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17 Year Old with Hair Loss

My 17 year old son has premature balding. He already has a very predominant receding hairline. He is very self-conscious of it. My dad and my dad’s half-brother both had hair loss at an early age but I’m not sure that it was as young as my son. We ran some bloodwork to rule out any physical problems and all were negative. Is there anything that we can do to slow down or improve his hair loss? I was told that he is too young for Rogaine but are there any other options?

Sometimes, hair loss occurs in very young people. As a male, he can take the drug Propecia which hopefully will stop the hair loss. First, get him examined by a competent doctor who will quantify the rate of miniaturization in his balding area. This is important, because when he starts on the drug Propecia we will want a starting point to determine if it is working and by how much. I would hold off on Rogaine until a good baseline is in hand and the rate of hair loss is documented. Please see my similar postings on age-related topics here: BaldingBlog – Age.

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I’m Using 3 Hair Treatments and I Want to Wean Off Them

I have been using minoxidil and proscar as well as laser treatment for hair lose for the past 8 months and have had amazing results. I am 21 and don’t want to keep taking all these products for the rest of my life. Is it possible to slowly reduce the use of these products tell i no longer need them or at least be less dependent on them?

Of the three treatment options, you can stop using the laser treatment since it is very unlikely that it has contributed anything to your results. For finasteride, the 1mg dose has been judged scientifically as the ideal overall dose. There is no reason to change it. Since you have seen good results to date, stay on the minoxidil. Some people do develop minoxidil dependence, which means that when you wean off of it, the hair that were dependent on it may very well fall out. A very important take home message here is that once you are on the finasteride, then you are always going to be on it. If it is stopped, you will lose hair in the amount that you would have lost if you were never of the medication. You can’t lower the dosage until it isn’t needed — you will lose hair if you do this.


2008-08-11 11:14:14I’m Using 3 Hair Treatments and I Want to Wean Off Them

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18 Year Old with Hair Loss or Mature Hairline? (With Photos)

Dear Doc,

I’m an 18 year old male and worried that my hairline’s begun to recede. I don’t have any particular family history of balding. Both of my grandfathers had most of their hair, and so does my mother’s brother. Only my father is balding (he is 50 and has lost lots of his hair on the top of his head).

I’ve noticed that when I run my hands through my hair I occasionally lose one or two. Also, when my hair is wet, I tend to lose a few if I run my hand through my hair. I don’t see more than two or three on my pillow when I wake up.

I’ve always had a high hairline with temples higher than the rest of my hairline, but I think its starting to move back slowly.

I also have little red spots near the receding areas of my hairline, almost like acne (I have very little acne on the rest of my face). Looking at my pictures, would you say this is just a mature hairline or the start of the balding process? Also, sorry for the long e-mail, but I’ve tried to list everything I can. I’d appreciate some advice on what I can do, as my hair is still very much part of my identity, and I don’t want to spend the next couple of years worrying and counting hairs.

Many thanks.

While I thank you for permission to post these, I usually require a frontal view with the eyebrows lifted high so that the creases on the forehead show. You supplied two side views with the eyebrows lifted and a poor quality photo that requires me to guess. I’ll take a stab at it anyway. Click the photos to enlarge.

 

It does look like you are developing a mature hairline. There is also a sign of some thinning that goes further back than just the leading edge, suggestive of miniaturization behind a maturing hairline.

You need to get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization, and see if there is thinning behind the leading edge and how far back it goes. This )is suggestive of early male pattern balding at a level where a drug like Propecia (Finasteride) can stop it. I would try to find a doctor who has a HAIRCHECK instrument which will tell you if you are losing hair elsewhere on your heat that you don’t see (https://baldingblog.com/haircheck-test-how-it-is-done-video/. See a doctor who cares about you and what may be early balding. If you have balding, you must know that it is a progressive process and the quicker that you address it by a professional, the better chance is that you will retain hair for all of the important years yet to come.

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Importance of Scalp Laxity, FUT Scar Concern, FUE Drawbacks

Hi Doctor Rassman,

I have a few questions concerning transplants.

— How big of an issue is scalp laxity? I.e., do you often have patients who still possess donor hair, but who are unable to have FUT a 2nd/3rd/4th time because their scalp has become too tight? Should this be a concern in planning for the future?

— You’ve said that one of the drawbacks of FUE is that it can waste precious donor hair (i.e. some hair doesn’t survive the transplant procedure?) — just how much hair might be “wasted” by going with FUE rather than FUT?

— Why are some readers so concerned about FUT scars? In most of the photos I’ve seen, the scar is a very thin hairless line — not a repulsive, gnarled mass or anything like that. Even if one cropped one’s hair short so that the scar were visible, what’s the big deal?

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this blog.

Scalp laxity become tighter after successive procedure, but this is not usual. The use of scalp exercises solves the problem. It sometimes takes 30 minutes/day for 3 months to adequately address the scalp laxity.

In our original article when we introduced the FUE technique a decade ago, we reported a situation where patients differed with transection rates. We believe that if you assume that the surgeon does FUE perfectly, that some percentage of patients will have unacceptably high transection rates. Although this has become less of a problem as we perfected our FUE skills, it is still present in about 10% of patients. It will be interesting to see if the ARTAS robot can impact these problems in those patients. As Dr. Robert Bernstein (co-author on the original FUE article) just got an ARTAS robot, it will be interesting to see if he experiences the 10% patient problems with transection. FUT should produce less than 5% damage in the hands of a good surgeon.

FUT scars are, as you said, not a problem in 95% of patients on the first procedure. Rarely can you see the scar when the hair is kept long. Even after a second procedure the incidence of scarring is not high either, but if it can be seen, it is only seen if the hair is cut very short or if one lifts the hair to examine it. I would ask, even if the scar is visible, how many times would a person with such a scar that is hidden with longer hair (1 inch in length) gets stopped on the street and asked about it.

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I Am 19 Years Old And I Am Balding Like My Norwood 5 Father.

I’m 19 and play college football. My Dad experienced hair loss around my age and was a Norwood V by the time he was 30. His hairloss was gradual and then slowed way down.

I have a lot of stress right now because of playing football and tough academics and I broke up with my gf. It seems this is accelerating some of it. But, I try to calm myself down. What would you recommend me trying to take for now? I will get a transplant or something later after I play college. I just need to get through another 4 years!
Thanks in advance.

As you are finding out hair loss is genetic. In general many men who have the trait of Norwood 5/6/7 patterns will have the pattern show in their 20’s. It does slow down in their 30/40s.

If you want a medical treatment, you need to see a doctor to explore your options such as taking Propecia or Rogaine. It is the only two medication that work. Shampoos, vitamins, and products you may find on the Internet despite the great advertising persuasion, does not work to stop or regrow hair. At best it may be “good” for your hair in terms of keeping the hair’s shine and body.

Other options would be simply shaving! Bald is beautiful (or handsome)… as they say.

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In the News – Alopecia Totalis Sufferer Called Names By Coward on the Street

Snippet from the article:

TV presenter Gail Porter has tweeted her shock after a man accosted her on a London street, calling her “baldy.”

The Scottish personality has alopecia which has left her suffering from severe hair loss and she has spent years campaigning to increase awareness of the condition.

Porter tweeted to describe the incident which she said left her in tears near her London home

Read the rest — Man calls Gail Porter ‘baldy’ in alopecia abuse incident

Most of us in the US are probably not familiar with Ms. Porter, but she is a former pin-up model and currently a television presenter in the UK that has campaigned for alopecia awareness since her hair began falling out after discovering she had alopecia totalis in 2005. I suppose the silver lining of this incident is that it brought her story back into the news, thus hopefully raising further awareness.

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2 Weeks After Using Hair Dye, My Hair Is Falling Out!

I’m a 28 year old female who has always had very long, thick and strong hair. I’ve dyed it for YEARS. Now, suddenly, my hair is falling out and baldness is not found on the woman’s side of my family. After I brush and after I wash I can literally pull out the hair by the handful. It’s scaring me to death. I dyed my hair about 5 weeks ago, and 3 weeks ago is when I began to notice this. Could it be connected? My scalp didn’t feel burned or hurt, so origially didn’t think it could be related to the coloring. However, I at a loss and I’m loosing my cool. Please help! Thanks so much.

It is normal to lose 100 hairs a day. You might consider stopping the hair coloring process to try to surround what is happening. That being said, I am sure you are noticing more hair falling out than what you are used to. It may be a phase or it may be a sign of a medical illness or a genetic balding process. Genetic balding does not necessary mean that your mother or father were balding. Hair loss in women can sometimes be caused by underlying medical conditions, so it is important for you to be evaluated by your own physician before we proceed. If clinically appropriate, the following disease processes should be considered: anemia, thyroid disease, connective tissue disease, gynecological conditions and emotional stress. It is also important to review the use of medications that can cause hair loss, such as oral contraceptives, beta-blockers, Vitamin A, thyroid drugs, coumadin and prednisone. The following laboratory tests are often useful if underlying problems are suspected: Estradiol, FSH, LH, SHBG, Prolactin, T4, TSH, ANA, Iron, TIBC, Ferritin, Free and Total Testosterone. You may benefit from a miniaturization study to examine your hair under a hair densitometer to document the health of your hair.


2006-11-09 08:44:432 Weeks After Using Hair Dye, My Hair Is Falling Out!

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In the News – Busting Counterfeit Drug Rings in the UK

Snippet from the article:

In a sleepy suburban street, police and undercover agents prepare to raid the HQ of a lucrative drugs ring. But this is not a squalid bedsit or dingy warehouse. It is a detached bungalow on a leafy lane in an affluent area. The cops are not after crack or heroin. They are hunting substances that many believe to be potentially even more dangerous – fake prescription medication.

There is big money being made in counterfeit medicines, which are sold mainly on the internet. The market is believed to be worth around £45million a year.

Read the rest at The Sun.

Oh, and finasteride is listed as one of those drugs that they’re hunting. This is just one of the reasons I’ve never recommended ordering prescription medications via the web. I know some people disregard this type of information, so even if you’re adamant about ordering prescription meds online, at least use common sense and be careful.


2009-12-08 10:36:33In the News – Busting Counterfeit Drug Rings in the UK

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20 Year Old Thinning Heavily After Stopping Propecia

Hello Dr Rassman,

I am a 20 year old male and have had some hair thinning in the front for about half a year.. I started propecia and stayed on it for a about a month, my hair thinned out even more and side effects were not worth it. Now 2 months after stopping treatment my hair is shedding like crazy over 200 hairs a day and the hair feels brittle all over my head. I searched through your blog but havn’t seen anything about this issue in my age range. thanks

My blog is full of recommendations to get yourself diagnosed. You need to have your hair mapped out for miniaturization, as I have said 1000 times before (perhaps even more than that). If you do not know what is wrong with you, how can you treat it? The miniaturization map tells what is going on and that comes about before you treat it.


2006-09-07 12:57:0120 Year Old Thinning Heavily After Stopping Propecia

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In the News – Doctors Usually Don’t Report Incompetence

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

A quarter of doctors who know that a colleague is underperforming or incompetent do not sound the alarm, a confidential survey reveals. They fear retribution, believe that no action would be taken, or assume that someone else is dealing with the problem.

Martin Roland of the University of Cambridge and colleagues confidentially surveyed 3000 US and UK doctors in 2009. The results suggested that almost 1 in 5 doctors had direct experience of an incompetent or poorly performing colleague in the previous three years.

Read the rest — Doctors fail to report incompetent colleagues

In the March 12, 2011 issue of New Scientist, the journal quoted a University of Cambridge survey of 3000 US and UK physicians regarding their feelings about the competence of their colleagues. Poor performing colleagues who create errors in patient care reflected an alarming 21% of practitioners in the US and 13% in the UK!

I suspect that these numbers are far worse in fields of medicine like hair restoration, because of the absence of peer review of the activities of these doctors. I could name names, but because of the legal system in the US there is no protection against slander lawsuits lodged against me… so instead I speak loudly about the problem and report to the medical boards those physicians who I know are involved in illegal and immoral acts against patients.