What Percentage of a Chance Do You Give Laser Treatment of Working?

Hi Doc,

I am going to be starting the LUCE lds 100 laser treatment soon. Ive been losing hair for about a yr and half. I am currently 22. From your experience, what chances do you see of the treatment working on me? I’ve been on propecia for 5 months. Thinning on my crown is noticeable if pointed out. And the temples have receded slightly.

Thank you

In my personal opinion, lasers do not work to regrow hair. I base this on my experience with seeing many patients who have tried all sorts of lasers (from the big ones in clinics to the handheld models), and I have not seen it work. As I’ve mentioned before, I had a medical grade laser in my office for a year and offered free treatment, of which some patients chose to take advantage. None objectively grew any hair unless they used some medication like finasteride or minoxidil. I recall one patient who spent nearly $5000 on such laser treatments with another doctor for over a year, and as much as he wished and hoped that his money wasn’t wasted, the laser simply didn’t work for him.

If you are balding, there is no simple cure. You wanted a statistical assessment, so I’ll say that my best guess is a 0% chance of laser treatment working to regrow your hair. There are medications and/or surgery to address it, but there are always limitations.

How do you find a good FUE surgeon for mix races? (from Reddit)

I personally trained Dr. Diep and he along with other good doctors are capable of performing hair transplants (even FUE) on mix races without difficulty because they are well trained. I have been doing FUE on mix races for longer than any doctor in the world as I pioneered the FUE.

Best FUE doctors for mixed race hair? from tressless


2019-04-07 09:13:56How do you find a good FUE surgeon for mix races? (from Reddit)

What Would Happen If I Stopped Taking Fin After an Fue Hair Transplant?

Finasteride is not important for getting FUE grafts to survive. Finasteride prevents shock loss of the miniaturized hairs on your head, which is common in men in their 20s who often have a great number of miniaturized hairs.

 


2020-06-03 09:18:43What Would Happen If I Stopped Taking Fin After an Fue Hair Transplant?

How Does Seborrheic Dermatitis Not Cause Hair Loss?

How do they know that Sebhoraic Dermititus and Psoriosis do not cause hair loss? You wrote on your blog once that it can cause reversible hair loss indirectly by the inflammation accelerating telogen effluvium. Can the inflammation in someone that does not have telogen effluvium do this? Many (not all) of my outer brows fall out by just touching them gently. I have sebhoraic dermititus, is this accelerated a normal symptom of the condition or does this mean I also might have telogen effluvium?

  • Seborrheic dermatitis causes scaly, itchy, red skin and dandruff. It is a skin condition. It is not a hair condition.
  • Telogen effluvium is diffuse hair shedding which is triggered by some form of stress that makes the hair go into the shedding (telogen) cycle. Hairs usually grow back in 6 to 12 months.

I suppose any inflammation or trauma or stress can cause hair loss, but these types of hair loss are generally reversible and do not occur in everyone… just some susceptible people. I suppose extreme seborrheic dermatitis can trigger telogen effluvium, but it would be rare. It may cause some hair loss from scratching producing traction alopecia (not as drastic as telogen effluvium).

How important is hair, really?

I’ve been using finasteride and minox for years and it saved my hair. Ofcourse I am happy with that, but comparing it to earlier, when I was super obsessed with my hair, it seems less important today. Do you think you’ll continue treatments for a long time, even into old age, or at one point not really care anymore?

I just did 3000 grafts on a wealthy and successful businessman who actually didn’t want to do the hair transplant; however, his best friend who I transplanted last year, looked so good, he got pressured into it by this friend. Now that the surgery is over, he told me this story and also told me that the procedure was a delightful day away from his pressures at work and home. He was happy that he did it.

In my experience, with thousands of hair transplants under my belt, I found that 100% of the men who underwent the transplant, found that they felt better about themselves when they look into the mirror, regardless of marital status or independent wealth.

When Shedding

Ever since week two post op, I’ve been experiencing a lot of stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, and even panic attacks a few times. All of this is due to family issues, losing my job, and an underlying depression. These stressful issues have resulted in a very inflamed scalp. I’m now 2 months post op. My question is, can any of this, especially the stress/anxiety and inflamed scalp have permanently killed off my grafts?

Please help me. I’m at an all time low. Thank you

No, your hair will grow regardless of the stress you are undergoing.


2020-06-23 15:18:32When Shedding

How Long Does It Take for a Norwood 5 to Take Shape?

Dear Dr Rassman

I am a 19 year old male with a Norwood 3 balding pattern. I was wondering whether it is possible for hair loss to stabilise before a NW4 or larger phase occurs?

Also how long does it take for someone who is destined for a NW5+ to become a NW5 from a NW3?

Thank you very much

The Norwood hair loss patterns are not meant to be seen as a progression of hair loss, but rather how you fit into a certain pattern trait. You can be a Norwood 3 your entire life once the pattern forms. Or you can be an early Norwood 5 in your 20s (now) and eventually lose all your hair in this pattern to a full, clearly defined Norwood 5 later on in life. So there’s no defined length of time for a pattern to fully emerge, as everyone is different.

In general, you can tell by looking at your pattern under a bright light when your hair is wet. In the office we also have the luxury of seeing if there is a pattern using miniaturization mapping and taking hair bulk measurements.


2013-01-03 09:58:35How Long Does It Take for a Norwood 5 to Take Shape?

Where Did My Hair Genes Come From?

Hi Doc, I am 34 and I have receded about an inch at the temples. By this age, my father was at a much further along in the balding process. My maternal grandfather receded but never went bald. I’m just trying to figure out who’s “hair” genes I might have inherited. If it was from my father, would my balding develop at the same age and at the same speed as him? Is the next most likely person to pass on the hair gene my maternal grandfather? I hope so!

I have answered this question many times, but I will briefly summarize again: genetic hair loss does not follow specific predictable patterns. Many have hypothesized and observed that male pattern hair loss is slightly more dependent on the mother’s side. In the end if you have the gene, you will go bald according to the genetic balding pattern you inherited. As there are probably many genes involved in the inherited pattern, until we can define those genes and quantify how many there are and how they work, we can not predict what may happen to you as you age and may bald. Someday, everyone will have their genes mapped out and with that mapping, we will be able to tell much about what will happen to us in the future, not just with regard to balding, but to predicting diseases like cancer in their earliest stage. I hope that this all unfolds in my lifetime, but clearly for the young man like you, I am sure that it will unfold in your lifetime and when your children ask this question, my replacement will answer it with precision.

How Long Should I Wait to See Benefits from Propecia?

I’ve been on Propecia since April last year. However, my hair loss is continuing at a slow pace. I know that I might’ve been worse off without Propecia, but could it be possible that Propecia only really fully kicks in and loss stopping takes more than a year? Thanks.

My standard answer is to wait at least a year, but some people see benefits of hair loss reduction almost immediately and hair growth in 6 months. Everyone is different, though.


2013-06-14 16:47:37How Long Should I Wait to See Benefits from Propecia?