Author: Dr. William Rassman

A doctor offered me 8,000 FUE grafts in one session, about 12 hours of surgery. Is this reasonable and safe?

There are many problems with that large number of grafts for a hair transplant, including:

1. The length of the surgery
2. The amount of time the grafts are out of the body and
3. The access to your head with the team placing the grafts.
4. Can the donor area support 8,000 FUE grafts without becoming bald?

I don’t believe that I ever met a patient who can support 8,000 FUE grafts. If you choose that route, you will have a see-through, possibly bald back of the head as most of the hair would have been removed there. You should ask to meet other patients who had the same number of grafts done in one session and to see the results, not only in the donor area but also in the recipient area as well. You might find that unless your density is more than twice the density of the average Caucasian, this will not be a safe or a productive procedure in terms of a complication-free hair transplant after the surgery.

I am a 26 year old women with what my doctor called Alopecia Areata and it has left me with many holes on my head. He said it may go away on its own, or it may last years. I want to know if a hair transplant will solve my problem.

Hair Transplants are contraindicated in alopecia areata because any hair that is put into the bare areas, may get rejected by the disease and even cause further hair loss. You can, of course, wear a wig as so many women do with this condition. The winner of the Miss Delaware contest had Alopecia Areata and you can see how she managed her hair HERE and: HERE

Bald is definitely beautiful.

So I saw one of the best docs in the business a couple of years ago. I’m probably a NW2-ish but I have temple recession. 2 years ago my hair was in way better shape. Now, this past summer I basically lost my temple points and have some diffuse thinning up top. So much more apparent on one side of my head though, and as a result I can’t part my hair effectively on that side. I remember at the time of my consult, this doc kept saying how I was the perfect candidate because I already have good hair. So if I wanted to go aggressive, I could because he thought I had a low chance of losing more hair. He knew my family history (my dad had decent hair into his 30s but then he kept losing it and he’s now a NW7). Looking back on my consult, I’m really disappointed that the doctor was so confident about my hair. It’s not realistic. It felt like he just wanted more money. I ended up not getting the transplant.

Hair loss is ALWAYS progressive by its nature. Your doctor either didn’t know what he was talking about or was out to sell you his services at your expense (wanted to get into your wallet).

The hairline advancement surgery is limited by the tightness of your scalp and usually an inch is the limit for most people; however, a hairline lowering hair transplant does not have that limitation (see here: https://newhair.com/female-hairline-lowering/). Also, note that the corners in many of these women were receded, and when this happens, a hairline advancement surgery can’t address this like a hair transplant lowering surgery.

Many doctors are afraid of prescribing it because patients who might claim that they are sexually impacted might sue them. I am more concerned about patient welfare and not concerned about law suits. I also have the patient sign a waiver for the use of finasteride which discusses all known and claimed side effects, prior to my prescribing the drug.

In my material, I give to EVERY patient who gets a prescription, material that contains all of the risks of finasteride, from mental illness claims to sexual side effect claims. I NEVER push finasteride on patients. I do not own Merck stock. I always do what is best for the patient in conjunction with a consultation understanding their goals and when I make recommendations, whatever they be, I always have a consultation with the patient and NEVER prescribe finasteride over the internet not understanding the people I consult with. I am not sure why you are angry, but if you experienced side effects and did not educate yourself, then you are to blame if you had problems with the drug. If you look on Baldingblog.com and search finasteride, you will see article and information galore on both the benefit and the liabilities of this drug.

Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia is an autoimmune disease found most frequently in women (See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontal_fibrosing_alopecia)

Another interesting article on this subject discusses medications that may cause it and it can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30259544.