Category: Hair Loss Causes

I am a 17 year old male. When i turned 13 I dyed my hair about 5 times, and bleached it once. The following year I began to lose my hair. You can see my scalp on the back of my head, not greatly, but very noticablly. The hair on top of my head is very thin now, and u can almost see through to my scalp. My hair has stopped falling out since then but the damage has been done. I have been to several doctors, and dermatologists, they all say it’s hereditary, since my father is bald. My questions are, if the hair loss is hereditary why did I start losing my hair at such a young age? If my parents and I consider hair transplantation am I guaranteed to have a full head of thick(er) hair? If we decide to have the surgery should I start taking Propecia to prevent any future hair loss? I would love nothing more than to have a full head of thick hair again. This has been a very stressful situation, being in my prime teen years, and entering my junior year of high school in September. I would greatly appreciate it if you respond to my message. Thanks for your time!

You are almost certainly too young to have hair transplants. Wtihout seeing you and examining you, I can not really understand what your hair looks like throughout the scalp. Seeing through the hair to the scalp means that you hair is probably very, very fine. This is a common look, something that my generation called a towhead. I would not be surprised to hear of balding in your family as 50% of men in their lifetime do have some form of balding. Some of your hair loss may be the results of the chemicals you put on your head when you were young. Before you start on a treatment plan, please read Miniaturization: Critical to the Master Plan for Hair Loss and develop a Master Plan for your hair. I can not really advise you without seeing you.

Dr. Rassman

My daughter has many bald spots on her head, we noticed this back in August of last year and it dosen’t seem to be getting better. I am at a loss as to what to do. I have had her saliva tested and put her on a vitamin and mineral regiment. She has also started to eat more vegetables at our urging to help with her problem. She is seven years old and has always been concerned with her appearance, I am very concerned that this will progress and affect her forever. Please send me any information that you think may help us.

Take her to a good dermatologist. Spots of hair loss are signs of something wrong like a fungal disease of the scalp or alopecia areata or a variety of other conditions. This is not the place for the amateurs (or even online opinions) and your daughter deserves a good professional opinion from an expert in person.

Dr. Rassman,

I have been a patient of yours for over three years now and I recently visited your office back in August. After seeing you again it was established that my hair loss had not progressed from last year and had possibly even improved. Unfortunately, over the past month, I have been experiencing non characteristic loss. When I am in the shower, I have never ending clumps of hair coming of my head and clogging the drain. Also, when brushing my hair there is even more loss. Dr. Rassman, this has never happened before and I have no idea what to do. Is it possible that the Propecia that I have been taking since November of 2005 has stopped working for me and my genes are taking over?

All of the loss has been occurring since I have been out of town on a job. I seem to even have some kind of infection on the corners of my lips. I am sure the two things are not related, but I figured I would tell you.

Anyway, is this a normal experience for someone on the drug as long as I have been? Should I take more of it? Is it possible for a person to lose all of his hair immediately? Could this be a possible hair cycle or allergy? Again, I have no idea what to do and what to expect. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and your advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Hair loss can increase from stress amongst many other things, such as the normal progression of hair loss that occurs in some men (even those on Propecia). As one of my patients, please come see me and let me see if your miniaturization has increased. We can get a baseline on the HAIRCHECK instrument by measuring your hair bulk now and then repeat it in a year to see, for future purposes, if you are continuing to lose your hair.

This is a review of female patient who wanted a more rounded (feminine) hair line. Sometimes it takes more than one surgery to give the perfect rounded shape. Dr. Jino Kim of New Hair Institute in Seoul Korea was able to accomplish the goal with one surgery!

QUESTION FROM THE PAST
I have been taking Propecia for just under a year with really no ill effects, and some good results. But in early November 2006 about 5 weeks ago I noticed discomfort and some swelling in my right nipple. I had a sonogram and was put on two different antibiotics for one week, each to no avail. The doctor thought it was mastitis or a staph infection. I had blood work done and all appears normal. I spoke with a surgeon today and he said I had Gynomastia and needed surgery next week. I want another opinion.

Can I simply stop using propecia and substitute with another treatment? Must I have the surgery? Please help thanks

It is very difficult for me to judge your nipple problem over the internet. My answer therefore will be in the general view, not specifically targeted to give you a medical opinion. If I were to examine you directly, my opinion would be based upon having all of the facts, which is simply not the case right now.

There is usually no rush to tackling even a small nipple mass in a young male when there is pain present. Stopping Propecia is a reasonable thing to do first and if the nipple pain is induced by the drug, then the pain might go away in a week or so. Ask your doctor why he feels that there is some urgency to the problem. Some men with breast pain from finasteride (Propecia) may not see it go away by just stopping the medication, but stopping it is a reasonable first step.

QUESTION FROM THE PAST Please help me – I’ve been suffering from hair shedding since Aug 2007. I was on the pill for 12 years and came off in august just after my wedding to conceive. I concieved straight away and am now 7 months pregnant. In Dec 2006, I was in hospital for a day with an infection which caused a hemorrhage. The shedding does seem to have slowed down now so losing about 25 after washes and I feel spiky bits all over my head. This has lasted about 7 months now and just wanted to know how long it usually last for and if it will stop? Will I ever get the thickness back in my hair?

I’m so depressed about this and would be grateful if you could help me. Thanks

You have many potential causes for hair loss, including:

• Pregnancy, which can cause hair loss that should reverse after about a year
• Changes in your hormones from the withdrawal of birth control pills
• Illness from the infection that put you into the hospital

It is likely that this process will reverse. You are not alone and the experience of others with this problem have been far from hopeless.

I started to lose your hair this July. About that time I also went on hormones, DHEA, and antibiotics. Could these medications have caused my hair loss. I recently stopped taking these medications and think that the loss may have slowed and some reversal may be going on. Is this possible

I believe that considering the short period of use and the known relationships between DHEA and hair loss, it is reasonable to expect that the hair loss you had might be related to the medication. You think that the hair loss is reversing upon stopping the medication so it is reasonable to expect that your progress will continue. You need to determine the status of your hair in and around your head, get the hair and scalp mapped out for miniaturization and if this is normal, that would make the process most probably reversible.

In 2006 I had a hysterectomy (uterus only). This past July my doctor put me on 1 mg. of Divigel. I’ve noticed the past couple of months that my hair is falling out. I don’t know if it is the hormone replacement therapy or not. I should note that when I’ve had surgery or a stressful time in my life, I tend to shed, but the hair comes back. I’m wondering if my “empty nest” this fall or the Divigel is causing the hair loss. Any ideas?

Stresses (emotional, surgical, medical, etc) can all cause some degree of hair loss. It usually takes about one year or so before you notice the hairs regrow once the stress is under control. Or, it could be the medication you’re on. Divigel (estradiol gel) does list mild hair loss as a common side effect.

It is best to discuss your concerns with your doctor that is treating you. On top of the stress and medication, there may be other medical issues that you are not aware of as well. In the end, hair loss for women is very frustrating for doctors and patients alike. There is no one magic bullet or a defining cause. And worse yet, there is no definitive treatment (let alone, a cure). Good luck.

i am a 24 yr old sikh male living in the uk. up until the age of 18 i had long uncut hair but then in 2003 i cut my hair. my hair has always been thin in texture from a young age. at first when i cut my hair it seemed to be quite thick on top and didnt seem to concern me too much. however after a few months of getting it cut i began to realise that a lot more of my scalp was visible, particularly in well lit areas.

so in following summer of 2004 i shaved my hair off completely in hope that it would grow back thicker which was really a waste of time. by summer 2005 i had realised that my scalp was a bit more visible than before so then i made the decision to start using rogaine. this seemed to work at good effect and by jan 2006 i had grown my hair a bit longer and had a new style cut. my hair appeared to be a lot better than before and a lot of people did notice. this however may have been due to the new style as well. but by summer 2007 i began to realise that my hair was appearing to be thinner again and i also noticed that at my crown the balding area had increased. the fact i have got a double crown does not help appearance either. so in late december 2007 i decided to switch rogaine for a private minoxidil 5% containing MPG. this too at first appeared to have made a slight improvement, and is a lot easier to apply than the rogaine. however by now in may 2008, i am still not to happy with the density of my hair. i went to a trichologist late last year, he advised me that i should not consider a hair transplant until i am least 25 and that i still have a bit too much hair for a HT. he advised me to take propecia, however i am scared of using the drug due to all the reported side effects. i would be willing to use the propecia, preferbly in a few years and after marriage! both my mother and fathers family have cases of hair loss, my father is bald apart from the hair on his back and sides. both my sisters have fine hair aswel, but they have a full head of hair.

i have seen pictures of hair transplants on patients who have diffused thinning and this would be my preferred method of sorting my hair out, however i am aware that i need to consider the long term instead of the short term. can you please give me some advice on what to do? thanks.

I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t already been said on this site —

I’m not sure I quite follow the logic about waiting until after marriage to start Propecia (finasteride 1mg). The side effects from Propecia occur in less than 2% of men and most claims you read about on the Internet are unsubstantiated. Without seeing your hair, I couldn’t tell you if you’re a transplant candidate, but if you’ve already seen a doctor and were told that surgery was not recommended, I’d listen to him. You could’ve very easily gone to someone that would’ve taken your money and performed a surgery on you just to appease you. I don’t know which doctor you went to, but by not doing surgery on you, he likely did you a favor. You are, of course, entitled to go to another doctor and I’m sure eventually you will find a surgeon that is more than willing to take your money.

See the following for more:

• Dr Rassman, Why Do You Insist on Young Men Taking Pills Rather Than Just Get a Hair Transplant?
• The Truth About Cheap Hair Transplants

I had a hair transplant 3 weeks ago and the scabs are still present. I can not take off my hat. As an executive of a large company, I took off the first 2 weeks, and had to go to work with a baseball hat on. Having a hair transplant was a terrible decision. Whey don’t you guys tell people like me what to expect? I think you can tell that I am angry as hell.

I am certain that we did not do your hair transplant as our patients are devoid of any major scabs after about a week if washed twice a day. More importantly we make every effort to educate our patients of what to expect.

In fact, my wife (Mrs. Rassman) had a hair transplant in the frontal hairline just a few weeks ago, and the transplant was barely detectable by the first day after surgery. The key to keeping a hair transplant less noticeable is to have a washing program that keeps the scabs off. Most of our patients leave the operating room without much evidence of the surgery because we wash the scalp very thoroughly before leaving the operating room. We have the patient usually come back the next day and we wash their hair ourselves and instruct the patient in the washing process. The old adage that cleanliness is close to godliness, applies here in the post operative care of a hair transplant. Your doctor should have explained this to you.