Category: Other

The following is a note sent from a patient of mine who reads BaldingBlog from time to time.

I hope things are well with you! I happened to see the following article today, that was linked up on the Drudge Report, and I thought perhaps you might want to share it with your “Baldingblog.com” readers:

“The average British woman spends an astonishing £36,903.75 on her hair in a lifetime, according to new research. She will spend the equivalent of just under two YEARS of her life washing, styling, cutting, colouring, crimping and straightening her locks in salons or at home.”

Wow, that’s over $70,000 US! I wonder what the statistics are for men (hair transplants excluded). I also wonder how this may differ from the average US woman. Any thoughts by my readers?

• Women spend two-and-a-half years on their hair

Progress is coming from many places. Here is another update by another group working on the balding problem.

• http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/news/ng.asp?n=70243-baldness-hair-loss-treatment

I have had some surgery (face lift and hair transplants) and my face gets swollen from time to time. When it was swollen last, I went to my plastic surgeon who said that he did not see any swelling, but I know it is swollen because my hat is too tight when the swelling is there. Can you help me?

I suspect that you may be seeing a very subtle type of swelling. This is a condition more often seen in the legs or arms, called lymphedema. If it is very subtle and does not produce symptoms, leave it alone. If it is in the legs, then compression stockings may help. For leg swelling, you must worry about heart disease and dependent edema from right sided heart failure. This is not the case with lymphedema of the face or scalp.

Massage works and it feels good. Compression at night with a compression bandage will reduce the scalp component of it. Lymphedema can be a result of surgical or cancer therapy, and irradiation. It can also reflect tumors and metastases of tumors. I have seen patients present with lymphedema of the face and scalp as the first sign of tumors that invade the lymphatics of the neck, where head and neck tumors tend to migrate or even in Hodgkin’s disease (which are a type of lymphoma/cancer). If there are no cancers in consideration (you are not a smoker and have never been one, do not chew tobacco and never done that, have any other symptoms around the face, nose or neck, and no swelling in the nect and it is not bothering you) you might just wait it out. I am slightly concerned because you said you had a face lift and that would imply that you may be over 50, when these types of cancers are more common. Certainly, get yourself cleared by a good doctor because cancers of the head, neck and problems in the lymphatics of the abdomen sometimes present the way you are telling this to me.

I shave my head because I’m going bald. I want to get a consultation but I should probably let my hair grow out a little so you can do the miniaturization map right? How long should I go without shaving my head? 2-3 weeks?

A couple of weeks of growth will work. I like to have about 1/4 inch of hair length to make the measurements.

I found a great hair restoration Doctor, who has been in the business for over fourty years! I was just wondering if I should get a second or third opinion from other doctors in the area, or is it not needed since I really like this surgeon?

If you found a good doctor and:

1. like him/her
2. researched his/her patient results
3. researched his/her techniques
4. he/she uses follicular unit transplantation

…then stick with that doctor.

i have a lot dandruff,and it’s so bad that i itch so much and some times it bleeds and have clogs on certain areas of head…and..secondly…sems like right side of my head has less hair than left…and losing hair too.

It sounds like you scratch it a lot. If that is that case, of course it will eventually bleed. Stop scratching it and use a good dandruff shampoo. If you are concerned about less hair on one side than the other, see a good dermatologist. It sounds to me that you are pulling hair from the scratching and if you keep doing that, you will eventually make the thinning you are seeing, permanent hair loss.

Hello, Dr. Rassman…

Thank you fot the informative blog! I know you keep referring to “getting your hair mapped for miniaturization”. What is involved in this? Is it like a scalp biopsy? Also…what is the typical cost for this procedure? I am male, 37 years old, and i am noticing a lot of hairs in the drain, and a some recession in the temples. I plan on being in L.A. in September, can I come to your office to get “mapped”? Thanks.

I will be happy to see you in September — just call or email to setup an appointment. Mapping of the scalp does not require any surgery and is nothing like a biopsy. What we do is take photographs of the hair at the hair level, then count those hairs in the field of view that are miniaturized, compared to those that are normal. Each part of the head can be mapped accordingly. Miniaturization mapping is free, and is part of the consultation process.

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