Category: Age

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My Daughter’s Hair Won’t Grow – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My 5 year old daughter’s hair will not grow! I have tried almost everything and it still seems to be the same length since her birth-very short, course hair. I have recently resorted to extensions (braids) in an effort to give her hair a break from everyday styling, but nothing appears to work.

Could she have a medical problem?

Hair on the scalp grows in cycles. They have three phases of growth:

  1. Growth phase (Anagen phase) which lasts anywhere from 2 to 6 years. This is the phase where your hair is actively growing at approximately 10cm per year. 85% of hair is at this phase at any given time.
  2. Transitional phase (Catagen phase) which lasts about 2 weeks. This is the phase where the hair follicle shrinks and prepares to enter the resting phase.
  3. Resting phase (Telogen phase) which lasts about 1- 6 months. This is the phase where hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle. Some hairs are shed at this phase, but at the end the hair follicle re-enters the growth phase to start the cycle over again. 10-15% of hairs are at this phase at any given time.

I do not know why your daughter’s hair has not grown in 5 years. There is a peculiar genetic condition that impacts children of her age causing hair loss and balding. There may be variants of this condition worth exploring. You should discuss this issue with her Pediatrician and determine if she has any medical conditions that may be contributing to such slow hair growth. The use of hair extensions may cause the hair she has to fall out from the traction it causes. If her hair is not growing as you reported, then she may become bald at the point the ‘extensions’ are attached.

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Why Am I Losing Hair At Only 17? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am a 17-year-old male that is experiencing moderate hairloss. I’ve had this problem since I was a pre-teen have gone throughout highschool with this embarrassing feature, as it has increasingly gotten more and more noticeable. The problem is I don’t know why or how this happen as the hair loss take on no typical male pattern hair loss pattern and is thin throughout my entire scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and a dermatologist and all they did was prescribe rogaine and propecia. I’ve tried rogaine for a series of months with no results and propecia’s outside of my budget. Can you please give any clue as to why this is happening to me at such a young age and how i can treat it. I have no medical conditions.

thankyou for your time.

There are many causes of thinning. These can include changes in your hair character itself, something that happens as a person matures. I have seen young men with a coarse hair character change to a finer hair. If this is your situation, then this is the new you. Of course, the first thing you must do is get a diagnosis. Genetic balding, the most common cause of hair loss in men, can easily be diagnosed with a process I call mapping our your hair for miniaturization (which most regular readers know that I mention quite a bit). Even without patterns of hair loss, miniaturization does occur in a variety of medical conditions. I never tell people to go at this blindly. Get your diagnosis first, then go from there figuring out how you might deal with the problem, that is, if there is really a problem there.

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I Stopped Propecia for a Month, Then Restarted — It’s Not Working the Same! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am only 18 but I have been noticing hair falling out since I was little, and it only became more pronounced a couple of years ago. Last year, I began taking Propecia and I was on it for about four months. It was so expensive that I stopped for one month but decided that I really needed to continue with it. I have now been back on it again for just over a month, but I’m still noticing a large number of hairs falling out daily. After stopping treatment for a month, will I never experience the previous effects of Propecia, or do I just need to be patient for it to start working again?

Other men, older and wiser than you, have come to me almost in tears about the same experience they had when they stopped using Propecia and experienced an accerated hair loss. Usually, they stopped for longer than a month. In theory, the drug should remain in the hair follicles to some level up to a month or so, but the blood levels disappear in a day. It is unfortunate, but if you are losing hair from stopping the drug, your hair loss may be permanant, though it is possible that much of it may reverse because of maintained tissue levels. It is probable that some hair may come back if you go back on the Propecia immediately to replenish the tissue levels of the drug in the hair follicles. On the brighter side, Propecia may prevent further hair loss.

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Teen Has Graying Pubic Hairs – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am 15 years old and i want to know why my pubic hair is turning gray in some places. I thought i was too young for that to happen. But when my pubic hair falls off it just looks like dots of white or grey stuff. Can you please help?

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Some people turn gray at very young ages. If it concerns you, there is nothing to do but to dye it.

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Hair Loss Information19 Year Old Male Wants Options! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

I am a nineteen year old middle-eastern male. Since about five years ago, I have noticed mild thinning on the front of my scalp (that is, top and sides). In direct light it is very evident that my hair is thinning.

I feel as though my hair is not “that bad” that I need to start a Propecia regimen or that I need to consider hair transplant. Since my hair doesn’t seem to be worsening (my hair is just as thin as it was over the past few years) I feel as though my thinning hair is a result of a hormone/testosterone surge during puberty. Now that I am on the tail end of puberty, my hair is not worsening but what was lost is still noticeable. An endocrinologist confirmed this for me.

Here’s my question: what would you say would be the best option for me? I am not bald/balding; I just need something of a “shove” to restore lost hair. I (and my endocrinologist) strongly feel that it is not continual hair loss and it was just due to testosterone imbalances several years ago. The options I’ve researched are as follows:

-Gaunitz HairGrowth Laser Therapy. A handheld laser that restores bloodflow to the scalp. Taken with supplements.
-Biotin suppplements. A friend reccomended these to me, but according to a post I found on your website, these will not do much?
-Minoxidil application
-Shampoos that lack sodium lauryl-sulfate

Which combination of these would you reccomend? Cost is not an issue. Thank you so much.

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First, as a healthy 19 year old, I am surprised you have an endocrinologist.

Second, if you are of middle-eastern descent who typically have a very low frontal hair line, your frontal hair loss may be a part of juvenile hair loss which is not considered a male pattern hair loss. Perhaps this is why your endocrinologist has advised you that your hair loss may not progress much further (he/she just did not use term, “juvenile hair line”).

Third, you are still concerned about hair loss, see a hair transplant doctor so he can evaluate for miniaturization and patterns of hair loss. The products you have listed have very little (if any) medical benefit for hair growth. Even finasteride (Propecia) which has the highest medical success has minimal benefit or regrowth on the frontal hair line, but it may prevent further hair loss. If you have the diagnosis of genetic patterned hair loss established by mapping your scalp for miniaturization, then if you do not take Propecia (finasteride), the process will progress. The concept of a “shove” is not valid here because genetic hair loss is progressive.

Finally, if money is of no concern, I cannot stop you from trying your ideas. It may help, at least in making you feel that you are doing something but be prepared for it not working and if it does not work, then what will you do if you never follow through getting a proper diagnosis of your situation? Too many people who say that money is not a problem will become victims of those wanting to take your money, promise you lots of hair, and actions even include some doctors.

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Hair Loss InformationHigh Forehead and the Rule of Thirds – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a question concerning hair transplant. I am 20 and do not have an issue with balding yet, but I do have a larger forhead than I would like. Is there a way for me to be able to get my forhead to the 1/3 proportion of my face? I’ve always dreamed of not having a high forhead….i hate when people mention it…they say I have Dawson’s forhead from Dawson’s creek. I was planning on visiting your area. Is there a way you can help me while also making it look natural?

thanks

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DavidThe rule of thirds (1/3rd chin to nose, 1/3rd nose to gully between the eyes and 1/3rd the gully between the eyes to the hairline) does not apply to very many people. Although Michaelangelo made David according to the rule of thirds, I rarely have seen any man have those proportions. I measure these elements in every patient coming through my office so I am more than a casual authority on this matter. The normal proportion is equal distance of chin to nose tip and gully between the eyes to hairline. This is generally the normal male mature hairline, which is higher than the child hairline in most people (by 2/3rds inch). With that said, high hairlines which do not show this proportion can be treated and the hairlines can be lowered. What always worried me is that in young men like you who may have genetic balding (a 50% risk in most men), such a surgery may accelerate the genetic hair loss.

As you suggested, visit me at my office and let’s bond. Best way to deal with this problem is to command it and anticipate the future on a worst case scenario.

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Hair Loss InformationWhy Am I Experiencing Hair Loss Months After Surgery? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi
I’m 18 year old male. I had surgery about 4 months ago. 2 months after I noticed my long hair has been falling out in clumps of 15-20 hairs in one pull or when I brushed it. It has been going on now for 2 months and my hair got very thin very fast. I have noticed a bunch of new tiny hairs growing in front of my hair line but after reaching 1 cm in lenght they had stopped growing and some of them are falling out as well.

I would be greatful to hear your answer.

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Am I to assume that your surgery 4 months ago was not a hair transplant? Hair transplantation at 18 years old is very unusual and in most situations, not appropriate. Hair transplants can accelerate hair loss in an 18 year old and that is one reason this is rarely done. If you have genetic balding and are not on the drug Propecia, I would suspect that you have an extremely high chance of acceleration of your hair loss. If your miniaturiation is high, then that makes hair loss in an 18 year old almost a sure bet. The amount of hair loss and the distribution of the hair loss will reflect your genetic pattern. This sounds like shock hair loss with the acceleration of your patterned balding and may be permanent.

If you are not on Propecia, it may not be too late to start it and try to hold on to what you still have. I would like to know who did your hair transplant (if that was the surgery you meant)?

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My Head Got Bigger? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hi there.
im a 17 year old boy who is worried about receding. i have a full head of hair but it is a bit thin in the left hand side at the temple. i have been told it has always been like this. my mothers dad went bald before 30, my dads dad did not go bald. but my dad has receeded a bit on top. when my hair is dry u cannot see my scalp but when wet it parts alot and seems thin!!also i was told that my head may have got bigger which may make it seem like it has receded! am i worrying over nothing??

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Growing boys with growing and maturing heads, do not thin out their hair. You should get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have early genetic hair loss.

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My 16 Year Old Daughter Has A Small Scar – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I was wondering if I could bring my daughter in for a consoltation, because she has a small scar on her scalp that she would like to get filled in, and we were just wondering what kind of treatment options there are. It is a very small scar, but it seems to bother her a lot, and I just want her to not worry about it anymore. She is only 16 but she is begging me to set up a consoltation. Would this be okay, or is she to young?

She is not too young and I would be happy to see her. Hair transplants work very well for scalp scars. The FUE technique works well here. That means that there will be almost no pain for the transplants or after the transplants are done.

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Is My Son Too Young For Transplant at 19? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

My son is 19 and has always had a lot of forehead. He seems to have been experiencing a receeding hair line, and I would like to know if he is to young to consider hair transplants? If not is there a concern about having a procedure, and then the hair line receeding even potentially leaving a bare spot between the hair that was transplanted and the natural hair line now receeded?

The problem with a 19 year old is that if genetic balding is the correct diagnosis, the pattern is not predictable. In a 26 year old it will probably be predictable based upon the miniaturization patterns that develop by 26. That addresses your question directly, because if he is transplanted, the new hair will be in front of what is lost in the near term future so that a bare spot will develop and could progress. Worse, the balding pattern could develop to be very advanced so that a very bald person may emerge with a transplanted frontal hairline. These is our worst case problem, better to avoid until all of the information is at hand. A good doctor should map out his hair from miniaturization and then with knowing what is actually happening (assuming he has genetic balding), prescribe the use of Propecia with yearly monitoring of the miniaturization process. This will let you know how well it is being managed. The same applies to the maturing hairline, which must be differentiated from genetic balding.