Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Does Body Hair Know When It Has Been Cut Short?

Hey Doctor R,
I was just wondering about growth cycles of hair. In terms of non-scalp hair, or body hair, which tends to have a shorter growth phase – what happens here? Like do the genes which navigate hair growth just shut off after the hair reaches a particular length? Like I began to get curious about this when I trimmed some body hair – but did not shave it completely off. After, it is trimmed the hair begins to grow again and stops at the same length.

How does the hair “know” its been cut? Do the genes controlling hair growth become active again when body hair is trimmed or shaved? I know this is kind of a weird question, but I thought you may be able to provide me with some kind of explanation. Thank you!’

Body hair grows to a certain length and also has a different growth / rest cycle than scalp hair. Scalp hair has a longer growth cycle, which is why you can have your scalp hair grow very long. When it is cut short, the impact of gravity is lessened, and its character is more evident. People with crew cuts have a bristly feel of the scalp, but when the hair is very long, its weight impacts they way it looks. The characteristics of the hair is genetic.

Hair is not sentimental, does not feel pain and holds no grudge when it is cut short.

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Does being poor mean I can’t get good hair treatments?

Just say that a cure was found, I am 100000000% sure that you’ll be only able to get it done in a professional environment (like PRP), also unless its patent drops it’ll be ridiculiously expensive (I think at least 300 bucks a month at best). Richer people will be cured, having hair will be a financial statement. Us, the middle class-lower class balders will be received even worse by the population.

AS PRP doesn’t work predictably, you are not losing out. Microneedling with minoxidil works as good if not better than PRP and it is far less expensive, see here: https://baldingblog.com/go-looking-prp-used-hair-transplant-good-thing/


2021-05-25 11:31:32Does being poor mean I can’t get good hair treatments?

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Does Blood Flow Cause Hair Loss?

So just a quick question Parents both have full heads of hair and only 1 great grandfather died bald. I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle and am probably even on the obese side. Does any of this have an effect on hair? I’ve been for a couple months now and it wasn’t until today that it finally started to affect my hairline. Fullness is basically gone. Will working out help?

The scalp has a very rich blood flow. Hair loss is not caused by inadequate blood flow. Hair loss is genetic. As the hair is lost, the body diverts the blood away from the hair as the hair volume reduces. We know this because when we put hair transplants into a bald area that had reduced its blood supply, the blood supply returns proportional to the hair we put back in.


2020-01-28 07:57:37Does Blood Flow Cause Hair Loss?

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Does Bulk Measurement Depend on Hair Length?

A question about the hair bulk measurement tool – surely it’s dependent on the person measuring having exactly the same length hair every time a measurement is taken otherwise it’s going to produce inaccurate results?

I mean, great if you know your hairdresser can cut your hair the same length perfectly each time you want to do a measurement but realistically that’s not going to happen unless you use clippers which most of us don’t want to do.

Or does it not work this way? Am I missing something?

If not, then I’d think that a camera would be a better way of judging hair loss.

For the bulk analysis, you need to have an adequate length of hair (maybe 2 inches in length) so that the hairs can be bundled up and the bulk can be measured. Any adequate hair length will work the same, even if it is 3 feet long, because the measurement is made at about one to one and a half inches from the scalp. Think of a person bundling up a long pony tail. If you have more hair, the bulk of the pony tail will be much greater. As the measurement is limited to a point about one inch from the scalp, the longer hair will not impact the measurement.

We take a baseline measurement at the same coordinates of the scalp each and every time you return (12 months). If you cut your hair with clippers with a buzzcut style, you cannot do a bulk measurement. If you have gel or other products on your hair it will give a higher bulk reading, so we ask that there are no hair products on your hair when you come in for the analysis.

If your hair is very short, then we can always use a miniaturization study, looking at hair diameters at a microscopic level. Bulk measurement is doing it at a macroscopic level. These are all our attempts to measure an objective (not subjective) value of your hair status. The subjective measurement can be a simple before after picture of your head/face. The picture can be highly variable depending on lighting and angles. At NHI, we try to keep the angles and the lighting and the camera model, lenses, aperture, and external flash location as constant as possible.

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Does Body Hair Relate to MPB?

Hi Doc!

Does male body hair, like chest hair and/or back hair, have anything in common with MPB? In other words, have you ever seen a bald/balding person without this kind of male body hair? (assuming he is not shaved)

I also wonder if a maturing hairline should be as thick as a juvenile hairline, or if it is common that it is a little bit thinner at the very front of the hairline.

I would really appreciate your expertise on these matters.

It seems at times that the bald men have bodies covered in hair, somewhat like a gorilla, but it is simply not the case. There is no connection between body hair and the loss of head hair, except to state that those with lots of body hair probably have good testosterone production.

The maturing hairline is as thick as the juvenile hairline, as long as there is no genetic hair loss in the actual hairline (no miniaturization). Sometimes, the mature hairline is thinner (at least it seems that way to me as I look at my mature hairline), but that is just a feeling. No facts on that subject to back up my ‘feelings’.


2007-01-29 13:49:41Does Body Hair Relate to MPB?

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Does Closing a Strip Scar Cause the Crown to Be More Visible?

Does the crown stretch when closing a FUT scar?

Hi there – First off I would just like to thank you for providing this excellent resource. I just have two short questions related to FUT scars:

1) Firstly, I know you have answered this in the past with hairlines, however since the crown is within inches of the incision site above the prominent bone, does it slightly move/stretch downwards towards the incision site once the scar is closed?. For example… I have some thinning in my crown but im lucky in the fact that it doesnt dip low at the back so its not very visible unless looking from above my head. If I had a strip procedure would this thinning crown be more visible from the back because the skin has been pulled down to close the strip wound?

2) Secondly, I believe avoiding strenuous exercise is recommended for about a month after the procedure to avoid scar widening, but is general head tilting and looking downwards in the weeks after surgery ok in terms of putting stress on the scar?

I would be most grateful for any response you have for the above questions. Kind regards.

Strip scars placed in the true donor area in the back of the head should not impact the location or the size of the crown area. Strip surgery takes up laxity that is there at the time of the surgery. Bending your head should also not impact the crown area.

I have never been sure why we tell the patients not to lift heavy weights. If there is a pull from the muscles, it comes from the trapezius muscle, which inserts below the scar at the base of the skull. I still tell the patients not to lift heavy objects, but I am not certain there is any value to the advice.

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Does DHT Type I Cause Hair Loss?

Finasteride lowers type II DHT while Avodart lowers both type I and II. Does the amount of type I DHT have any effect on hair or it is only type II that may cause hair loss?

Thanks.

We answered this years back here. Short answer — it’s been proven that type II is linked to MPB, but type I hasn’t been linked.

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Does Cutting a Month of Proscar Really Lose Effectiveness?

Does cutting Proscar a month’s in advance really reduce its effectiveness?

Cutting a month of Proscar pills (5mg finasteride) in advance could reduce the effectiveness like any pill would if exposed to air and humidity for a prolonged period of time. I don’t know what the exact point is that the medication starts to degrade, but that’s why I suggest splitting one pill at a time. The protective coating on the outside is what extends the life of the medication, and a cut pill obviously loses some of that.


2010-10-05 08:51:18Does Cutting a Month of Proscar Really Lose Effectiveness?

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Is it accurate to say that Donald Trump is significantly bald and relies on an expensive wig?

The evidence I’ve compiled indicates that Donald Trump exhibits a Norwood Class 5-7 balding pattern (the Class 7 pattern is depicted below). It appears that he underwent multiple surgeries, leading to the relocation of much of his remaining hair to conceal the frontal and top areas, albeit with limited success. Since Propecia was not available when he underwent scalp reduction surgery in the early 1990s, most men undergoing such procedures or hair transplants before 1997, when Propecia first came to the US market, experienced accelerated hair loss progression. Unfortunately for Mr. Trump, this would likely result in the development of an advanced pattern, such as the Class 7 pattern illustrated in the following graphic.
“New York City-based cosmetic surgeon Gary Linkov believes that the politician may have undergone five separate hair-transplant surgeries” (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-five-hair-transplants-gary-linkov-1832991). I know that Donald Trump received Scalp Reduction Surgery sometime in the early 1990s when this barbaric surgery was a standard treatment for hair loss found in the top and crown of the head. I know its barbaric nature because I had three of these procedures over 90 days. By its very nature, Scalp Reduction Surgery attempts to surgically remove the bald area, stretching and thinning the donor area (the rim of hair around the head). Add to that the claim by Dr. Linkov that he believes that Trump had 5 hair transplant surgeries, likely in 1990 (before FUE was invented), suggests that most of his residual native hair (that should reflect a rim of thick hair going around the back and sides of the head) was moved into the balding area, thereby depleting his natural rim of hair from his balding pattern.

Photos of Trump boarding Air Force One reveal that the back of his head doesn’t seem to have much hair, suggesting minimal hair in that area where he should have had a strong rim of hair 3 inches high. Additionally, recent footage this week shows exposure of his frontal hairline, a characteristic often associated with wigs (hair systems). It’s common for such hair systems to be secured using glues, weaves, and hair clips. Considering the cumulative evidence of (1) the lack of hair at the back, (2) the exposed scalp in the front as what appears to be the lifting of his hair system from environmental factors like wind, and (3) the use of clips behind the ears used to secure a hair system in place, (4) the effect of multiple hair transplants on a Class 5-7 patterned balding man’s rim of hair, and the difference in color of the side hair (gray) from the top hair (blonde), it’s reasonable to conclude that Mr. Trump likely uses an expensive hair system. This system may involve gluing it to his scalp, weaving it with residual native hair, and using hair clips to secure it on the sides, where most of his remaining hair is likely located. Such hair systems often require regular adjustments every 2-3 weeks to accommodate the growth of native hair and then reattaching them. The hair is synthetic or human hair used to make hair systems and is often fixed on a lace platform, which is then glued to the scalp. The effects of these ‘lace’ systems are very effective if you maintain them properly. I have seen him pull back his hair in front of a camera on a late-night TV program that looked completely normal, consistent with a lace hair system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above photo reference showing his frontal scalp, see here: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/concerns-raised-for-trump-s-hair-after-it-is-seen-flapping-in-the-wind/ar-AA1nHveb?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=2dc0422ef6d34569b9baf6f70de0fac9&ei=32

 

Below are some other interesting posts on this subject:

 

Trump wrote off $70,000 in taxes for hair styling (CNN referencing New York Times)

Is Trump’s hair a weave? (video)

What was that surgery called that Trump was victim of?

The Best View of Mr. Trumps Balding Problem

Poster on Reddit Showed What Donald Trump Might Look like Bald and with a Beard

More on Donald Trump and his Propecia secret from NY Post

Is Trump Depressed from the Drug Finasteride?

Donald Trump’s Bad Hair Day

How Can I Expect a Natural Transplant Result when Donald Trump and Other Rich People Can’t?