Hairlines – Page 30 – Balding Blog

February 1, 2008

Actor Joe Penny Shows Off His Repaired Hairline (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Joe Penny, perhaps best known for his starring roles in hit 1980s television series Riptide and Jake and the Fatman or more recently his guest spot on the popular TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigations and the Hallmark Channel’s Jane Doe TV movies, has agreed to let me show his results from a repair job started years back. Due to a variety of professional obligations, we were unable to schedule more work until about a year ago. When his old, ugly plugs from another doctor showed, I was reluctant for him to tell people that I was his doctor (even if only for repairs, because I did not finish the repair job)… but now things are very different as these two month old pictures show.

He tells me that on many occasions he’s overheard fellow actors talking about hair transplants, expressing fear of taking charge and doing something about their thinning hair. As Joe puts it, “It takes a great deal of courage to make the decision to get a hair transplant, especially when you see so many bad jobs out there in Hollywood. You get gun shy after making a bad decision and it took me some time to make the decision to fix my bad hair job. But now, when people talk about a hair transplant for their balding and struggle with the hair loss problem, they don’t look at me as an expert any more”.

Update 2/1/08 6:00 pm:

Joe just wrote to me. He did not know that I put him on the blog today, even though he gave me permission to do this over a month ago. This is what he said: “I want to thank you again for your kindness and your generosity in my case. The last procedure I had..even after seeing you a couple of months ago..has still continued to grow and thicken. Also the donor area…because of the expert surgical job you did… is so loose I cannot believe it! It is truly astounding to me. I mean…I new you were good but WOW! The results speaks louder than words. I have recommended several people to come and see you. I know that some of them have already come. They called me and were very angry at me, meaning…well the dialogue went something like this…”Why the hell didn’t you tell me about the NEW HAIR INSTITUTE BEFORE” My response was “I DID…YOU WERE NOT LISTENING”. They are extremely satisfied, as I have been for years. So I will keep spreading the word about the fantastic work you and you Doctors are doing at NHI.

After I received this email, I wrote to him asking for permission to use the above email. His response came in at 9:00pm and this is what he said: “Yes, you have my absolute permission to post my email. Please consider this communication as my acknowledgment that it is absolutely OK with me to post it. Not a problem Dr. Rassman. If there is a group oif men or if there is an open house going on at the office with people who are considering it and might feel a little shy or afraid of a surgery, just let me know and IF I, AM…AND IN TOWN….I WILL DO MY BEST TO ATTEND AT AN OPEN HOUSE!

Thanks You Doc,

Sincerely,

Your fan forever, Joe Penny
God Bless You And Keep You

Joe is not atypical for someone who has gone through a type of hell with the old type of hair transplant plugs done years ago. I am absolutely humbled by his comments. For as long as I have been in this industry, I have been pleased to be able to help men like Joe and there have been hundreds of them, but it is even better to put hair back on a new patient who would never have to experience Joe’s type of pain.

Click photos to enlarge.

After repair:

Before repair (scanned photos):

January 10, 2008

Hair Loss InformationPersistent Juvenile Hairline in Advanced Balding Man (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

The pictures below are of a man of Indian decent who lost most of the hair on his head, but kept his juvenile hairline intact. We see this rarely in European Caucasians and more frequently amongst people from South Asia. This particular man is in his mid-thirties and may get a good response from Propecia, as his hair loss has just appeared in the past 2-3 years. If he does not benefit from the medication, a hair transplant will be on his agenda.

Note that there was no hair transplant performed on this patient as of the time these photos were taken. This is his natural balding pattern. Click the photos to enlarge.

What is particularly important to note is that this juvenile hairline is just the exact same part that is generally lost in the Caucasian maturing hairline. Please compare the hairline shown here with the one from a previous blog, Maturation of a Hairline — Moving From Juvenile to Mature and imagine that one is just the reverse of the other.

January 7, 2008

My Hairline is Very Asymmetric – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hey there, I have been battling with a receding hairline for a while now. I’m a 23 year old male and have noticed that my hair has been receding on my right side, this has caused my hairline to be very asymmetric. I noticed my hair thinning quite considerably a the back center and top of my head however i’ve recently been taking finpecia and this has thickened right up. In a moment of madness i decided to shave my head and its very noticeable that the one side has receded a ”lot” more than the other side which remains as if it hasn’t receded at all. I’ve haven’t seen anyone else with this problem and i have had a few comments from family and friends on my hairline since shaving it. Is there anything i can do, it looks terrible.

Balding is a dynamic process and it may occur asymmetric. While hair transplants and medications such as Propecia and Rogaine can help, there are limitations and there is no “quick” fix. You can take some comfort in knowing that the other side will likely catch up in receding, but I doubt it is much comfort. If you are concerned about hair loss, you should see a hair transplant doctor. Remember that surgery is not the only option.

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January 2, 2008

Hair Loss Information17 Year Old Concerned About His Hairline (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman,

I am a 17 year old male concerned about hairloss. I have not noticed any receding or thinning or extreme shedding or any typical symptoms of hairloss. However, I have always had a very high hairline ever since I was 2. And from the front my hairline looks like a U shape when I pull my hair back. However, as you can see from the pictures my hairline lines up perfectly even with the side of my hair and does not go farther back like the diagram of the “receding” hairline does. I just want you to tell me if my hairline is a receding one or if it is the normal mature hairline that 95% of all caucasians get. What do you think? I have always and still do have a very thick head of hair, I just need to know if you think my hairline is abnormal or balding, or does there appear to be nothing to worry about. PLEASE Respond. YOU MAY USE MY PICTURES ON YOUR SITE!

Thank YOU SO Much!

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Thank you for your permission to post your photos.

A high hairline at your age is most likely genetic and not a sign of hair recession or balding, particularly since you’ve had it since childhood. If you look back at your family tree, you could probably find someone in the family (either side) with a similar hairline. If you are happy with your hairline and there is no sign of hair loss in the area immediately behind it you don’t need to do anything. If you are unhappy with having a high forehead or you think the appearance of recession make you look older, you can treat it with either a hairline lowering procedure or hair transplants — but these solutions are not for a 19 year old male who may bald as he matures. This restriction does not include women.

January 2, 2008

Within a Year, My Widow’s Peak Disappeared – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Something VERY weird has happened to my hairline the last year! I have searched many many forums and blogs like this but I haven’t found the answer.

This is my problem:
I always had a widows peak till my 17, one year later my widows peak has almost completely dissappeared..? I can see small hairs but that’s it. The left side of my hairline is still perfectly intact while the right side has receded for 1 or 2 mm.

the rest of my hair is extremely thick and healthy. my father has a full head of hear and he is almost 50, my mother too.

Thx in advance

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Have you considered the possibility that you may have early signs of male pattern balding? It is also possible that the widow’s peak you had may have a different genetic code, and as such, came out because it had genes that were expressed at that time. Male pattern baldness (MPB) is genetic, so even if your father or grandparents (both from mother’s or father’s side) has a full head of hair, it can skip generations and it can also be from your mother’s side. There is really nothing “VERY weird” about it. Hair loss to a certain degree occurs in more than 50% of men.

December 6, 2007

Taking Half a Propecia (0.5mg Finasteride) Twice Daily? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

If the half-life of finasteride is 4 to 5 hours, wouldn’t it be better to split the 1mg propecia pill in two, and take one in the morning, and one in the evening?

The half life of finasteride is 4.5 hours. This means that in 4.5 hours, serum levels of finasteride drop to the half of its original level, but the tissue levels will last longer than the serum levels. Finasteride blocks the effect of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, and the effects of the medication due to the blocking of this enzyme is actually much longer and can last up to a few days. On the other hands, the body can eliminate the finasteride, but the pharmacological effects of the medication persist long after.

Considering long lasting pharmacological effects of finasteride, taking it on a more frequent basis probably does not make any difference in its final results.

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December 5, 2007

Hairs at the Hairline Seem to Be at a Fixed Length — I Want Them to Grow Longer! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Doc,

I’m a girl and i’m 22 years old. My dad is almost bald while my mom has thick wavy hair. My head hair is thin and not very dense. My hairs near the hairline are very thin and they dont grow at all ,that is, they have a fixed length. Please guide me as to whether it would be effective if I shave them off, those near the hairline? Would their length increase afterwards? Is there some other way using which I can make them grow longer? Kindly help me out please!!

The hair at your hairline may not grow as fast as hair elsewhere on the scalp. This is particularly true in the corners. You should be evaluated by an expert in-person; without seeing you and examining your entire scalp, I can not help you properly.

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December 4, 2007

Why Didn’t You Transplant 5000-6000 Grafts For a Norwood Class 6? – Balding Blog

In the piece dated October 19 “Goodbye Combover, Hello Hair!”, I am critical of your choice to limit the graft numbers. You should have performed 5000-6000 grafts in a Class 6 patient. Why didn’t you?

Here’s the post you’re referencing.

The number of grafts that were transplanted on this patient was the maximum safe amount that could be harvested, reflecting the density of this man’s hair in the donor area. If the grafts were cut down to single hair grafts, the number would have been more, but the amount of hair would have been the same. Some doctors would have cut the follicular units down to single hair grafts to make some more money out of the patient (since they charge by the graft). Not only will that not produce more hair, but it would be unethical to milk this patient’s pockets for more money. Cutting the grafts down would have yielded less hair in the long term, as all of the cut grafts may not grow as well.

With his fine hair character, this patient needs 5000-7000 grafts to get excellent coverage. On the day the initial blog post was published, I repeated the procedure and only got out 1706 more grafts — again, because that was what was safe (there are no results photos yet, as the procedure was just over a month ago). Each person is different, and while some people have enough scalp laxity to allow for a larger strip (with more hair), some people will only have enough for a smaller strip.

The photo on the left is before; the photo on the right is after one procedure of 2590 grafts. You should note that the transplants were artistically weighted to the frontal area to produce the best frame for his face and distributed to the back with a much lower density to reflect the limited number of grafts. Click the photos to enlarge.

More photos of this patient can be see at the original post –Goodbye Combover, Hello Hair!

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November 30, 2007

Hair Loss InformationResults of Transplanting Firefighter’s Hairline (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

In my experience, performing hair transplants on firefighters, police officers, and soldiers can be a problem, not because they are different from you and I, but simply because they tend to get more good-natured teasing from their colleagues when issues of vanity come up. Although I haven’t seen any formal studies about it, I’ve found that society looks at the man in uniform as a “macho” guy, and vanity + macho don’t exactly go hand-in-hand. This is why I’ve found that these men can be more sensitive than the average male about having a hair transplant, as they are extremely worried about having a detectable procedure.

This patient had two hair transplant procedures totaling 2431 grafts to the frontal hairline, extending back about 1 1/2 inches. His skin is light and his hair is jet black, but he told me that no one ever teased him about undergoing the surgeries and nobody noticed anything unusual.

The photo on the left is before; the photo on the right is after two procedures. Please forgive me for the quality of the before photo, as it was taken with a different camera under different lighting, but his hair loss is clearly evident. Click the photos to enlarge.

November 19, 2007

Hair Transplant Results After Just 1 Procedure (with Photos) – Balding Blog

This Norwood Class 5 patient had just one transplant of 3684 grafts about two years ago. He recently came in for a Propecia prescription renewal and allowed me to take updated photos and post his results. He had a wonderful, big smile for me and said everyone he meets knows he looks different, and so rather than explain these changes, he made a point to lose weight and show off his newly trim figure. No one suspects that he has had a hair transplant.

Click the photos to enlarge.

After

Before

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