Author: Dr. William Rassman

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My Eyebrows Grow and Then Fall Out

Hello Dr. Rassman,
I have been having eyebrow loss for over ten years now. It started after a period of overzealous plucking as a teen (I am now 29). The hair grows out and then after a few weeks to months it gets very weak and limp and falls out. This has been going on for years. My primary doc said it was age and possibly alopecia (though I have no problems on scalp and hair loss is diffuse not patchy). my dermatologist said seb derm but my symptoms are not that similar and the meds he prescribed didn’t help. Any ideas what it can be? And am I a candidate for transplant surgery? Please help! Thank you.

I really couldn’t make an attempt at an answer to what you are asking without examining you myself. So I’m not sure what it could be. If it is indeed seborrheic dermatitis, treatments are usually limited to antifungal shampoos. You didn’t mention which meds you were prescribed, so I’m kind of at a loss there, too.

As for whether you’re a surgical candidate, again, that’s not something that can be determined without an exam. A hair transplant into the eyebrow will reflect the thickness of the hair in the donor area where it is taken from (back of the head area).

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My Family Members Started Balding Around My Age

Hello there,

I’ve been wondering if I was going to end up bald. My grandfather on my father’s side is bald, as is my own father. Nobody on my mother’s side is bald (though she had no siblings and her mother’s brothers had their hair).

My bald grandfather said he started to bald around 18. A picture of my dad when he was around 19 1/2, he looked like a NW3. I’ll turn 19 in four months and was wondering if I don’t see any symptoms by the time I turn 19 or 19 1/2, will I go bald?

Thank you again.

There is no way to easily tell if you’ll develop the balding pattern your male relatives showed around your same age. You can have the HairDX test done and get an idea if you have the genes for balding, or you can see us and get a hair bulk assessment yearly to show when and if the balding/thinning process kicks in.

Of course, you can also just watch and wait.

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My erections are very weak, what should I do? (From Reddit)

I no longer get morning wood and my erections are only about 70% what they were before fin. Been telling myself it’s all in my head, it’ll resolve itself in time, and even that it’s probably caused by other meds I’m on (SSRIs). Well it’s been around 9 months now and there’s been no improvement and I’m no longer on SSRIs. So what now? Should I go to my doctor and ask for a hormone panel, or just stop fin immediately? I’m only 21 and it feels like my choice is between having no hair or no sex life.

If I stop fin for a few months to see if my erections come back, will I likely lose a significant amount of hair? Would jumping back on fin after a few months recover most of that lost hair?

Really unsure what to do, so any advice from people who’ve been in similar situations would be really appreciated

You might want to cut it out for 3 weeks as I advise my patients, then restart it as one pill every 4 days and try that for a week. IF that works, then increase it to one pill every three days for 3 weeks and if that work then try 1 pill every other day and stop there. IF the ED comes back, then you either have found the dose you can tolerate, or may not find any dose that works. Best, of course, to discuss this with your doctor.


2019-04-08 13:25:30My erections are very weak, what should I do? (From Reddit)

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My Earliest Dermatology Appointment Is Months Away

hi doctor
I took steroids and now its been over 3 months since I stopped and my hair still keeps on falling out. I am trying to make an appointment with dermatologist and I cant get an earlier day than january 10th. In my opinion if I will wait that long my hair will be totaly gone by that time. I wonder is my DHT will ever get normal on its own. I dont know what to do. its very sad that I just turned 23 and I am going to be bald.

Try to see a good family doctor then. If you are a young man and have stopped the offending steroids, then a good doctor can easily prescribe Propecia for you. If you are in California, the wait for seeing either Dr. Pak or myself is not more than a couple of weeks.


2006-10-23 08:39:33My Earliest Dermatology Appointment Is Months Away

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My Eyebrows Are Partially Gray

Some of my eyebrows are gray

those eyebrows have two colours on them. they are dark at the end and then they drastically turn white towards the root. what would it mean? also, the new little eyebrows seem to be dark.

Eyebrows gray like other hair. There is little you can do about the graying other than using pencils designed for graying eyebrows or hair.

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My Facial Hair Started Growing Faster, Just as I Started Losing More Scalp Hair!

Dear Doctor.

I have been slowly losing my hair for some time now. I am 30 years old and have been on finasteride for a few years. I have always lacked a lot facial, chest, and back hair. Most of my peers have full beards and tons of hair on their chest while I have only a little bit.

In the last year, I have noticed that my facial hair has been growing in quicker (not thicker), instead of taking a week to 10 days to grow in, its been coming in at 3 days, and as a result of that I have been losing hair faster now. I am no doctor, but couldn’t there be a correlation between facial hair growth and hair loss?

Thank you kindly. God bless

I do not believe facial hair has any correlation of scalp hair in terms of growing or balding.

Finasteride does not affect facial hair. It only affects scalp hair (mostly on the top crown area). Rarely I have heard a few patients (under 10 in the last 10 years) report less body hair growth from finasteride use.


2012-11-01 10:22:28My Facial Hair Started Growing Faster, Just as I Started Losing More Scalp Hair!

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My Fraternal Twin Has Been Losing Hair for Years

Hi just wanted to say thanks first off for all the information provided for us. I had a quick question my twin brother (fraternal) started balding about three years ago and now is pretty bad. He tried propecia and had pretty severe side effects (sexual in nature) and it appears that I too am now starting to bald.

I was reading about NuHair DHT Blocker and reviews on the major websites seem to be a mixed bag, some people swear by it others saw some results and others said it was garbage. I was wondering if you had any insight or opinion on it. Thanks for all your help and this great resource.

NuHair DHT Blocker is just a tablet containing saw palmetto and other herbs that likely won’t do much for your hair loss. I’ve written many, many times about saw palmetto. If you’d like to try it, go ahead… but keep in mind that as your hair loss is progressive, if it turns out that the pill does nothing for you, that’s going to be time wasted.

The only FDA approved medications for treating hair loss are finasteride (Propecia) and minoxidil, and those are the medications I recommend. If your brother experienced side effects while taking Propecia, I’m wondering how long he was on the medication and if his doctor lowered his dosage at any point. Perhaps you could try a lower dosage of Propecia. Talk to your doctor.


2011-06-14 11:03:13My Fraternal Twin Has Been Losing Hair for Years

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My Friend Had Surgery and I Love the Results

Hi. I’m 30. My hair has been thinning. I recently met with Bosley after a friend of mine said he’d been there and was very happy with his results. His hair looks great. But I’m a little freaked out cos there is a lot of bad press on Bosley on the internet. I dont want to wind up in a position where it looks awful and I have to keep going back. I really don’t know what to do.

Thank you

It really comes down to the surgeon and technicians staffed. As with any clinic, look at the doctor’s work in person. Don’t just rely on photos that may only show what the doctor wants you to see. Ask to meet patients that were done by the surgeon you will be getting and see what they say about the experience and the results. I’ve created a checklist for selecting your doctor that should be helpful. In your case, you’ve got a friend with results you can see in person… and if you’re satisfied with your friend’s results, that should say much.

It also doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion. Since you’re on the east coast, Dr. Robert Bernstein is in Manhattan and is a fantastic surgeon. Or if you happen to be visiting the Los Angeles area, you could always see me.


2010-09-21 12:48:00My Friend Had Surgery and I Love the Results

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My Friend Was Very Sick After He Had a Hair Transplant

Hi. I just wanted to know if you have a hair transplant most surgeons tell you after 3 months the transplanted hair start growing. Is it possible it could take longer and if so how long would be the maximum?

My friend had a 3000 graft trasplant done and its been over 4 months, but not much has happened. He says he was very sick on the 2nd day after surgery and the pressure going to his head from vomiting made him feel as if the grafts were going to pop out. Is it possible something could have gone wrong due to vomiting? Thanks for your time.

Some people can have some side effects of drugs that are used for sedation after a hair transplant. Every medication has side effects, but most of the medications we use have few detectable side effects at the doses we utilize. If there are any lingering effects from these drugs, they may last a day or two at most. There has been a rare occasion where a patient was recently sick with the flu just before a transplant, so it would be logical that the same thing could happen after a hair transplant. Perhaps he caught the flu and it was coincidence. I really can’t tell you, as I have no idea.

Concerning your friend, hair starts growing at between 1-5 months after a transplant. I doubt that your friend lost any grafts or did any damage from being sick after the transplant.

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My Father Had Awful Transplants from a Dermatologist

I have been on finasteride for 7 years. I have pretty much maintained my same density over this period. A little more thinning in the front. I am now 36. My father had many transplants from a doctor who is a dermatologist. Not from a doctor that specializes in transplants. His transplants are awful. What should my expectations be if I wanted to get off the drug and try transplants? I am fair-skinned with wavy auburn hair, and my individual follicles are thick, but not dense.

First, the old plugs can easily be fixed today. Look at the following links for articles and examples of good repair work which can and should be offered to your father:

The second part is that taking the drug Propecia is a different decision to having transplants. They can be complementary (see: Hair Transplant and Propecia Combination Results). As for expectations about transplants for yourself, meet with your doctor and have him/her develop a Master Plan with you, so that you have your needs addressed before the procedure.


2006-05-03 14:52:44My Father Had Awful Transplants from a Dermatologist