Hair Loss Causes – Page 289

July 18, 2006

Is There a Pill to Prevent Shock Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What is fallout/Shockloss? Is there a pill or something I can take after surgery to prevent it, or is it temporary and nothing to worry about?

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I just made a post related to this yesterday (see How Long Should I Take Propecia Before Transplant to Prevent Shock Loss?).

Shock loss occurs when the follicle becomes ‘insulted’ by swelling and inflammation, causing the hair to shed from the follicle. The follicle then enters a resting state and may never go back to an active state (if there is genetic balding in that particular follicle) or after a period of time it may go back to an active state and grow normally again. We suggest taking Propecia before the surgery to help minimize shock loss after hair transplantation because the hairs that are genetically impacted have the greatest risk of permanent loss from the shock of the hair transplant process. Propecia minimizes this risk.

July 18, 2006

Can I Tell If I Have MPB By Pulling? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I was wondering how to actually notice hair loss. When I was 25 I remember visibly seeing hairs in the shower and in my sink. Since then I have slightly receded but that is it. I am now 31 and I notice one or two hairs when I put gel in my hair and a few on the floor in my bathroom. I also notice I can slightly tug a few hairs out every once and a while. It just as easy to pull them from my sideburns as the top of my head. No one on either side (first and second generation) is bald in the back of the head. All related men do have recession and slight thinning (which I think is common). It looks like pattern 2. Is the fact that I notice the hair in my sink, tub and by pulling a sign of hair loss or MPB?
Thank you!!

No, you cannot tell if you have male pattern balding (MPB) by simply pulling on your hair. It is normal to lose 100 hairs a day. You may be able to see MPB pattern under a hair densitometer, which is a special microscope for the hair, by demonstrating miniaturization of hair. To make the actual diagnosis, the patterns of thinning and miniaturization can be mapped out for predictive purposes.

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July 18, 2006

Hair Loss Acceleration from Propecia Means It’s Working? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman, thank you for your very imformative site!!

If after starting Propecia, one’s hair loss temporalally accelerates, would this be a sign that the drug is working and that regrowth is likely (i.e., would one be better off if they actually see accelearted loss versus not seeing it)?

When regrowth occurs with Propecia, is the initial hair very fine or does it grow back as normal hair?

Sometimes it is thought that Propecia, when it is working, may accelerate the cycling of the hair. If this happens, there is a possibility that hair loss might worsen temporarily after starting Propecia. Most people who are responding to Propecia should be minimizing or preventing further male pattern hair loss and that is what most people tell me.

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July 18, 2006

My Hairline Was Too Low, So I Plucked Some Hairs – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

When I was 19, I thought my frontal hairline was a little too low, so I unthinkly grabbed some tweasers and plucked out some of my hair from the left towards the middle of my frontal hair line (on more than one occassion).

Ever since then, my hair has not looked quite the same in that area and I occassionally experience a slight burning sensation there.

I am now 22 and am wondering if there is anything I can do to ease the burning sensation around there as well as encourage the regrowth of hair in that area. It just does not look quite natural and like it did before I did this plucking.

Have you heard of a situation like mine and do you have any specific recommendations for a situation like this?

I would really appreciate your help and advice.

Local irritation from plucking hair is common in people with chronic picking of their hair (trichotillomania), The hair loss from your frontal hair line is likely permanent, especially if you have transitioned from a childhood hairline to a mature hairline which is normal at your age. You should see someone like me (or find a doctor in your area at ISHRS.org) to determine a long term plan defining what to expect.

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July 17, 2006

No Hair Anywhere on Body – Balding Blog

My brother has lost his entire body hair at the age of 6, due to medication. He had been suffering from typhoid and small pox at the same time then. Since then we had tried lot of medications, both homeopathic and allopathic. He had a patchy growth of hair during these medications at the age of 18+. Right now he is totally bald, no body hairs and no eyelashes and eyebrows. He is of 26 years of age now.
Can you please help me out.

It seems your brother may be suffering from a condition known as alopecia universalis or alopecia totalis. There is really nothing much you can do in terms of regrowing or transplanting hair.

You may find more information on this topic at the following websites:

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July 14, 2006

Contact Dermatitis and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Can you please help me? I have a contact dermatitis and have been picking it- is the hair loss permanent or temporary?

Can you also recommend a good dermatolgist and endorcolgist in London? We have bupa but my gp is not good with hair problems.

Thank you . I am very impressed with the time you give others with this awful, life destroying conditon

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Contact dermatitis usually is not related to hair loss. However, you seem to describe a condition of compulsive hair-pulling (called trichotillomania) and it may be secondary to your contact dermatitis. Hair loss from pulling is often permanent if it goes on for any length of time. Fortunately if you stop pulling at it, your hair may still grow back. People who pull at their hair often have some obsessive/compulsive elements in their personalities and may require medications to stop the process.

July 14, 2006

How Long Does It Take To Go Completely Bald? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi doctor, I started balding right around my 17th birthday. Both my grandparents and dad are bald, yet all of my 5 uncles have hair. I am almost 18 now, and i am on both propecia and rogaine. Exactly how long does it take to bald completely??? If it continues at this rate i will be completely bald in two years ( I had an absolutely enourmous amound of hair a year ago). I still have a lot of hair and none of my friends notice and think im crazy. I am just wondering how much time you think i have. I started taking propecia 1 1/2 months ago and rogaine this week. My hair loss rate has not decreased. I am very very anxious.

For genetic balding, the baldest of men on the Norwood chart (see below) know that they will be bald by the time they are in their mid-20s (VI and VII). Those with lesser balding patterns take longer to evolve and may not complete the entire patterns show here.

Mapping out your scalp for miniaturization will tell you what is about to happen to you. Find out!

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July 13, 2006

I Think I Have a Diffuse Alopecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I’m a 20 yr old white male and I’ve seen my beautiful dense hair reduce it’s volume to about 40% over a 7 months period. It all started about a month after I relocated to another city. 2 months ago I went to a dermatologist. She gave me this treatment: Hairgrow 2% Minoxidil, Ducray Sabal shampoo and some vitamins. I don’t think it’s working because I’ve analyzed my scalp and I have less hair than 2 months ago. The thing is, I don’t have MPB but rather a diffuse alopecia. I honestly have no idea what the cause is because I have a healthy life style with balanced meals and workout. My father has MPB so in the worse case I should have developed MPB as well.
I would be forever grateful if you could shed some light on my problem. Thanks in advance.

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When you describe a diffuse alopecia, I really do not know what you are seeing. When I describe a diffuse alopecia, I expect to see miniaturization of hair throughout the scalp, including the rim of hair around the sides and back (we call this the permanent hair zone). When miniaturization occurs in the permanent zone in a man, this is a very bad omen for long term deteriorating hair loss, something that is not easily managed with drugs and certainly not transplants. Rather than go into the complex area of the real diffuse alopecias, their diagnosis and management, I would suggest that you get your scalp mapped for miniaturization to find out what is really going on. Is this real? Is this a disease that you are manifesting?

July 13, 2006

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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July 12, 2006

I’ve Experienced Severe Diffuse Thinning in Just 4 Months – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a 22 year old who has experience fairly severe diffuse thinning over a period of just four months. I first noticed the problem in March eventually going to see my doctor in April. He said he could see nothing wrong with my hair but noted that I have two patches of Alopecia Areata and some form of dermatitis on my scalp. My hair continued to thin and in June visited a dermatologist who was similarly distracted by the patches of alopecia and inflamed scalp and also said he could see no sign of MPB. However I feel my hair has continued to thin rapidly since then so I have booked another dermatologists appointment for two weeks on Wednesday but fear I will have little hair left by then.

Is four months considered rapid progression?
I have had an extremely stressful year so far but feel I can rule out T.E because I read you can not have A.A in conjunction with it.
My diet is admittedly poor but a blood test in April turned out to be fine.

Do you have any thoughts?

Thanks

I am assuming that you are a male. Men with genetic hair loss do, at times, develop alopecia areata. There is no connection between the two. With that said, if your hair thinning is diffuse and reflective of some other form of hair loss like diffuse telogen effluvium or diffuse unpatterned alopecia, you should have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have an early subtle patterned genetic hair loss. A hair pull test would also have value for you. Has your doctor done both of these things? Have you had blood tests for endocrine abnormalities such a thyroid disease? The stress you are having can accelerate genetic hair loss or diffuse unpatterned alopecia. If you get the idea, you need a doctor to make the differential diagnosis here.

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