Sun exposure directly on the grafts after any hair transplant is never a good idea. UV light negatively impacts healing and can burn the skin edge of the grafts. People often forget that these grafts, which are taken from the back of the head, have never been exposed to the sun for your entire life. You should wear a hat, and even after it has healed, you should use UV protection.
2018-05-17 06:43:422018-05-17 08:05:49Can I Go Directly to the Beach After a Hair Transplant?
I recently went through about 4-5 months of hair loss. I stopped taking Lexapro and it stopped falling out completely within 6 weeks or so. Do you believe this hair loss is permanent? Do you have any advice on what to use to promote hair growth? I hope this medication did not actually damage the follicles and I will have spots forever. I am worried. Thank you for responding.
45 year old women very nervous.
In medicine, as in life, things are not so clear cut. I cannot say for sure if your hair loss was due to a medication such as Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate), but there are reports of hair loss with this medication. In fact, I’ve written about it in the past. So if it is the Lexapro, I would expect that this loss is temporary and you’ll need to wait with great patience for regrowth to occur. There may be other factors involved, though. This is something you need to explore with your physician and have a medical work up and a good history of events.
Hello doctors,
I’m a black male with very early stage thinning in a 3v pattern. I’ve been on finasteride for about two years, and am basically satisfied with the results.
I’ve talked to friends and family who might have similar patterns of thinning, and in discussing the options, several of them are skeptical about the effect transplants would have.
My question is this: what is the authoritative opinion on how well transplanting can cover up balding (specifically, can It be made to look like I have virtually no thinning?)
Your question isn’t really fair. You are asking a hair transplant surgeon who thinks about hair transplant surgery as a matter of livelihood. It’s like asking a chef if you should eat their food.
My point is you should be asking these questions to the patients who had hair transplants. You should meet them face-to-face to judge what the value has been based upon the change you see. Looking at some before and after photos has some minimum value, but face-to-face meetings like we have at our monthly Open House events in San Jose and Los Angeles give you the opportunity to see for yourself!
Hair transplants all depend on the supply of donor hair and the size of the balding area. Setting patient expectations is critical to what we do. You will never look like when you were 16 years old with regard to hair fullness. Maybe you can come close, but that depends on the number of grafts, hair color, hair texture, hair style, and skin color. For example, curly black hair on dark skin gives great coverage and fullness over thin straight black hair on while skin.
2010-08-04 15:00:292010-08-03 10:39:04Can Hair Transplants Completely Cover Up Balding?
Hello Dr. Rassman,
I had a couple of HT procedures in the late 90’s that placed several hundred “micrografts” and “minigrafts” into my hairline. While the result is not as bad as some of the super-pluggy transplants I’ve seen, I now know that an FUE procedure could produce much better results. The issue is that the surgeon placed my hairline too low – it was lower than my juvenile hairline, but still along the forehead muscle. Due to this, I have no room to have a “transition zone” transplanted in front of it.
Would it be possible to have my hairline taken back a centimeter or so over a few sessions by individual graft excision and then have some refinement with FUE? I have spoken to one doctor who wants to bring my hairline down further, but I am completely opposed to this (I would like it to be a little higher at the end of any repairs).
Without examining you, I wouldn’t be able to define your options (particularly based on your unique case, which might be very difficult to correct). Generally, a brow lift may essentially bring the hairline up to a level that can be worked with, but it’s really not a sure thing. There will always be some risk of scarring when you take out old grafts in the front, but with a brow lift and a surgery to bring up the hairline you might be able to have follicular unit extraction (FUE) to thin it out some. People have entertained using laser hair removal which may expose the micrograft scarring (I personally have not seen a successful one yet) and even with FUE there are issues of scarring and a risk of an unnatural appearance.
You need to find a surgeon that will work with you, and assess the risks and benefits. You have limited options, but you need an expert to analyze your problem.
I read a few articles online and found out you cannot donate blood due to taking fin. This really upsets me because have a rare blood type and I feel great when donating my blood. Unfortunately, I’m going to choose my hair over donation
You can’t donate blood while you are on finasteride because if a pregnant woman got it, it would impact her baby.
Hello there,
I’m a 34 male. I’m a non-smoker, very moderate drinker, healthy in every respect. I have lost almost all hair on both of my calf muscles. I’m not excessively hairy, but I do have a full head of hair. This hair loss is the cause of some embarrassment. Now, interestingly my father (62) has the same condition, though a lot more advanced. His legs are totally almost bald! My younger brother (32) has no signs of such loss. But like my father he has experience a good deal of head hair loss. I’m puzzled. And help that you might be able to offer me, would be enormously appreciated.
Many Thanks.
It seems like you have inherited the same gene from your father. The process of apoptosis (cell death) is genetically programmed in hair follicles. See Wikipedia for more on this.
2008-05-13 08:35:362008-05-12 10:22:20My Leg Hair Just Disappeared — My Father Has the Same Condition
Question, is it advisable to use hair systems when i have plans to have transplants in the future? will the scalp be damaged? Thank you.
Are you aware that hair systems cause significant hair loss from the glues and attachment clips? This will make the balding worse and increase the size of the hair transplant you may need if there is hair in the area of the hair system.
2021-09-17 01:00:262021-03-03 08:01:42Can I go from a hair system to a hair transplant?
My diffuse unpatterned hair loss (or senile alopecia, I’m 59) has continued to get worse despite 2 years straight of finasteride. In your experience, have you seen a reason for people to continue finasteride after 2 years, if their hair loss simply continues to progress?
Finasteride 1mg (Propecia) is for the treatment of androgenic alopecia, not senile alopecia or diffuse unpatterned alopecia. I realize they may co-exist, and some doctors and patients may make the decision the try taking the medication to see if it would help. If you are not seeing any results, speak with your doctor and decide on the course of action.
In my experience, I do not prescribe finasteride for treating diffuse unpatterned hair loss or senile alopecia.
2012-09-20 12:43:552012-09-19 09:55:15My Senile Alopecia Has Continued Despite Taking Finasteride for 2 Years
I am going through a divorce and heard that stress can cause hair loss but it will probably grow back when the stress subsides. Is this true? Is there anything that can be taken to prevent this?
Some people do lose hair all over the scalp due to extreme stress, but there’s no pill to take to treat or prevent this. Stress management is an art and a science. You should contact your family doctor if you believe that your stress is impacting you with hair loss.
2010-05-25 08:44:262010-05-21 10:45:31Can I Prevent Stress Hair Loss?
My 16 month old daughter has had a rather large bald spot since birth. It is about half of the back of her head. If you were to draw a line from the left ear to the right ear, the entire area below it only seems to grow very short, fine hair. Also, there are numerous tiny red spider veins in this area. I have no idea what this could be. Her hair is growing on the top and the sides of her head, although the hair on top is really short. I’ve had lots of people ask if they are bangs that I have cut. She prefers to sleep on her belly and I very rarely see her sleeping on her back. She is otherwise a very healthy vivacious little girl. She has another well visit in 2 months where I will address it with the pediatrician. She never mentioned any concern before, but it’s starting to worry me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Although you have an appointment with her pediatrician in a couple months, I would suggest that you bring her to a dermatologist with an interest in children’s hair loss. There is no urgency here, so take your time and find the best doctor. The American Academy of Dermatology site has a dermatologist search, and I’d start with those physicians that list “pediatric dermatology” as a specialty.
