Hair Loss Causes – Page 253

April 19, 2007

At What Age Am I Safe From Going Bald? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,
Is there an age at which Im “safe” from going bald? Im currently 25 and my hair has thinned a bit since I was 21, going from Norwood Class I to Class II in the last 4 years.

I have a brother who’s 37 and has a full head of hair. I also have a brother who’s 31 and has had Norwood Class Va-VI since he was in his early 20’s. I have a similar family history, where half my uncles are bald and half have a full head of hair.

Is there typically an age at which, If Im not bald yet, I will no longer have to worry about the prospect of going bald? Or is it something that can happen at any age? Does my family history give me any insight as to what to expect in the coming years?

Look to your family history on what you might expect. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization and that may give you a good metric for your balding process, especially if measured over time. Most balding slows or stops at about 45 years of age, but that is not a hard, fast rule as I have seen some men start balding at 50-60 years old.

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April 19, 2007

Female Hair Loss After Stevens-Johnson Syndrome – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I hope you can help me. My 83 year old mother has just recovered from Stevens Johnson Syndrome. While hospitalized and for 2 weeks after she got home (December 2006) she was on high doses of steroids. Her hair has been falling out. My question is…will this hair loss slow down? Will the hair that has fallen out grow back? Is there anything we can do? Your help is very much appreciated.

Any protracted illness can precipitate female hair loss. So can systemic steroids. To find out if it will grow back, one complete telogen cycle must occur (up to 6 months). If she is still sick, the clock on regrowth starts at the time that the illness is history. See WrongDiagnosis.com – Stevens-Johnson Syndrome for more.

April 18, 2007

Selsun Blue Shampoo and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 17 years old and recently it seems like my crown is thinning. There is a visible area in the back and my brother was the one to point it out. I recently started using Selsun Blue for my dandruff. I’ve heard that it can cause hair loss. Any truth to that? This is really making me go crazy.

I highly doubt that Selsun Blue is the cause of your hair loss. If you are losing hair on the crown area which is typical of male pattern hair loss, you may have “genetic male pattern hair loss”. If you are still concerned about hair loss, see a good hair transplant physician to see if you are a candidate for medical therapy such as Rogaine or Propecia. A good doctor will map out your scalp hair for miniaturization and can put a number that will tell you if you are balding.

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April 18, 2007

Young Teen Girl Experiencing Major Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello. I have been experiencing excess hair loss, which is making me very stressed out. I am scared to brush and wash my hair that its so bad. I am only a 13 year old female, and I really do not want to go bald by the age of 14. Yes, I do have a full head of hair, and no, it is not getting thinner. My parents set me up an appointment with a very good dermatologist. Nobody, on both sides of my family, have any hair loss problems. Everyone has extremely thick hair, including me. I have a few questions though:

I have experienced major vaginal yeast infections, so could this be the problem?

Can puberty cause hair loss? If so, is it permanent or temporary?

When you say hair loss can be temporary, how long is temporary?

Can the Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamins treat hair loss?

Please pleaseplease please help me, sir. I can not force myself to have fun, when I know I am losing 150-160 hairs a day. I’M SCARED! HELP HELP HELP!
Thanks for your time, and have a good day Dr.

Vaginal yeast infection is not a cause for hair loss.
Puberty can trigger changes in hair character because hormones do influence hair thickness, but this report is unusual. I would rather look for other causes of your hair loss.
Hair loss, if it is temporary, may return after a few months to a year as the hair cycles over the course of many months, but you must be healthy and I would first check out the various causes of hair loss in young women with your family doctor.
Vitamins do not cure hair loss, but many supplement advertisers want you to think so.

You need to have a complete evaluation by a good family doctor as the cause of your hair loss most likely lies there.

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April 17, 2007

Predicting Hair Loss Based on Age – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is there an age at which one can predict a patient’s ultimate degree of hair loss? For example, if one is a certain Norwood class by age 30, 40 or 50 can an estimate be made for his ultimate Norwood class at age 60 or 70?

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No. We can try to make an intelligent guess with miniaturization studies and our clinical medical experience, but it is not a science and there are no guarantees in predicting hair loss. Generally, the worst balding patterns hit men before they are 30 years old and I find that most balding patterns can be predicted by ages 26-30 based upon early signs of thinning evidenced by miniaturization studies. On occasion I have seen men start balding in their 40s and 50s, although very rare.

April 17, 2007

Scalp Picking Has Created Hair Loss — I Do Not Believe My Dermatologist That It Will Regrow – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

doctor, I have persistantly been picking at my scalp for a year due to stress. My picking has left a red round scar on my scalp that is very noticiable. My dermatologist said that the hair would grow back, if I did not continue to pick at it. He said it would take about a year. I don’t believe him. The scar is very noticeable and very embarrassing….Can you help. I can send you a picture if needed.

thanks in advance.

I tell hair pickers that they must wait for up to one complete telogen cycle to find out if the hair comes back. A telogen cycle may last 3-6 months. Usually, if the hair is not growing in a month, the suggestion is that the damage done may be permanent, but prior to more radical treatment such as hair transplants, this conclusion is not 100%. Also, it is important that you know for sure that the picking has been stopped.

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April 16, 2007

Hair Loss Over and Over Again in Cycles – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

dear doctor,
i am 22 years old. for these 4 years, my hair has lost several times. in fact the first time happened when i was 9. i got some treatment and it grew back. when i was 19, i noticed that my hair fell out some parts. there were just small parts, round size. then i went to the west china hospital which is the best one in the west of china.the treatment went though half a year and i went to see the doctor once a month.they gave me some chinese medicine and something that i can wipe on the non-hair parts. besides that, every month i was taken an injection on non-hair parts. the name of the medicine for the injection is Diprospan Compound Betamethasone Injection after several months, i was recovered.

but, just after half a year. the problem happened again. and i got the same treatment. then after several months it happened again. so, june, 2006 i went back to hospital again. this time, i didnt take those chinese medicines but only got the injection (i made this decision), but the difference is that the doctor didnt inject on my head but my muscle. then after two injections my hair grew back. but i still got injection once a month and it lasted 3 more month. but last month the trouble came back again.that means i only had half a year happy time. this month i got one injection. i wonder what kind of problem it is? why it happens again and again?

thank you very much, sir!

From your description, it sounds like you have a condition called alopecia areata. Your doctors seem to put it into remission with steroid use. Of course, this is only a guess. For more information on alopecia area, please see the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

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April 16, 2007

Long Hair Equals Weaker Roots? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi, I currently have long hair and have noticed quite a bit of thinning in the front and on the crown. I heard that you can lose more hair if it’s long because the roots are weaker. I don’t want to cut my hair because it hides my balding look better. If I keep my hair long will the rate of baldness increase? Thank you very much!

Long hair does not increase the risk of balding. People can get better coverage with long hair rather than short hair, but long hair in the face of genetic thinning, can be easily damaged with rough brushing, more so than short hair so the techniques and the brushes used are important for those who have thinning hair.

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April 12, 2007

I’m Worse Off Now AFTER My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

I had a my first procedure done over 1 year ago (1900 grafts) by a reputable surgeon but am extremely disappointed with my results. I have noticeably less hair now than prior to surgery. My doctor said the procedure went fine, but I have lost more native hair than transplanted hair received which is the source of my visible concern. My question – how do I know if this is correct. How can I know that the 1900 grafts survived or if there was in fact a problem with my procedure I am not aware of. I am 49 and have been on Propecia for several years. Have you ever heard of this situation? I feel like I’m in the middle of a nightmare – I have paid a small fortune to fast track my hair loss. I don’t know where to go from here. Please help!

I hear and see situations similar to yours nearly everyday. If you were a young man (under 25) and not on Propecia, I would predict the hair loss as almost a certainty. Hair transplant surgery should take into account a Master Plan to plan for future losses.

You should not have lost native hair at your age (49), as men of this age have hair that rarely reacts with shock loss, particularly as you are on Propecia. Although this is a risk that patients must be made fully aware of before having the surgery, there are too many uncertainties here for me to draw conclusions without examining you myself and see what happened to the transplants you had. Hopefully, you have good before pictures taken for an expert to draw conclusions. You need to have a second opinion.

April 11, 2007

White Sheath at End of Pulled Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,

I am 20 male and when I pull on my hair, it comes out with a white sheath at the end. It is not just a white bulb, but rather it is a white sheath. Also, sometimes when I pull out hair, two comes out in the same white sheath. So sometimes I am not even pulling out one single hair, but two hairs attached to the same white sheath. Is this what normal balding hairs look like?

If you pull on your hair, less than 5% of the hair should come out like what you are saying. If it is more than that, maybe you have early hair loss and should get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to make a diagnosis. The white tip you are seeing is mucus (sebum) in a hair that has started to go out of anagen and into telogen and is nothing to worry about by itself.

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