Hi Dr.Rassman, I have been suffering from severe seborrhea dermatitis where I experience scaling that causes hair to fall out. Can a person become bald from this condition alone?
If you do not scratch your scalp, severe seborrheic dermatitis will not cause hair loss. If you scratch it, then all bets are off, as traction alopecia can result.
Ive read a hair has a life of around 5 years, ive recently lost my hair due to chemo and it has now regrown so in theory no hair should fall for 5 years? But in actual fact my hair is falling at a normal rate. Can you explain this? Thanks
The average hair cycle is 3 years and the average person loses 100 hairs per day, which adds up to about the total hair population on an average head (100,000 hairs).
When hair growth starts after chemo, the point in the cycle may pick up at the point in the cycle that the chemo did its damage, so the hair that grows will be in many phases of the hair cycle. That means the daily loss will be equal to the daily regrowth once all of the hair has returned.
Dear Sir,
i go to a military school and during the boot camp they shaved our heads to the skin. Within the next two days i was exposed to the sun and got a really bad sunburn to where my face swelled. As my hair started to grow back i noticed like a u shape which is not growing back as long and my hair is very thin on top. Will this heal? im only 19 and had no problem with balding previous to this. Thanks
It sounds like the start of your hair loss is coincidental to your sunburn. It’s possible you had the loss starting and didn’t notice it until your head was shaved. A sunburn won’t cause you to lose hair, and the pattern of thinning you describe is more like genetic hair loss than anything else. I am sure the sunburn will heal, but will your hair regrow? If it is early male pattern baldness (MPB), it won’t regrow on its own.
I would see a dermatologist or a general physician so they can examine your scalp and determine if you’ve got early signs of MPB or if there’s something else at play.
Hello Doctor,
I am 20 years old male. my problem is that i am losing hair on the crown, but im losing it very slowly, like i lose about 10 to 20 hairs in the shower and during combing, and my girlfriend told me i can lose like a 100 hairs and its not a problem!! but when i take pictures with my camera i can totally see through my hair on the crown but no where else, and my hair line is like a 15 year olds’ so there is almost no recession. maybe a slight maturing, but that’s all.i massage my hair with almond oil every week day and olive oil every weekend and i shampoo my hair everyday but i dilute it with water. i have fine hair which is not dense at all. my mom’s dad is bald and everyone else in my mom’s and dad’s family has hair, and i have fine spiky hair just like my dad, and my dad just has a little thinning all over his head. i do not want to use any medication like minoxidil or propecia, and i dont want any surgery. is there any other way to gain a little density all over?? Please help
You have fine hair, and in harsh lighting (like a direct camera flash) it would be normal to see your scalp in photos. I have no idea if you’re losing hair or not based on your email, but let’s assume for a minute that you are. You don’t want surgery and you don’t want to take medication. I’m not sure what you want to do then. You can’t just hope or wish for your hair to regrow. If it was that easy, nobody would be bald.
If you aren’t sure if you’re losing hair (it is normal to lose 100 a day in the hair cycle), a doctor should be able to tell you.
Dr Rassman,
After reading through your blog posts I noticed something you mentioned a few times, about young men in their 20’s who show signs of an early Norwood 7, and how Finasteride may not help them.
This has alarmed me somewhat as I am approaching 23 and have been noticing my hair loss for 2 years now. For the majority of that time my crown area was unaffected, however I now have thinning there which extends down the back of my head, seemingly to the point where a Norwood 7 donor area would be at it’s highest.
I realise this is hard to envision so I have included a picture which I’m happy for you to publish. Aside from this area of my head, my hairline has moved back (it would look similar to that of a Norwood 2 hairline) and is thin, although not disastrously so.
Given that it seems (at least to me) that I am set to be a Norwood 7, am I wasting my time on finasteride, or any treatment for that matter?
Also if you could shed (pun not intended) some light on the thinning I seem to be experiencing at the nape of my neck (which is accompanied by thinning in the sideburn/ear area) I’d be appreciative.
Thank you.
First things first, thanks for allowing us to post your photo! Click it to enlarge.
I’m pretty sure we’ve never said finasteride wouldn’t help a young man with early signs of Norwood class 7. In fact, we strongly advocate finasteride over surgery for early thinning in young men.
You’re 22 years old with what sounds like a mature hairline, but with respect to your photo, I have a hard time seeing that you will become a Norwood 7. Did a doctor tell you this or is this just what you’re assuming based on what you’ve read? Did you get your scalp and hair mapped for miniaturization? If not, you should have it done and it should be repeated every 6-12 months to see what is happening to you.
Finasteride should be part of your treatment if you’re losing hair, but it’s most important to find a good, caring doctor to manage your hair loss. You should also want that doctor to be able to create your Master Plan, which will help you make the right decisions and help understand what is happening to you.
At this point though, I’m going to have to take your word on it that you see hair loss, because just based on the photo you sent, I’m not seeing what you’re seeing.
I had to stop taking propecia last year because i couldn’t afford it. 4 or 5 months went by before i could afford to start taking it again. Will i grow back the hair i lost in this 4/5 month period? Would this have had a big impact on my hairloss?
Any hair you lost in those 4 or 5 months would not be regained by getting back on Propecia. That thinning is sometimes referred to as “catch-up” hair loss, which is the loss that would have occurred if you never took the Propecia in the first place. You didn’t lose more hair than you would have, but you lost all the benefits of Propecia. If you restart Propecia it is as if you started from day one… which is why we advocate that you continue taking it.
If you cannot afford Propecia (1mg finasteride), there is generic 5mg finasteride for sale at a cost of around $60 a year. Yes, a year. Any pharmacy will have this 5mg generic. You just need a doctor that will prescribe this higher dose to treat hair loss (it’s a prostate medication otherwise), and you’ll need to cut the pill into 4 pieces (easier than cutting into 5 parts).
hi,
i have read a lot from this webpage so I thought I would ask you as you seem to be a very good doctor. I have been paranoid for some time now about hair loss. I have been to many doctors and they all say im fine, I have no bald people in my family, but I am suffering from this paranoia every day.I wanted to ask you, I know that it is normal to loose 70 to 100 hairs a day. But is it normal to have some months of the year when you shed more? and when I am shedding is it normal that most of the hair comes from the top of the scalp and not from the back and sides? I’m asking this because my dermatologist said it is but it has me very confused. Please can you help. I have no bald spots or receding line just paranoid that all the hair falls out on top.
Thank you
You say you have no bald spots, receding, or thinning, but yet you feel paranoid about balding. If you have seen many doctors and even dermatologists, and they were not impressed, I do not know what more I can add. That makes me wonder if you have a psychological problem rather than a hair problem. To be fair, hair loss affects people psychologically so I really cannot say what you have or do not have.
Some people shed more hair at certain times in the lives, but that does not mean they will go bald. Normal shedding is generally from all over the scalp, but perhaps you’re just noticing it from the top of the head… or rather, that is just the area you’re focused on.
am 29 years of age, do NOT have genetic balding, and I consume too much alcohol. I have noticed my hair thinning a bit towards the front. Is this because of the alcohol?
II don’t know how you can say with such authority that you do not have genetic balding, and then go on to say you’ve got thinning hair starting at the front of your head.
While being an alcoholic won’t make you go bald, many alcoholics have dietary and vitamin problems which can lead to hair loss. Still though, just because you think you don’t have genetic hair loss, it doesn’t hurt to see a doctor to find out if that is indeed the case.
Is there any truth to the fact that running will help with Baldness? Since increase in blood circulation.
Also, what can i take to increase my blood circulation?
Where do these urban legends come from? No, there’s no truth to running as a treatment for hair loss. And before someone asks, running won’t make you lose hair either.
With respect to blood circulation, as long as you can feel the tips of your fingers and toes and it’s warm, I suspect you gave good blood circulation. Hair loss is not related to blood circulation — it is genetics.
Dear Dr Rassman,
I’d like to ask a question on dust mites. I recently came down with an itchy scalp particularly in the crown area, causing me to scratch during the night. My hair began to look a little thin in that area. I’d had some stress-related hair loss problems in the past and worried it was related.
I then came to think I had head lice and so treated myself for it by combing through the hair with a lice comb almost daily. This eased the symptoms which seemed to confirm I had lice.
However the itching came back and now I think it is caused by dust rather than lice. I have a very small room with electronic equipment which attracts dust, and I had a large fan right next to my bed for the summer heat which I used during the day and overnight, which on inspection was extremely dusty.
My question is, can prolonged contact with dust cause itchy/irritated/dry scalp due to dust mites? Can this also cause hair loss? Or could it be excessive combing with a fine lice comb that could damage follices?
Thank you
You shouldn’t treat yourself without knowing what you have. You need a diagnosis before jumping to conclusions. So far you blamed lice and dust mites without knowing for sure — what’s next? At the least, you must keep a very clean environment where you live and wash your linens often. Perhaps you need to see a good doctor for a diagnosis, as a doctor will be able to find the mites or lice that you think you have.
I suppose if you were constantly scratching or pulling at your hair you could create some hair loss in those areas, though the hair loss is not directly caused by mites or lice.
