Category: Uncategorized

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Hair Not Growing Back After Chemotherapy

Dr. Rassman,
I am a woman who finished an intense bout of chemotherapy and radiation about a year and a half ago. Since then most of my hair has grown back on the sides and back of the head. The center top and crown is still very bald. My dermatologist says it is a typical female balding pattern. Can you give me feedback on this subject? Is it possible I could be a candidate for hair transplants? Thank you.

Your dermatologist sounds correct. Some women develop patterned loss, which is less common than unpatterned loss. Hair transplants work better in patterned loss, assuming that your donor hair is adequate in quantity and quality. If there is diffuse thinning in the sides and back, you may not have enough supply for a transplant. A good assessment by a competent hair surgeon will give you insights into your supply for quality hair transplants.


2005-10-24 15:53:55Hair Not Growing Back After Chemotherapy

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Turkey FUE Surgery is a Real Mass Production Line Operation

There are clear risks here, one technician moves to another patient because the team needs help, instruments are crossed between patients, there is clearly not surgeons for each of these patients. All of this can cause life threatening infections transferred from one patient to another. There is a real question of quality control, who does it. Are all technicians equal (some report that the technicians are hired and join the surgical teams that same week).

This would be outlawed in the US or most major Western countries.

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Hair Regrowth vs Thickening

hello, I’m a little confused about what hair regrowth is and what hair thickening is. is regrowth when hair grows where it isn’t or is it when a small hair thickens?

Regrowth is when hair grows where it once was. It’s all a matter of semantics. One can thicken the appearance of a head of hair by increasing the number of hairs in the head (regrowing new hair), moving the hair around (transplant), using camouflage (pigments), or increasing the thickness of existing hair (products). This is done by:

  1. Reducing the degree of miniaturization with drugs like Propecia (finasteride) so that each miniaturized hair will become less fine and more coarse (closer to your normal hair in the donor area).
  2. Increasing the thickness of the individual hair shafts with thickening agents that are applied to the hair which cause them to take on more water, or coat the hairs with some product that makes them appear thicker (this is done by applying a product to the hair that will usually wash off when shampooed).
  3. Increasing the thickness of an area can be done through hair transplantation. This is a relatively permanent solution until you lose more hair (it’s progressive).
  4. By playing with color, someone can bring their hair color closer to their scalp color with chemical dyes or the use of scalp micropigmentation (a medical tattoo). The use of agents such as Toppik (adds fibers to the hair and scalp) or DermMatch (a crayon type application to bring color to the scalp.

So you see, there are many ways to get a fuller look that may not be the results of a full head of hair, but if it fools the eye, then many people will be satisfied using these approaches.

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Two Previous Hair Transplants and Wants to Understand His Remaining Donor Supply

I am in my 40s and have had FUT twice, both times with very high yield and good cosmetic results. I have had a bit over 3,000 total grafts total. My FUT scar in the back of my head also came out well. The scar itself is thin and is pretty hard to detect, even if I cut my hair short. Sometimes I think about having a third FUT. I have a decent amount of donor hair left. How risky is it for me to have a 3rd FUT surgery if the first two went well? Am I risking ruining my good results to date? What are the chances I could get a good FUT scar on the third surgery if the first two went well? Does my chance of a bad FUT scar increase with each subsequent procedure? Should I quit while I am ahead or push for another procedure if I want more hair on top? Thanks for your help, and many thanks for baldingblog. It is very well done and helpful.

3,000 grafts is most likely less than half of your donor supply, assuming that you are a typical Caucasian. I had three strip surgeries myself and have no scar as you don’t with two surgeries. The general rule of thumb for normal healers (not good ones like me) is that the scar risks increase with additional procedures. Considering your history, you might discuss other options with your surgeon such as another strip surgery with a trichophytic closure to minimize the scar. Alternatively, you can have the harvest done with FUE (Follicular Unit Excision) and not worry about a linear scar. The FUE is becoming more and more popular in the past few year and now reflects more than half of all hair transplant harvesting technologies done worldwide.


2018-06-22 05:43:29Two Previous Hair Transplants and Wants to Understand His Remaining Donor Supply

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Hair Thinning in a Young College Student

I’m 23 years old, male. I was concerned about my thinning hair and my forehead is also very high. I was wondering if my forehead could be lowered along with hair transplant in one session and also a general estimate of what it might cost. Could the surgery be financed?

Another concern that I have is whether my transplant area and donor area would be red and swollen for various number of days. How many days are we talking about here? Since I am a college student I am concerned if people will be able to tell I had a hair transplant surgery after I come home from the procedure. Will the transplanted hair and the hair from donor area shed very badly and leave me looking like I have thinner hair than I used to and how much pain should I expect?

Thanks for addressing my concerns.

Thinning hair in a 23 year old man is usually caused by genetic balding. You should see a good doctor to have your hair mapped for miniaturization and have your hair bulk analyzed to be sure that you have genetic balding. If this is the case, then the use of medications like Propecia will be critical to stopping or slowing the balding process from progressing.

The redness after a surgery depends on two factors — the color of your skin (white skin is more likely to turn red), and the general way your body reacts to a wound (scratch your forehead with your fingernail and then wait 5 minutes to see if it turns red). If and when you become a candidate for a hair transplant by presenting with a clear balding pattern, then you can at the time of the transplant, lower your hairline. Costs vary depending upon what has to be done. Financing is available.

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Uneven recession with Folliculitis Decalvans

So I’ve been losing hair only only my left side of the hair line. And its gone pretty far back compared to the right. No sign of stopping. But one thing I learned was my scalp would hurt when I moved my hair and thats where I was losing hair. So where every it hurt, when I moved my hair, thats where it was thinning and I was losing hair. So why is that? and why am I still losing it.
Genetic balding is asymmetrical and it will eventually even up in time. If you dermatologist says it is folliculitis Decalvans, it requires your dermatologist attention. Never do a hair transplant with this condition.


2020-11-04 10:01:55Uneven recession with Folliculitis Decalvans

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Hair Transplant Doctor Credentials?

Good Morning Doctor,

My husband is consider hair restoration surgery. We are looking for a qualified surgeon. Are there training programs for hair restoration surgery I SHOULD be asking our doctor if he or she attended? It seems like a lot of dermatologists are doing this surgery, but I don’t see a training program or fellowship in hair restoration in their title or advertisements. Is this something the doctor learns on his/her own? What should I look for to be sure I’m getting a good doctor?

Thanks.

I’ve written about this many times. The first link below is probably the most comprehensive of the articles I wrote on the subject, but the others should also prove helpful:

Many doctors do learn this on their own and some of those doctors learned it well, while others never learn it. I’ve discussed how to select a doctor and what to look out for in the following posts:

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Use of Avodart when planning a pregnancy

Will the use of avodart can damage the making of a child? Can it cause misdevelopment if the semen has traces of dutasteride? I have not found anything on this subject online, except women should not use it themselfs.

Best not to be on the drug when you are trying to get your wife pregnant


2021-02-13 12:19:42Use of Avodart when planning a pregnancy

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Pain with a Hair Transplant

I don’t like pain so I have stayed away from hair transplants. If I take the plunge, how much will it really hurt?

Pain is relative. When I discuss pain, I always discuss safety at the same time, for it is not worth putting someone’s health at risk to wipe out pain. Some people handle pain better than others so there are no absolute rules here. Most people tell me that it is like having your dentist making an injection in your gums, but the pain comes in two flavors:

  1. The pain from the administration of the anesthesia itself (like what the dentist does to numb your gums and nerves)
  2. The post operative pain. There is no pain once the local anesthesia takes effect, most patients either fall asleep or just relax and watch a movie during the procedure.

If the hair transplant is performed completely under local anesthesia, the risks to your health are almost non-existent. You almost never hear of a person dying from filling a cavity in a dental office, but many die crossing the street. Laughing gas, prior to the local injections of Xylocaine, helps with reducing the pain from the injections but doesn’t eliminate it. In some cases, the doctor will administer stronger medications that will block even more pain and will allow the patient to more fully relax. The risks to health of being “put out” completely are slightly higher than putting up with subdued pain with laughing gas. The choice is made between you and the doctor. I have found varying reactions to the injection pain, from “no big deal” to the other extreme. The pain from the injection rarely lasts more than a minute. During the surgery we make sure that you are kept pain free, and the medications given last for about a four hour period after you leave the office.

If there is pain following the transplant, it occurs the first night. To deal with that pain, we do give you medications to take with you that will block the pain. These medications are strong and I recommend that they be used for night use only. A sleeping aid is also given for you to use. The use of simple over-the-counter pain medications will work during the daytime. Rarely are there many complaints of pain after the first night.

Getting hair is far less painful than the emotional pain of going bald- at least, that is what my patients tell me. I feel that pain is a non-issue since we have effective ways to deal with it, most of them pleasantly.

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Using Donor Hair from Family or Friends?

Hi,

Great site. I am a long time reader, first time poster.

My question is this: Is it possible to use donor hair from a friend/family member with the same style hair your have if there not enough donor hair on a subject?

Hair could be donated from other people just like organ donation, but without drugs to suppress the immune response, it will be rejected. Patients who are receiving an organ transplant need to be matched before the surgery for antigen compatibility and stay on anti-rejection medication for the rest of their lives. If you have an identical twin, it will work because the hair has the same genetic code as you would have.

Here’s a clip from our NHI video about identical twins and hair transplantation:




2007-05-11 13:27:30Using Donor Hair from Family or Friends?