Using Minoxidil After Hair Loss from Chemical Burn?

Hello Dr. Rassman,
about 3 weeks ago I had a procedure done called l’oreal x-tenso which is basically a hair relaxing (rebonding) treatment. The original goal was to grow my hair longer, which is normally not an easy thing given that my hair is normally very thick and wavy/curly. Anyway, a couple of weeks after the procedures I decided to get my hair cut and a couple of days after that my hair started to shed a lot and has continued to do so over the past week, although it seems that the shedding is somewhat decreaing over the last couple of days. I’ve seen 3 different trichologists here in London and they all seem to think that the chemical from the relaxer cause some bad breakage but that should reverse once new hair grows out. Instead they all seem to agree that I also exhibit signs of androgenetic alopecia. There is no history of hair loss on both side of my family, isn’t genetic baldness always hereditary? The trichologists that I have seen here in London are suggesting that I use different topical solutions, Minoxidil has also been suggested. If the hair loss is caused mainly by breakage and it is not a genetic condition, would it still be safe for me to use Minoxidil? Also, looking at my hair when it falls, some of it but not most of it, has the bulb attached. Is that a bad sign, i.e not simple breakage but damage to the follicle? I’m a 38 year old Italian male. Thanks in advance for your reply

Without seeing you there is little I can do or diagnose. Yes, genetic hair loss is hereditary. Minoxidil will grow hair even if you’re not losing it by genetic factors, but you shouldn’t use a medication that you don’t need, even if it is available over the counter. Stay with someone in your area that you trust. See a doctor and find out if what you’re seeing is genetics or a chemical problem.


2009-01-22 13:07:09Using Minoxidil After Hair Loss from Chemical Burn?

Hair Transplant with Zero Detectability?

Hello Dr. Rassman (and contributing doctors),
I have a question that I believe is something most of your readers might wonder:

For us hopeless (hair) romantics, what would you say is the best possible scenario for someone undergoing a HT procedure? Put another way, is it possible for someone with limited (or even moderate) balding to realistically expect to repair their hair loss to the point of zero detectability? …Hypothetically of course

Absolutely! Non-detection for a hair transplant is a reality on most patients who get them, provided that the densities are brought up to enough of a level to produce the fullness that normal densities will have. Without knowing more about your hair loss pattern, hair characteristics, color, skin, etc, it would be difficult to give you realistic expectations. If you visit me in my office in Los Angeles, I’ve got plenty of patients (and some on my staff) that have the type of transplant which is completely undetectable. I mean, who wants their hair to look transplanted? Nobody! As I always say, seeing is believing and our Open House events show this on many of the patient models who visit us from time to time.

Using SMP to Create More Fullness in Transplanted Patient (with Photos)

This patient received 1260 grafts in 1998, but over the years he continued to thin in the front and top of his head. He came in last month for Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) in hopes of adding fullness to the area immediately behind the frontal hairline. The results are spectacular and he avoided another surgery as a result.

The use of SMP for patients who were previously transplanted to create the illusion of fullness in areas where there is existing hair is nicely demonstrated with this patient. Click the photos to enlarge.

AFTER SMP:

 

BEFORE SMP:

 

Hair transplants without finasteride, what are the risks?

I would like to have your advice on hair transplant without finasteride do you think hair transplant are relevant with patients who don’t want to take finasteride at all ? Because i have seen people report that without finasteride even the transplanted hair are getting hit by dht and the result after ~10/15 years are not esthetics do you have case to share with us ?

Yes, you can have hair transplants without taking finasteride. The problem is two fold: (1) if you are in your 20s, the risk of shock loss (loss of miniaturized native hair) is higher than if you are over 30, less even over 35 or 40, (2) you might get to your final hair loss pattern earlier which means that your hair transplant treatments may come in a shorter time-frame. As the transplanted hair are protected against DHT, you don’t have to worry about them falling out.


2020-12-04 11:59:05Hair transplants without finasteride, what are the risks?

Various Drug (Finasteride, Spironolactone and Recently Dutasteride) Used (From Reddit)

As a clinical scientist, I am not clear about your results. I would suspect that if there is a change and you have been on finasteride for a long time until you switch to dutasteride 1 month ago, that the benefits you see are related mostly to the finasteride and not either the dutasteride or the spirinolactone. This is important information for the readers, listening to an expert address your results. I wish you had comparable pictures because the longer hair makes a huge difference in the appearance, and although it does look like there is hair where there was none before, the results may not be as dramatic as you may think they are.

My progress over the past year. Still thin in spots, but overall I am happy. from tressless


2019-02-20 07:12:48Various Drug (Finasteride, Spironolactone and Recently Dutasteride) Used (From Reddit)

Hairline design

My hair, black and white picture, which has receded in similar pattern to the colour picture attached. It’s styled so the front is swept to the side and I think highlights my receded hair line, Norwood 2/3, or at least doesn’t make it look good.

I want to keep my hairstyle natural looking while making the hairline look as good as possible. for example I don’t want to push my hair forward just to cover the hairline. Has anyone been in a similar position have any styling tips or ways they get their haircut at the hairdresser’s to make their hair look good without changing the style too much?

That is a good positioning of a mature hairline design, something I have been creating for over 30 years with hair transplants. This is a realistic hairline. The number of grafts to create this hairline would be 1200 if your hair was coarse, 1500 if your hair was medium, and 1800 if your hair was fine.

 

Take a look at this hairline and what do you think?

I will tell you what I think. The design of the hairline is terrible, the multiple V-shaped protrusions of the hairline is absolutely abnormal. In addition, the crusting is terrible and the patient was never instructed on how to take care of his hair transplant after the surgery. Imagine, walking around looking like this?

How did the doctor decide to do such a transplant? The answer is that they did not want to make a straight hairline and maybe he did not know how to do this. This saw-tooth hairline is most certainly as bad as a straight hairline. A feathered hairline is what you see in a non-transplanted person. Just look at any woman or man’s hairline and you will see that there is no such thing as a hairline, just a place where a bare forehead transitions into hair with a “no-hairline hairline”. Below is an example of just one of over 15,000 surgeries we have done creating feathering hairlines. As you can see, this man (below) does not have a hairline at all, just a feathered transition from his forehead to a full head of hair.

(NOT NHI patient)


2017-09-15 14:59:06Take a look at this hairline and what do you think?

Vitamin B5 and Hair Loss

Hello,

I have been reading about the supposed benefits of taking large doses of vitamin b5 as an acne treatment. One of the side effects a few people online have mentioned is that they believe is has accelerated/caused hair loss. The only “evidence” that b5 causes baldness are posts on message boards, but some of these posts are by people who swear b5 caused irreversible hair loss. It seems possible that the onset of baldness and the b5 supplementation are unrelated. But assuming this is true and b5 causes hair loss due some kind of imbalance in your system, is it likely that hair loss caused by b5 would reverse once a person stops taking the supplement and their body re-balances itself? Can anything actually cause permanent male-pattern baldness besides a person’s genes? I realize there are no hard facts or actual studies involved here so I hope it’s not too silly of a question.

There seems to be a general agreement that vitamin B5 prevents hair loss, but I looked for objective scientific studies and could not find them. Based upon the general sense in the hair industry, I would doubt that it causes or accelerates hair loss though.

Patterned hair loss (as it is defined) is always caused by genetics. Many times, people take medications or have some stress which may precipitate patterned hair loss (like pulling the trigger of a gun — when once fired, can not get the bullet back). Without any objective, scientific evidence of what you are talking about, I can not comment on the validity of the claims or on any of the date in those observations. The Internet has its good and bad points — one of the bad points being that information may be deceiving and yet sound credible.

Are Hairs Thinner in Telogen Phase Compared to Anagen?

In telogen phase, hairs fall out, and they don’t get thinner when they regrow. Over a period of months, the body seems to turn on a switch that starts the anagen cycle again, and hair regrows. The telogen may last up to 6 months in some people, but the length of the telogen cycle varies by age, sex, and the health of the hair. Miniaturized hairs, in those who are balding or thinning, tend to have longer telogen cycle. They appear at the end of the anagen phase with a longer sleep period and often come in miniaturized.


2018-07-19 06:21:37Are Hairs Thinner in Telogen Phase Compared to Anagen?