This man had a hair transplant a few weeks before these bald spots appeared on his head. More and more of them appeared. To make the diagnosis, a biopsy needs to be done. It is likely a scarring alopecia, but it could be a variety of scalp/hair diseases triggered by the hair transplant. I have seen men who never had alopecia areata, then get a hair transplant, and alopecia areata appears from days to weeks after the transplant. A surgeon must have a keen eye and perform a good trichoscopic examination on the head of all of his patients before the surgery. As a surgeon, I don’t like surprises, and I am sure that you, as a patient, wouldn’t like them either.
Dishonest Doctors Are Still Out There
I am 23 years old and I want to tell you my story. I was worried sick as I saw my hairline starting to climb. I went to a doctor in Toronto who said that I was going to go bald and needed to take swift action to prevent it. After listening to him, I went into a panic, took out most of the money I saved to go to graduate school and got transplanted with 2700 grafts. The doctor lowered my hairline also (about 1/4 inch) as well and transplanted the entire front, top and back of my head. I did some comparative shopping when I was investigating who to see about my problem and found that the price he was charging me was very competitive at slightly under $4/graft Canadian ($10,000 in cash). After the transplant was done, I found my hair falling out faster than before. The doctor told me that the new hair will replace far more than I lost and that I was lucky to get to him before the the hair had fallen out. It is now 10 months since my surgery and I am worse off now than before the surgery. I have less hair and a hairline that is nothing like the pictures the doctor showed me when I was shopping. I am very depressed, so much so that I feel that what I did to myself has created a monster. I needed to tell someone about this, but I am not sure what I am asking of you. What would you advise your son to do if he screwed up like this?
This is a tragic story, one that is hopefully not common today. To be blunt, you got taken advantage of. To do 2700 grafts on a 23 year old with little or no balding and only a receding hairline is not only malpractice, but (in my opinion) it is criminal. You got scammed and fleeced. The doctor who preyed upon you took advantage of his position, breached the Hippocratic Oath and probably violated the law.
I speak over and over again on the importance of commanding this process. You need to meet patients directly, one on one, and see the results for yourself. You need to examine the practice of the doctor you are intending to do the surgery to find out about his/her ethics. Their patients will tell you what you want to know. I can remember an unethical, scummy medical facility from many years ago that gave out a list of patients to call for references. I knew that these doctors were crooks, so when I got the list, I called down the list of patients. What each and every person on the list told me was that they would never recommend their doctor, that they were deformed by that doctor and that they felt cheated, raped, and ripped off. What I also learned from the patient victim that gave me the list is that he never called the patients on that list, because he assumed that these people were 500 good references for the doctor — clearly not the case.
What you should have learned here is that you must protect yourself from the unethical doctors out there. I would certainly notify the governmental agency that controls the doctor’s license. In America, you can file suit and clean up if this was the criminal process that it sounds like. Elective cosmetic surgery is a Buyer Beware business. There are good doctors out there who do practice ethical medicine. So for our audience of readers, I hope that you learn from this young man’s mistake — learn that it is your job to research your doctor before you buy.
I feel empathy for you. If you would like to talk with me, please set up a conference with me at 800-NEW-HAIR.
For more information, please see:
Distilled Water and Hair Transplants
You state in this article that distilled water solutions are harmful to grafts during surgery. However, my surgeon’s office told me to rinse my grafted area with distilled water to avoid the impurities found in tap water.
Will this damage the grafts post-surgery?
Distilled water and normal water are harmful to grafts DURING surgery if you are using it to soak and store the grafts that have been cut, but distilled water after the surgery is fine to wash the scalp as part of the cleaning process. Always check with the doctor/surgeon who performed your surgery if you have concerns, as you should have established a good trusting relationship with him/her.
Do alcohol based shampoos harm SMP?
I’m planning to get scalp micropigmentation SMP on my FUE scars soon. I currently use minoxidil foam which is essentially just minoxidil dissolved in pure ethanol. Does ethanol applied to the skin longterm cause significant fading or blurring of the SMP dots?
The use of alcohol based lotions should be avoided for only the first 3 days after the SMP is done. After that the wounds heal so that the alcohol can’t get to the pigment to have an impact on it. The skin is an effective barrier to protect the SMP from everything except direct long-term sun exposure
2021-06-05 02:07:242021-05-25 11:16:07Do alcohol based shampoos harm SMP?
Do balding men have a higher risk of severe infection from Covid-19?
The answer to this question is possibly, but it needs more investigation. Read this comment published by a notable biologist
2020-04-10 07:46:212020-04-19 09:39:44Do balding men have a higher risk of severe infection from Covid-19?
Do all transplanted grafts shed after the surgery?
I know that theres a small chance that your grafts don’t shed at all, but thats not what I am talking about. I had my surgery done 2 months ago, most of my transplanted grafts shed until the 1 month mark, since then i have kept around 30-40% of the others and they grew like my other hair. Is this normal that not all shed, or should i expect them to also fall out in the next weeks?
It is common to lose all or some of the transplanted grafts between weeks 2-5. Many of the grafts that stick around will grow, similar to your native hair. I transplanted my cousin, and in just 4 months, he had a full head of hair. He told me that he never shed any grafts. Then I did another transplant on him to thicken up the previous transplant because his hair was “fine”. He didn’t shed grafts the second time either. I find that one in 30-50 patients, will not shed their grafts.
Do Balding Men Shed More Than Normal 100 Hairs a Day?
I’d classify myself as one of the many worrying teenagers (18 years old) as I have always had a really high hairline. I was wondering how much of a telltale sign is shedding? The reason I ask is because I don’t actually notice any shedding whatsoever, which is why 2/3 in my towel after a violent rub manages to unsettle me which I know is ridiculous. However, I seem to have a slightly receded hairline at the corners. I didn’t notice shedding whilst this was happening and I believe it may have stabilised.
Do balding men necessarily shed more, or is it possible for a man to shed the same amount as a non balding man, and just not have it grow back?
Men who are actively balding do usually shed more than non-balding men. So while it is normal to lose 100 hairs a day, those that are losing hair will probably see more than that. There are usually hairs that fall out throughout the day that you wouldn’t notice, too. Vigorous rubbing of your hair with a towel will cause more hair loss if you have genetic balding occurring, as the weakened hair will more easily get pulled out.
If you do not know if you are balding, then I recommend you get a bulk analysis done.
Do Birth Control Pills Treat or Cause Hair Loss?
Bottom Line with hair loss and birth control pills?
I read conflicting information about the birth control pills and hair loss. It can trigger hair loss yet is also a treatment for androgenic alopecia.
I experienced heavy shedding after discontinuing Ovcon 35 several years ago. I became pregnant shortly after stopping the pill, and the hair loss ceased. I had moderate TE after all three of my subsequent pregnancies. I am now finished childbearing (at 32)and looking for contraception. My mother has severe androgenic alopecia and I’m quite sure I’m destined for the same fate.
So, for my case (there are no other known health problems in myself or my family) should I take BCP’s to prevent the alopecia? I was thinking of trying Yaz or Yasmin because of the drospironone that is derived from spironolactone and has anti-androgenic properties. But is it the estrogen or the progesterone in the pills that cause the hair loss? Should I stay away from BCP’s completely due to my history?
You should have this conversation with your OB/GYN doctor. I do not prescribe or recommend birth control pills (BCP) in my practice, but more importantly you should not be taking BCP for hair loss. All medications have risks and benefits and potential side effects. As such, these matters are highly specific to each and every individual.
I wish I can give you a blanket answer saying one birth control pill is better than the other at hair loss or hair growth, but I do not know of any firm proof of what is good/bad for what. From a theoretical perspective (as you seem to have done your research), spironolactone does have anti-androgenic properties. From a practical and real world perspective, spironolactone does not stop or help with androgenic alopecia, which is why I do not prescribe spironolactone for hair loss either.
2008-11-14 14:31:392008-11-13 13:34:31Do Birth Control Pills Treat or Cause Hair Loss?
Do Body Hair Transplants Work?
Body hair transplants work, but the body hair has a short growth cycle. This means that for every 10 hairs that are transplanted, they will cycle about every 6-8 months meaning that only half of the hairs are growing at any one time as the sleep (telogen cycle) is also long. If you don’t have enough scalp hair, the beard is a better donor source, as its growth cycle is like scalp hair.
2020-01-07 04:00:342020-01-07 07:29:55Do Body Hair Transplants Work?
Do Black Women Have Less Hair Loss Treatment Options?
I interesting in learning what can be done for Black Women who are lossing their hair. And the physcians are saying it from the chemicals that we use. Ex. perms. they say the only treatment is rogaine and injections which will also cause complete baldness if we can no longer afford that treatment while they give the white women hormone replacement. Can you help and give better advise
Chemicals (like relaxers) can cause damage, but many black women will also see traction alopecia, which is permanent hair loss caused by the pulling of tight braids, many times from when they were very young. For women, the only FDA approved hair loss treatment is Rogaine (minoxidil). Hormone replacement likely won’t regrow your hair and I’m not sure which injections your doctor is recommending.
This isn’t an issue of race so much as gender. For men, the great majority of cases of hair loss are from genetics and there’s an oral pill for that. For women, there’s a large list of possible causes of hair loss and no truly great solutions. So it’s not that black women have less options, but rather, all women have limited treatment options.
See this page for more — Female Genetic Hair Loss Is Different From Male Genetic Hair Loss.