Author: Dr. William Rassman

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My Dad Has Hypothyroidism and Developed Hair Loss as I Am Now Doing.

I am taking good care of myself with a 1000 calorie diet and daily exercise, but I am losing hair anyways. Can I have a thyroid problem?

Both hypo and hyperthyroidism can cause hair loss and precipitate genetic balding if you have the genes for balding. You need to see a doctor and get your thyroid checked out. Also, your extreme diet can cause balding to appear especially if you have the genes for balding.


2018-11-01 06:37:03My Dad Has Hypothyroidism and Developed Hair Loss as I Am Now Doing.

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Dad Lost Hair in His Late 30s, I’m Losing Mine at 20

Hi Doc. Really nice blog! Been so helpful!

Just want to know. Is it normal to see hairloss several years before your dad did? I’m balding in the age of 20. My dad began losing hair in his late thirties.

All the best!

It seem you are an early bloomer. Hair loss can start as early as teenage years and doesn’t necessarily follow the exact timeframe as other family members. I suspect what you are going through is normal… for you. You need a good diagnosis with a doctor who will map out your hair for miniaturization to help make the diagnosis. Drugs like Propecia can slow or stop the balding process and change the course of hair loss over time.


2010-06-04 08:55:33Dad Lost Hair in His Late 30s, I’m Losing Mine at 20

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Daily hair loss in shower and elsewhere

I’ve heard it’s normal to lose over 100 hairs throughout the day, but every time I wash my hair and towel dry it’s seems I’m losing a ton of hair. I’ll shampoo and each time I run my hands through my soapy hair and look at them there’ll be close to or over 10 hairs and appears like it adds up to almost 100. No matter how many times I run my hands through my hair I’ll see a bunch of hairs. Then, if I towel dry with a white towel I’ll see even more hairs. Is it normal to lose this much hair just in the shower? I shower every day but wash my hair every two to three days.

The average hair loss per day for an average Caucasian male is 100,000 hairs, but I doubt that you would lose them all in the shower unless you are losing more than 100 hairs per day which would occur in a hair loss situation. When you rub hair that is miniaturizing, these hair easily come out with your fingers, your towel and almost anything you do to rough up your hair.


2019-03-26 18:23:11Daily hair loss in shower and elsewhere

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Daily Hair Loss – What is Normal?

Dr.Rassman,
I heard from somebody that the average person loses 100 hairs a day. This seemed really high to me, is it true?

Yes, this is true. It is believed that the average person has about 100,000 hairs on their head and the life cycle for a hair (before going into its cycle shut down and regrowth) is 3 years. Wtih that said, that means 35,000 hairs lost per year or about 100 (rounded) hairs per day for 3 years will equal the total number of hairs on the head of an average Caucasian Male.

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Daily Hair Loss

Hi Doctor Rassman, how much daily hair loss is normal? some say 50-100, others say 100-150-200 is normal. From your expertise what is normal for an average male with no hairloss.

I believe we wrote about this subject many times over. The average person can loses 0.1% of their total hair count per day as these hairs go into telogen. You must also remember that the person is growing back about the same number of hairs each day. Assuming that the average telogen cycle recurs every 3 years and you have 100,000 total hair count, that calculates to about 100 hairs/day. The numbers are clearly not fixed by nature, so it may vary based upon individual circumstances, genetic patterns, your age and sex.

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Daily Low Dose Aspirin Reduces Cancer Risks

“Regular, long-term use of low-dose aspirin is linked to a small decrease in overall cancer risk, with much of the reduction due to decreased gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, particularly colorectal cancer (CRC), new research involving more than 135,000 adults indicates.” This was reported in the March 3 issue in JAMA Oncology.

This is so simple, and has benefits to reduce the risks of stroke and heart attacks as well. Just take one baby aspirin each day

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David Lee Roth’s Shaved Head and Transplant Scar

Happy 2015! David (Van Halen) Lee Roth performed this past Saturday with the Foo Fighters in LA.

I was watching the clip online and when he took off his cap, he had a shaved head. What I noticed was what looked like a strip scar on the back of his head. Does this appear to be a scar from a HT? Would it be less obvious if he had SMP to help conceal it?

Just curious. I enjoy your site and have been pleased that you have answered my questions over the years.

Many celebrities have had hair transplant strip surgeries hidden under their long hair and from the photos I’ve seen circulating around the Internet it does seem like a hair transplant scar.

I wonder if he knows it can be camouflaged with SMP? If not, someone should show him this post.

nhi_smp_to scar

nhi_smp_to scar


2019-03-11 22:05:30David Lee Roth’s Shaved Head and Transplant Scar

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Dandruff and Hair Loss in 16 Year Old

My son is 16yrs old. I noticed when cutting his hair he had a thick piece of what seemed like caked dandruff it was there for the longest time. Then one day when cutting his hair the thick piece of dandruff was gone and ther was a bald spot. As I looked at his head I noticed there was a thin straight line of baldness then off to the right was another little spot. I took him to the dr. who did a blood test for his throid and that came back good. His spot is getting bigger and it doesn’t look like any hair is growing back from where I orig. saw the spot. There is not balding in either of the families. I checked his head tonight it looks like there is flakey dandruff all over his scalp and even some broken skin like he had been scratching. I have made an appointment with a dermotoligst but what should I expect. Do you have any idea what this is?

What you are describing may be a localized area of psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis which crusted and then with the crust ‘ripped’ off, the hair came out with it. The loss of local hair from an acute traction episode, could be responsible for what you are observing, and if this is the case, the hair will return if your son leaves it alone. What appears like dandruff may turn out to be seborrheic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, alopecia areata, or some other dermatological inflammatory disease of the skin. Your planned visit to a dermatologist for further evaluation is a good next step.

On a separate, interesting note, doctors have recently pinpointed the Psoriasis gene: Forbes.com


2006-03-23 12:49:24Dandruff and Hair Loss in 16 Year Old

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Dandruff Is From Increased Sebum, Right?

Okay I read when you said that dandruff cannot cause hair loss, but I also read that dandruff is related to an increase in the amount of sebum on the scalp, which presmuably is caused by increased testosterone? All this together seems like dandruff is a sign of pending hair loss…

Sebum is an oily secretion of the sebaceous gland which helps to preserve the flexibility of the hair and to protect it from the environment (source: MedicineNet.com). It is NOT “presumably” caused by increased testosterone. The human body is much too complicated to make these cause and effect correlations. In the end, what are you really asking me? Are your asking me if your hair loss is caused by dandruff or if people with dandruff have hair loss?

The most common cause of hair loss in men is due to genetic balding. You can thank your mother or father, not your dandruff. People with hair and people who are balding all can have dandruff.