Hi Doc, I read on a website that a doctor is offering FUE surgery at $0.50 that is 50 cents a graft in Pakistan. What do you think?
Your guess is as good as mine. I really can’t validate this claim.
There was a sarcastic remark made about the Taliban and how it may relate to prices. Apparently it offended a few readers. We apologize for the insensitivity to those who were sensitive to the comments.
I just got diagnosed with peyronie’s. I’m in very early stages but started finasteride 3 months ago. Can I continue using it?
Peyronie’s syndrome reflect a deformity of the penis reflecting the development of fibrous scar tissue inside the penis that causes curved, painful erections. Penises vary in shape and size, and having a curved erection isn’t necessarily a cause for concern. Finasteride should have no impact on this sundrome
2020-07-24 03:10:412020-02-04 13:11:14I have Peyronie’s syndrome, can I take finasteride?
I have male pattern baldness, yet I have thousands of tiny translucent hairs on my scalp. They are short, and do not seem to grow much, if any. When light is shinning from behind me the hairs are very noticable and people look shocked, as I look bald when no back light is present. What are these hairs and why don’t they grow to full length? Have not been able to find anything written about these type of scalp hairs on the internet.
Congratulations! You are a polar bear. A polar bear’s fur is translucent despite its apparent white hue.
Kidding aside, what you are describing seems to be vellus hairs that commonly grow all over our body (look closely at your face… its all over — except for our palms and soles). These hairs are not like normal hair on the scalp and will not grow to normal scalp hair length, and in each follicular unit (which normally has 2-4 hairs normally) there is usually one vellus hair (which is not seen with the naked eye). When there are translucent hairs on the scalp that do not grow (instead of full pigmented hairs) then that is often seen in advanced balding/thinning. These hairs are usually miniaturized and do not grow normally as the genetic factors come into play. You should have your hair mapped out for miniaturization to find out what is going on.
2007-02-27 13:34:532007-02-27 09:35:39I Have Thousands of Translucent Hairs on My Scalp
My medical hair history: I entered the Hair Transplant business in my private practice forming New Hair Institute in late 1991. With a partner who had done thousands of hair transplants at Bosley, he and I worked together. My crown was balding and my wife told me that it was bad business to have a bald crown and then talk to patient about treating their bald crown areas while I had one. So my partner recommended Scalp Reduction Surgeries (I had three of them, one every 2 months completing the sequence of surgeries in 6 months). What happened was historic. By the last of the three surgeries, my bald crown came back and my scalp was scarred badly. As soon as I realized I was deformed, I picked up the phone and called the worlds expert in the field at that time (no name here because he is still alive) and told him about my problem, asking him how often he saw such problems (I was thinking it was rare). He said it was very, very common, in fact, most people had their bald areas return. I followed up with: “Why didn’t you publish these results and stop the surgeries from being done?“. He responded: “It would have been bad for business!” I felt sick and disgusted with him and his comments as now I was both a victim of this horrific surgery (the removal of the bald area in the crown) and a doctor who had already started doing them on my own patients (6 surgeries, one on my own first cousin and best friend). All 6 people had the same thing happen to them, so I tried to make amends with them by giving them hair transplants to solve their bald crown area. I also started a campaign to DEMYSTIFY this horrific surgery and expose it for what it was, a deforming surgery. I published against it and spoke before the largest hair meeting in the world telling the audience: “That I would volunteer my services for all victims of the Scalp Reduction surgery as an expert witness in any malpractice case brought against anyone performing this surgery with the resulting deformities that it produced” . I was blackballed for about a year by other doctors who made a good living doing this surgery, but what happened was almost immediately after my announcement, the doctors that performed the procedure stopped doing it. Now, it is rarely, if ever, performed. To fix my problem, I had three hair transplant surgeries of about 900 grafts each over 25 years. Still, my crown was not as thick as I wanted it to be, so today I took the last step and had Scalp Micropigmentation performed on my crown. My before (the first two photos) and after pictures (the last ones) are below. Now any thinning that has remained is gone! I practice what I preach! Comment: I don ‘t think I look balding in my crown now, the first time in years that the problem is solved. The last picture was taken 6 weeks later (I think I got more salty color in my hair over the past month or so).
AFTER
We performed a study where we actually picked out the grafts on days 1-15 in over a few dozen patients. The grafts that were removed were sent to pathology. What we learned is that picking the crust (scabs) while they are still there, will pull out the grafts up to 12 days or so. Once the crusts are gone, the living part of the grafts do not come out. The pictures show you still have crusts and are at risk of removing the grafts if you continue to pick on them. Here is the published article for you to read: https://newhair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/mp-2006-graft-anchoring.pdf
2020-09-11 03:39:482020-09-01 09:59:45I picked at my grafts (6 days) and a few came out (Photo)
Doctor can this happen on propecia. Ive been on it for 2 and half years with good results, maintained and thickened a bit, but my hair is weird. the first year on propecia it looked like it was getting worse, then into the second it started getting better over all. then again half way through the secong it looked bad again, and then a few months later it thickened again. I take pics, and that’s how I can tell. also there is a single hair that I excluded from the other hairs to follow and look at to see how it progresses, and to give me an overall picture on how the other hairs might be responding and growing. the last month or so that specific hair thinned and looked like it was gone, and then a few days a go I see It growing and thickening again. I know this is a weird email lol, but from you experiences does hair go through diff stages?
to be exact I started propecia in june 2011. from june 2011 to june 2012, it looked like I lost ground a bit, so I still stuck it with propecia. then around January 2013 my hair started looking good, and was thicker and the pics I took started to show a difference from the baseline. around april of 2013 my hair looked thin again and looked like I was reverting back to baseline. around august till about now my hair has looked its best. I started noticing new hairs sprout from the hairline that were not there before, and the looked so much thicker, and way different from baseline. its basically at its best. my question is why does it go through these stages? bad, good, bad, good, etc? is that normal?
Our hair will cycle and grow in different stages, so some hairs fall out while other grow from a stem cell that regenerates the hair follicle. You may be noticing some changes, but you cannot really say with scientific objective certainty what is really happening with just subjective observations or pictures. For example, dry frizzy hair in dry fall weather can make your hair seem voluminous, where oily damp hair in the humid summer days can make your hair seem flat and thin. Even different shampoos or hair products can affect how your hair may look and feel. For a more accurate analysis, we try to quantify it with measurements such as miniaturization study and hair bulk measurements and compare values on a yearly basis.
Finally, you need to understand that being on Propecia does not mean your hair loss will stop. Based on your genetic predisposition you will continue to lose your hair to the predestined hair loss pattern. Taking the medication (Propecia) means it will slow the process of hair loss down to each individual’s response to the drug. There may be some variations where you may notice less hair loss and more hair loss over the many months to years. We generally lose about 100 hairs a day (on the average), but this number is also highly variable with time for the individual. So I think what you are experiencing is likely normal.
2013-12-09 13:45:472013-12-08 13:00:00I See Cyclic Changes in My Hair and Do Not Understand Them
Hello Doctor,
I’ve written to you in the past about my initial experiences with propecia. When I started, I was worried I had side effects… but I couldn’t figure out if they were real, or in my head. I soon decided that I was going to stop worrying about it, and just continue on with the medication.
Soon after, the side-effects stopped! I’ve concluded that in my case, the side-effects were most definitely in my head. I’m also happy to announce that propecia has helped me go from a NW 3/4 to a NW 2/3!
I could not be more impressed!! I hope this encourages other men who are worried about side effects to stick it out a little while longer, and to not worry about it so much!
Thank for writing and sharing this with us. I would expect that your case would be more common if some men didn’t let the side effect potential get in their heads, but in any case, I’m glad it worked out for you.
Hi, I am a big fan of this blog.
I am a male of 24 years from India and have been losing hair since I was 18. Here is the condition of my hair:
-I think I am Norwood 1.5 and my hair seems full to others
-I lost much of bulk on my balding zones, non balding zones are okay.
-I lose hair which are so thin. Most hair strands that I lose are thick at the tip, but gets so thin towards the root (the bulb portion). The root portion is also whitish in colour.
-My scalp is so freakishly oily and have dandruff only on the balding zone. Whenever I scratch I find hairs that are almost invisible.
-Some long hairs can be pulled out easily. They move in the slightest of wind while holding at the root. Those strands are medium thick but very lifeless.
-My crown is feeling very thinner. The scalp can be seen at bright lightsI think I am in early stages of balding. I want to do something to treat early before it is too late. I am a bit scared of fin but I wont mind giving it a try. What do you say about my hair condition? is it mpb? Can i take fin without seeing a derm? or should i wait for histogen?
If you’re seeing a Norwood class 1 or 2, that isn’t really considered balding. It is normal to lose hair daily, as new hair grows in (hair cycling). It is also normal for your hair to appear thinner under bright, direct lighting. All in all, what you’re describing sounds pretty… normal.
If you are concerned that you’re in the early stages of male pattern baldness (MPB), you should see a doctor. Do not just take finasteride without a prescription. It is a prescribed medication for a reason, and you must see a doctor (dermatologist or otherwise) that can tell you if what you’re seeing is even MPB.
I couldn’t tell you if Histogen or other future treatments will become a reality, or how effective they will even be, or when they will even be public. There are still a lot of questions about future treatments, but we’re all waiting to know.
