Category: Uncategorized

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I keep touching my new grafts

It has been 5-6 weeks now since my hair transplant, no shedding so far. Also started taking fin 1 week after the HT. I can not stop touching my scalp and the new hair. I hope it does not ruin the transplant in some way but I am just super happy. Also since the HT I have a lot dandruff is this normal?

What you are calling dandruff, could be scales from the hair transplant. Touching or scratching your recipient site grafts increases the risk of folliculitis. If you feel you must touch it, wash your hands and touch it with the palm of your hand.

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I Need Minoxidil Without Propylene Glycol

Doctor,
Took Dr. Lees 5% non PG formula for years. After FDA shutdown switched to Minoxidilmax non PG form. After ran out of that tried Rogaine Foam and had a terrible shed in within 10 days. I know you don’t see much shedding in your practice, but why would I have such a dramatic shed switching from one 5% formula to another? Could it be the other formulas weren’t the real formulas? People swore by Dr. Lee so its possible Minoxidilmax wasn’t the proper formula. i just can’t handle PG. Even the women’s 2% form have PG.

I’ve read doctors who say stay the course during a shed, but if minoxidil is causing dramatic frontal shedding and the general wisdom is it doesn’t regrow hair in front, Seems like a losing prop to keep going. Would it shed hair that it doesn’t regrow?

Have to try something soon before I’m off minox too long.. Already on Propecia..

Thanks..

I would not know what is going on with your hair loss. It could be a problem with the formula, or maybe there’s another ingredient in there that you’re having an allergic reaction to, or it could be that the Dr. Lee product you used was stronger than 5%. Without an examination and follow up it is just a guessing game.

Typically it is my understanding Rogaine Foam is better absorbed than other formulations and does not contain the propylene glycol, so to have an opposite reaction is strange.

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I saw a guy with a great hair transplant and he asked: “Why doesn’t everyone get a hair transplant?”

Before one gets a hair transplant you have to:

1-be balding

2- be over the age of 26 so that your hair loss pattern is defined

3- be prepared financially for more hair loss and more hair transplants

4- failed on conservative treatments like minoxidil and/or finasteride

5- My saying is: A good decision today is a good decision tomorrow’ that tells you that you should think more than once about doing hair transplants and make sure this is the right solution for you.

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I Stopped Parting My Hair and Realized I Had a Bald Spot at My Hairline

Hello Docs,

I’m a female, 18, and a few years back I’ve been parting my hair at my right. Recently, I’ve been combing my hair back with no parting and I realized I have a bald spot in the front of my head. Is there anyway my hair can grow back in that area? I would love any information you can give.

The photo you sent was blurry and honestly, without examining you, I can not tell what the spot is about. It could reflect a disease called alopecia areata, or it could just be the way your hairline is, or perhaps you had an injury earlier in your life (or a variety of other possibilities). There is no substitute for a good examination, and that should be your next step if you’re concerned.


2012-11-05 19:58:18I Stopped Parting My Hair and Realized I Had a Bald Spot at My Hairline

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I Take Aspirin Therapy and Plavix — Can I Get a Hair Transplant?

I am a previous patient of yours. Since my procedure several years ago I suffered a heart attack. As a result, I am on aspirin therapy (325 mg/day) and Plavix (75 mg/day), indefinitely. Does this preclude me from ever having another transplant?

I would like to have a conversation with your doctor prior to going forward and then meeting with you as well. Please send me your doctor’s name and phone number.

I have transplanted people on both of these medications. The bleeding time will be longer, but the bleeding that is prolongs will not be life threatening and the clotting mechanism that is made to stop you from bleeding will stop the bleeding (it just might take longer). Fortunately, all of the bleeding areas from a strip harvesting technique of hair transplantation will be seen at the time of the surgery and the surgeon can use basic techniques to address these bleeding areas safely.

For your general information, aspirin and Plavix medications prolong bleeding times, making it more difficult for a clot to occur in the short term. Heart attacks and strokes often come about when a clot forms inside a blood vessel that has considerable plaque build-up. The point of taking these medication is to slow down the clotting mechanism for heart attacks and strokes in these areas of plaque so that the heart attack and stroke does not develop. But the clotting process is a necessary part of daily life and is not disabled. We constantly have small bleeding episodes when we ‘grunt’ or stress during a bowel movement (for example). Many people will note that they develop small clots on the legs or if they bump themselves, they depend upon the clotting mechanism to prevent any excessive bleeding. So, in effect, the clotting mechanism still works and in a safely controlled surgery like a hair transplant in the hands of a skilled surgeon, bleeding should not be a problem.


2006-06-19 08:38:47I Take Aspirin Therapy and Plavix — Can I Get a Hair Transplant?

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I Think That I Have Dupa!

I was really worried about it, so went to quite a famous derm, who told me I had no miniaturization(using the proper equipment, I assume, not just by eye like another derm did). Cut to now, my scalp is beginning to show even more, and the itching continues.

Should I hop on fin + min? I wanted to get a dermaroller, and have no problem with proscar, but was hoping to delay it, maybe try coco butter or rosemary oil to slow down the shedding.As I said, I have no problem with the big three, but am afraid it would only rush the fall process without any recovery, seeing the unusual pattern.

I first defined the term DUPA and it is very rare. For reasons that confuse me, many men make that diagnosis based upon fear, no facts. To make the diagnosis you need a hand microscope to measure the miniaturization in the ‘donor area’ hair which must be significantly over 20% miniaturization to be DUPA (Diffuse Unpatterned Alpecia). Since it is rare and you probably don’t have it, you need an expert like me to tell you what is going on. Did your expert dermatologist look at your hair with a hand microscope on your head? Most doctors rarely do this so that they can’t make the DUPA diagnosis. That is good news for you, as if you don’t have DUPA, then there are many things that you can do and you have options.


2019-09-12 12:32:03I Think That I Have Dupa!

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I visited a doctor and he wanted to do 3500 grafts to fix this problem. I am 55 and female.

Doing a hair transplant to treat diffuse thinning in a female of your age is malpractice in my opinion. The single best treatment for you is the appearance of fullness which can easily be accomplished with Scalp Micropigmentation (see: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/smp-for-women with many examples of women like you)


2019-05-19 10:32:17I visited a doctor and he wanted to do 3500 grafts to fix this problem. I am 55 and female.

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I want to do SMP on my own head

Sounds like a bad idea obviously but consider that someone has

  • long hair

  • black hair

  • dense hair but in the beginnings of diffuse

  • taken fin and is maintaining on fin

There is no drawing, just black hair

It is a difficult process because the depth control is critical to be not much more than 1/2mm. If you don’t get it right, it turns into a painted head. To do an entire head, it often takes us 20 hours of detailed work with two people working on your head. Do you really think that you can do this yourself? Look at our website: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/


2020-11-04 09:58:24I want to do SMP on my own head

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I Want to Stop Rogaine After Using it for 15 Years

Doctor,

Taking propecia for a few months, but have also been taking Rogaine for 15 years. However the last 10 years I’ve only been applying it once a day. Would like to use propecia alone. How minoxidil dependent if at all do you think my hair is with just once a day application for so many years. Should I expect shedding if I discontinue?

Thanks

I have no way to tell what you should expect, as everybody is different. The other day a young man (32 years old) came to see me who started Rogaine 10 years earlier and just stopped it 9 months ago, losing most of the benefit with overt balding showing. He went back on it 3 months later and got no benefit from it. There’s just one example.

If you want to stop Rogaine do it slowly over the course of several months. You already apply it once a day (rather than the recommended twice a day regimen). Over the course of several months, maybe try every other day? Also it is worth noting that Propecia won’t retain the benefits you had from Rogaine, and vice versa.

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I Was Diagnosed with Mild Alopecia Areata After I Was Prescribed Propecia, Follow-Up

This is a follow up to “I Was Diagnosed with Mild Alopecia Areata After I Was Prescribed Propecia” The dr never did the biopsy because he said there was strong evidence that I had alopecia areata due to small patches on my face and amount of grey hair present. He wanted to try the simple stuff and since my hair has yet to start falling out again didn\’t feel the need to do one. However I have yet to see regrowth in two months of being told to stop using the topical. It was Fluocinonide .05%

The hair loss from alopecia areata may take months or years to reverse — or it may not reverse at all. You need to have good communication with your doctor on this issue. The diagnosis does not require a biopsy, as a good doctor knows what to look for in most situations. Patience is a virtue in waiting out the course of this disease. Topical steroids have value when used by a knowledgeable doctor and some may use fluocinonide (a prescription item) as one of these steroids. See Wikipedia for more on fluocinonide.