Hair Transplantation – Page 170

June 22, 2006

I Want Body Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

I have been reading quite a bit about BHT recently, you have done a remarkable job on my hair but I have very little donor area left. Have you considered adding this procedure as it would help many who need additional donor hair, I myself could still use more hair to help fill in old plug donor areas that still bother me. It would be nice to cut my hair to a short length and not worry about the old harvested areas. I ask this because of my respect for your abilities and I frankly would prefer to only have you perform any future procedures.

Thanks

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I know how you feel. You just want to be normal again. The problem is that when you have had these old type of hair transplants, you may have given up the ability to be completely normal. Keeping your hair longer and use styling to augment any problems in your look may be critical to being as normal looking as possible. Body hair transplants are a general waste of money with poor results that can be anticipated.

The doctor’s site that you included in your email shows that he has very little experience in this field. Perhaps he just does not know the information that I have covered in this blog many times. I have discussed this in my piece, The Truth About Cheap Hair Transplants, and I would recommend that you read this carefully. As you are a former patient of mine, just come in and let’s take another look to see what can be done, if anything. You know that I won’t do anything just to get into your wallet.

June 20, 2006

Shock Loss in Donor Area After Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a transplant procedure 2.5 months ago—I am experiencing very little if any growth of the hair located below the donor scar area—my doctor assures me that this is related to some type of shock caused by the procedure and that in time it will regrow—-Is this normal??

This is not normal, but not a reason to worry. Wait it out and the hair around the donor wound should return about the same time that the transplanted hair will start growing.

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June 19, 2006

Hair Loss InformationI’ve Had 7 Strip Surgeries – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

ive had about 6 or 7 full strip procedures over the past seven years and have developed a scar that runs almost ear to ear and is an inch wide!

My surgeon has tried twice unsuccessfully to cut out the scar. There feels like very little excess tissue when i try and pinch. Im a dentist and am sure the tension from looking downwards post surgery was a factor although my surgeon says no. He is now talking about FUE from my chest. Would i be better suited seeing a plastic surgeon. He doesnt think anyone could achieve a better scar result. Ive had 2 colleagues get similar scars from the same doctor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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You must be careful here. Do you want to continue on a never ending process from surgery to surgery? There are creative options including:

FUE — but not from the body, rather from the scalp where hair is active 85% of the time, rather than 20% of the time as with body hair
Balloon expanders which can reduce scars very nicely if there is reasonable donor hair

Send me pictures (which I will keep confidential) and then I can offer you general advice about what is possible and what is not. You might consider coming to California after I get your photos for a one-on-one consultation if the photos lead me to believe that there may be a good solution for you.

June 19, 2006

I Take Aspirin Therapy and Plavix — Can I Get a Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am a previous patient of yours. Since my procedure several years ago I suffered a heart attack. As a result, I am on aspirin therapy (325 mg/day) and Plavix (75 mg/day), indefinitely. Does this preclude me from ever having another transplant?

I would like to have a conversation with your doctor prior to going forward and then meeting with you as well. Please send me your doctor’s name and phone number.

I have transplanted people on both of these medications. The bleeding time will be longer, but the bleeding that is prolongs will not be life threatening and the clotting mechanism that is made to stop you from bleeding will stop the bleeding (it just might take longer). Fortunately, all of the bleeding areas from a strip harvesting technique of hair transplantation will be seen at the time of the surgery and the surgeon can use basic techniques to address these bleeding areas safely.

For your general information, aspirin and Plavix medications prolong bleeding times, making it more difficult for a clot to occur in the short term. Heart attacks and strokes often come about when a clot forms inside a blood vessel that has considerable plaque build-up. The point of taking these medication is to slow down the clotting mechanism for heart attacks and strokes in these areas of plaque so that the heart attack and stroke does not develop. But the clotting process is a necessary part of daily life and is not disabled. We constantly have small bleeding episodes when we ‘grunt’ or stress during a bowel movement (for example). Many people will note that they develop small clots on the legs or if they bump themselves, they depend upon the clotting mechanism to prevent any excessive bleeding. So, in effect, the clotting mechanism still works and in a safely controlled surgery like a hair transplant in the hands of a skilled surgeon, bleeding should not be a problem.

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June 16, 2006

Did Johnny Depp Have Hair Transplants? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi doc, I have a few questions.

Do you think Johnny Depp has had hair transplants?

I’ve been on propecia for 5 months now and so far the right portion of my hairline has actually filled in while the left has gotten worse. I’m 19 right now and I dont expect my right side to get as bad as the left side. Is it possible to get a hair transplant on just one side of my head? Would there be a particular reason why its like that?

I’ve found this very interesting article on the aging process. (Hankooki.com) What would its implications have on the advancement in hair restoration?

Thanks.

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Johnny Depp

I am guessing that Johnny Depp did not have them either as I have no direct experience with him. I haven’t read anything where he has said he’s had hair transplants, so I couldn’t say. If he did and I did it, I would not be able to say that I did him because it would expose his confidential personal information.
It is not uncommon to bald faster on one side than the other. The two sides will eventually even out. If Propecia worked on one side and not the other, then I suspect sooner or later the side it worked on will start to bald as well. Maintaining the Propecia may keep the imbalance present. I have transplanted one side in certain unusual cases. I judge each one on their own merits.
I read with interest the article you referenced. I only know what I read. There are parts of our genetic material called telomeres which shorten as we age. This is an aging clock in our system and when the telomeres drop off to a certain level, cell death occurs. A great deal of research has been done to increase these telomeres so that our biological clock is extended. The science of anti-aging is developing rapidly, and hopefully we will live long enough to see the fruits of such developing science. Genetic hair loss may or may not be helped by this research. Your guess is as good as mine.

June 16, 2006

Free Hair Transplants from Trainees? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

my question is, do medical students do hair transplants for free. For experience, like a dentist in trainning would give free cavity fillings if the patient let them work on them. i ask this because i dont make alot of money and is hard for me to save up due to bill. also i dont want to go bald, so im trying to find out other ways to not go bald. thanks for reading my question.

Surgery is not something that is legally allowed in any ordinary hospital or clinic for a non-physician to do and that includes medical students. Teaching hospitals have special waivers for medical students (who are not licensed medical doctors), so it is possible that medical school hospitals can offer this, but I am not familiar with this service being offered at any medical school in the United States. We do not have a medical school affiliated with New Hair Institute.

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June 16, 2006

Accutane and Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello Doc.

Thanks for your continued efforts to answer most hairloss related questions. Am 26 healthy male & I have had a hair transplant for frontal & side burns some 8 months ago. Growth is great. I do have some problem with ACNE & actually planning to take ACCUTANE, my question is, will the treatment with this drug have any side-effects on my transplants?

Accutane can cause hair loss in some patients, even in hair transplanted follicles. It is a known side effect of that drug. Are you sure that alternatives are not available that would work to address your acne? Talk with your doctor.

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June 15, 2006

Is My Son Too Young For Transplant at 19? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

My son is 19 and has always had a lot of forehead. He seems to have been experiencing a receeding hair line, and I would like to know if he is to young to consider hair transplants? If not is there a concern about having a procedure, and then the hair line receeding even potentially leaving a bare spot between the hair that was transplanted and the natural hair line now receeded?

The problem with a 19 year old is that if genetic balding is the correct diagnosis, the pattern is not predictable. In a 26 year old it will probably be predictable based upon the miniaturization patterns that develop by 26. That addresses your question directly, because if he is transplanted, the new hair will be in front of what is lost in the near term future so that a bare spot will develop and could progress. Worse, the balding pattern could develop to be very advanced so that a very bald person may emerge with a transplanted frontal hairline. These is our worst case problem, better to avoid until all of the information is at hand. A good doctor should map out his hair from miniaturization and then with knowing what is actually happening (assuming he has genetic balding), prescribe the use of Propecia with yearly monitoring of the miniaturization process. This will let you know how well it is being managed. The same applies to the maturing hairline, which must be differentiated from genetic balding.

June 15, 2006

No Growth 5 Months After My 2nd Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am mid-way through my 5′th month after having had my 2′nd transplant. What is the longest time one has to wait to notice any growth as nothing has come through yet & I’m becoming concerned ?

I am worried that the 2′nd procedure hasn’t worked for some reason because after my 1’st transplant new sprouts of hair was apparent at the start of the 4′th month.

I had my 2′nd procedure literally 9-10 months after my 1’st.

I would appreciate any advice,

Thank-you

Many times, I have this complaint. I tell people that they must wait for a full 8 months to see 80-90% of the results from the transplant. Be patient and then write me again, sending pictures at the 8th month if you did not get the results in my then.

June 15, 2006

Transplanting Grafts Into 1 Square Centimeter – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

can you fit 100 grafts in a 1sq2 cm without damaging existing hair ?

Yes, the density or 100 grafts per square cm can be achieved in some people. Generally it would take fine hair and supple skin with good elasticity to do it. The issue of a successful transplant is a more important issue. By crowding the grafts at 100 per square cm, the blood supply may be compromised. Some very crude studies of this have been done and presented at the past few ISHRS meetings (the largest society in the industry), which have shown that as more than 40 grafts are put into a square cm, the successful growth of these grafts starts to fall off significantly. If there is hair already present in the transplanted recipient area, there is great likelihood that it would damage the existing hair as well as obtaining poor growth.

I have seen this issue become one where doctor’s ego is pushed at the expense of patient welfare. Just because a doctor says he can do this, does not mean that this type of density has value and will grow out. I did the first dense-packing ever reported at about 100 grafts per square cm in 1993, but the growth was less than that number, so I toned down these numbers and developed judgments that allowed me to know just how far I could push densities at the time of transplants. Everything is strategy and judgments in the field of surgey. So I smile when I hear doctors talk about the high densities that they can achieve, realizing that they may be less patient outcome focused, and more in love with their own image in the morning mirror.