Category: Hair Loss Causes

I saw your answer to the bald spots on facial hair. My experience has been that i had small bald spots appearing in my face (size approx 1 sqin) in different locations and then after several month they disappeared. Currently I have one and I wonder what is causing this. Could it be a nutritional thing? Any help/answer is appreciated.

Thanks

I would like to see you and use a video magnifier to view what is happening there. There could be some stress induced loss, or maybe it’s as simple as some gray hair that is looking like a bald spot. I don’t have any clear answer to give you to rectify the problem, unfortunately.

Snippet from the article:

An inability of stem cells in the scalp to develop into the type of cells that make hair follicles may be an underlying cause of male-pattern baldness, according to a new study. The discovery gives hope that people who are bald could regrow their hair with a future treatment, said study researcher Dr. George Cotsarelis, a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania.

In people who are bald, hair follicles have shrunken and become microscopic, Cotsarelis said. And scientists long thought that bald people also had a depletion of hair follicle stem cells, which are necessary to grow hair.

But the new study shows that bald people have the same number of stem cells as those with hair. So if scientists could coax the stem cells into producing more hair follicle progenitor cells, then it would be possible to generate bigger hair follicles that could grow hair, he said.

Read the full story at Livescience.com- Balding may be a stem cell problem

Our work on using plucked hair to grow a new hair in the balding area may touch on the subject material mentioned in that article. With new hairs growing from plucked hairs, does this mean that the new hair came from the plucked hair and its stem cells — or do the stem cells in the recipient plucked hair area stimulate the original hair to grow from “the stem cells which were unable to complete their normal development and become hair follicle progenitor cells“?

There is still much to learn here, but we have suspected for a long time that the bald areas contain the elements that can grow hair, but because of various defects that are described in brief in the reference here, they just don’t grow. I can imagine that some day we will harvest stem cells in enough quantity such that injecting them into the bald skin may bring back the original hair and cure baldness permanently. More research is surely needed and being done as this is the big lotto hit.

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Question about the balding process…

My understanding of how we bald is that an individual hair follicle will start miniaturizing. It can go through many further cycles, but it will eventually become shorter, thinner, smaller and eventually non-existent. Is that correct?

If so, when we do see relatively thicker, longer and healthier looking hair shed/fall out, we shouldn’t assume that hair will never grow back, right? Rather, that’s just part of the natural cycle of hair growth.

Thanks in advance.

You are essentially correct. As it miniaturizes, hair becomes thinner and eventually ceases to regrow. Note the diagram on this page to see what miniaturization looks like in various stages.

Hello doctor,

My question is regarding weather and hairloss. I know in canada it gets really cold sometimes even -50, and i believe it effects my hair. I find my hair thinner and more brittle during winter and it becomes more straighter then usual (i have wavy air by the way and i would be a good candidate for a HT because i know i have frontal thinning but because of my wavy hair it covers the balding up) but during the summer it feels thicker and more brighter and wavier. I was just wondering if there are any studies showing weather and hair loss and texture or if its just a myth.

If it is just a myth then why am i experiencing all these hair characteristics during winter. I personally believe hair thins out during winter and becomes thicker during summer.

Thanks for your time. All the best.

There are no studies that I am aware of that look at a relationship between hair texture and weather. I think it is more of something we take as common sense that when the weather is cold and dry, our hairs and skin may be affected.

If your hair is dry in the winter months, then try using moisturizing shampoo. If your skin is dry and lips are chapped in the winter months (like many people) use moisturizing lotions and lip balm (Chapstick, for example). I don’t know if there is study that looks at dry skin and chapped lips in the winter/cold months, but I don’t think you need a study to prove that point either.

Scientifically, in cold months, the humidity in the air is much lower than warm summer months. That contributes to dry skin, chapped lips, and texture changes of your hair. There have been reports over the years from readers about thinning hair at different seasons, but I’ve got no medical reason for this.

Hi, I’m a 20 year old Caucasian male, and for the last few months I’ve been concerned about my hairline. I had never paid much attention to it before, as I’ve always had thick wavy long hair that mostly hid it, but after getting it cut short I realized that the corners extended a little bit higher than I’d like them to. The left only extends a little bit above my juvenile hairline, but the right corner is a little bit higher than the left. In both corners above the juvenile hairline mark I have short dark vellum hair.

I’m worried because I have more of this hair on the left than the right. The left almost hits my juvenile hairline while the right does not… Any advice you can give me would be much appreciated.

I give all permission to use these photos.

 

Thanks for allowing us to post your photos. Click them to enlarge.

You shouldn’t worry about having more hair or less hair on left or right corners of the hairline. Many people have asymmetry, so what you’re seeing isn’t uncommon. With respect to hair loss, I cannot give you a diagnosis at this stage since you’re only 20 years old and anything is possible. This could just be a case of the hairline maturing, but honestly, it is impossible to tell how/if your hair loss will progress just based on looking at photos. There needs to be more hands-on examinations of the hair.

My advice is that if you are concerned about hair loss, see a doctor. First, get an objective measurement — miniaturization studies and bulk analysis of hair on different parts of the scalp). Then get a diagnosis and a suitable Master Plan that will follow you for the years to come.

Hi. Enjoy reading your blog here.

29 year old male that is noticing what appears to be thinning in the crown area. I have very long hair, shoulder length. (not cut in a few years) Not really bad thinning yet, or necessarily noticeable to others than me… but certainly seem to have less hair there than on the sides of my head. Not crazy.

What I’m trying to figure out is hair quality. From the thinning area I have plenty of hairs that are every bit as thick as the stuff on the side of my head. In fact, some of them are thicker. A few thinner, but not many.

Would it make sense that hair quality could be similar… yet one area has much more coverage? I should think that I would find more evidence of miniaturized hairs in my thinner area. Maybe I’m just missing them?

I’m a little confused by your question, but if you are searching for a diagnosis you should see a doctor who can examine you and even conduct a miniaturization study at various locations on your scalp, as well as a hair bulk measurement if your doctor has the tool available.

But you even state that your thinning is “not really bad” and not “necessarily noticeable to others”, so anything is a possibility. Some areas of the scalp may have less hair density and more miniaturization. That in itself may be what you are seeing.