Hair Transplantation – Page 42

July 22, 2011

Hair Loss InformationIs There Professional Jealousy of Dr Gho’s Technique? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Comment received in response to the recent post about Dr Gho’s technique:

Sorry doc, but the difference between his procedure and yours is that his does not deplete the donor. He has proven this over and over again both with patients and peer reviewed journal articles. He uses a smaller, wave tipped needle and a special storage solution to make this possible. I would suggest that you look into his procedure further before making blanket assumptions and accusations out of what appears to be professional jealousy? With respect.

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I have no professional jealousy here. When I watched his video at one of the medical meetings where he presented his technique, what I clearly saw was FUE. I polled the doctors that viewed it (unofficially) and most people agreed that what they saw, looked like FUE to them. On my next trip to Amsterdam, I will call and ask him to allow me to view his technique up close.

July 21, 2011

Hair Loss InformationISHRS – Comparing Strip Harvesting and FUE – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

For whatever reason, we seem to receive questions about the same topic in clusters. One week, I’ll get a bunch of Rogaine questions… the next week, it’s Propecia time. This week, I got a few about the strip technique versus follicular unit extraction (FUE).

I found a nice article on the ISHRS site that compares strip harvesting to FUE, which I hope will answer some of those questions I’ve got in the past few days. Topics include graft survival, scar formation, and technical expertise.

Link: Comparison between Strip Harvesting and Follicular Unit Extraction: A Fair and Balanced View

July 21, 2011

Scars from Strip Harvesting Surgery – Balding Blog

I have a terrible scar from a previous hair transplant in the donor area. What can be done about it?

If you find that you have a scar from your donor harvest that you find is unacceptable, these options need to be discussed with a competent doctor. The scar often has ridging from the nature of the closure and that will be determined by the doctor who evaluates you. Scars from the donor area are not uncommon and when the surgery is done by a competent surgeon doing standard of care work, scars may still form and be the result of the way your body heals. The treatment of scars are as follows:

Do nothing
Perform a scar revision with a surgeon who can do trichophytic repairs and use ACell in the wound to give you the best opportunity to heal it.
Have FUE into the scar. This can fill in the scar, but hair direction may not be controlled by the surgeon, making the results often disappointing. Two sessions into the scar may be needed.
The use of Scalp Pigmentation has been a significant breakthrough in our hands. Risks include change of color (unusual for the back of the head where hair covers the pigmented area protecting it from the sun). This will not address any ridging in the scar area.

July 20, 2011

Hair Loss InformationDUPA and BHT – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hello mr Rassman long time reader here, you doing a great job here i must add. my question today is regarding my Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA). i’ve had dupa since the age of 17 im now 24 and i still have a decent amount of coverage.

i was thinking about a possible body hair transplant in the future and was wondering if hairs in the beard, pubic area and chest are viable as im looking for the fullest coverage. i for one don’t care about growing this hair out i would plan on keeping it very short shaved. as i am still 24 and still going through changes in terms of body hair i want to wait till im in my 30’s so i have more hair to harvest

what do you think of my chances in terms of having a transplant like this? would i need to take meds after this to maintain the new hair? is the hair permanent? thank you for your time

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Body hair may or may not be permanent. I have never done a complete body hair transplant for a DUPA patient so I can not talk with experience under my belt. I suspect you can find someone willing to experiment on you to achieve the goal you defined above, but it would not be my recommendation.

July 19, 2011

Short Haircuts with Strip Surgery vs FUE? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I like to to have a buzz cut during the summer months. How short can someone cut there hair if they go with a traditional hair transplant vs a FUE?

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The visibility of the linear scar from the strip surgery partially depends upon how you heal. Some people heal with a fine line scar that will allow the very short hair cut (not a buzz cut) while others will develop a wider scar that could, at worst case in a single surgery, get to 1cm in height. If the worst case happens, the haircut must be longer to cover the scar.

July 14, 2011

My Doctor Said SMP Alone Would be a Mistake For My Norwood 6 Pattern – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey Dr Rassman. I hope your doing well.

I had a consultation with my hair doctor. At which i brought up the proposition of a combined SMP and hair transplant procedure. His response was the 2 would compliment each other well but just SMP alone would be a mistake. What are your thoughts does SMP look more natural when done in conjunction with hair transplantation?

And lastly i recall reading about a young man who won the American Dream contest a few years back. You performed surgery on him as my balding pattern would be close to his (ill prolly wind up developing into a class 6)and our ages are close or were im 23 now(i have been on finasreide since 20) i am interested to see his results. Thank you.

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Each person is a separate case. I can not tell you that Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) plus hair transplants is better than either alone. I make each judgment when I understand the patient, when I see how fast the hair loss process is, and when I can then build a Master Plan. Generally, the hair transplant is the way I start, adding SMP on only a minority of patients.

As for the winner of the American Dream Vote television show (see here if you don’t remember the single episode that aired before it was canceled), the last update photos we had to publish were from 2009 and can be found here.

July 14, 2011

Am I Losing My Transplanted Hair 9 Months After the Procedure? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am starting to panic a bit and wondered if you could give me some confidence for the future months. I had a ht approximately 9 months ago in October of 2010. At the end of the 5 month period I could see definite results and was excited about looking even better in the coming months. Friends and family noticed a definite difference from before I had the transplant.

Now I’m seeing a lot more hair loss of what I assume is the transplanted hair since I didn’t have very much hair before the procedure. Do you think that it’s possible that a lot of the transplanted hair could fall out and then grow back in or do you think I might be stuck with no regrowth? I have tried to do everything the doctor has told me to do but am looking worse almost daily. My doctor says that it could take 12 to 14 months for the ending results in my specific case. I sometimes feel he isn’t telling me everything. I guess I’m a bit afraid that I am going to continue to look worse as time goes on. Do you think there’s any possibility that I’m going through a shedding cycle with my ht?

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I would need to see you to draw any conclusions. I generally tell patients to wait a year before questioning the survival and the results of the hair transplant procedure. I wish I could help give you a better feeling, but maybe a visit to me at the 12 month time frame would be a worth while investment.

July 11, 2011

Hair Loss InformationCan I Still Have Transplants After Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP)? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a 29 year old male who’s been dealing with hair loss since I was 19. I’m very interested in the SMP procedure because I use a ton of hair loss concealers that are costly and messy. I wear my hair pretty long (4 to 5 inches) and was wondering if SMP is a good option. If so, will I still be able to have hair transplants in the future?

Thanks for everything you guys do!

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Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) may be a good option, but only for certain hair colors and people with specific goals that can be met with this solution. Everyone is different and the goals for some people who will accept the SMP solution may not satisfy others.

You must always consider the progressive nature of hair loss if you elect to have SMP. As you bald, you will probably have to follow the SMP process back to keep up with your balding. Hair transplantation may also be an option… and YES, you can still have a hair transplant after SMP, but you must make sure that the person doing the pigmentation process understands the balding process and develops a Master Plan for you over the years to come.

July 6, 2011

What Would You Do for Prince William, Specifically? – Balding Blog

This is a follow-up to a post from last week:

Hello!

last week a question was posted about Prince William which you opened your doors to William if ever he decided to go down the hair transplant route…

my question would be – What would you do for William? we can all see where his future lies with his hairline, obviously we do not harvest an adequate amount of donor hair to cover the whole of the balding area, what would be the way forward for william in your opinion?

and also off the subject, i picked up on the comment made by the blogger, something to the tone of “feeling sorry for william on his wedding day, his looks seem to have diminished due to his balding process……” have you seen his wife? hes not doing to badly!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Bald is beautiful“. With respect to Prince William, I am sure if he is bothered by his hair he would have done something for it. He looks like an excellent candidate to take finasteride and see what happens with the medication alone. One reader commented that they didn’t like Prince William’s thinning hair and wondered if he would be a candidate for hair transplant surgery. Yes, he’d likely be good candidate if that is what he wanted to do about it.

So hypothetically, assuming he has an average hair density and scalp laxity (the ideal scenario) he could cover the entire scalp with two surgeries. The first procedure would be the most dramatic, giving him a non-balding hairline with a frame to his face and some fill for the thinning top and crown. I couldn’t get too into specifics, as I’ve not met Prince William.

When and if he came to transplant, we would do almost exactly what we did for reality star Jon Gosselin. He had only one surgery and we did not address the continuing hair loss to the top crown area, which appeared to worsen. Jon has a similar hair loss pattern, but his hair is black as opposed to the royal’s blondish-brown hair. Since Jon’s hair loss gives less contrast to his skin, Prince William should attain better results.

July 1, 2011

Best Post-Op Hair Transplant Shampoo? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

what is the best shampoo to use after H.T. my head is peeling its been about 2 weeks and when can i start using rogaine again. Thanks

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After 2 weeks you head should not be peeling. You need to just use your regular shampoo and make sure you are washing your scalp properly. Follow up with your doctor and make sure you are washing your hair correctly.

Usually, I’d recommend waiting 7-10 days before using Rogaine after a hair transplant. Talk to your surgeon.