairs are not ideal for transplants because they tend to be shorter than hairs from your scalp, there are not many of them despite the sense that a very hairy chest is hairy by density, and these hairs do not grow in large groupings like scalp hair does. Body hair transplants must be considered experimental at this time, until some well published sciences stand behind them. Most people who ask me questions about body hair transplantation have depleted donor supplies from the scalp. Is this what you are facing? If it is not, body hair transplants would be completely inappropriate. Since you are in Los Angeles, I want to mention that we have a local office to you, if you would like to setup a free consultation. To schedule an appointment, please call 800-NEW-HAIR or visit the Request Additional Info page at the New Hair Institute website.


2005-12-07 07:57:57Body Hair Transplants, Revisited

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Body Hair Transplantation

Two different BaldingBlog readers had two similar questions…

Dr. Rassman,
recently some hair transplant surgeons reported very good results from body hair transplants. Other doctors remain more cautious and say it may yield good results in some, but not all patients. What’s your view on this?

Dr. Rassman,
Would you ever consider using bodyhair for some of the grafts in the scalp? I was wondering because it would seem a good way to increase density results. I am a bit paranoid about using only scalp hair to graft because I would not want to run out before getting decent density. I would think that you could mix in some sideburn or beard hair with regular scalp hair in the crown. What is your take on this. Thanks for your time.

Body hair has generally low densities (contrary to what it looks like on some men) so they do not make for a good donor supply in terms of quantity. A focus upon head hair should be primary. Then if you run out, moving to other body parts may be reasonable, especially as some studies are now appearing that indicate that this type of transplant works (leg and body to head or neck). What is still missing is the yield rates from the leg or body and the growth success from these areas.

As far as using sideburn or beard hair, this is an option in certain circumstances. They should only be considered as a last resort, when all usuable scalp donor hair is used. The other time that sideburn or temple hair can be used is when a patient is going to have a face lift and the sideburn/brow area is going to be excised as the brow is raised up.

Until the research information about body hair transplants is in our hands, it must be looked at as if it were human experimentation. A number of our patients have volunteered for this, so I am clearly interested in following the experience of others who I trust and then possibly get involved myself. I just do not want to sell hype and disappoint anyone.

I have performed one body hair transplant. The transplant was done from the abdomen to the eyebrows and it failed to yield hair in 10 months. I lost contact with the patient so I do not know if the transplant showed delayed growth or reflected some mechanism that caused it to fail. What I believe is that we need better scientific evidence on the following questions:

  1. Does it works reliably 100% of the time?
  2. If #1 is true, is that for all donor sites?
  3. What is the yield of viable grafts?
  4. What are the risks of body scarring / complications?
  5. Is it cost effective?

I would want to see many successful patients before I recommend it routinely for my patients.

While I can perform body hair transplants, I choose not to until they have been proven as a reliable procedure. If I make representations to my patients, I must be able to support what I say. If I embark on body hair transplants now (even on a limited basis), my patients must know the many uncertainties associated with the procedure. Until my comfort level is higher, I will not be doing body hair transplants.

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Body Hair Transplantation

In reply to my post titled Hirsute Men and Head Hair Loss, Duke writes…

That is fascinating but it prompts a few thoughts. Why not use body hair for transplant processes?

More research into the Red Indian genetic heritage us surely required.

And why does the balding gene only impact on the top of the head and not the sides.

This is a fun question. First, why the top of the head. Leonard Shlain’s book, “Sex, Time and Power: How Women’s Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution,” had an interesting insight into the cause of balding. He postulates that our tribal heritage arose when man lived amongst his peers constituting 100-150 people. When looking at that the hunters (the healthy and fit men) in the light of certain qualities, there was a distribution of 4 traits that would pencil out to an 8% rule. He believed as animals learned to be afraid of man, the 8% of the hunters who were bald did not frighten the animals because they did not have the typical framed face of a hairy man, so animals would not run from them. They fulfilled the role of the spotter in the hunting party. Likewise, 8% of men were color blind and could see the animals in the bush missed by normal color visioned men, 8% were left handed and they threw the spear from the left side of the hunting group and 8% were gay so that they would stay home with the women and become more involved in their activities yet retain the strength to protect them. Fathering of children, while the heterosexual man were away hunting, was therefore not a concern.

If you take the 100-150 tribe hypothesis into the Red Indian, it would be relatively easy to see that with a small band of Indians that moved over from the Alaskan Bridge and down the Canadian countryside (they initially migrated to what would become the western American territory) it is possible that selective extermination of a sub-set (based upon the balding trait for example) of Indians over some generations during hard times, might have wiped out that genetic characteristic. This hypothesis for the Red Indian has been made by some, but without the presence of a written language or other documentation of their history, such assumptions might be a dangerous precedence to be proposed by a hair transplant surgeon.

Now, regarding body hair transplantation:

Experimentation is presently occurring on the use of body hair in some transplant centers (they just do not call it experimentation). As body hair grows in singular numbers (not follicular units of more than 1 hair each as in scalp hair) and length is not as long, and the hair cycle is possibly much shorter and the sleep cycle much longer, the use of body hair for transplantation might leave much to be desired.

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Body Hair Transplant — A Case of 100% Failure

I saw a patient earlier this week who had a well known surgeon place hundreds of body hair grafts into a bald area of his scalp about two years ago. This surgeon is one who promotes his body hair transplant procedures quite heavily, particularly on various websites and hair loss forums. No, I won’t name names (do your research and you’ll probably figure it out). There was 100% failure for the body hair to grow. Yes, a complete disaster. As one might expect, this patient was quite angry because he spent $11,000 and had great hope for this procedure, as he was depleted of donor hair from the back of the scalp.

Those looking to use body hair to transplant into their scalps should strongly consider other options if they are available, as this is not the first time something like this has occurred. I’ve read various reports and have heard quite a bit about this level of growth failure before.

Respectfully, the patient has requested that his photos not be published here.


2008-01-23 12:58:22Body Hair Transplant — A Case of 100% Failure

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Body Hair Transplant for Alopecia Sufferers?

Hello Dr. Rasman
I have Norwood class 7 diffuse ‘patterened’ alopecia. I am 26. You have seen my scalp and said I am definitely not a candidate for hair transplant because my donor density is poor and I have ‘see through scalp.’ I have been on propecia since then for almost one year. My question is: what is the current success rate of using non-scalp hair for a donor region, such as chest. Do you do these procedures for people with poor donor density? Last question: When will hair cloning become available w/Aderans?
Thank you very much.

Body hair is not the solution you are looking for. I do not expect to see hair cloning for at least 5 years or more. For the moment, if I saw you only once, then you should have a yearly visit with me to follow what is happening to you. There is not much to offer other than Propecia and possibly Avodart (something that I might consider using in your case).


2006-09-15 12:49:41Body Hair Transplant for Alopecia Sufferers?

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Boost Hair Vitamins

i was just wondering if you heard of a company called “Boost”? They are a vitamin company and a hair care product company. Supposedly there stuff works they say?! Have you heard of them? Their website is worldofhair.com

Can you check out their site and tell me what you think? I basically dont want to start buying there product and realize it’s bogus!!

BoostVitamins are great, and products that can strengthen hair or make it healthier are good… but they have one product in their Boost line that claims to be good for thinning hair, and even says “guaranteed to stop hair fall”. Most over the counter hair products people ask me about the outlandish hair loss treatment claims (like guaranteeing something that can’t be guaranteed), and unfortunately this one is no different. It appears to just be a vitamin infused shampoo. Which vitamins is it infused with? No idea. However, I’d be skeptical of any product that brags about hair growth abilities and tries to sell the idea by saying it contains, “herbs, proteins, aminos and more“. I want to know if “more” includes leprechaun magic…

Does it work? Again, I have no idea. But when a company uses smooth sounding marketing lingo and doesn’t provide any real substance, it doesn’t fill me with any trust in the products. Don’t expect it to regrow hair, but if you do try it I’d be curious to read your review. The FDA takes a strong position when a company promotes a benefit and can not prove it. They can be told to stop selling the product.

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Body Size of Patients Used in FDA Trials on Finasteride?

Hi there,
Can I just say that you have a great site! I’m a regular reader, and think that I have a question for you that may be interesting. I’ve searched through your archives and haven’t found a similar question, but if I have missed it, please accept my apologies.

Recently I have had a look through the FDA trial reports on finasteride, but cannot find any information on the body sizes and characteristics of the patients used in the study. Are such data available? (Histograms, Mean/median, SD, etc).

Whilst I am assuming that the effective dose of finasteride for treating MPB is related to body size, and that the occurrence of side effects increases with relative dose, could there be a case for smaller dosages being suitable for people smaller than the people used in the FDA study – Asians and orientals for example? As this blog is international, I feel that we “vertically challenged” of the rest of the world need to know! 🙂

I passed your question to Merck and I just got an answer. Essentially, the only thing that was studied was the average dose that is effective and it was not related to a person’s weight. Body size was not studied.


2007-05-10 14:32:19Body Size of Patients Used in FDA Trials on Finasteride?

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Body Hair Transplants

Can you use body hair (like from my back to graft into my head??) All I have left is straight black hair. The brown reddish wavey hair is elsewhere on my body. What about if I want my once wavy hair back?

Does one consider using grafts from the other body areas such as pubic area hair?? As a former Physiology major and Chemist, this in theory seems possible considering the technology being used at the moment yes? Thanks — I’ve many questions, appreciate your bearing with me.

Hair can be transplanted from most parts of the body to other parts of the body. Some of the best work in this area was done by a Dr. Kim from Korea, who transplanted head hair to his leg as part of his PhD project where he tried to get more than one hair from one hair. He succeeded to transplant these hairs to his leg but failed to get more than an one for one yield.

Today, there is much human experimentation in moving hair from legs, abdomen, back, chest and beard to the scalp. It appears to work, but the question is one of value. Is the hair valuable enough to achieve the goals of the patient. How long will it last? How long will it take to grow? What are the growth cycles of these hairs when moved to the scalp or eyebrows? There are many unanswered questions and some answers are appearing to show that these types of transplants work.

All of these body hair transplants are done with the FUE technique. There is not a mystery as to how to do this, but the problems I see are more in the many unknowns for routine clinical use.

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Body is Very Hairy, Head is Very Bald

Most of my hair on the top is gone except for some baby fuzz, and very thin on the sides and back. Will I see benefit from the use of minoxidil or propecia?

PS: my body is very hairy (face, chest, back, etc) will taking any of these medications increase body hair?

Since I hardly have any donor hair on my head, is body hair transplant a possibility? Where can I get good information on this subject?

Thanks for your assistance.

Best regards

MonkeyThe medications of topical minoxidil or systemic Propecia (finasteride 1mg) should not cause more hair to appear on your already hairy body. If you have a full Norwood Class 6 or 7 balding pattern, then chances are that these medications may not help. The marginal edges are where such patterns may see benefit, but you need to get a good doctor to help. Body hair transplants are not the solution (see Body Hair Transplantation for more). To see a Class 7 patient who had enough donor hair to cover his balding head, see Is Hair Transplantation too Risky for Older Men? Each person has different hair characteristics and densities, so you need to be evaluated to find out where you stand.