Other Surgical Procedures – Page 10

January 27, 2009

Surgical Hairline Lowering + Hairline Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

I recently read some posts regarding the surgical hairline lowering procedure vs. a hairline transplant. I was wondering whether it would be synergistic to do both?

If you are male (with a NW2 receded hairline due to MPB) with an inherited high hairline, wouldn’t it be better to get the surgical hairline lowering procedure done in addition to a hair transplant? Wouldn’t this conserve donor hair because you are essentially reducing the size of the forehead (less area to worry about transplanting hair follicles to…).

Thus, this would remedy the high forehead and restoration of the hairline, with enough donor hair in case of any future hair loss.

Hairline lowering procedures should only be done on women or on men who do not contain the balding genes. That means that men wanting this surgical option should be genetically tested first, perhaps using something like HairDX. For women who do not usually lose hair (as they do not have patterned baldness), the hairline lowering procedure has value since there is no significant danger of the hairline rising above the point of surgery.

The advantages of the surgical lowering procedure (like a brow lift in reverse) is that the results are basically instantaneous, a week or two after healing is complete. The hair was there prior to the surgery (just a few centimeters lower), so you do not have to wait for the hair to grow out like with a hair transplant. If you need more than one inch lowering, then the transplant option may be better. Some people with the hairline lowering procedure will develop a scar at the hairline and may require transplants to hide it.

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January 13, 2009

Eyebrow Hair Stopped Growing After Waxing! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female)
Hello! i use to go and get my eyebrows waxed. The last time i did was about 7 months ago and every since then they haven’t grown back, they are very thin (it looks like i dont have any eyebrows) and there are a few bald spots.. What could of caused that? and is there anyway i can get them to grown back?

If you pluck out your eyebrows all the time, eventually some hairs may never grow back. Think of it as causing small trauma to the hair follicle over and over and eventually the hair follicle will stop producing hair. Wait it out for a full year. If it does not return, you can have a hair transplant to put them back, using hair from your scalp.

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January 7, 2009

Hair Growing to the Edge of the Scar Where a Mole Was Removed – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a mole removed about a month ago, and the actual scar is healing very thin and good. The hair is growing right up to the edge of the scar from the top, and even at some points looks like it is growing through it. My concern is that underneath the scar, there is patches where the hair is scarcely coming in, and even patches where no stubble is visible. Can you shed some light as to how hair grows around scars, could the surgery have put the hairs beneath the incision into the resting phase. I have been worried about their growth and realize it’s way too soon to start thinking about FUE to fix the scar, although I realize it may be a solution if the hair doesn’t return to its normal growth. Any light you can shed would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, damage can be done when surgery is performed in the scalp. Sometimes, the hair follicles are amputated while the stubble remains and this may be a cause of hair loss from a local excision. The stitches that are placed can produce damage to the hair along the leading edge of the excised mole (as in your case). Wait it out a full 6 months and hopefully the hair will grow. If it is a problem, transplants work very well here.

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December 22, 2008

In the News – Man Dies After Replacing Real Medication with Herbals – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

From the article:

A Chinese man who received a face transplant in 2006 has died, highlighting the risks of a recent groundbreaking US operation.

Li Guoxing, 32, died at his rural home in rugged southwestern China after forsaking immune-system drugs in favour of herbal medicine, his surgeon Guo Shuzhong said.

“His death was not caused by the surgery. Our operation was a success. But we cannot rule out a connection with the immune system drugs,” said Dr Guo, a surgeon with Xijing Hospital in the northern city of Xian who operated on Li in April 2006.

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Read the full text — Chinese face transplant Li Guoxing dies

Granted, this is not about hair loss or hair transplantation, but it highlights that many of these herbal remedies are not replacements for proven medications. I found it interesting and definitely worth a read! Treatments to control the rejection process is a science that requires careful monitoring. Switching to herbals either as an adjunct or a replacement for drugs that prevent rejection of transplanted organs, can not produce a good outcome.

I’m not suggesting that using herbal treatments to prevent hair loss or regrow hair will lead to death — far from it. You will eventually lose the hair you’re so desperately trying to keep if you make the switch from a known and proven drug like finasteride to a fancy shampoo or lotion you can buy at your local salon/grocery store/online store, though.

December 12, 2008

I Want a Larger Forehead – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have a fairly small forehead line and i really want to make my forehead line larger naturally soon. Please suggest me what I can do to have a larger forehead line. Thank you.

The answer to this question reflects missing data which I would need to take this to a next step:

Are you male or female?
What is your age?
Can you send me some good photos with your eyebrows lifted high as well as a normal facial set of photos?
Do you have genetic hair loss?

I would pick up this once I have the missing pieces I have just asked for.

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December 12, 2008

Pricing for Hairline Lowering with Balloon Expansion? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female)Hello Dr. Rassman;

Your website indicated that the cost of a one-time hairline lowering surgery ranged between $9,000-$11,000. I am curious as to the price if a balloon expansion is necessary.

Thanks in advance

We don’t list a price for that type of procedure on the NHI site, so I assume you’re talking about a past posting on this site. The cost of the hairline lowering surgery is around $15,000 plus the cost of the balloon expander (usually about $1000). This includes multiple visits per week for balloon inflation with saline until the balloon reaches its final point of inflation. Balloon expanders are rarely needed for lowering the hairline, though.

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November 18, 2008

I Have DUPA – Can I Transplant My Beard Hair to the Scalp? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i was wondering if a person like myself with DUPA had a strong beard would if be possible to transplant it to the scalp and if so how much coverage would i get?

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Such a transplant (beard to scalp) would technically work, but to what master design is the question! The character of beard hair is different than scalp hair.

You’d need to come in for a consultation and let me look at the many variables. With your goals clearly defined, we can discuss not only using beard hair, but perhaps even leg, chest, arm, and pubic hair as well. I generally do not recommend body hair transplants, but in a case of DUPA (diffuse unpatterned alopecia), things are different. Generally though, the hair of DUPA patients is so thin that you may not get what you need from other body parts.

November 10, 2008

FUE2 for Body Hair? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman,

You mentioned a couple of weeks ago that with Follicular Unit Extraction Enhanced (FUE2) that you should be able to successfully transplant body hair. When do you expect to experiment with this type of body hair procedure?

Thanks

When a patient comes in and requests it, I will test biopsy him with the FUE² first. No such patient has come forth yet.

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November 6, 2008

Can I Get Body Hair Transplants If I Want to Keep My Hair Short Forever? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr.Rassman,
I see one of your recent post talks about transplanting leg hair to the chest. You mentioned also that you could transplant leghair to the scalp. Say you did a Fue2 procedure, coudln’t you reasonably get a LARGE amount of graphs using both legs if needed and the back of your head to fill in basically your entire head and then you could just have a shaved buzz cut for the rest of your life? I would not mind having to shave my head for the rest of my life for a fact as long as I know stubble would be up there!

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I have discussed body hair transplants before (see posts about BHT). I would want to know why you felt that body hair was better than scalp hair. The growth success reflects the growth cycle and the sleep cycle of body and leg hairs such that far less than 90% growth occurs at any one time. Plus, the character of the two hairs (scalp and body) are quite different. And then, you’re saying you could make decisions about hair styling for the rest of your life. These are things you really need to consider.

Make an appointment with a competent and knowledgeable doctor if you are serious.

November 3, 2008

Transplanting Leg Hair to the Chest? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,

I’m 42 y/o male.I have heard about harvesting body hair for the scalp, but what about harvesting body hair for the body? It seems to make sense as it is the same type of hair (I.e,. leg or back hair for the chest) but many websites say that bodyhair transplants come from the scalp and that the hair must be trimmed a few times a months. Is there a reason that they do not use body hair. I looked and could not find anything about this on your bog. Thanks

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You can move your own hair from one place to another on your body. Yes, from your leg to your chest should work as well as from your leg to the scalp or the scalp to your leg. The leg hair is shorter and there is a 50% telogen phase for all hair follicles, which in the leg ranges from 3-6 months. If the anagen phase is comparable, it would mean that you get to show only about 50% of what you got at any one time, but I am skeptical of any numbers I see, so just remember that hairs on the leg are short and short lived (growth, that is).