Hello Dr. Rassman, I hope you can answer my question. I got a small pimple on my scalp a month ago which I left alone. After the pimple disappeared my hair fell out in that area leaving a small circle of a bald spot. Will my hair ever grow back on that spot? If it does how long will it take?
Your hair will likely grow back in a few months. Patience is a virtue. If it does not grow, then you will need to see a dermatologist to look for other causes of hair loss.
hi there – i’m only 19 yrs olds and in the last year i have started balding all over the top of the head, espeically at the back in quite a serious way. i have thought that it was because i used to bleach my hair alot as a child but recently my scalp has started to itch alot. i am using pills, expensive “thickening” shampoo and other products on a daily basis to try and stop this balding but none of it is working. i was wondering if you think if its from the bleaching or is it possible that i have a scalpal infection causing the balding and itching. if so what can i do.
thank you for you time
First, you may want to stop much of what you are doing, as you may be causing your own problems. Then, if it continues, seek out a good dermatologist. If you are experiencing genetic hair loss, none of what you are doing will address the cause of the balding or thinning. People who treat themselves are gambling without the education or skills needed to address the problem.
I am 48 years old and male. I have thinning, and my hair has seem to stop growing all together. In 5 or 6 months it might have grown an inch. Is this normal? Thanks
I don’t want to panic you, but reduced growth rates may be a forerunner of diffuse or genetic hair loss. Get youself to a good doctor and have the required medical work-up to be assured that there are no problems with your health or your hair.
I have sustained about 4 scars to the back of the head. One scar is about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. I have been very emotionaly and physically impacted by this. But my question is about a tingling sensation I have right above my most profound scar. It is very irritating, and becomes quite bothersome when I smoke pot. And at times I fell like I’m losing hair. Could i be losing hair and is it a result of my injuries or smoking? Why does it feel like that when I smoke, I’ve never had a problem with this until the accident.
Some people have increased sensitivity after being injured, which can irritate certain nerves. As I’m sure you’re aware, Marijuana will alter a person’s state of mind and may enhance certain sensations while decreasing others. People experience different sensations in the scarred areas when a nerve is severed or injured. As to whether pot is causing you to lose your hair, please see: Marijuana and Hair Loss
My husband is losing his hair due to excessive testosterone levels, this is an autoimmune cause am I correct? I was wondering if cortisone shots would help him.
Thank you
I am not sure what you mean by excessive testosterone levels. Is he taking testosterone in large doses? Is he a weight lifter taking steroids? Are his testosterone levels high normally found as an incidental finding in a blood test? Has the test been repeated? What does your doctor say is the cause of the high testosterone levels? These are all critical questions that reflect your husband’s health that are pieces of the puzzle.
Now with regard to hair loss, testosterone does not cause hair loss unless there is a genetic predisposition to it or there is some other disease going on. If he has the genes for hair loss, then testosterone will be broken down by the body into DHT which will cause hair loss in these genetically prone people. If he adds exogenous testosterone treatments to his genetic predisposition, then hair loss will be accelerated.
Hello there Dr. Rassman,thanks so much for your helpful blog. Here are 2 questions for you that I’m hoping you can help me with. I lost my full hairline (receding in temple area) when I was about 24. It receded for a couple of years and then stopped. I am now 33 and over the last 2 months has started again-very quickly!! It seems I can tell the difference weekly. I am now almost at just a strip in the center and this is quickly disappearing!! Is this normal or may other factors be at play. Also, does a 5mg Proscar pill cut in 4 have the same effect as Propecia?? Thanks for your help again, hope to hear from you soon.
Male pattern baldness is never normal for the young man who wants to be hairy, but it is normal for your genetics. You are probably experiencing further hair loss and it could go through bouts of rapid loss. It is best to visit a doctor for thorough evaulation of your hair loss pattern by using a densitometer or a magnifying video camera to determine the amount of miniaturization that is present. Proscar and Propecia are the same drug, called Finasteride. Propecia is dosed at 1 mg of Finasteride. Many people cut Proscar (5 mg) into 4 pieces equal to 1.25 mg of Finasteride and the only difference is that the dose may vary based upon the size of the cut pieces.
Hi i recently sent you a question about waxing. [see Hair Regrowth After Waxing Scalp]
For some reason the waxed area appears worse. I am worried that I may have developed folliculitis on my scalp as a result. My entire scalp itches. It would be helpful if you could give me some information about folliculitis as well as the differences if any between folliculitis and folliculitis decalvans. Also it would be helpful if you could tell me what to do to contain the hair loss to only the waxed area basically prevent it from spreading.
Folliculitis is a condition where the hair follicles get infected because of bacterial invasion, often secondary to some irritation or wound of the skin. Folliculitis can spread from one hair follicle to another by touching or scratching it, making it worse. It is a fairly common condition.
Folliculitis Decalvans is a rare condition affecting mainly the scalp leading to scarring alopecia. The cause of the condition is still unknown, abnormal host response to Staphylococcus aureus (a bacterial infection) has been postulated. Folliculitis Decalvans causes scarring with hair loss (alopecia). There are areas of “corn stalking” (grouped hairs arising within the area of alopecia), redness (erythema), crusting, and pustules. Due to severe scarring, permanent hair loss occurs in the involved sites.
As you may be aware, this is a diagnosis not for the amateur. Get a good dermatologist to take care of you, starting off with a proper diagnosis. Appropriate antibiotics will be recommended by the doctor, if indicated.
My maternal grandfather was bald and my father, who’s almost 60, has substantial thinning around his crown and a receded hairline. I just turned 27, and I don’t seem to have much if any thinning. The temples of my hairline have receded an inch or so in the last couple of years but everything else seems to be in place.
How long can my luck hold out? I have plenty of friends my age who have already lost substantial hair but I have not even though I’m certain I’ll lose substantial hair because of genetic inheritance.
As a general rule, you may follow your family pattern not only with balding but with the onset date. When did your dad start balding? You can have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to see if you have early signs of genetic hair loss, but if you do not see it, I would not even go that far.
Dr. Rassman,
I am 23, and have had diffuse thinning for the past three years. I am currently taking propecia and minox and have been for 15 months. During that period, I have not noticed any significant regrowth, but the appearence of my hair has seemed to maintain to some degree. I am also a law student and in December I had my first set of finals. During that time, I can honestly say that I was more stressed then I have ever been in my life. Since december, I have noticed that my hair has appeared to thin significantly.It used to be thin only in the back, now I can see a thinning pattern in the front. Additionally, in the month since finals ended my libido and sex drive have significantly increased. I do not know whether that increase is due to my lack of stress, however I am speculating that the propecia has stopped working for me. I was wonding if these are typical effects if it does stop working; i.e increased thinning and greater sex drive or perhaps I can attribute both the my level of stress and current lack there of. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If propecia has stopped working for me, then I really don’t know what else I could do
Stress impacts everything in our lives. Your hair loss and thinning is certainly (assuming you have genetic hair loss) being made worse by stress. Propecia sounds like it has slowed or stopped the present hair loss, but as male genetic hair loss is a progressive process, it is only a matter of time until you notice more thinning/recession. The sex drive issue relates to many things. Men can find sex to be a good outlet for frustration and hiding from problems. Propecia can initially cause an increased sex drive due to the increase in testosterone levels, but the sex drive of a man your age should already be high, so perhaps your body is just learning to deal with the stress better. Could it be that your normal sex drive is what you are now experiencing?
With regard to your thinning and possible genetic hair loss, you should get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to determine if the hair loss is genetic and to what degree it is progressing. You need a Master Plan for your future hair loss. As you are in Los Angeles, I would be pleased to see you myself at no charge in my LA office. If you are interested, please call my office at 800-NEW-HAIR to set up a free consultation with me.
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Does hair age?
Of course hair shows the effect of aging and it will often change as we get older. Look at the huge crop of large diameter hairs in the ponytail of a twenty two year old women and think of the meager, thin hair of some 80 year old women. Hair often gets smaller in diameter and fewer in number as we age.
The process of getting finer shafts (or lower densities of the hair) with age occurs insidiously over many years, starting in some people in their early 20s (male and female) and progressively becoming more frequent with each decade. We just notice the changes when we look at an isolated 80 year old in a nursing home and we think ‘Old’. The medical profession calls this type of thinning ’senile alopecia’ (doctors have to use some Latin to create a medical mystique to it). Most people will notice that their adult hair changes in character as their age advances. This change in character may be from wavy to straight, or from thick gorilla hair to a see through appearance where the scalp can be seen in reasonably bright light (htat may never have been the case in that same person when they were 20). I would suspect that the thinning of hair densities occurs in fully 1/3rd of the adult population (male and female) at some time during their lifetime and I see this process in some men who are in their early 20s, which we now call ‘diffuse unpatterned alopecia’, yet another abuse of the latin language of olden days.
By Drs. Jim Arnold and William Rassman
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