Over-Harvested donor area from FUE surgery shows even with long hair to cover it (photos)
Both of these young men had too many FUE grafts taken from their donor area and now, even with long hair, have what appears to be balding in the back of the head. Longer hair will help, but Scalp Micropigmentation (https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/) usually solves the appearance but doesn’t replace the missing hair in the donor area.
2020-02-17 04:00:052019-07-17 15:22:56Over-Harvested donor area from FUE surgery shows even with long hair to cover it (photos)
Common Age for Female Hair Loss to Start?
Hi Dr. Rassman,
Searching the internet and various websites I always seem to hear/read about women who have severe diffuse hair loss and have developed female pattern baldness when they are around 20-years-old. Is this very common? Some information I’ve come across says it’s very very common while other says it rarely happens. Do you have any statistics on it?
I am not aware of statistics, but from my experience, women often follow the females in the family that have genetic balding in the time of onset and the pattern. There is a strong one-to-one link between mother and daughter in this condition and it is not infrequent to see it in your mother’s mother or aunts. Female genetic hair loss is not common in very young women, but in each decade, the frequency rises until menopause when almost 50% of women experience the problem. We see hair loss after pregnancy in many of these women as well.
Hair Loss InformationHair Cloning, Revisited – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
It has been about six weeks since I’ve posted an entry about hair cloning, but I’ll revist the topic again because I get quite a few requests for information. People generally want to believe that cloning is just around the corner.
Why can’t we clone hair, since scientists can clone a sheep? When can we expect to get a cloning treatment and how will it be done?
When it comes to cloning, hair follicles are in a tough spot. They are too complex to be simply cultured because follicles are not whole organisms like Dolly the sheep. The focus of cloning for hair is to move cells that can stimulate growth from a normal hair follicle, to an abnormal (genetically impaired) hair follicle. Although this is not actually cloning, the growth stimulating cells from the normal hair follicle can potentially be multiplied in a Petri dish and then moved to the area of genetically impaired hair. Some of these cells are capable of turning themselves into hair, bone or muscles and this has been shown in what I will call ‘uncontrolled experiments’. Because people who are balding always have some non-genetically impaired normal hair, we do not need a person to person transfer.
There are problems that are yet to be solved. The primary problem is to identify which cells are to be moved. Other problems are once the cells have been identified. We must ask, “Can we successfully create enough of these cells to work with, and is there certainty that the cells that are created and moved will maintain their capability to stimulate growth in the genetically impaired hair follicles?” It is anticipated that whatever process we come up with, there will be a type of medical ‘soup’ which the doctors will inject into the genetically balding areas of the scalp. When they are injected into the balding scalp, they must consistently be able to stimulate hair growth. Unfortunately, the success of this entire process has been relatively low so far. There have been some successes, but these have not been replicable, suggesting that we do not have control of the process. We also have to be 100% sure that this process is safe. Do we know that these cells will not produce a cancer or other problem? Safety and effectiveness is critical for any FDA approval and it will take years for this to be worked out. Don’t hold your breath, no matter what you hear!
For more information, Dr. Bernstein wrote an article about hair cloning in our 2004 NHI Newsletter, available here. Adobe Reader is required to view the file.
To read more newsletters, medical publications, and the PDF version of The Patient’s Guide to Hair Restoration, please see the NHI Medical Publications page.
Concerns About NeoGraft
Just after I published a post about the NeoGraft tool, a phenomenon began occurring in the community. I’ve been seeing an increasing number of press releases that get brought to my attention from readers and from Google Alerts, announcing that some doctor with no experience in the art of hair restoration is now the first in his area to offer hair transplant surgery using this new NeoGraft tool. It could just be due to the marketing efforts of the makers of NeoGraft or it could be doctors following other doctors in issuing these press releases (and also the machine being shown on the Rachael Ray show)… but some of these physicians often have no real training, and this machine offers them another source of revenue with the ability to do what we have been doing manually.
Michael Oakes, president of NeoGraft Resource Group (makers of NeoGraft), even brags about the ability to sell the tool to doctors that have no prior experience performing hair transplants. In his Plaxo.com public profile, Oakes writes that the NeoGraft machine “opens up opportunity for non transplant physicains [sic] to add to there [sic] exsisting [sic] practice.” This is quite alarming to me!
I am writing this as a warning for those who are considering a NeoGraft transplant. Some additional comments that Dr. Robert Bernstein made on his site about the risks of the NeoGraft tool suggest real problems that will, almost certainly, produce failures of the transplant. I have seen one such failure recently from an experienced surgeon who used it. If you’re still considering having surgery with this tool, just be sure to check out the technology and the doctor who is performing it. Ask about the physician’s training and also ask to meet some patients who have had successful hair transplants with this tool. The proof is in the pudding.
2010-03-16 15:32:112010-03-16 15:23:48Concerns About NeoGraft
Taking Propecia While Trying to Have a Baby – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman
I have been taking Propecia for about 8 years. My wife and I are anxious to have another child. I completely stopped taking Propecia for about 5 months when my wife and I started trying to have our first child two years ago as I was afraid of side affects. He is perfectly healthy. Was that necessary or advisable? Should I stop taking it while we try to conceive again? Thank you.
There are many answers to this question depending upon the doctor and his interest in practicing and giving advice on what could be sensitive medical legal issues which are at time at odds with what is in your best interests. Very little, if any, Propecia comes from the sperm into the woman’s womb. Merck (the manufacturer of Propecia) does not warn men wishing to have children to stop taking the medications for your situation. That, in itself, tells much of the answer to your question. Some doctors, however, tell their patients if they are worried to do the following:
- stop taking the Propecia during the one week that fertility is present or stop it through the entire period from conception to the delivery of the baby
- use a condom when your wife is pregnant
- stop the drug completely during the entire pregnancy
I feel that the first part of #1 may be wise if you do not trust the drug company disclosures and to adopt #2 if you are really worried. These two steps are extreme, while #3 is almost crazy because you will abandon all of the benefits of the drug and get progressive hair loss during the 9 month pregnancy period, based upon no evidence that this is a problem. See my previous answer to this question here: Taking Propecia While Starting A Family.
Consultation That Push to Get Your Money and Do It Under Pressure (from Reddit)
A proper consultation include building a relationship between the doctor and the patient, not a salesperson. Unfortunately, too many doctors see $$$ when they see patients. I often see patients and tell them that they are not good candidates for a hair transplant or that the timing is too early. I always build a Master Plan with the patient, so the patient has both a short and long-term plan which may or many not include a hair transplant. My favorite part of what I do is meeting the patient. My practice may be unusual in that I have many celebrities and CEOs of big companies, but I also get truck drivers or students too young for hair transplants. I try to give them the materials that equips them to handle their “balding problems” and balance it with their lives.
2018-06-21 06:39:002018-06-22 12:12:33Consultation That Push to Get Your Money and Do It Under Pressure (from Reddit)
Can Driving Fast In A Convertible Cause Traction Alopecia?
Say you often drive fast in a convertible when on the freeway. Can all the wind blowing your hair around cause traction alopecia or otherwise damage the follicles?
Assuming this is a serious question: would driving on the freeway, with the top down cause, hair loss?
Seriously, the simple answer is: NO.
Corner hairline transplants 8 years ago (photos)
This is a 44 year old male who had a juvenile hairline in 2010 when he came in as the corners were eroding. He didn’t like that and although I rarely will transplant these corners, I did on him because he was 36 and still had his juvenile hairline. Today he came in with a complaint of some increasing hair loss on his right side just outside the area that was transplanted in 2010 which shows nicely on the first photo. The left side has held nicely since that 2010 surgery.
I performed a HAIRCHECK test on him which showed that his hair population is now 80% of what it was 8 years ago, so he is losing hair in the first 3 inches of his hairline (what I call the frontal area). He has been on Avodart since 2010 and this recent hairloss, has occurred while he was on this drug. He wants his juvenile hairline back with its tight look. I agreed to do this and also recommended that he address the 20% thinning in the frontal 3 inches with Scalp Micropigmentation. The pictures below show what was done on the day of the surgery.
2019-04-12 05:18:482019-01-12 13:29:07Corner hairline transplants 8 years ago (photos)
Panic Attacks and Hair Loss?
Sometimes, i panic (over nothing really), and because of that, it gets difficult to breath and in some cases, i feel anxiety and get dizzy (because of the panic). Could that contribute to hair loss? I am a male diffusing on the scalp (not sides), shedding very much, and shedded stripes have a clear (big) white bulb at the end.
Yes, you can certainly lose hair from stress caused from your extreme anxiety. It could precipitate your genetic balding earlier than it would’ve, as is generally the case for men that have stress induced loss. It sounds like you need a good, caring doctor to get your anxiety under control.
2009-06-05 09:35:382009-06-04 10:44:23Panic Attacks and Hair Loss?