Category: Photos

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Hair Loss InformationHair Transplant Results Just Days After Surgery (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I wanted to show some very early after from two patients that came in today. Both patients have given me permission to post their photos, and I appreciate them allowing me to do so. From time to time I post photos of patients just days or weeks after surgery, and I hope these types of posts help to answer one of the more popular questions I receive almost daily — “What will my head look like right after surgery?! I need to get back to work and I don’t want anyone to know!”

Patient 1 — 1 day after surgery:
This young man had around 1500 grafts placed in the crown and around 600 grafts in the front just 1 day ago. His skin is white and hair is blonde. There is almost no swelling and no sign of the surgery other than a faint pink hue which should go away for him in a day or two.

Here are two photos of his hairline. Click the photos to enlarge.

 

Patient 2 — 10 days after surgery:

This patient had frontal work to drop the corners of his hairline. Just 10 days out after 1040 grafts and you can barely see anything. Note that I had to hold his hair back on the left corner just to show the transplanted area. His hair naturally falls over that area, and as such, it provided him a perfect cover during the first day or two when his skin was pink in the transplanted area.

Click the photos to enlarge.

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Patient Kept Hairline with Propecia, but Density is Poor (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

The photos below are of a 24 year old man who started taking Propecia (finasteride) at the age of 18. At 21, he switched to Avodart (dutasteride), but on seeing no improvement or reversal of his hair loss he switched back to Propecia, which he has maintained through today. His donor density is 25% less than the average Caucasian, which obviously means that his supply of donor hair is limited. Plus, he has black hair and very white skin and he is miniaturized to 90%.

 

I suspect that the hair he has is only there due to the Propecia routine he has followed strictly over the past 6 years. Starting hair transplants at this time would be the wrong thing to do, as it most certainly will accelerate the remaining hair loss. With thickening products and the use of Toppik, he does not look balding and I suggested that he continue that approach until it fails to work. Only then can the transplant option be used, but he will have to give up any thought of crown hair and accept only a frontal hair transplant.

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Hair Loss InformationDr Rassman on The Great American Dream Vote – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr Rassman on The Great American Dream VoteI received quite a few emails today from readers of Balding Blog that saw me on the new Great American Dream Vote television show last night on ABC. Thanks for writing in to let me know you saw the program. I was only on there for a few moments as part of the prize package for the dream winner named Russ, but it was a fun experience. Russ is a very nice 22 year old college student with significant hair loss — Norwood Class 6/7 balding pattern (Class 7 is the worst with only a 3 inch rim of normal hair around the side and back of the head and Russ is already close to that pattern).

The basic idea of the show is that a number of everyday folks are selected to go up on stage to tell the audience what their dream is (from opening a flower shop to opening a dog rescue shelter to having a full head of hair) — and eventually the contestants are narrowed down to only 2. Those 2 contestants are then voted for by the home audience by a toll-free phone number, and the person with the highest amounts of votes gets their wish. Young Russ was chosen! He will receive hair transplant surgery at the New Hair Institute, as well as a bevy of other prizes (of which I have nothing to do with)! He’s been quite overwhelmed by all the attention he’s received and has headed back home to get back to his schooling. He’ll be back out to my Los Angeles office very soon to have his procedure performed, and I’ll be sure to post photos of his results as the updates are sent to my office. In the meantime, here are some photos I took at his consultation that really show off how much work he needs. Click the photos to enlarge.

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Trying to Keep Looking Full – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am working harder and harder to keep my hair looking fuller and it is progressively getting more difficult. Been on Propecia since it first came out and in the past year or so, I spend more and more time in the morning trying to maintain my look. God forbid, the styling gel does not hold it! Should I switch to Avodart? If it is safe enough for prostate disease, why Avodart be safe for me, age 31?

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Avodart is safe and approved for prostate problems which only occur in men over 50, most often over 60. If there were a Vioxx type of problem to come about after taking this medication for 20 years in a 70 year old man, I doubt that we would ever see it. In someone your age, I can’t say that. There are trials underway for treating hair loss, however.

Thank you for coming into the office after sending your email. Examining you (see pictures below) showed the following:

  1. You still have your childhood hairline.
  2. You do not look bald or thin from any angle.
  3. When we separate your hair, is is clear that you work hard to keep this full look.
  4. There is 50% miniaturization.
  5. With styling in a dark hair, light skin person, 50% is almost as good as 100% density with any reasonable styling. Your hair is medium-fine thickness and has a slight wave to it. Many men would be happy to be where you are now and with 50% miniaturization I would not consider you a transplant candidate. Drugs (DHT blockers) like finasteride (Propecia) or dutasteride (Avodart) are the best way to maintain where you are.

The photo on the left is this man’s hairline from the front. The photo on the right shows the miniaturization in his parted hair. Click the photos to enlarge.

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Surgical Camouflage of Pluggy Hair Transplants (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This patient had 1414 grafts almost 12 years ago to camouflage the obvious grafts in his frontal hairline and in the process, bring down his hairline into its normal position. His old transplants were placed too high and looked too pluggy. This is a nice result and a good demonstration of the value of camouflage when used properly. The photo on the left is before I performed any transplants on him (note the plugs there on the close-up), and the photo on the right is over a decade later. The key to the camouflage was to create a feathering zone of one hair grafts irregularly placed and spaced apart in front of the plugs, then with two hair grafts placed closer together, the transition to the old plugs was so gentle that the plugs were hidden from view. The patient was thrilled with the results.

When we wrote the original articles on repairs for the medical journals, it was taken from experiences like this man had. Today, we can harvest hair from the big plugs (not shown in these photos) as well as use camouflage as we did here. When this repair was done in 1995, the unfortunate standard of care at the time was still the ‘plugs’ that produced the corn row deformities. Surgeons were trying to repair the rough work by putting even more large grafts in between the larger grafts, which only compounded the problem. Fortunately today, few of these pluggy procedures are done and much of what we published has become today’s standard of care for repairs. To see the original work we did on the subject and the publications, look at: NewHair.com – Repair (search).

Click the photos to enlarge.

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Hair Loss Information10 Days After Hair Transplant (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This patient had 1461 grafts just 10 days before these photos were taken. There is only a small beard and no real problem hiding that he had hair transplants as I comb my hair foward. In this way there is a canopy covering the frontal hairline. As with any surgical procedure, there is some visible redness (the degree of which varies per person), but this will subside more in the coming days. So many men expect that the post-operative patient will show deforming holes in the head. Note that there are no wounds evident, just a beard.

Click the photos to enlarge.

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Typical Donor Wound Scar (with Photo) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Can you show me a typical donor wound scar?

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Here’s a photo of a typical donor wound scar after a single surgery in a person who heals normally. The scar measures 1mm (in the ruler, each line is 1/2mm). He came in for a second surgery this week and I am hoping that the scar from this week’s procedure will turn out as well today as it did before. The risk of significant scarring (greater than 3mm) is 5% for the first surgery, 10% for the second surgery, and higher still for a third surgery. Usually the combed hair in the back will cover most scars.

I apologize that the photo isn’t perfectly focused, but the scar still shows well here. Click to enlarge.

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The “Baby” Hairs – 5 Months After Hair Transplant (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Take a look at the very early growth in the first photo below, which reflects the first wave of growth following a hair transplant procedure of 2730 grafts. The new short hairs are easily covered by the hair from behind. When combed forward, the new hair blends with the old hair nicely. I’ve also included the before photo and a photo from 2 weeks after his procedure, just to be complete and so that you can get the full scope of what was done. Some of the short newly transplanted hairs have already fallen out and others that appear to be pointing the wrong way are actually about to fall out. Click the photos to enlarge.

5 months after procedure:

 

2 weeks after procedure:

 

Before procedure:

 

For an example of a past patient with similar results (but further along), please see radio host Steve Hartman‘s results. I’ve posted 3 photos of Steve below — the first photo is before the procedure, the middle photo is at the 5 month mark after his procedure, and the photo on the right is at around 14 months post procedure. I apologize that the angles are slightly different, but they illustrate the point that the above patient still is in the early stage and has a lot to look forward to. Click the photos to enlarge.