Author: Dr. William Rassman

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Hair Loss InformationDoes Good Laxity Prevent Large Strip Scars? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Does having good laxity prevent large scars ? I see a lot of people with small scars, and a lot of people with large scars where the situation is so bad that many are implanting beard hair to cover those scars. I’m thinking about getting a second hair transplant, but I am afraid after the second transplant I might get a big scar which is hard to cover up. The doctor said I have above average laxity, but below average density. My density again is only 60 grafts per square centimeter. Can you give me some information about what causes a bad scar ?

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Generally, people with very high laxity (loose scalp) may have a higher incidence of scars than those whose scalp is tight; however, the looser it is the more grafts can be extracted with any given hair density.

Scalp scars can be very easily treated, if they occur, with Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP). An example patient can be seen here.

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Hair Loss InformationIn the News – Can Hair Loss Drugs Cause Injuries to Athletes? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Arsene Wenger has warned that professional footballers looking to cure baldness with hair loss products could be putting their careers at risk.

The Arsenal manager made the shocking claim when discussing the nature of injuries in his weekly press conference ahead of Sunday’s game against Everton.

Wenger, who revolutionised the English game when importing new fitness and preparatory methods following his arrival at Arsenal in 1996, says some players are leaving themselves open to problems if they use products to reverse the process of balding.

And according to the Gunners boss, vanity could lead to injury.

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Read the rest — Wenger warns stars over hair loss products

He says hair loss medications can lead to liver problems, though he doesn’t specifically say which medications he’s concerned about. As far as I’m aware, finasteride (Propecia) does not have any adverse effects on the liver.

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Hair Loss InformationStem Cell Breakthrough? Don’t Believe Everything You Read! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Scientists have found a surprisingly simple way to turn mature cells back into a primitive state. Simply giving mouse blood cells an acid bath is enough to produce so-called pluripotent cells that can develop into any cell type in the body, they report in two new papers this week. The remarkable transformation contradicts many assumptions about cell biology and may ultimately lead to new ways to treat disease and injuries.

Scientists not involved in the work say the technique could be a game-changer if it pans out. “If this new approach is applicable to human cells, it would have great implications for regenerative medicine,” says Hongkui Deng, a stem cell researcher at Peking University in Beijing. “It’s quite surprising” that the technique “doesn’t involve any genetic manipulation,” says Rudolf Jaenisch, a developmental biologist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Read the rest — Acid Treatment Could Provide Breakthrough Stem Cell Technique

But wait…. the above snippet is from an article that was published and appeared in many publications, but then the scientific community tried to replicate the study. Now there are many other publications that show how the attempts to replicate these results were unsuccessful. Read more about the investigation here.

For those interested in hair breakthroughs, this report could have been significant and prompted considerable excitement for creating stem cells that could be turned into hair cells, but without direct support by the greater scientific community, this was probably another blind end for stem cell development.

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I Thought You Can See Hair Transplants! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

If I have a restoration of the crown, will the swirl look right or will it look noticeably like a transplant?

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If the surgeon is experienced and properly recreates the whorl in your crown, it will not stand out as anything more than your naturally growing hair.

Just the other day, I went to my new eye doctor. We talked for a bit and when she asked me what I did for a living, I told her I performed hair transplant surgeries. She was suspicious, so I pointed to my crown and told her that those were hair transplants (see here). She said, “That’s hard to believe! I always thought that you can see them.” I couldn’t help but smile.

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“Unbiased” Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) Review Sites – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I found on the Internet reviews of SMP — www.smpdebate.com. What is your take on all these sites that offer SMP?

They claim they are “the worlds only unbiased source of guidance and information on the fastest growing hair loss solution in recent history, a solution known as scalp micropigmentation.“

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Hair Transplant Network is supposed to be an unbiased review of doctors, but the doctors on the site all pay a monthly fee (over a thousand dollars) to be on the site. Yelp is supposed to be an unbiased review of most places, but even they have come into scrutiny when they favor (with positive reviews) those who pay them a monthly service fee.

I think that unless there are hundreds or thousands of independent reviews, a few polarized reviewers are always going to seem suspect. We maintain that you should visit us, as we hold free monthly open house events that provide access to our clients/patients so you can see the quality of what we do for yourself. Seeing is believing!

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In the News – Man Has Frequent Allergic Reactions After a Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

It was his receding hairline that led television script writer Barinder Singh Dhillon (46) to Dr Vivek Nigam’s Good Health Private Limited in May 2012. However, following a hair transplant surgery, that Dhillon claims went “horribly wrong”, he has been suffering from frequent allergic reactions on his face and body.

Recently, a metropolitan magistrate in Andheri directed the Versova Police Station to carry out a preliminary inquiry into the complaint filed by Dhillon in November 2013.

Dhillon said rashes on his face and body could not be controlled by antibiotic drugs. “I am forced to depend on steroids,” he said. From waking up to blood-stained pillows to growing a beard to hide the ruptures on his face, Dhillon said he had been through it all.

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Read the rest — Hair transplant ‘gone wrong’, court asks police to probe

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I Have Hundreds of Scalp Pimples After a Recent Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

If a patient gets hundreds of pustules (pimples) in the recipient area during the one to three month period following an FUT procedure, what is usually the reason for this? Is it due to bacterial infection of the grafts that occurred during the procedure? How does it bode for the eventual outcome of the transplant?

Thanks

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There are many answers to this question. They include:

  1. The most common cause of pustules are left over remnants of the grafts that remain in the recipient wounds. The remnants include sebaceous glands which produce sebum below the skin. This sebum has no way out, because the hair follicle has not formed, so there are no pores. The result of this is that the sebum becomes infected. This should not produce hundreds of pustules over a month period. Warm soaks are the best way to draw out the pustules.
  2. For hundreds of pustules, one might assume that this is folliculitis caused by infection. It would look mean with lots of redness and erythema in the area. This would require antibiotics.
  3. A rare cause of this is an autoimmune disease called folliculitis decalvans. Unfortunately, I have had a few of these patients and the infections are hard to control. This condition usually lets up at about the time the hair follicles grow out, once the pores are established. I have had one patient in the past few years where the recipient area remained mean looking for a year.
  4. Infection introduced by poor techniques are uncommon, but I know of one medical group that has this as a common complication.

I have not seen a wipe-out of the hair grafts in #1. Some reduced growth may occur in #2. Reduced growth does occur in #3

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In the News – Reduce Fat and Prevent Hair Loss with a Cream? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

In a major breakthrough, scientists have discovered that the protein that activates hair follicle growth also inhibits fat production, paving way for development of a cream that could make you thinner and prevent hair loss at the same time.

The research confirmed that changes in the hair growth cycle led to fluctuations in the thickness of the underlying fat layer of the skin – meaning that the skin can regulate fat production.

“The specific chemicals identified in this study could be produced synthetically and used in creams for topical application to the skin to modulate growth of fat beneath the skin,” said Rodney Sinclair from the University of Melbourne and Epworth Hospital in Australia.

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Read the rest — A cream to reduce fat, prevent hair loss too?

Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see if there’s a new fat reducer / hair loss prevention cream that makes it to market in the coming years.

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I Had 7 Scalp Reductions – What Can I Do to Reduce or Remove the Lump of Excess Scalp Skin? – BaldingBlog – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor Rassman:

I have a question about corrective surgery to repair Hair transplant scars and scalp reduction scars and lumps.

I had several hair transplants and a total of 7 scalp reductions back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s from Dr. Martin Unger. With regards to the hair transplants, they were the typical 4 or 5 mm punch grafts I guess. The outcome was good but the donor area, which is covered pretty good by hair looks like a war zone if I were to shave my head or cut the hair anywhere shorter than a few cm’s on the sides and back.

I’d love to get FUE’s into the scar areas but I’m wondering how effective that would be in covering it up. I’m not interested in SMP cause if I do any corrective surgery, it is with the intention of wearing my hair very short and keeping it natural, using real hair.

With regards to the scalp reductions, as mentioned I had 7 of them. So I basically have hair up to the scalp reduction on both sides of the scar. I also have wavy hair so that helps to cover up the scar. But I would say the scar is about 5 or 6 inches long and maybe a quarter inch wide. Could that be filled up with FUE’s?

Another big problem after having 7 reductions is that at the crown / back of my head where the scar ends, there is a lump of excess skin left over from having the scalp excised seven times but excess skin build up behind the scar where the skin wasn’t cut out. It’s not a dog ear scar, just a lump, probably the size of quarter / half dollar and maybe 1cm high compared to the rest of the scalp, kinda like a mound. I’m sure you’ve seen that. It’s basically covered with moderate coating of hair but still visible if someone was looking at the back of my head from a close distance. God forbid if I let someone touch my hair. Even my wife and kids know NEVER to touch my hair. LOL!

So my question is, can that lump be excised or reduced in size?

Basically my intention is just to try to make my scalp, with very short hair, look as normal as possible. My hair, now if I keep it long looks like death. What I mean by that is it looks like it is on life support knowing that it should have fallen out decades ago but just as been kept growing by artificial means. LOL, hence I want to keep it short one or two cm long, shorter on the sides and back.

Back then I was young and naive and desperate and although I’m sure Dr. Unger had good intentions he never told me just to cut my hair short and move on. Now I’m using a shitload of treatment just to keep my hair for the sole purpose of not wanting to thin,especially on top so that the scalp reduction scar and is visible. Then I’d look like a freak. If I had no scars, hadn’t had any surgery, I’d just shave it cause hair to me now is not so important as it was back when I was 21 (I’m 49 now)

Just to show you how crazy my treatment is:
Proscar (5mg a day) Been on that since it first came out so going on 21 years.
Dutasteride (1 mg a day) been on that too since it first came out, maybe 8 years??
Minoxidil 5 and 15% daily
Nizoral shampoo
LLLT

Thanks!

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While you may say your case is “crazy”, there are many men in your similar predicament. Dr. Pak and I have seen and treated many men in your similar situation with a combination of a hair transplant, scar reduction, and SMP.

I really cannot advise you on your specific options without examining you in person. Repair cases like yours are unique with each person. BaldingBlog is more for general question and answers. If you would like a consultation please email me at hairdoc@newhair.com or call my office to speak to me or Dr. Pak at (310) 553-9113. It would be best if you email photographs (held absolutely confidential) and include your phone number, and either Dr. Pak or I will call you.

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Hair Loss InformationIn the News – Upcoming Hair Loss Treatments – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

New hair loss treatments on the not-too-distant horizon may be game-changers.

“The development of new treatments, including drugs and cell-based approaches for hair loss, is at an all-time high,” says Kenneth J. Washenik, MD, PhD. He’s a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center and the medical director at Bosley Medical. “We have never had this many provocative treatments in the pipeline.”

Washenik spoke about advances in treating hair loss during March’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Denver.

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Read the rest — New Hair-Loss Treatments in the Pipeline

Topics included cell-based hair follicle regeneration, Latisse, combination therapy, FDA-approved medications, at-home treatments, and hair transplants.