Category: Female Hair Loss

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Contrast Between Scalp and Hair – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Female – I have been thinning for years and as a result, have been bleaching my hair. My rationale is that this lessens the contrast between the scalp and the hair and makes the hair loss less noticable. Recently, I went to a new stylist who told me that my theory is false and that dark hair will make the hair less transparent and therefore less noticable. It’s been three days since she did my hair and I have to say that I think I was right. I think the new darker shade makes the hair loss more noticable. Am I nuts? Should I go back to being a blonde or should I stay a brunette?

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When the scalp and the skin are closer in color (white skin and blonde hair) the impact of thin, see-through hair is less obvious. Styling with puffed-up hair styles are popular in women who also dye their hair to get a fuller look. That is more of a styling issue. Don’t worry, you’re not nuts. If you’re more comfortable with being blonde, I’d say you should go blonde. Go with what you’re comfortable doing, and with what you think looks the best.

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Female with Hair Recession – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I saw your post on January 20 with the brow lift repair. It was amazing. I am a 34 female and my problem is that my corners have disappeared like a man’s corners. Is that common and can it be fixed like the example you showed?

You are referring to the post I made titled Female Hairline Restoration After Brow Lift (with Photos).

Corner hair loss is actually very common in women, but it is often not complete. The corners will thin while the rest of the hair (in the non-genetic balding female) will stay strong, making the thinning more noticable. Yes, the female hair line can be created just like the patient in that blog posting from January 20. However, I must caution you — you must be very careful in chosing your doctor, for the art of female hairline rebuilding is difficult unless the doctor is exceptionally trained in building such hairlines.

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Transplanting African American Women – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a 38 year old african american female. Like many other women of color, I began thinning in the top of my head as well as around my hairline. To make matters worse, my occupation requires me interact with many people in public places. Needless to say to go from beautiful hair to wearing a hair weave (to stop chemical processing) has damaged my self esteem(my hair is braided underneath a hair net). I am hiding my problem from family and friends and do not like being seen in public. I have acquired a biopsy and have been told that it’s probably due to genetics or stress. I have been to clinics that offer to match a hairpiece that is bonded with “medical glue” but the maintenance cost along with having to go back every six weeks for life did not appeal to me. I have not seen many photos of women of color with hair transplants; is this realistic? Please let me know if you perform this process; It is hard watching my self esteem deteriorate. Please help…

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I am so glad you decided to write, because there is definitely hope for someone such as yourself and there is so little material available to TELL you that! You are correct – it is not generally advertised, but women of color do very well with hair transplant as a general rule. Because African-American hair is curly/kinky and because it matches the darker skin tones, you generally get good coverage and very nice results. You need to be careful if you do not have good donor areas, or if you have a history of keloids (abnormal scar healing), but for most cases you have a lot of options.

Clinics that offer glued attachments of hair to your head are not medical doctors and the products that they attached with the glues will accelerate hair loss and produce traction alopecia over time. Unless you plan on keeping this up, getting hair systems is not a wise choice.

The first thing you need to do is to meet with a respected hair doctor for a consultation. They may recommend a set of blood tests to rule out the many other causes of hair loss in women that can masquerade as genetic alopecia. You have had a scalp biopsy already, so you won’t have to do another (I’d bring those results to your doctor when you arrive for your appointment). Depending on your test results, there might be some drugs you can try before jumping straight into surgery.

In any case, please do not let this hurt your self-esteem. Studies show that women are especially impacted emotionally by hair loss, much more so than men and in more dramatic ways, even though men suffer it more commonly. Remember above all that there IS hope and treatments available. Go see your doctor! The fact that you have taken the time to write is an excellent first step.

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15 Year Old Female with Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Your information on female hair loss was helpful, but the information on teenage female hair loss was not as informative. I’m fifteen, and I feel I need more information. When I was a child, I had thick hair. When I was around seven, I cut it short. It was still thick then. Around seventh grade I decided to grow it back out, but still, it was thick then. When I started my freshman year in high school, though, mid-year, it began to thin. It has shown no sign of stopping, and it does worry me. My ponytail has significantly gone down in size. I can’t wear my hair down without having loose strands cover my back – which is not popular at school. Plus, I lose an extreme amount of hair each time I shower – at least fifty strands. My hair is also lackluster in shine, and crooked and crinkled when it falls out. My mother took me to a doctor, who told me it was not my thyroid level. A week or two ago, my father told me to start taking vitamins and trying to eat better – the latter of which is hard, when you go to high school. Personally, though, I’m not sure that I believe this is a diet issue. If it was, why wouldn’t it affect more teenage girls at my school? I wish to know if there are medical conditions that I might have that give a symptom of hair loss, and possibly also slight depression – I have noticed that my mood seems to be getting worse and worse. I am also on birth control, which I noticed you said might cause problems… but it shouldn’t, because I have been having hair loss much longer than I’ve been on birth control. I just want to know what I could have, and how I can get this to stop.

You need to have a good doctor do a thorough work-up on you. There is no way I can help you without getting a full opportunity to get a good history (including detailed dietary history) and a full examination of your scalp and hair for miniaturization. This will determine the health of your hair and your overall health. There are no shortcuts and no internet site that can get you what you want, because what you need is a good doctor (one who is interested in this field) first. Also, look through the Female Hair Loss category, as there are many posts that discuss the various conditions and tests that are part of what a good doctor will be able to perform on you.

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Female Hairline Restoration After Brow Lift (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have had a higher hairline since I was a teenager. I always hated it. When I had a face and brow lift at the age of 49, the high hairline became even higher. Is there a simple way of lowering it? Is transplanting the only solution?

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The photos below are of a 45 year old woman who, like you, had a high hairline compounded by a brow lift as well.

These first 3 photos are surgical pictures because they show what was missing, the deformities that were there and the problem that was tackled before (the middle and right photos were from immediately after surgery):




This next set of photos were taken after this lady’s 2nd procedure had grown in. The black hair and light skin are the most challenging contrast for hair transplant surgeons, explaining why it took two procedures to get the results you see here. She had a total of 3,508 grafts (in two procedures). Note that the side hair and temples were brought forward. In normal female hairlines the temple prominences often extend closer to the eyes than in men, narrowing the amount of forehead shown. Women’s hairlines, because they are rounded, not recessed, and the temples are important for accentuating femininity, make the work more difficult from an artistic vantage point.




The high hairline bothered her greatly after the brow lift and became unacceptable. The brow lift produced a wide scar behind the hairline (compounding the problem). In this situation, a hair transplant is the correct decision because lowering the hairline and filling in the scar behind the hairline can be accomplished with a single procedure in a person with blonde or white hair, and two procedures with someone with dark hair and light skin. The hairline was lowered by 3/4 inch and filling in the brow lift scar was also accomplished in the same procedure. A brow lift usually takes away the possibility of a hairline lowering procedure.

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Hair Loss InformationDoctor Recommendation in Philadelphia? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Dr. Rassman, I am a 51 year old white female who has had thinning hair for past 4 yrs when I went through menopause. All blood work is normal, even low testerone. I take Bio identical hormones (only bi-est and progesterone) and spironolactone. I would like to find a good hair loss doctor in the Philadelphia area. I know you have mentioned one in Fort Lee NJ but that is quite a distance. And do you find that propecia works for women? Thank you so much for your time.

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I can not tell you the name of a particular Philadelphia based doctor, but a visit to Dr. Robert Bernstein in Fort Lee NJ or Manhattan NY via Amtrak would be a good bet. Dr. Bernstein is a real expert, and worthy of your consideration and with regard to female hair loss, you need a doctor with special expertise in knowing what to do and when (or if) to do it.

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Hair Loss Information » Female Hair Loss from Prozac? – Balding Blog

I have been on Prozac 20+ years. Current dosage of 40 mg. per day. I am experiencing hair loss which is increasing. About half the hair on top is gone, there is stubble. Have been to dermatologist who don’t know why.Could Prozac be the reason for the hair loss? I am a caucasian female.

Prozac is known to cause hair loss, although it is rare.

Please read the other posts I’ve made in the Female Hair Loss, and consider having your scalp mapped for miniaturization, so that you have a better understanding of what you are dealing with.

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Hair Loss from Brow Lift – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

On Nov. 30th I had a contour thread lift of the brows. (contour threads: barbed sutures now used to pull eyebrows up – they don’t dissolve – made of polypropelene)

The incision on the left side of my scalp (just behind the hairline) had a touch of keloid or hypertrophic scarring but the right side is awful. I have a dime sized circular bald spot – very smooth. It’s so terrible. I’m in tears almost daily. It was infected and antibiotic ointment helped flatten it out but the hair is completely gone. There are no pores or anything.

I’m writing to you to see if you know (without benefit of seeing it) whether the hypertrophic process just creates skin that is fibrous and the hair follicles are still “alive” underneath, but can’t grow through or whether it kills the follicles. My plastic surgeon said he didn’t know what it was and that he could just cut it out, but from what I’ve read, a straight line incision is not the answer —- and aside from that, I was hoping to get my hair back.

Any feedback would be appreciated

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Photographs would help. I will give you some general comments about brow lifts, scars and hair loss. Scars and hair loss in brow lifts are not uncommon. My practice is skewed because I see many of these, probably a disproportionate number of them relative to what a normal plastic surgeon does. I get the complicated patients, which hopefully are only a small percentage of those that the plastic surgeon gets. Most of the time when hair is lost, the hair will return in 5-9 months. When it does not, then hair transplants can solve the problem nicely. Scars take on a series of categories, including: Hypertrophic scars (unusual in the first few weeks after surgery, keloids (very rare), widened scars (more common). Hypertrophic scars may require steroid shots and widened scars may require hair transplants if they are detectable months after the surgery. Cutting out the scar from a previous surgery often does not work, but without seeing it, if would be impossible for me to make that judgment.

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Hair Loss from Anesthesia? – Balding Blog

I am 27 years old and female, and I have always had really thick hair. Around 6 months ago, I started noticing my hair was coming out a lot when I washed, or brushed it. My hairstylist also noticed, and asked me if I had surgey, and if I had anestisia? I did about 10 months ago. I was wondering if that could be linked to it? I have also noticed that my eye on one side feels like it is straining if I look side to side or up or down, and I have expierinced migraines frequently lately. So, maybe it is stress. Either way, your imput would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, the stress from anesthesia and surgery itself can cause hair loss, but it is temporary most of the time, particularly for women. In term of anesthesia, I am not certain if the anesthetic chemical itself causes direct hair loss or just the stress associated with the surgery, although I think that the stress may be a more significant factor in predisposed women. You may have female genetic hair loss and mapping out your scalp and hair for miniaturization might help establish or rule out this diagnosis with objective measurements. Repeating the analysis may have value after 6 months has passed if the first measurements are not definitively able to make the diagnosis.


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Losing Hair After Spinal Injections – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 55 year old female. I have gone through alot in the past 8 months. I have a bad back and went through 12 injections in two months in my spine. They helped but then i got fat, gained 25 months from the shots. I think they were cortisol, kenolog and lidocaine. Since August no shots but i have noticed in the past 2 months or so alot of hair coming out. When I shower there is enough there the size of a golf ball and through out the day if i comb it out, hair is in the comb. But worst of all when I just run my fingers through my hair i can take alot out. I saw an endocronogist for a diffent reason but he said i can take this medication which is good for the heart and also helps hair loss. i think its called spiranolacton 25 mg but am afraid to do so. Can you tell me or suggest which kind of dr to see dermatologist ect. I also have been under a great deal of stress. Medications i take are effexor 75mg, lipitor 10 mg, fosomax 70 mg i x weekly, voltarin for back pain

if you can contact me and giver me some advice i would appreciate it

thanks

Many medications such as cortisol and kenolog can contribute to hair loss in some patients. Stress is also a contributing factor to hair loss and it sounds like you are very stressed. Spironolactones are used by some people to treat hair loss. I would advise you to see a good family type doctor to manage all of your problems and make sure that you do not have any of the causes of female hair loss. Your problem sounds a bit complex, certainly too complex for managing you via the internet.

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