Category: Hair Loss Causes

Dear Dr Rassman,

I had Alopecia problem a year ago and tried acupuncture treatment. The acupunturist used plum blossom hammer (this is a small hammer with five tiny needle points) to hit my scalp. My scalp soon got infected and red. In the end, I lost all hair on the scalp. I was so dismayed. Recently I found that some hair grow but these are thinner and diffuse than before. I am wondering of I should use a product Recapeen or any other product you recommended?

I am in my twenties and a female. I really hope that you can give me some suggestion. I am really in despair. Please reply me.

I am assuming that you have been diagnosed with alopecia areata? If so, your hair may grow back to normal sometime down the line. Steroid injections may help, but not always. The acupuncture experience with the infection you reported may have contributed to the acceleration of the hair loss seen with alopecia areata. If you have alopecia areata, then there are dermatologists who specializes in this disease who are worth seeing. You might check with your family doctor and ask him/her to investigate the dermatologists in your area who have a special interest in treating people with this disease. I would not recommend any treatments without a diagnosis in hand.

Hello Dr. Rassman,
I dont want to seem ignorant to the questions and answers that you have already provided because i believe paranoia gets the best of everyone and no matter how much information they have or hear they will always want more or doubt. With that said, I am 22 years old and i am VERY fearful of going bold. My father is completely bald and he had very thin hair at a young age as i have very thick. My hair color is a reddish blonde, from my fathers grandmother. He had blonde. Is haircolor a factor in gene inheritance? I am not seeing signs now but i get paranoid to the point where i believe i am and friends remind me that im not. Please provide any information you have concerning my personal issue. Thankyou!

There is no connection between hair color and the inherited gene for hair loss. If your father is very bald, he would have seen significant balding at your age. Very bald men have much of their hair loss complete in their 20s and at your age I would expect that he would have been thinning a great deal with some transparancy (see through look) of his hair. Considering that you do not show these signs, I would guess that you will not follow in his balding pattern. To be sure, get your hair mapped out for miniaturization and instead of guessing, you will know the answer addressing much of your fears.

i’ve been having my right eyebrow loss since a month ago. i dont know what is the real cause. both my parents had some fungal infections on their head and moustage but with treatment and applying lime juice the area affected had recovered. i’ve tried to apply the same technique but it didn’t work. i’ve met my clinician and he prescribed me with some antifungal tablets and some vitamins and still it is in bad condition. i do have some occasional itch on the eyebrow affected. i’m very worried as my right eyebrows also started to fall off . both my eyebrows appear oily and i don’t use any special cleansing foams please help me what should i do

How long have you been taking the antifungal medication? Do you truly have a fungal infection on your eyebrows? Do you have any other type of skin problem such as eczema, psoriasis, or another inflammatory disease? Have you done any blood work to rule out hypothyroidism, anemia, and other chemical inbalances which can effect your eyebrows? You may want to see a dermatologist for this problem and have some blood worked up. If there is no regrowth of your eyebrows after you have seen the dermatologist and you continue with your treatment plan as prescribed for around 6 to 8 months, then look at a transplant as a possible option.

hello Dr. Rassman

I read on a Wikipedia article that intense weight lifting can increase hair loss. I weight train frequently, and I’m concerned that this may accelerate my loss. Is there any basis to this claim? Please help. Thanks so much.

If you do not take exogenous steroids, being fit will not cause hair loss. Take a look at me. I never got hair loss when I was acquiring that body! HA!

My hair has gotten sparse the last couple years…Not a receding hairline but it is not as full and I can see through to my scalp…I had been shaving my head bald for a couple years. Could that have caused it and if so is there a way to fix it?

Shaving the head does not cause hair loss. If there is a change, you may be looking at miniaturization of the hair, a telltale sign of genetic hair loss. By mapping out your scalp for miniaturization, you may be able to predict the pattern of hair loss that you are heading for. Most men think that it is important to understand what is going to happen and the ability to predict the degree of hair loss through the mapping process will point in that direction. There is an ‘old wives tale’ that if you shave your head the hair will grow in thicker. Clearly, your report indicates that such ‘tales’ are false.

Hey Dr.
I noticed my recent hair loss in the shower and i was wondering if my grandparents on both sides, and my dad and uncles on both sides arent bald is it still likely to lose my hair? I heard it skips a generation sometimes but is it possible to skip two generations?

There is no magic formulae and I am embarrased to say that no one knows the answer to the question you asked. I have seen many patients who are balding and they tell me that they have tracked their ancestry back 2-3 generations without seeing balding. However, I don’t know many things about these men or the accuracy of their tracking.

Also, I’ve read reports that many ‘fathers’ are not the biological fathers that raised the children for many reasons (infertility for example). There are many factors here, some of which you can just imagine, so when a man has very advanced balding and he presents with 3 complete generation of ancestors without balding, the possibility of assuming the biological father is the real father may not be valid for some. That said, a very balding pattern, I believe, can skip many, many generations.