Dr. William Rassman – Page 911

August 12, 2013

I’m Seeing Patches In My Beard That Contain Less Hair Than the Rest of My Facial Hair – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hi,
I’ve been seeing some empty patches in my beard lately. They are not fully bald spots, but in fact there are some hairs in them. They just contains less hair than the rest of my beard. I also have one on my chest. So what do you suggest i can do? Thank you so much for your help

Block Quote

Sorry, but there is no way for me to ascertain what is going on on your face and chest hair without seeing you. My suggestion is that you see a doctor for an examination.

What you’re describing could be caused by a wide variety of things from allergy to infection to stress to medication, etc.

August 9, 2013

Reader is Angry About Hair Loss Treatments – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Please don’t call hair loss treatable. Why? Because it isn’t. For the vast majority of people, who don’t even bother seeking solutions because what’s available is so downright pathetic, it is a permanent scar.

Anyone with serious hair loss knows this, that other than some supposed miracle stem cell therapy in twenty years, there is nothing you or any doctor can do to truly repair the damage (I don’t mean moving three hairs from end of the scalp to the next.) Make a Norwood 7 a Norwood 1, and you can call it treatable, until then please be honest about the prospects. Aderans spent how much money and time trying to fix it and look where they are now? The prospects are dismal.

Block Quote

You are obviously angry and my answer is not to assuage your anger. Hair loss is treatable. What you’re looking for is a cure, which doesn’t exist. Treatment options are available, though.

Your experience may not be uncommon, but that reflects poor research, not poor treatment. I am assuming that you are specifically referring to hair transplants. Go to our Full Face patient gallery and you’ll see examples of men that had their hair loss treated successfully with transplants. If you come to one of our Open House events (which are held every month), you can meet many of these patients in person.

Take a look at Patient ZU below and you will see a Norwood class 7 patient that turned into a person with a mature hairline from transplants with almost 10,000 grafts. Are you suggesting this man’s hair loss wasn’t treated?

August 9, 2013

Hair Loss InformationWhen Are Transplanted Hairs Safe? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor,

I had a hair transplant and I’m at month 3, I’m a little paranoid thinking about the weeks when I saw hairs falling out with the bulb on the hair shaft when I scratched my head..

That was around week 3, my question is, how long does it take until the hairs root?

Thank you this blog has been most helpful

Block Quote

At 7-14 days, most hair transplants will not be affected by whatever you do. If all of the scabbing is gone, you are generally safe. If you tried to pluck one or even a few out after the scabs are gone, I doubt that it will impact the graft at the root, regardless of what you see.

So at week 3 or month 3, you’re fine.

August 9, 2013

Will There Ever Be a Baldness Cure?!?! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor. I have a bad english so i do it fast. Do u think that we will ever get a baldness cure and if u do think, in how many years you think it gonna happen?

Thank you

Block Quote

There is a tarot card reader down the street from my office. Perhaps she’d know better. In all honesty, I hope there will be a baldness cure at some point, but I have no way of knowing when it will occur.

August 8, 2013

Hair Loss InformationWidow’s Peak and a Mature Hairline – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr R.
We seem to be reading posts describing the concept of a mature hairline frequently enough for each of us to form many conclusions about his own hairline. However, the great size of my widow’s peak is causing me much confusion, especially when considering placement of the leading edge of the hairline in a possible hair transplant scenario.

If a typical male person with a typical mature hairline shaves away his widow’s peak, will he still have a normal mature hairline, or will the hairline be higher than the average person without the widow’s peak? Or should we actually be asking, is a widow’s peak a result of a person having more hair or less hair than the average male person without a widow’s peak?

Block Quote

Maybe we have the definition of a widow’s peak confused. A widow’s peak is the small triangular point on the front middle of the hairline that extends downward as low as the highest wrinkle of the furrowed brow. I am about to publish an article on the evolution of the hairline, and in that article I point out that the widow’s peak is actually a genetic remnant in the middle of your childhood hairline. Yep, the widow’s peak is just a genetic hold-over of the juvenile hairline.

The widow’s peak has nothing to do with balding, and I can simply point to the actor Andy Garcia as a good example of this. He has a strong hairline and pronounced widow’s peak. In women, some erosion of the hairline occurs as they mature and 81% of women have a widow’s peak, which reflects a phenotype of their genes in that location.

With respect to a hair transplant, some ask to create the triangle widow’s peak, though some may not want it. It is merely a personal cosmetic decision / point of view.

August 8, 2013

How Can I Tell Shock Loss Following a Hair Transplant From Just Progressive Thinning? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Doctor.. You mention that 2-4 months after procedure may see some originals hair shed in transplanted area. is this shock loss.. or just continued loss or original hair or both.

Since loss is ongoing I would think the best one can hope for if they start early enough is delay looking worse as opposed to looking better. Since by the time the new hairs are full grown 1 year later you’re a year into further thinning of existing hairs which continue to thin. Is that a correct assumption?

Block Quote

Shock loss is a rapid loss that can be associated with a hair transplant within 1-4 months of the surgery. When this happens, there is substantial loss… not the slower loss you’d see with progressive genetic hair loss.

One can protect oneself by using finasteride in advance of the hair transplant. Finasteride should be maintained for at least 8 months following the transplant; however, upon withdrawal of the finasteride, a reactive hair loss might still occur.

August 8, 2013

Not Hair Loss News – Diabetes Drug May Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer Death – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Metformin, a widely used diabetes drug, may reduce the risk of dying from prostate cancer, according to new research.

A study of nearly 4,000 diabetic men found that those taking metformin when diagnosed with prostate cancer were less likely to die of the cancer or other causes compared to men using other diabetes drugs.

“We demonstrated that metformin is associated with improved survival among diabetic patients with prostate cancer,” said Dr. David Margel, a uro-oncologist at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, who conducted the research while at the University of Toronto.

Read the rest — Metformin May Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer Death

The article points out that the diabetic men (aged 67+) that took metformin had a 24 percent reduction in risk from prostate cancer death for every additional six months of use after their cancer diagnosis.

August 7, 2013

Can I Use Body Hair to Transplant Into My Temple Peaks? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Would using body hair be ideal to construct the temple peaks ? I had a hair transplant done, and my donor hair count was very low. So the doctor built a hair line which was 8 cm long. I want to go for a second session, and in that session I want do something about my broad forehead. The length needs to decrease both horizontally and vertically. Do you think it okay to use body hair only for the temple peaks. I understand the growth of the body hair differs, but it is ideal to use to decrease the horizontal length of my forehead ? I am also looking to decrease the hair line by a centimeter vertically.

Block Quote

Scalp hair is the best source for transplanting to the temple area. It should be noted that the temple area is a very difficult area for hair transplant doctors to get “right”. It is an artistic and technical skill to make temple transplants look natural, as the surgeon must fully understand the direction of the hair that is placed there. Hair transplantation in general is an artistic and technical skill, but the temple area takes even more attention to detail, as I have seen many failed and marginal attempts at creating them.

I personally do not endorse using body hair for restoring the temples, especially since it is such a delicate area to get right. The only rare exception may be if you have very kinky/curly scalp hair and your body hair can match the kinky texture, AND you do not have sufficient scalp hair to accomplish your goals. Straight hair can stand out and will be less forgiving.

August 7, 2013

Hair Loss From Root Canal Obturation Paste? – Balding Blog

Hello! I’m from France and I saw something about the composition of the root canal obturation’s paste. It contains corticosteroids, and i want to know if that thing can cause a hair loss.

Thank you.

Corticosteroids in excess can potentially cause some general hair loss, but I am not familiar with root canal paste.

August 7, 2013

Not Hair Loss News – FDA Says New Acetaminophen Warning Shouldn’t Panic Consumers – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

An acetaminophen warning issued this week by the FDA that the painkiller could cause a serious rash shouldn’t panic consumers or health care professionals, an FDA official said.

The FDA issued the warning Thursday, saying the popular over-the-counter pain reliever can cause a rash, blisters and, in the worst case, widespread damage to the surface of skin.

The FDA called for these potential symptoms to be listed on the warning label of any medication that includes acetaminophen.

Read the rest — Acetaminophen warning shouldn’t panic consumers, FDA says

The article points out that since 1969, only 107 cases of severe skin reaction have been caused by acetaminophen (also known as Tylenol), but they are now listing it as a rare side effect. Keep that in mind when reading certain rare side effects about medications: 107 cases reported over 44 years triggered an update to acetaminophen’s listed warnings.