Hair Loss Causes – Page 309

February 16, 2006

Fungus Caused Scar Tissue – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My scalp was infected with a fungus that since has been treated. I have bald spots now due to scar tissue. Can anything be done to regrow hair in these spots?

Fungus infection tends to be superficial, affecting mostly the hair shaft. However, when the infection is deep and untreated for a long period of time, then scars can form and the hair loss can be permanent. The inflammatory process of your scalp caused by fungus can be treated with a steroid once the fungus is irradicated. However, I am not certain if a steroid will help once scar tissue has been formed. Wait for a few months and look for any hair growth before attempting any treatment. Generally, I would give it 6-9 months before considering anything more radical.

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February 15, 2006

Nioxin, Minocycline, and Hair Loss – Balding Blog

I am 17 and noticed that my hairline has started to recede. My hair line has always been some high on my head but now that ive noticed some hair loss it doesnt look very good. I just want to know if something else can cause receding hairlines or is it just MPB. If it is MPB can propecia help me? Im going to see a dermatologist to get a referel for a hair specialist to get a miniaturization done. Also what are your thoughts on nioxin hair products? And last i would like to know if minocycline can cause hair loss?

The rise in your hairline may be the maturing process common in men between 17-29. It rises about 1/2 inch in the front and up to an 1 1/2 inches in the corners and this is not genetic hair loss. Nioxin makes a good set of products that are popular but there is nothing in it that will stop hair loss. Minocycline is an antibiotic which is often used in the treatment of acne. If you are being treated for that, are you taking other medications? Some acne medications cause hair loss. I need a better profile on you, but it sounds like you already have a good doctor so stick with him/her.

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February 14, 2006

Hair Loss InformationChemical Damage Caused Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

My question is that I lost a lot of hair from checmical damage such as excessive dying. Will my hair ever grow back? It has been four and half years and it has yet to grow. I am still very young and this has affected my psychological well being. Is rogaine safe to use, considering my hair loss is not genetically related?

Thanks

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If your hair has not grown back after 4 1/2 years, then I do not believe that it will grow. Yes, chemical damage can injure your hair roots or the scalp itself, leading to possible permanent hair loss. You may try Rogaine. If you are a male, then I recommend Propecia also. Keep in mind that there is no substitute for a good doctor giving you a real diagnosis in person so that you KNOW what you have and what the prospects are for you.

February 13, 2006

No Sign of Hair Loss in Family Line – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi. I am 20 years old and I have a very high hairline that I have had since I was a child. I did not have hair on my head until I was 3 years old. My hair is very thin and over the past few years I have had long, unhealthy hair that I was able to pull out of my head by merely running my my hand through it, especially when I was showering. I just recently got it cut short, but just long enough so that it actually appears to be thicker because it is much healthier. There is no sign of male pattern hairloss in my family so I am wondering if the hair that fell off of my head could actually grow back over time, and if hair can naturally and gradually thicken on its own if it is healthy. Thank you

You need to get a firm diagnosis to determine if you really do or do not have genetic balding. If the thinning you are talking about is traumatic, it will grow back. If it is secondary to genetic causes, then it probably will not. Just because there is no genetic balding in the family, it does not mean that you do not have it, because it can skip generations. I see this fairly often. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization (see also: Hair Mapping for Miniaturization) and then with a diagnosis in hand, you can look at your problem more objectively.

February 9, 2006

I Had a Scalp Reduction Last Month – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

One month ago I had a small scalp reduction done. I have experienced some telogen/shock loss. Over what period of time should I expect to continue losing hair in the adjacent area and when can I expect that hair to regrow. It has been recommended that minoxidil could help accelerate the regrowth. Your thoughts please.

Hair loss from a single, small scalp reduction is unusual. As you know, scalp reductions have fallen on hard times and the surgery has been largely abandoned because sooner or later, the hair loss will continue and the scar may then become a problem. Scalp reductions stretch the scalp from the sides (it does not bring your ears higher but some patients tell me that it feels that way), therefore they may have a negative impact on hair transplantation by increasing the scar risk from the classic strip harvesting technique because the skin above the ears (some of the donor area) is stretched and gets a reduced density and altered anatomy (which may or may not cause problems). I had three scalp reductions in the early 90s, and became an outspoken anti-scalp reduction doctor because I experienced your complication and a few more as well.

The hair loss you are experiencing may last a few months. It should peak by 3 months, but in some patients progressive hair loss may still occur. The scalp manipulation can cause hair loss and the stretch that is produced is one of the traumatic causes of hair loss. I would want to understand the Master Plan that you and your doctor worked out to understand the significance of the problem you are now having in the long term. Minoxidil may help in the short and long term, but it rarely can reverse the hair loss you have experienced if it not going to reverse on its own.

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February 9, 2006

What Can Accelerate Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. I was reading some of the entries on here and saw in one someone had a side effect from propecia and asked about hair system and transplant. You said you thought it might accelerate his hair loss if he used a system. This made me wonder what other kinds of things could accelerate the loss cause it surely seems like I’ve done something that has. My loss started kind of at the temple area and was slow. but seemed like over night the entire top is falling out. I get large amounts on my pillow and in the shower. Even if I just brush my hand across the top of my head pretty softly I usually get a few on my hand. I’m trying to get propecia online. Which I thank you for telling me in a previous post that I could do that because I thought all those sites were scams and didn’t really look at them before you told me about that. Anyway with this rate of loss it seems like it will be completely noticable withing 2 or three months. I would really appriciate anything you might have to say on this matter. Thank you!!

Men go into hair loss cycles; you might just be going into such a cycle. Hair loss is caused by:

genes (you are fixed with what you inherited)
hormones (the testicles make testosterone, your body turns that into DHT, which actually causes hair loss)
time (the longer the time that the hormones and the genes work on the hair, the worse it may become according to your inherited pattern)
stress

Men who take steriods, who take testosterone or other similar medications, and men who are stressed (from marriage, school, work, etc.) can accelerate the hair loss process.

Before starting Propecia, you should get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to have the proper diagnosis made and then determine in 6-8 months if the miniaturization was reversing. If you just buy the drug without a proper evaluation, you may never know what you are treating. With regard to Propecia purchases on the internet, I know that they are done, but I can not attest for the products that they are claiming is Propecia. Could be the real thing? It might not be!

The use of wigs tends to produce traction alopecia causing progressive hair loss as the wigs move around on the head, are removed and replaced.

February 8, 2006

Balding at 21 – What to Do Next? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Thanks for the blog. I’m male, 21 years old and started taking propecia at age 18 when I noticed some receding in my temples. I’m not exactly sure when the hairloss started but I did notice junior and senior year in highschool that I was shedding large amounts of hair which I thought at the time was normal. Although it is not yet “socially” noticeable as you put it, it still bothers me a lot and I feel that it is only getting worse even with the propecia. I don’t want to have hair loss be a problem or something I worry about in my life so I was wondering what I should do at this juncture? If I feel like it is only going to get worse, should I consider a hair transplant? Or should I start taking other medicines like Rogaine or Revivogen?

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The key is first getting a diagnosis by having your hair mapped for miniaturization. This is when you have a doctor examine you to determine if you have genetic balding in the first place. There is no point to treating yourself, because you will never know if you actually are balding and whether the hair loss is getting better or worse.

Rogaine or Revivogen may have a place in your regimen, but in the unknown place you are presently at, you need to get a diagnosis first. Transplants on any 21 year old, except in extreme circumstances, would be inappropriate.

February 7, 2006

Hair Loss InformationAlopecia Totalis and Laser Results (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

These photos were sent to me by Dr. Richard Burgmeier in Arizona who had a patient with Alopecia Totalis that failed to respond to treatment for many years. Dr. Burgmeier said:

“The patient is sixteen years of age and had the problem since the age of twelve. She has seen different doctors and has tried multiple treatments with no improvement. She started the Laser (LLLT) in November 2005 and at the same time started Joe Soaza’s protocol which included L-Tyrosine 3 pills in morning 2 at night and minoxidil 5% twice a day after showering. Since November 2005 she has been getting treatments with the Laser for 20 minutes twice a week. The patient is very excited with this treatment. This is the best treatment she has tried. It is the only treatment that has stimulated hair growth over her entire scalp. The patient stated “This is the most hair I have had in 2 years.” She has had problems with eczema over her scalp that has completely resolved since her treatments started.

We currently have 10 other patients that have been using the Laser Hair Care System 20 minutes twice a week for the past 6-8 weeks. So far every one of these patients have been very happy with results. These other patients have only been treated with the laser.”

It is clear to me that the results in a very short time frame were beyond what Dr. Burgmeier had expected. Like our last blog entry for the laser therapy, Laser Treatment (LLLT) for Hair Loss (with Photos), there were multiple therapies used, but clearly the results were spectacular for the early treatment of this combined therapy. Dr. Burgmeier feels that the laser treatment has great value based upon his experience with it. If this patient continues with this type of gain, we all hope that much more of her hair will return. A bald female at 16 needs all the help and luck she can get. The relationship with the laser and the cause of its benefit is not clear from a scientific basis. I would have liked to see the treatments added with one therapy and then a second therapy separated over time so that their incremental value would be more directly evident. Then we might know which treatment actually produced the benefit you see here. Is there hope for this young girl? Frankly, I am a perpetual optimist, so I hope for her sake that she will continue with the growth, covering a wider and wider area. I will get follow-up pictures on her in the next few months and post them here. What I would hopefully see is that these small islands of hair will grow larger and then merge together to appear like a full head of hair (ideal result, of course). Click the photos below to enlarge.

Alopecia_Totalis_Laser_Results

February 7, 2006

My Husband’s Hair is Thinning – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This question is about my husband. He is 25yrs. old, slightly balding on the front top of his head. I think it is because his father had the same balding, but what hair he has left on top of his head stopped growing. I don’t think it has grown in a long time cause I havent had to trim it, but I have had to cut the hair on the sides and on the back of his head. Why is that? and is there a way to get it growing again so he stops balding? an does the rogaine work and worth the money? thanks so much

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Your husband sounds like he has male patterned hair loss, which is present in almost 50% of the male population by the time they each 45. Your husband needs to have his scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if he has genetic balding. A good starting point can be found in my book, The Patient’s Guide to Hair Restoration, available free of charge by download (in PDF format) or sent by mail.

February 6, 2006

Iron Levels and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr Rassman,

I am a 27-year-old female who has experienced a gradual overall thinning for the past 10 years. It is now fairly severe. I have always had low iron levels and saw a hematologist for over a year. My ferritin levels have hovered between 14-35, despite taking a 325mg ferrous gluconate supplement daily.

My ferritin is currently 14 and my hematologist says that since the laboratory test range is 10-150, my levels aren’t so bad; that it would take anemia to cause hair loss. My B12 is also in the low range – 325 on the 200-1200 normal zone. I feel that I must not be absorbing iron if the levels haven’t changed despite taking a supplement and I am frustrated by wasting more time without being able to rule this out as a source of the thinning. My two younger brothers have male pattern baldness but I am loathe to accept genetics are to blame for me too…

My question is: how low do iron levels have to be to be considered a legitimate cause for hair loss? And how soon would regrowth occur after normal levels are restored?

Thanks so much for your time.

Anemia is a very broad topic to tackle. There are many causes of anemia, like microcytic anemia and macrocytic anemia. Microcytic anemia is caused by iron deficiency, thalassemia, and various chronic disease. Macrocytic anemia is caused by folate and B12 deficiency. There is no cut off level of iron that one can define as the starting point for hair loss. Ferritin & Vitamin B12 deficiencies may produce hair loss and anemia and they may accompany other vitamin deficiencies including the entire B group [Vitamin B1 (thiamin),Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), Folic acid (folate), Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)].

Have you tried to take iron with vitamin-C? Sometimes that may help to increase absorption of iron. Liver and red meat have high iron levels. Your doctor may have evaluated your GI tract for mal-absorption problems leading to some malnutrition or other vitamins and nutrient deficiencies, each which may contribute to hair loss. If the normal level of iron is restored, it may take a few months before you can see noticeable regrowth of hairs.

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