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March 17, 2006

Hair, Politics, and Career – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Lincoln with and without hair In the days of Abraham Lincoln, few people actually met or saw the people they voted for. Stock photos in newspapers of the 1700s and 1800s were used, often supplied by the men themselves to reflect the image that they wanted to portray. But today, image is thought to make the man and the images can not be so easily controlled by those being portrayed. In politics, 90% or more of successful politicians have hair (though balding is present in 50% of all men). When focus groups are put together, it is clear that prejudice against balding men is commonplace. We have images of the balding, fat, beer guzzler with a pot belly. What does balding have to do with beer guzzling or obesity? Some people feel that balding men are not trustworthy or dynamic. Why? On my radio show, The Inner Man, we asked Los Angeles listeners to call in and tell us what they thought of the balding man. Between this radio program and other forums I have seen, heard, or participated in, I find these comments humorous, yet sad. Here are a few comments:

Balding men are older, right?
I would never date a bald man because I don’t date older men!
Balding men look shifty; they have beady eyes.
Bald men are smarter because they have to be just to survive.
Bald men are not good in bed.
I don’t find bald men sexy.
I find bald men very sexy.

The most interesting comment I heard was from a bald man who called into my radio show responding to prejudice. He said when given the choice in hiring, he would rather hire a man with hair than one without. When we confronted him on this very issue, he said that even though he was bald, it was unfortunately true. We was open about his overt discrimination against balding job applicants, and he was the Senior Vice President of a company.

So in the days of Lincoln (1800’s), men wore top hats to cover their balding, and a bald politician could keep this secret. Today it might be a baseball cap, but there are few secrets to the camera as the paparazzi find their way even into the bedroom. But the real secret is the balding man’s secret. Their views of their balding situation cover a wide range of self esteem issues, inner secrets that are never discussed with anyone. Balding and aging do go together. With 50% of men having some degree of clinical balding by mid-life (45 years old) and balding progressing with age, a look at the man in the mirror constantly reminds him of his aging process, his mortality and his changing body. For some bding bald is a good alternative to the death option. For other more courageous men, they visit me and get their hair back.

March 3, 2006

Donald Trump and Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What is the story on Donald Trump’s hair? He looks like he is trying to hide something?

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As I understand it, Donald Trump was a victim of the old hair transplant process starting in the 1980s. The quality of the work most probably resulted in the pluggy look, and he possibly had scalp reductions (which were popular in those days). Between the two, he might have little donor hair left. There may be significant scarring as well if he had many procedures in the ‘old days’. He apparently found the solution to cover up his hair loss problem, with a creative hair styling that he is now well known for. He knows that his hair is the subject of much focus and with people who just love to talk or make their living hosting entertainment shows. That is the price of today’s celebrity.

What he has done is to exploit a ‘comb-forward’ style, maximizing what hair he has to cover what he wants to hide. Like the comb-over, it layers hair from one part of the scalp to another (comb-forward means that the hair is kept long and combed to the front). I call this the ‘Trump style comb-forward’ in my private office practice, because of his celebrity status. This style uses what many people with frontal balding exploit (see the Norwood Class 3 or 4 pattern balding). The less hair that is lost and the more hair that remains, the more effective is the result of styling to hide thinning or balding in the frontal area. When taken to extreme, whether it is the comb-over or the comb-forward, the appearance does not look good.

When any reasonable amount of hair is transplanted in the Class 3 or 4 balding pattern (those with natural Norwood Class frontal balding patterns), a comb-forward can work even better so restoring all of the missing density is not needed. Nobody ever knew that CBS News sports reporter Steve Hartman was balding and he perfected the combing to the front and side enough to hide his thinning hairline. This canopy comb-forward was very effective for him (a common combing style for many men), but he was slowly losing the battle to preserve his look. Many men tell me that they spend more and more time dealing with their hair, not only in the mornings, but throughout the day as well. One man who comes to mind told me that his comb was like his Mont-blanc pen, always needed wherever he went and he carried hair spray with him to touch up the styling in bathroom breaks that he had to take quite often. Steve’s hair, on the other hand, was very cooperative with a strong character that easily laid down the way he wanted it to. Rather than waiting too long and risking an unnatural appearance, Steve decided to take the bull by the horns and had one transplant procedure (see pictures). Steve went for natural fullness as he did not want to maintain any illusion at all, so we put as much hair as we could safely move in just one transplant session. The point between where Steve came from and a really bad comb-over (the kind that everyone sees on TV or at the airport), is a slow, insidious process — so slow in fact, that the person who is doing it never notices the advancing balding nor the progressive failure of the grooming style. I always wonder why family members do not comment on the failure of this styling process, but maybe they are just not saying anything early enough and now are embarrassed to say anything at all so late in the process.

Some men with bad comb-overs deny their evolving look, putting a mental block on the unnatural appearance they evolved, and others just stop going out into the public arena. Hats and wigs solve the problem for some, a type of cover-up that does not work for everyone and I have seen a few take it to extreme levels, creating a bouffant style with hair that is one or two feet long and combed into a circlular pattern, layered hair by hair to mimic what the person thinks is normal.

I have been asked many times why the rich and famous who can afford the best doctors don’t just get the best surgical hair restoration money can buy. Ignorance is part of the answer. I believe that many men with the old deforming hair transplants find themselves in a difficult situation. They may not know that they were going down that road when the process initially started. When they found out, they may have come to the conclusion that it was too late to do something about it. With luck, men in this predicament may find some solution that they learn to live with when it works (comb overs, hats, wigs, scalp coloring agents, and the like) or they may find their way to a good hair transplant surgeon who can fix the problem.

With today’s modern Follicular Unit Transplant and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) techniques, some amazing work can be done. With FUE in particular, it is virtually for all practical purposes scar-less and the procedure is minimally invasive. Not everyone can be brought back to “normal” if too much of the hair has been squandered, or if scarring has gone too far. If Mr. Trump had old type plugs, he can have that hair redistributed so that the big bad plugs are no longer present. Any hair that is moved can be put to better esthetic use in other scalp locations under the guidance of an artistic hair restoration surgeon (see Dean’s Story for an example of this).

Had Mr. Trump been a patient of ours, I could never have written anything about him because patient privacy is central to the way doctors operate their business today. I hope that by writing this piece in answer to your question, I have not offended him in any way.

March 3, 2006

Hair Loss InformationWigs vs Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Wig Wigs, when worn by men, can look great at times, but if you’ve ever spotted someone wearing a wig, you know that they also can stand out as pretty bad (the old rug on a head look). Good hair systems are costly (possibly thousands of dollars a year). They require constant maintenance and they do wear out. Everyone having them must have at least two of them, each often costing over $2,000 and those that are made for the ‘upper class wealthy people’ are significantly more, I am sure. The hair grows under the wig, so these wigs must be removed and repositioned with fresh glue after the scalp is shaved. Eventually, the glues used will produce traction hair loss so that all of the hair in the glued areas will be lost. As many as two or three maintenances per month are often required and that costs $$$ if you have your special stylist folks do it for you, pushing up the annual costs substantially. To avoid odor from developing, the wig and the scalp must be washed regularly. Can you imagine wearing a T-shirt day after day and what it might smell like after just a few days? This is a characteristic odor that reflect body oils in decay. The scalp is no different, as it sheds skin at a high rate which also undergoes decay, so it must be scrubbed off with frequent washings, taking off the hair system and replacing it regularly. Many men with hair systems are tense when in intimate situations, as they have a no touch zone around their head. Can you imagine a woman running her fingers through your hair and have the piece come off in her hand, or her finger nails catch on it. No way! So men with hair systems do not allow intimacy to go as far as to let a woman touch their hair.

Hair systems and hair transplants often run neck and neck with regard to costs for the first few years, but after a hair transplant has grown out, the costs end, while those people with hair systems continue to contribute to the profits of a ‘hair club’ type organization to the tune of about $15,000 every 5 years or so. The good rugs probably cost more and I suspect that celebrity costs might be equal to the annual salary of many of my readers. To the credit of many hair system wearers, these systems can look damn good; as good as any transplants I have done. Of course, my hair transplant patients can let their ladies run amuck in their hair. Add the smells and additional maintenance required for a hair system, and there is just no comparison to what a great hair transplant can accomplish.

March 2, 2006

For Bruce Willis, Bald is Beautiful? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I saw Bruce Willis on the David Letterman show the other day and he told everyone that he was bald and happy. That could put you out of business so don’t buy your new Mercedes yet doc. What do you think of the balding trend? Is bald beautiful?

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I have followed Bruce Willis’ hair loss over the years from his thinning during the TV series Moonlighting, to the present day shaved head look he sports. A while back, I did notice what I thought were hair transplants placed in the front of his head, showing a less than artistic straight line of hair (suggesting a poor hair transplant), but if my initial guess was correct, there would be some signs of it on the front (recipient area) and in the back of the head (donor area). Judging by photos I’ve seen, I can not stand by my original assumption. I do not think Bruce Willis ever had transplant work done. It is interesting that my daughter met him at a party in the mid-90s and engaged him on the balding issue and my transplant services. He commented that he would remember the connection when the time came, so with that knowledge, I have followed his balding over the years waiting for him to come to my office and join others in that line of work that have come my way.

It must be clear to anyone considering hair transplants, that the option to shave the head as Bruce Willis does may be lost if you have the procedure, as some scarring may be present at the donor site (even with the FUE technique). I have seen many patients that had a small-session transplant, which was inadequate to cover the bald area, because less hair is moved to produce the fullness that a reasonable person might expect. Small, delicate follicular units will mimic the normal hair and to get that, the doctors performing the surgery must be adhering to the standards of Follicular Unit Transplantation. Anyone with even a good hair transplant that uses strip harvesting would have a noticable scar if the head was shaved, even if it were 1mm in size. For the unfortunate person who had unsightly or poorly planned hair transplants, they may have no choice other than to live under a hat or a hair piece most of the time.

Some men shave their head as a way to accommodate their balding. This is a style that has more recently been accepted by the ‘hip’ young men today. We see many ways these men deal with their balding/thinning at our monthly Open House events, where a significant number of men who have to deal with balding come to learn more about the hair restoration process. Many men shave or clip their hair short, or are wearing baseball hats or hair systems. Unlike the average guy, Bruce Willis could get away with wearing a baseball hat to the Oscars because of who he is, but I would not recommend interviewing for a high powered job with a baseball hat on your head. With a poorly done or incomplete hair transplant, an interviewer might spend too much time looking at the hairline rather than in the eyes of the interviewee.

Society has stereotypes and a bald head is stereotypically a ‘hard’ look, the man’s man look. In the past, Hollywood actors have gone clearly bald (Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas), and they were tough character actors. Bruce Willis now joins that pack, but if he had transplants, unlike those bald men who could elect to let their hair grow in and not shave their head, Bruce Willis may not have that choice. His options may be limited if he wanted both hair and the opportunity to keep shaving his head.

Now to comment on your last inference, I am not buying a new Mercedes and I fully expect to keep driving my Toyota minivan, which seems to get me from here to there just fine. If it is short hair you want, don’t worry about my car payments as I have accounted for those choices already.

February 3, 2006

Balding Football Star Matt Hasselbeck and Super Bowl XL – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Now I’m not a huge sports nut, but I read enough news to know what’s going on. The nation seems to be obsessed with the hair, or lack thereof, of the Seattle Seahawk’s quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. I caught a few sportscasters on ESPN talking about his “shiny dome” a few nights ago, and since, I have noticed numerous respected sports journalists harping on, or even supporting, Matt Hasselbeck because he is bald. Even Hasselbeck himself is discussing it in the media, “Anybody losing your hair, you can root for us, too,” he said. “Anything to get the home-field advantage here in Detroit.”

Now it’s interesting that this is such an issue. I mean, from what I have read, he is a good Quarterback; it is not like he cannot do his job. Why is the media judging him because of his hair? Is he not marketable enough? Can’t he sell enough Wheaties boxes? Take a read through some of these articles, and let me know if you think it’s and issue.

Washington Post – from Tony Kornheiser, also an ESPN analyst
“On the other team, there’s Matt Hasselbeck, like me, an innocent victim of male pattern baldness, a Rogaine casualty; maybe not the MVP, but the MPB of his team. How can I not root for him? He isn’t shaved like one windbag I know (hint, hint) who claims to be able to grow hair, but in reality is as bald as an egg. He isn’t waxed and plucked like some freaky bowling ball. He’s just lost everything on top, and still — like a real man — he lets the sides continue to flourish. (Plus, his brother has such a hot wife, which has to frost Matt, because he’s a much better quarterback.) Yeah, it’s nature over nurture for me. It’s the brotherhood of the bald.”

USA Today
“Quarterbacks aren’t bald. They aren’t supposed to sport receding hairlines. Maybe that’s why Hasselbeck won’t be the most highly touted quarterback in the Feb. 5 Super Bowl at Ford Field. Maybe that’s why Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, possessor of a manly brown beard, was bronzed Sunday when his team beat the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, even though Hasselbeck’s play was equally dominant.”

USA Today
“I mean, follicle-challenged Matt Hasselbeck is a fine passer and field general, but poor dude looks more like a meat-cutter than he does cool Joe Willie. ‘You gotta pull for the beard, Hasselbeck has no hair!’ said Dan Fouts, who had the best set of whiskers ever among NFL signal-callers, on Tuesday.”

Outsports
“In contrast, Seattle’s two biggest stars sport no hair on their heads, whether by nature or choice. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is only 30, but is severely folically challenged, so much so that a Seattle newspaper asked readers to send in doctored photos showing Hasselbeck with hair. If the Seahawks win, can a Rogaine endorsement be far behind? Running back Shaun Alexander is totally bald, but it appears more like he’s opted for the shaved-head look by choice.”

ESPN’s Page 2, The Sports Guy
“Why NOT Hasselbeck? Bald is only tough-looking if you’re Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley.”

February 2, 2006

Hair Loss InformationWoods Technique and FUE – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Do you use the Woods style of hair transplant? Also are you in California?

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Dr. Woods (in Australia) probably is doing something like what I published in 2002 and called Follicular Unit Extraction. He kept what he was doing very secret, whereas I always publish my advances as I prove and document them for the world to see. As such, Dr. Woods promoted what he was doing on the Internet and launched a marketing campaign to sell a technique that sounds just like what we developed in California and New York. But as Woods never told anyone what ‘magic’ formula he was using, I can not claim to be using his technique. The FUE technique was defined by me (see Follicular Unit Extraction: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Hair Transplantation). On my site, you can see what it is (see FOX Procedure Videos) and also the type of scarring that is produced (see FUE Photos). There is no secret with what we are doing and the world of competent and honorable doctors reference my publication as the inventive breakthrough in this field. Now, almost 4 years later, there are no other published articles on the FUE ‘technique’ that I have seen.

With that said, Woods did publish one article that shed no new light on the great ‘secret’ of his technique. The article contains a case study and there is no scientific methodology defined, nor anything that meets generally accepted standards for publishing, so I was very surprised that this reputable journal took an article of this type without a good clinical scientific base. The article appears to be another type of marketing promotion. According to Woods’ site, TheWoodsTechnique.com, his technique was “Published in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery December 2004″ and “First in the world to develop and perfect single follicular unit extraction (since 1989)”. There is no reference to my published article on it a few years earlier and his claim that he perfected it in 1989 is completely unsubstantiated. It is interesting to note the gap of 16 years from the date of the unsubstantiated discovery to the date of his first publication. Woods, in my opinion, approached this process like P.T. Barnum (best known as the 19th century American Huckster). My work in the development of FUE was started in the mid-1990s and I was unwilling to publish it for grandstanding purposes (this is not a sour grapes issue), because I would not publish something for the purpose of just getting the word out to create a reputation. I know that I am very critical of Woods, but that is because all I have ever seen, even in a lecture series that he set up, was a hyped up marketing presentation with statements made that neither his commercial video nor the photos from his web-site can realistically support. The most blatant example of this is his statement about no scars, yet I have video from his office in my possession that shows more scars then I got from the technique I published and with the smaller instruments I use today, our scars are even smaller than what I have published. If you are believer in everything you read, should I have mentioned that I am the inventor of today’s modern computer chip (I don’t believe anyone would really believe me on this last unsubstantiated statement).

To answer your last question — yes, I have offices in Southern and Northern California and would love to see you. I hope that this entry on FUE entertained you. I did try to spice it up a bit.

January 12, 2006

Hair Loss InformationThe Value of Hair Transplant Experience – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is hair transplantation an art form? Does one doctor really get better results than another? If it is only technicians putting grafts into holes in a head, how is it worth the money that you doctors charge?

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Hair transplantation is a discipline that includes a sense of artistic balance, a sense of meticulous organizational skills, good judgments, and lots of experience. I know this because I see too many hair transplants that reflect failures of these elements. For example:

Artistry: I can tell that a person had a hair transplant just by the location of the hairline. There is a range of normal locations, yet many doctors tend to place the hairline too high, in order to conserve hair, when the location is clearly not ‘right’. The eye catches something is not normal, and even when, on close inspection, the grafts meet the follicular unit golden standard for today, you know that something is wrong.
Teamwork: Poor growth may reflect poor organizational skills and less than experienced staff. Many doctors use itinerant staff, brought in and paid by the hour. They were trained in different offices with different standards and learned habits and techniques that may not conform with the same standards as other team members. Many of the technicians who were terminated from NHI, now work as itinerant technicians who move from office to office. They bring with them the same bad habits that caused them to lose their job with me. Unless a doctor’s team has been working with that doctor for years and are self disciplined with a common focus using strict quality control processes, the team’s work will often reflect the weakest person working on the case. It is critical to recognize that today’s modern hair transplant standards are a team effort, not the output of a single individual, doctor or nurse.
Judgment: The problem with balding people is that hair loss is a moving target, progressive over time. For the hair transplant surgeon it is also a matter of balancing supply of donor hair and the ‘moving’ demand of balding. A surgeon must work in the present time using what hair is reasonable to move today, while preserving hair for future hair loss so that the patients always looks normal. I have seen people who have had grafts placed in a 2 inch bald spot in the crown, which then advances to a 5 inch bald spot in the crown. They had an island of hair like an oasis in a bald desert. The same is true for frontal balding in the young man who has corner recession and gets them transplanted only to find that the corner recession advanced to full frontal balding. He comes to my office with ‘wings’ protruding out at the corners and a bald area around it. Both of these men looked freakish, so that any short term benefit they received was offset as their balding progressed. The unfortunate fact is that too many young men do not recognize that their bodies (and balding patterns) will change over time.
Experience: I can not say that experience is king here, but I can say that experience means that mistakes should be minimized and #1, 2 and 3 above, have been incorporated into the routine of the transplant surgeon. I am fortunate to have become the doctor’s doctor in the Beverly Hills plastic surgeon community. These surgeons have had their transplants done by me or they have sent their patients to me and have seen the results we get. I have focused much of my professional career to publish the lessons I have learned over the years in the most prestigious medical journals and text books. Often I have had patients come to me saying that Dr. X told them that he invented ‘blah, blah and blah.’ I always tell the patient to have the doctor prove that they are the inventor and most of the time what they can’t get the information they are asking for. Falsely claiming authority or inventor status should not be taken lightly, as it is a measure of the fabric of the surgeon. Look up his/her credentials and experience and only believe what you can verify.

I can go on an on here, but to see what I am talking about, visit my website. There are over 200 patients with before and after photographs on the site and copies of much of what I have written and published is in the medical literature. Yes, hair transplantation is expensive, but would you want people to immediately say, “Nice hair transplant”? No one should even know.

January 6, 2006

Hair Loss InformationMy Connection to Merck, Again – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman. It’s obvious through the few blogs that I’ve read that you have no faith in any hair restoration product other than Propecia. You have mentioned Avodart, but it’s quite clear that you are a proponent of finasteride.

There are decades of successful clinical trials with natural herbs (simply look in the PDR for Herbal Medicines or online at PDRHealth.com to find them). For example, saw palmetto has been tested against finasteride many times with virtually equal results (both with BPH and hair restoration). Foti root, grape seed extract, green tea, amino acids and other nutrients also have significant clinical data behind them to show that they are and can be effective at halting or slowing the effects of androgenetic alopecia.

Since you discard the thousands of other proven products that exist and have helped millions of men over the decades, I have to ask… are you in some way connected to Merck or Propecia? Are you a stock holder? Are you on a board of directors? Are you compensated by Merck for speaking engagements, travel, endorsements, etc?

Do you have any affiliation whatsoever with Merck that could possibly sway your opinion?

If so, I think it’s important that you share this information with your readers and patients. And as you know, it wouldn’t be difficult to find out on our own.

Respectfully

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I’ve answered this question before, but I am glad that you are inquiring if I am being paid by Merck to speak highly of Propecia. For the record, I do not work for Merck, am not on its payroll and have never been paid one dime for any of my opinions or activities in recommending a good drug. I do not own the drug company’s stock and have never purchased it. I also prescribe aspirin, and many other prescription drugs and am not on any other drug company’s payroll either. As a hair transplant surgeon, I make a living by doing hair transplants. Thus, some might say that it is not in my best interest to endorse a particular medication to help grow hair or stop hair loss, but I will of course do it if that is best for my patients. As a physician with sincere interest in my patients’ well beings, I will endorse any medicine with clear, concrete medical data that help’s my patients improve thier hair loss situation. As of now, Propecia and Minoxidil have been shown through many studies to improve hair growth or stop hair loss. Through my experience, I have noticed Propecia to have a better effect than Minoxidil when genetic hair loss is in full swing (for men only). I am not convinced of the many herbal remedies because there is no scientific data to support the many claims that are made by so many of the herbal companies.

When I recommend Propecia to stop or reverse hair loss, one might say that I am undoing my business because a successful treatment with hair loss reversal will not produce a hair transplant for my practice. That must mean something to the reader, because I do this for the benefit of my patients. That is what my Oath is about, to take the interest of my patient above my own at all times. Nothing makes me happier than to have a successful drug course of treatment. I bond with these men and they send me their balding fathers, brothers, uncles, best briends, etc. Losing one patient to Propecia brings many friends and family, so I get back far more than just appreciation, although as a doctor, appreciation is all I hope for. I just met a patient who I sent home with Propecia, because he was too early to get a hair transplant and would not get a benefit from a transplant without first trying Propecia. If it has a chance to get him his results without surgery, that is better than rushing into a transplant. He had just seen another doctor who told him that he needed 2,000 grafts. What do you think? I get a growing, thriving surgical hair transplant practice just because I care and want to be the best doctor I know how to be.

January 4, 2006

Hair Loss InformationGenetic Code Catching Up – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

In a previous post you said “Remember, hair loss is progressive and either with Propecia or Avodart, sooner or later your genetic code will catch up with you.”

What do you mean about genetic code catching up with you even if you take Propecia or Avodart?

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Thank you for drawing attention to my cryptic medical speak. This is best explained by using an example.

First, it is important to show the Norwood Classification chart, so that the readers here can see what I am referring to.

Now, let us assume that your genetics will eventually take you to become a Class 6 patterned hair loss, but now you show only a Class 4 pattern because you are still losing hair and have not arrived at the final hair loss pattern you may have inherited from your family. In some people, their hair loss is so slow that they progress from the Class 3, to a Class 4, to a Class 5 and so on. The change can take years and be very slow to occur. In other unfortunate people, the loss may first show as thinning in the Class 6 pattern and then advance to a complete Class 6 pattern within a couple of years. If you are that Class 4 pattern person and take Propecia, the size of the bald spot in the back of your head may become smaller and the hair in the top may fill in a bit. You may go backward on this chart from a Class 4 to a Class 3 Vertex pattern, or you may regrow your thinning Class 6 pattern to a full head of hair with Propecia alone. If you stay on Propecia for life, maybe you will stay at a Class 3 Vertex, or you may slowly progress to a Class 4 or 5 or possibly 6 pattern over your lifetime (it could take 20-30 years or so to get there). If you got back the thinning hair in the 8 months that it takes for Propecia to act, you could lose it again, finding yourself back to ‘square one’ as the progressive nature of the hair loss continues to take its toll on you. We do not know if drugs like Propecia will stop the Class 6 pattern that you were destined ‘genetically’ to become, but it is not unreasonable, with what we know of today’s medications and what we know about Propecia, to actually see the value of this medication decrease with time. That means that the drug may eventually become less effective in preventing the progressive nature of the hair loss.

Avodart is a stronger medication for blocking DHT, and maybe by the time Propecia stops working for you, the FDA will clear Avodart for use in preventing hair loss. More likely, however, some new medication that is more effective than either of these drugs may come to market. It is my hope that medical research will continue to improve the effectiveness of medications for hair loss prevention or regrowth. What we must do now is to be patient, use what is there and what is safe, keep our fingers crossed and use the transplant ‘card’ when you are not satisfied with what you can achieve with drugs.

For people who have a Class 6 pattern and do not like it (or a lesser pattern hair loss which can be seen in over two hundred patient pictures at newhair.com), for example, they can become more hairy and reduce their balding appearance to a Class 3 or possibly even a Class 2 pattern if they have the donor hair to do it. That is what I mean by the hair transplant ‘card.’ We live at a wonderful time, where a simple outpatient surgery can transform a patient from a Class 6 to a Class 3 pattern in just a single surgery (under the right conditions). That means, between modern medications or hair transplantation, you can take charge of your life and your ‘hairy’ appearance. Remember, you are in the driver’s seat, so drive carefully.

January 4, 2006

Search Results for “seasons” – WRassman,M.D. BaldingBlog

I have heard some of my patients reporting that they lose hair during certain seasons. Humans have asynchronous hair cycling, which means that we generally shed uniformly over the entire hair cycle of about 36 months. We lose about 100 hairs per day and replace that number each and every day. Animals have synchronous hair […]