Hair Transplantation – Page 90

April 9, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHair Transplant Surgery Technician Certification? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I work for a surgeon. He wanting to provide hair transplant services- some in office. He had said something about having a technician to assist with the hair follicle grafts- Does this technician require certification and if so where do you obtain this?

Block Quote

Certificate The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) has information about fellowship programs for physicians here. It is very difficult to train a good hair transplant technician. It often requires months of daily constant practice, the initial work under close supervision. I have trained a few dozen techs and many of them want to quit within days of starting training. Errors on the part of the technician can kill the transplants from a variety of causes, including drying of a graft (usually killed in 10-20 seconds of air exposure), rough handling, killing the growth center, poor placing, and depth control. The hand-eye coordination is really difficult for placing a graft. Ask your doctor to visit an experienced hair transplant surgeon and try out some of the process. If you wanted to become a hair transplant technician, that may just change your mind. For the patient, the worst thing he can have is a technician given too much responsibility during the training process, as many grafts will die as the technician learns the process. Remember, I said it may take six months to a year to get competent and years more to get really good. As a patient, I would want an experienced technical crew. There are very few doctors that developed the skills to train a hair transplant technician so one might wonder where they got their training from.

Long story short, there is no certification for this job… just lots of training time and constant, daily practice. If your doctor expects to get growth from a hair transplant, the worst thing he/she could do is to pass on the responsibility to you (no disrespect intended).

April 9, 2009

I Don’t Want Hormone Changing Drugs, But I Want to Stop Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,

What if we do not want to take propecia (too many side effects). Can we still do a hair transplant? I am not happy taking hormome changing drugs for life, but want to stop hairloss.

Thanks

I can’t offer you more advice than I have already posted. See these posts:

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

April 8, 2009

I Want a Teenage Hairline Permanently! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello,
I am 20 years old and my hairline seems to be receding. There is miniaturization in a clear line, and then thick normal hair also in a clear line. I am wondering If this is a sign of my hairline settling into a mature widows peak sort of line(I went to talk with a specialist at at a clinic in New York and they said I wasn’t even the first part of the Norwood in the receding section, though I notice a lot receding at the temples.

Could this be the end if the miniatrization is that clear or would taking finasteride(probably finpecia since I am currently unemployed) be a smart option. I am opting for a teenage hairline permanantly seeing as I plan on doing sort of gender bending performance art and want a hairline that can he feminine as well.

I am willig to do anything to get ride of the receding hairline, I never want a mature hairline. This might sound naive or childish, but I do not feel comfortable looking manly at all, and never will, so I am DESPERATE. I know my options, would I have luck with finasteride?

At 20 years old, you might be a good responder to finasteride… but as for expecting it to regrow a maturing hairline and go back to your 10 year old line, it won’t do that. What you’re asking for is likely going to require surgery (as drugs will not reverse frontal balding), and at 20 years old it doesn’t sound like you made up your mind wanting your 10 year old hairline back. Hair transplants can be done to give you that, but do you really know where you mind is when you are 30 or 40. You get the picture? I never say never, but you need to bond with a good doctor, not one that just wants to take your money in these difficult financial times and become realistic with regard to what may happen to you over time.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

April 7, 2009

Traction Alopecia and Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I am 20 years old as of January of this year and I am female. I always had very long very full very beautiful and healthy hair but in my later years of high school i began doing a lot of processing to change the color on numerous occasions, this resulted in, while still long, very damaged stringy hair. One day I made the decision to cut it and it was more healthy than it had been in a very long time and very very full, however I was not confidant with the length and made the incredibly stupid decision to get hair extensions, of course I only know how stupid it was now that the damage is done. The type I had were individual pieces adhered by small metal tubes that were then clamped to stay in place, and I would say I had approximately 200 of them in at one time. I have noticed an incredible loss in the fullness of my hair not just in the ends but in my scalp. I feel that I’ve lost approximately 50-70% of my hair which I hope is me overreacting but I have lost many nights of sleep and it’s taken a toll on my sanity and my life. I am exploring the option of hair transplants since they say that is the only solution for traction alopecia which i’ve diagnosed myself with. I will be seeing a dermatologist in a few days so I will have more details but I was hoping you could tell me a few things about the transplants. From what I’ve read they are said to have good to excellent results in patients with traction alopecia but I would like to know:

Will the transplanted hairs have the capacity to grow to the desired length?

Some transplant doctors practice a method where they are able to put grafts in between existing hairs which is what I will require since the thinning is all over. I am wondering, will it be necessary to cut the existing hairs short? I am hoping this is not the case.

The only hair that has not been touched by the extensions and is healthy enough to be used as donor hair is in the front and is not a very large section. I am wondering, can the same donor area be used more than once if more hair is required to fill the missing spaces than the donor area can create at one time?

This hair is 100% certain to grow back just as full as before, yes?

Is there any scarring that will arise as a result of this? Do the risks for scarring increase if the donor area is used more than once?

I hope that you will reply to this message because I am very distraught and extremely depressed which I’m beginning to fear may lead to further hair loss caused by stress, and am rigidly searching for answers to this problem. Thank you for taking the time to read about my story and I’m hoping to hear from you soon.

You’ve likely seen your dermatologist by now and have a better idea of the degree of your hair loss, but I hope these answers to your questions help a bit.

Yes. Transplanted hair will grow to the same length as the hair in the back of your head, since that is where the hair is being moved from.
No. We routinely leave the recipient area long and do not cut the areas where we are going to do the transplant.
Unlikely. Hair for transplantation is taken from the side and back of the head. I would have to evaluate your alopecia before giving you an opinion.
Almost. Nothing in this world is 100% certain, but I would expect that hair transplants will grow at a 98% confidence factor.
Yes. The donor area does scar and the degree of scarring depends upon many things, including:
1. the number of surgeries
2. the size of the donor strip
3. tissue factors unique to each person
4. the surgical technique used

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

April 6, 2009

Female Balding and Steps Taken to Fix It (with Photos) – Balding Blog

This is a 60 year old woman who had 2700 grafts to fill in the area where she was very thin. She uses a combination of Toppik in the first inch of the hairline only, a good solid perm for the rest of her head and a reddish hair coloring that works to minimize her hair color contrast. Red coloring at times gives wonderful results and this lady was very careful to style her hair to maximize coverage. The curly nature of her hair changes the characteristics of her hair, which is normally straight.

She could have done it all with transplants alone, but it might have taken twice the amount of hair transplants than she got with the three step approach she used. Click the photos to enlarge.

After

Before

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

April 3, 2009

Am I Doing Damage By Scratching My Head Hard 18 Months After a Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a hair transplant about one and a half years ago. The hair has grown and reasonably thick. I do however have dandruff and ocasionally scratch my head quite hard, even on the transplanted sections which are at the temples and also use a tooth comb to scratch it. is it possible im doing damage to the transplanted sections, or because its on the skins surface the hair beneath wont be affected? thanks

By the way you phrased your question, it seems you already know the answer. Of course, scratching hair will potentially cause hair loss from what might be traction causes. After a year and a half, you’re not going to pull out any grafts, but treat your scalp and hair with a good anti-dandruff shampoo rather than scratching hard on your scalp. If you have a scalp condition, see a dermatologist or your family doctor. Heavy, hard scratching does not produce much value and can harm your scalp or hair.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 31, 2009

Could FUE Make My Linear Non-Transplant Scar Worse? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have a small, linear non-transplant scar above my ear. It has healed pretty well, and is looking more and more like normal skin each day. I’ve been thinking about transplanting hair into the scar by an east-coast doctor, about 100 grafts is my guess. If this were to be done with FUE, is there a huge risk that the scars produced from such a small FUE procedure will be worse than my linear scar? I want to be able to wear a buzz cut (somewhere around #2) as I believer my hair is thinning and short hair is a better look. Should I be very worried about moving just 100 grafts from the back of my head into this scar to minimize it?

Follicular unit extraction (FUE) is a good way to fill in a scar, but not all FUE is the same. Different doctors use different techniques and instruments. As long as the FUE instrument is less than 1mm (ideally 0.8 of 0.9mm diameter), you should be OK.

I am flattered you would ask me, but I would ask this question to your doctor since you need to trust the surgeon that will be performing the procedure on you!

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 31, 2009

I’ve Had 3 Transplants to My Eyebrow Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello, I was missing the middle of my eyebrows ever since I was a child. My oldest child pictures have virtually no eyebrow hair in the middle but it wasn’t noticeable until I became a teenager and they darkened. I have no idea how I lost them or perhaps I was born that way. When I was a teenager the remaining hair started seemingly shedding. So I got 2 hair transplants with a doctor.

What I am concerned about is the remaining original eyebrow hair seems to be shedding too much and it seems from the before and after shot I have less of the original hair than I had before. Today when I put tea tree oil on the original hair to get rid of the dry skin 15 hairs from my original brows came out. I just had a third hair transplant into my eyebrows so the trauma from the surgery might be why but still it’s just an example. The transplanted hair does not seem to be effected like the original hairs but if possible I still want to protect what I have left of the original hairs in case I am loosing them. I did pluck a lot of the dry skin plaques out so I might have lost some of the hairs to traction but that doesn’t explain why the hairs shed so easily and I’m wondering if this shedding suggests that the follicles are in danger.

My dermatologist doesn’t know whats wrong. Is their any tests I could take to determine what is causing the excess shedding and possible hair loss such as a hair biopsy or skin biopsy? Could the inflammation from the dermatitis be causing telogen effluvium or something? Is there anything I could do to stop it? I feel very discouraged about finding out what the problem is.

If you have seen a good dermatologist and had a good hair transplant doctor, I can not add much here as I would have less information than they have. You could be experiencing some shock loss in your eyebrows, but I’m just not sure, as I’ve not examined you and am not familiar with your history. If your dermatologist doesn’t know what the problem could be, I’d try another dermatologist.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

March 30, 2009

Hair Loss InformationShould I Lower My Hairline with Transplants or Just Bulk Up the Existing? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr Rassman,

I recently visited a very reputable hair transplant surgeon. I am a 33 year old with Norwood 2 recession. My hairline has receded at the sides of the hairline and slightly at the temples. The surgeon recommended that instead of straightening off the hairline and transplanting hair to the temple that due to chances of further recession it would be more beneficial to bulk out the line of the current hairline, totalling 800 grafts/20cm. He was adamant that this would produce the most natural looking results, whereas bringing the hairline further forward would leave open the danger of having a gap between transplanted hair and any hair that further receded (both in the hairline and temple regions; i thought that he was using the danger of further recession as an unnecessary reason. Am i best to follow his advice or go with the look i would like?

In essence he is recommending this type of procedure: link

when i would he more inclined to go with this: link

Block Quote

I am generally not inclined to perform preventive hair transplantation and given the borderline nature of your desires, I would have to evaluate you to determine if your goals are reasonable or not. You must remember that once you start the process, you are committed for life to following back the balding if and when it should progress.

I’d need to see photos of your head at the very least before getting any kind of idea of the best way to go about creating a hairline for you. Unfortunately, I can not answer your question from the photo examples you supplied.

March 27, 2009

Hair Loss InformationA Patient that Followed Hair Transplant Aftercare Instructions – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman:

Thank you for a very comfortable and professional session yesterday. You and your competent staff made my day enjoyable; quite different from my prior experience in the early 1990’s.

I experienced no pain last night before bed at 9 pm and took no medication, until I became a slight bit uncomfortable around 1:30am. I took one Vicodin and one Valium, and slept until 5:30am. This morning I took the Prednisone.

I used one half cup of hydrogen peroxide and one half of cup of water for 5 minutes, as directed. I washed my hair; the donor and recipient areas as directed, and experienced very minimal bleeding in the donor area, a couple of drops in one location in the frontal area, and none in the crown area. There was minimal crusting in the donor area, and it was cleaned with a cue tip. This will be done again tonight. My wife also applied the anti bacteria ointment, as directed. I have not taken any Vicodin today, and am not experiencing any pain at all.

I will wash my hair again before bed as directed.

Best regards

Block Quote

I don’t usually post testimonial style emails like this, but I just received this note from a patient who had 2159 grafts earlier this week. I wanted to show how a patient is following my post-operative instructions for washing and medicating, and isn’t experiencing any pain or heavy scabbing.

The lesson here is for anyone interested in getting a hair transplant — follow your doctor’s aftercare instructions!