Category: Uncategorized

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What If I’m Already Taking Anti-Rejection Medication for an Organ Transplant?

Dear Dr Rassman,

You’ve written before that hair transplant from another person or the dead are not possible because it’d mean the recipient needing to take anti-rejection meds and the risk being much greater than the benefit.

But what if a potential hair transplant patient has already had a previous heart/liver/lung etc transplant, and so is already committed to a lifetime of anti-rejection meds, would it then be possible (even if only theoretically) ? If so, has it ever happened, and is it something you yourself would be ethically comfortable with and technically confident of getting a natural looking result with ?

Thankfully, this is not a situation I’m in myself but presumably there must be some small percentage of your patients who this would apply to and it’d be interesting to know. Thanks!

What you are asking is theoretically possible. However, one of the many side effects of anti-rejection medication is hair loss.

In the last 15 to 20 years of my practice, I don’t recall seeing a heart/lung/kidney transplant patient nor have I met someone willing to donate their hair to someone else. I think people may be more willing to donate one of their kidneys than their hair… which says something about how important hair is to most people, eh?!


2010-04-08 10:36:31What If I’m Already Taking Anti-Rejection Medication for an Organ Transplant?

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Homogeneous Genes and Hair Loss

Dr. Rassman,

I understand that hair loss is understood to be a dominant trait. I also understand that men can be homogeneous dominant or heterogeneous. Would it be fair to say that main with homogenous genes are the ones to lose their hair early? say in their 20s and 30s, while men who are only heterogeneous dominant lose their hair later in age? say their 40s and 50s, I was just curious because I figured that maybe men who have a double gene are the ones more likely to have severe hair loss. Or does it not matter either way?

Regards

Hair loss is not a dominant trait. If so, a bald man’s sons will all be bald — which is not the case. What you are describing is a classic Mendelian type of genetic inheritance. The expression of the genetic factors also often skip generations. The hair loss gene(s) is not so simple to categorize and no one really knows how many genes are involved with hair loss.

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What is Hair Bonding?

What is hair bonding? Can it give a natural look?

Any treatment available to people over 60 years of age, with long standing baldness?

You may be taking this term out of context. Glues that are used to attach hair systems (wigs) are said to be bonded to the scalp. These can cause damage to weak hair, leading to further loss. They may look natural, but they also could take a lot of work and money to maintain that natural appearance.

Hair loss treatments that I recommend include transplantation and medication. Your options depend on a variety of factors, but since I have no info about you (aside from age) I couldn’t begin to list what those options might be. But yes, generally there are treatments available even at 60 years old.

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How Can David Beckham’s Hair Look So Great Now?

I was wondering whether it is possible to go from miniaturization such as these pictures of david beckham (click both links): Beckham 1, Beckham 2

To a head of hair such as what he has now in 2010 which is in the link below (click link): Beckham 2010

My question is, beckham actually cant take finasteride as sports wont allow him to take the medication. How is it possible to go from quite severe miniaturization to a good head of hair. Also is not a wig or hair piece as he shaved his head off infront of a live audience. Is it possible to get the results that Beckham has some how and with what.

Thanks

I’ve written about David Beckham before, and I agree that his hair does look great now. A see-through look can have multiple causes:

  1. character — fine hair
  2. length — short hair
  3. presence of miniaturization if the thin look is mostly on the front and top

And if there is actual hair loss, it could’ve been from stress in his life or some other medical issue causing some early acceleration of genetic balding… or this whole thing could’ve been as simple as poor/unflattering lighting. It’s tough to tell how real his loss is based on photos from differing angles and light sources.

Can medication be completely ruled out? Finasteride was at one time banned in most professional sports, but the World Anti-Doping Agency has removed it from their prohibited drug list. I don’t know if that applies to the various soccer/football leagues.


2010-01-12 09:21:13How Can David Beckham’s Hair Look So Great Now?

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What is the cost of a hair system?

What is the cost of buying and maintaining one? And also how does it work, does anyone here have any kind of experience with it?

Good hair systems over a 5 year period will cost you more than a hair transplant. You have to have more than one and they wear out every year or two. You have to wash them often, wash your hair and remove the glues, change them as you have hair cuts, etc. I wrote this back in 2011: https://baldingblog.com/repost-my-hair-system-cost-me-over-16000-in-5-years/


2020-09-15 12:18:15What is the cost of a hair system?

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How Can I Tell if Propecia is Working for My DUPA?

Hello Dr.Rassman i have been taking propecia for 8 months in the hope that it will help my DUPA hair loss, and i was wondering how i can tell if its working? i wear a light woolie hat on most of the time, would the hairs on the hat after each day be a good indication of if its working? because i don’t notice more that 15 or 20 a day.

well thank you for your time doctor

The right answer is a twofold approach:

  1. Follow the photos of your hair from various perspectives with the hair cut to the same length — and do this yearly.
  2. Rely on the science of metrics (measurements), which is best done with mapping out your scalp for miniaturization and then get a number each year on what is happening with the miniaturized hairs.

If your diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) is responding to treatment, the number of miniaturized hairs will be proportionally less.


2008-03-24 15:37:46How Can I Tell if Propecia is Working for My DUPA?

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What is the risk of sexual side effect and/or PFS with the drug dutasteride?

Dutasteride has never gone through the FDA trials in young men who wish to use it for hair loss, so without clinical studies it is all anecdotal. As dutasteride is both a type 1 and type 2 blocker and a more effective DHT blocker on the competitive inhibition side, I would suspect that the sexual side effects as well as the risk of PFS would be equal to or more than finasteride. Just a guess.


2020-09-15 16:05:24What is the risk of sexual side effect and/or PFS with the drug dutasteride?

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How Do I Become A Hair Transplant Surgeon. I Want To Work For You One Day!

I have been following your blog for quite a few years now and it is an excellent source of information on balding.

I am 24 years old (male) and will begin my medical studies in California (or Alberta, Canada if I receive an acceptance there as well). I have been thinning for a while and have been paying attention, perhaps too closely, to hairlines and hair in general to the point that I believe I have a very good eye as to what looks good and natural and what doesn’t.

As such, I am wondering if it would be possible for me to someday work for you in the field of hair transplantation. If that were the case, what kind of residency would you think would be most appropriate for me to pursue?

Thank you for your time.

It is great to hear you are interested in the field of hair transplantation. You can read about Board Certification and what it means in Hair Transplant Surgery here

There is no clear prerequisite training in the field of hair transplantation nor an approved American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) board certification. Most hair transplant doctors receive training from mentors or apprenticeship programs. Of course you should have fundamental medical knowledge, surgical skills, and artistic skills. I cannot say which residency program will best prepare you. Many people think plastic surgeons will be best equipped but it does not mean they will make the best hair transplant surgeons.

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What Percent of Men Keep Frontal Hair After Taking Propecia for Over 5 Years?

I been reading that 90% of men still retain their hair on Propecia even after 5 years on the crown and mid anterior. But i couldn’t find any info about the front. I know it works there too but can it retain the front for 90% of men after 5 years as well? Or is that number a lot less?

From my experience, the same seems to apply (what happens in the mid-anterior head will happen in the frontal area) providing that the Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is strictly adhered to. Without a good controlled study, I can not be sure.

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How do you determine your Donor Density?

If you take a photo of your cut hairs like this with either a hand video microscope (available on Amazon) or a good camera with a zoom in feature, you will see the follicular groups. The average Caucasian density averages 2.1 hairs per Follicular Group so if you count the number of groups and the number of hairs, you can know for certainty what your donor density is. In these pictures, the circles in C and D have higher than normal donor densities as the average number of hair in each Follicular Unit averages significantly above 2.1 hairs per Follicular Unit. That means that the person who has the higher donor density has more hair to transplant and if they want to do FUE, can do certainly more grafts based upon the chart here: https://newhair.com/resources/#tab-id-4