Category: Hair Loss Causes

Dr.Rassman,

This might sound like a very stupid query. Is it common for a man who is not thinning to see hairs on his pillow everyday in the morning.

You know, after years of answering thousands of questions here on BaldingBlog, nothing is a stupid question.

It can be normal to see hairs on your pillow everyday. The average person loses 100 or so hairs per day without balding present at all. Though if you’re seeing 100 hairs on your pillow, then that isn’t going to be normal unless you’re bedridden.

Hi Dr. Rassman.

I was wondering if you knew why hair seems to grow longer/faster in the Summer time. I don’t know if this has ever been scientifically proven, but I have always noticed this with myself and my hair dresser says she notices it all the time with her clients. I assume it has something to do with the warm whether.

If this is true, do you think heat/body temperature would have any affect on the way finasteride behaves?

Hair growing faster/longer in the summer isn’t a proven fact, but if it is something you notice I can’t dispute it. I’ve read all kinds of theories about why hair might grow faster in the summer (if so, likely due to hormones), but some people believe that hair actually sheds at a higher rate in the summer compared to the winter. Unfortunately, there is no good science on this subject. Maybe it is from a subjective perspective.

There is also no correlation that I am aware of with respect to body heat and finasteride. For that matter, humans are warm blooded and our body heat stays right around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celcius for those outside the US), perhaps fluctuating only around a degree F.

Hi Doctor Rassman,

I have a question concerning my diffused hair loss. I am 40 years old and have been thinning quite rapidly all over my scalp and losing hair for over a year and a half. Through your excellent advise to your readers, I decided to do hair miniturization testing with a surgeon I procured in my area through the ISHRS.

The surgeon was very professional and empathetic towards my hair loss concerns. He did the miniturization testing and some blood tests for me. He indicated that I had no evidence of MPB. My blood work all came back normal aside from some higher than normal white blood counts which he indicated may be related to a minor infection. I have since taken antibiotics to remedy the problem. My concern is that I am still rapidly thinning and losing 100s of hairs daily. My hair texture has gone from very thick and spikey to very fine and flat. I really notice the thinning after I take a shower and my hair is wet.

I am currently taking propecia and minoxidil 5% daily and have used both for over a year and still no slow down in thinning or hair loss. At this stage, I am very concerned that I will go completely bald. Is there anything that you could advise me on. Thank you in advance and keep up the good work in informing your readers about hair loss and hair restoration!

There are a variety of diseases that can cause hair loss and a good dermatologist might be able to ascertain the existence of such a disease. I would imagine that there is a diagnosis out there, but maybe the doctors you met with missed the ‘boat’.

As you indicated that you’re not local to me, we should have a telephone consultation. First, I need good pictures of your loss… and the frontal view should show your eyebrows lifted so that the forehead is creased. Along with the photos, please send me the results of the blood tests that were done. The email address for sending photos is on the Contact page, and please reference this posting since I get a lot of emails. I may ultimately not be able to help you, but this is a start. Without seeing you and doing a miniaturization study myself, I can not really judge what is going on.

I’m currently a 3 on the Norwood scale and I see some miniaturization in my crown. Someday I’ll probably reach a 6 on the Norwood scale like my father did, but lets say for some reason I were to progress as far as a 7, when would that miniaturization be present? Would a doctor be able to find it now even though I’m only a 3?

I am not a psychic and I cannot predict the future. If I could, I’d be 100% correct with my Oscar picks. Alas, I was not.

Not everyone loses hair at the same rate from a Norwood 3 to a 6. More importantly, you may never progress to Norwood class 6 or 7. Maybe you will just be a Norwood class 3 or 3V. The Norwood Classification is not meant to be seen as a progression of balding. It just describes the many variations of how bald men look. You can, however, influence what type of balding pattern you will get by treating it with medication (finasteride) which may halt your hair loss. It almost certainly will slow down the rate of progression if you will follow in your father’s footsteps.

I just read this article about hair loss on MSN — The Naked Truth About Baldness

They basically say that you shouldn’t bother medicating for MPB because the results aren’t worth it. They don’t even mention surgery as an alternative to medication. I was wondering if you believe this had any merit or if it is just lazy irresponsible writing.

The author of that article concludes the piece by saying, “From a medical point of view, there is no need to treat male pattern baldness. At best, the treatments are expensive and only partially effective.”

The medication treatments aren’t necessarily that expensive and effectiveness depends on the person. Surgical hair transplantation cost can vary depending on how much is required, but there have been some beautiful results. From a medical point of view, he is right — you do not need to treat male pattern baldness. It isn’t a life or death issue. But from a social point of view, I think millions of men would disagree as hair plays a very real and important role, defining our youth, virility, and sex appeal. Celebrities like Michael Jordan, Bruce Willis (pictured), and Jason Statham may be the exception, but hair is very important to most of us! That should be fairly evident by the thousands of emails I’ve answered on this site.

Male pattern hair loss is not a disease and there is no cure for it, though medication such as Propecia and Rogaine can slow the process down dramatically in some people, possibly even reversing it in younger men. Hair transplantation may not be worth it for some people (such as the writer of the quoted article), but the solutions are absolutely natural and undetectable when done in the hands of an artistic and competent hair surgeon.

My hair seems to fall out every year and then it grows back. I can comb my hair and the comb is full of hair. Right know my hair is falling out and I noticed a bald spot on the left side of my head. I read so of the other people’s concerns and you stated that your hair don’t fall out year to year. In my case it does I wrote it down and it always happen in Feb-April each year. Please tell me what I can do about this.

I would want to know if you are using a tight hat or if you have done anything different during this time period that might cause the hair loss you see. Normally, humans have asynchronous hair cycling, which means that we lose on average 100 hairs per day and regrow the same numbers of hairs. In a 3 1/2 year hair cycle, the entire 100,000 hairs will replace themselves.

Some doctors think that humans may have more hair loss in the spring and less during the winter when it is colder, but frankly, I don’t believe anyone really knows. I can not explain your problem, but if the hair did not come back on schedule, I would be more than concerned.

Hi, about two months ago I got gum in my hair and my girlfriend ripped it out and with it came a chunk of hair. I didn’t worry about it all that much because you couldn’t really see the bald spot because my other hair covered it pretty well. Well it’s been two months and I got a buzz cut and now I still have a quarter sized bald spot a little bit above my left ear. How long will it take for this hair to grow back? Will it even grow back at all? I’m starting to get worried about permanent damage seeing as how it’s been two months and it’s still as smooth as a babies butt. Thanks.

The hair should grow back within the next few months. I have seen many cases of a one-time hair pull before (from a fight, mugging , gum situation, prank gone wrong)… and the hair has always regrown. You’ll just need to be patient.

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Hi Dr. Rassman, how goes it? Thanks for taking the time to update this blog, much appreciated.

I was wondering if scoliosis would have any effect on triggering MPB or hairloss in general. My sternum is under chronic pressure and stress which causes constant discomfort. I’m 24 years old and have had scoliosis for about 11 years. Both sides of my family have moderate to no balding and my father does have slight thinning in the crown. The unlucky family members who did encounter hairloss didn’t experience it til well past 40, even 50. I’m experiencing some diffuse thinning (still have juvenile hairline) and minor thinning in the crown that has been noticeable since I was 16-17. Luckily balding in the crown hasn’t progressed rapidly, but is certainly present.

Oh, one more thing. Stress is a cause for hairloss, but how so physiologically? For example, does stress cause insufficient nutrition to the follicles or an increase in DHT?

Hi! It goes well. Thanks for asking.

Scoliosis (spine curvature) has no direct relationship to hair loss, but stress can play a role. Clearly, you sound stressed. The mechanism for the stress-induced hair loss is unknown. You are the type of patient I would love to see, build a Master Plan for and help. The one-on-one relationship with a good doctor is the best way to start your search for a cause of your hair loss. Assuming genetic hair loss is the cause, Propecia (finasteride) is the best thing to initially do for a 24 year old. The hair loss gene can skip generations, so I don’t know how far back in your family tree you were looking…

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