If i part my hair from right to left, would it be a good idea to transplant more grafts on the right side compared to transplanting the same amount on each side?
If the balding need exceeds the supply of donor hair, then weighting the hair during a transplant from the parted side makes great sense… something that I do often to get better coverage.
Hello Dr Rassman,
I have recently been diagnosed with seborrheic derm in my right eyebrow by a dermatologist. I have read in previous Balding Blog posts that you don’t believe seb derm causes hair loss as it is primarily a skin condition, and that loss could result only if there is manipulation of the hair follicles and I agree with you! But, my case is such that I am losing anywhere from 3-6 hairs a day in my right brow (which is the only place I have this issue…white flakes that adhere to the follicle and cause weakening of the hair and then soon loss) so I was wondering if you think this means I might not have seb derm?Afterall the doc just listened to my symptoms and as I was still speaking wrote out a prescription without even looking at my brow! I am thinking it is a condition which mimics seb derm what do you think? I am planning on eventually getting a transplant when the loss subsides but I can’t seem to control the problem first! He put me on desonide and ketoconazole cream which did nothing for the hair loss of flaking and just exacerbated the condition. Any insight you can give I would greatly appreciate. Thank you Doctor.
If you weren’t happy with your dermatologist’s review of your eyebrow (you said he didn’t even look at it before prescribing medication), you should consider seeing another dermatologist that will examine the hair loss.
As for me, I honestly do not know. It is strange that you are losing eyebrow hair on only one side. Perhaps it is temporary and the hair will grow back? Give it time. Don’t jump on the surgery solution. Follow up with your doctor. If this is of any comfort, I have yet to see someone with one good eyebrow and the other bald, unless, they are pluckers or pickers.
When a person gets a hair transplant, I know that it can take over 8 months and in some cases up to a year for 100% of the transplanted grafts to fully grow in (well, the ones that survive at least). At the same time I know that a person can often get a second hair transplant by 6 months which means that some of the grafts from 1st procedure might not have erupted yet. With that being said, what happens in that second procedure if a graft is transplanted into or near the same spot where a graft was transplanted during the first procedure and just hasn’t grown yet? Will it damage the first graft? Or will you just end up with two grafts growing from that spot; so basically like one big follicular unit?
I don’t believe that if one transplants over another hair graft, the second graft will add hairs to the first, making the follicular unit larger. A second follicular unit will arise in the area. Follicular units are controlled, I’m size, by the genetic mechanisms of the stem cells in these follicular units.
Hey, I’m 22 and worried about hair loss. I noticed my hair thinning out in the crown area when I had dreadlocks, which I have since cut off after seeing a dermatologist. I don’t experience a great deal of hair loss, but the crown area has thinned out a bit and is more noticeable in bright lights.
I have purchased minoxodil (which the dermatologist said was optional) but am yet to start using it as I wanted to watch my progress in case if I didn’t actually need it. Advice?
I don’t know anything about your hair loss history, but early crown hair loss is typical of male pattern baldness, which means it may be caused by your genetics. The loss you’re seeing could be unrelated to the dreadlocks. Then again, the dreadlocks wouldn’t be helping the situation, as you’re running the risk of developing traction alopecia.
Minoxidil does work for some in the crown, but I’ve found that Propecia for young men with early loss (particularly in the crown) works even better. Both Propecia and minoxidil are optional (they are for treating a cosmetic issue, not to save your life), but if you want to save your hair, the option you’ll want to try becomes clear. I assume you want to treat your thinning crown, or you wouldn’t have written to the BaldingBlog.
So if your dermatologist saw early crown loss, I’m a little surprised you weren’t prescribed Propecia… though again, I’m not your doctor and don’t know about your hair loss history. Perhaps there’s something else that I’m not aware of at play.
Hello Dr. Rassman, I’m a 22 years old living in Brazil and I have been balding since I was 15 (right now norwood class 3). I’m thinking about going to a hair doctor to start taking propecia and maybe even do some kind of hair transplant, but I would like to go to a doctor as good as you. Do you usually do transplants in people around my age? I would love to see some photos.
I was also thinking about travelling to the US next year and have a consultation with you. How should foreigners proceed?
Thank you very much!
To start, you can send me photographs to the email address on the Contact page. Since there is the obvious distance between Brazil and my office in Los Angeles, the internet will be the easiest communication tool (specifically, email) so that it can be determined if you’re even a candidate. We can also setup a phone consultation, if you’d like to go that route.
I do not have any hard rule on what age I will consider a hair transplant, but generally I like my patients to be at least 25 years old. I have, however, transplanted men of your age when the hair loss pattern is fully defined and maturity is there.
i’m 25. i started noticing thinning hair in the temple area at the age of 21-22 so i shaved my hair. i kept it like that for 2 years. i started taking propecia for 12 months while my hair was shaved and added rogaine in to that. After the 2 year period i let my hair grow out and to my surprise the front temple hair line looked good. i kept it long for a couple of months, but after a while i started losing hair again on my right hand side. keep in mind i’m still using propecia and rogaine. i want to know if its a faze that my hair has to go through, or if this hair loss is gonna be permanent. its only happening on one side of my head.
The frontal hairline is often not symmetrical You need to evaluate your scalp with miniaturization studies to see just where your hair loss is going. The focused question is — Where are you going with your hair loss? You need a few measurements over time to find out if the Propecia is failing to work. If the hairline has gone up quite a bit, you might be a candidate for a hair transplant, but first you need to be evaluated. Dr. Pak and I are based in Southern California (as you’ve indicated that you were), so please consider paying us a visit.
My question is with regards to Trichodynia. I’m not sure if I have it or not. But I’ve been having some minor pain off and on in the crown region of my head for 3 months. I have not lost any hair in that region (I’m a NW2) and have been on Propecia for 4 1/2 years. But I’m afraid of what might be causing this sensation, I hope it isn’t associated with hair loss in that area. Are there any treatments for this pain sensation??
The pain hasn’t progressively gotten worse or anything, but it did start overnight, it wasn’t gradual at all. Could it be an allergy of some sort?
In all fairness, how do you expect me to diagnose your condition this way? You need to see your doctor (perhaps a dermatologist) and get a good physical exam.
The minor pain you’re describing can be anything from normal male pattern baldness to a neurological disease. See what I mean? It’s such a broad spectrum of possibilities that I don’t want to get into discussions about treatments for a condition you might not even have. You can learn a little more about it at Wikipedia.
2009-05-08 12:34:542009-05-08 09:11:06Trichodynia
Doc…I’m really scared, confused, and upset with myself.
I had some thinning and receding at the hair line, and a little bit on the crown of my head. I decided to give rogaine a try to improve the situation. I used it about 5-6 times, but also used it on the front of my hairline. After a few days, I noticed that the hair seemed to be thinning a lot, and that my hairline had receded, especially at the temples. So after using the rogaine for a few days, I went from some thinning in the temples and crown to having a receding hairline, with even greater thinness in the temples and top. At this point, when my hair is wet, I see much more scalp, and it makes me want to throw up. It basically thinned out my hair everywhere, especially in the problem areas. Basically, I feel that I took a situation that wasn’t really that bad, and made it much worse. I’m kicking myself for having not just left it alone.My questions:
1) Since I’ve stopped the rogaine, will the hair that seems to have fallen out return? If it will come back, about how long will it take to go back to the way it was before I used the rogaine? (I’ve read on some forums about rogaine “shed”, but does this hair come back all of the time?)
2) Can rogaine cause a receding hairline? Could I have done permanent damage to any of the hair by using the rogaine (such as if the follicles were already thinning/in trouble)?Thanks so much for your help. I’m really struggling with this, and I’m looking for some peace of mind.
Hair shedding from Rogaine is temporary. New hair should grow in a few months. Hair growth works in cycles. When rogaine causes hair shedding it may induce the hair shaft to fall off; the follicle would then enter a dormant phase in the cycle (temporarily) while the matrix is restructured for future growth, hopefully with a thicker and stronger hair shaft. Thus, initially, you may appear to lose more hair, but after waiting for many months you may have thicker and stronger hair with any new hair growth, assuming the Rogaine works. It is very scary for some patients to experience the shedding phase (unusual) and considering the extreme reaction to the Rogaine, I wonder if the statistical probability of working in your situation offsets the risk of continued hair loss. If it works, it generally takes 6-8 months. More significant growth may occur (in less than half of patients) who take this medication. In general Rogaine may cause either more hair growth, stop further hair loss, prolong the hair cycle where hair exists in its best ‘show’ state, or it may be limited to slow down the hair loss process if it works at all.
2005-12-05 11:01:322005-12-05 11:47:35Hair Loss Worse After Rogaine
What is your opinion on TRX2?
L-Carnitine, nicotinic acid, Potassium … $ 50 .. 90 capsules. is it a scam?
I would not say it is a “scam” per se, just that it is a buyer beware market. Everyone needs to understand that male pattern hair loss is a genetic trait. There is no product or drugs you can take to stop hair loss or grow it back completely.
We wrote about Trx2 a couple of years ago when it was first announced, and there’s still not much solid information available. I’ve not seen any peer-reviewed studies or even photos of results. Their site says there’s a 60 day money back guarantee, but I’ll leave the decision to try it up to you. Anyone have experience positive or negative with this supplement they’d like to share?
In the days of Abraham Lincoln, few people actually met or saw the people they voted for. Stock photos in newspapers of the 1700s and 1800s were used, often supplied by the men themselves to reflect the image that they wanted to portray. But today, image is thought to make the man and the images can not be so easily controlled by those being portrayed. In politics, 90% or more of successful politicians have hair (though balding is present in 50% of all men). When focus groups are put together, it is clear that prejudice against balding men is commonplace. We have images of the balding, fat, beer guzzler with a pot belly. What does balding have to do with beer guzzling or obesity? Some people feel that balding men are not trustworthy or dynamic. Why? On my radio show, The Inner Man, we asked Los Angeles listeners to call in and tell us what they thought of the balding man. Between this radio program and other forums I have seen, heard, or participated in, I find these comments humorous, yet sad. Here are a few comments:
The most interesting comment I heard was from a bald man who called into my radio show responding to prejudice. He said when given the choice in hiring, he would rather hire a man with hair than one without. When we confronted him on this very issue, he said that even though he was bald, it was unfortunately true. We was open about his overt discrimination against balding job applicants, and he was the Senior Vice President of a company.
So in the days of Lincoln (1800’s), men wore top hats to cover their balding, and a bald politician could keep this secret. Today it might be a baseball cap, but there are few secrets to the camera as the paparazzi find their way even into the bedroom. But the real secret is the balding man’s secret. Their views of their balding situation cover a wide range of self esteem issues, inner secrets that are never discussed with anyone. Balding and aging do go together. With 50% of men having some degree of clinical balding by mid-life (45 years old) and balding progressing with age, a look at the man in the mirror constantly reminds him of his aging process, his mortality and his changing body. For some bding bald is a good alternative to the death option. For other more courageous men, they visit me and get their hair back.
