Category: Uncategorized

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Regenix

Dr.Rassman,
Have you heard about this hairloss product called Regenix? The actor Matthew McConaughey was on the David Letterman show and he said that he was losing his hair until he used Regenix, and now he has as good a hairline as when he was 18. What do you think?

Regenix has been around for years and they can make the hair thicker appearing (therefore fuller) with many of the things they use. The change that our actor shows suggests that either he has an unusually good result from Propecia or he had a good hair transplant surgeon in conjunction with what Regenix is doing. Two pictures of him on the web (see links below), show what appears to be a remarkable turn-around. I tend to be skeptical in believing everything I see or read about celebrities. If Matthew should read this blog, please come in for a private consultation. I will not post about the visit, I promise.

Here are links to two photos that display the dramatic change in Mr. McConaughey’s hairline:

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Removing Cobblestone Scars from Plugs?

i had a hair transplant in 1987. I only went for one session. Now, I have plugs near the temples on both sides of my head. I have shaved down the plugs but there is the “cobblestone” scars
left. Is there anything that can be done to remove these scars. I don’t want to shave my head completely, just get rid of the “cobblestone” scars. Thanks

These cobblestone scars can be excised one-by-one. With a well done procedure, the scar from an excision will not be as bad as what was originally there.

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Does Hair Transplantation Hurt?

Hair transplanting looks like it hurts! Does it hurt is my question? I saw the video and almost threw up. So please respond to my question! Does it hurt? Especially with at least a couple of thousand grafts! Please respond! Thank you for your time.

Yes, part of the process is painful. The first part (with anesthesia) hurts for about 1 minute. This part can be subsidized with appropriate medications to reduce the pain and possibly eliminate it if you choose this option. The more medications, the slightly more risk you may experience with side effects. Pain is also present after the surgery. If you elect to have an FUE procedure, the pain is very minimal and rarely takes any medications after surgery. If you have a strip harvesting procedure, then there is pain in the donor area, particularly more on the first night, which is easily treated with strong medications that are supplied by us. Some doctors do not like to use the word ‘pain’ because its meaning might frighten patients away, so the word discomfort is used instead. Discomfort = Pain!

On the other hand. there is also the pain of hair loss. This pain is often described by our patients as far worse than anything that they experienced in the surgery. As the old saying goes, “No Pain, No Gain” which essentially means that you need to weigh what you are willing to experience against what you are not willing to experience. A 2,000 graft procedure does not really hurt more than a 500 graft procedure. I prefer the larger procedures, because the patient has to invest less time and have less surgeries to get the final end product of their hair restoration desires.


2005-12-14 16:24:15Does Hair Transplantation Hurt?

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Repeated Bleaching Causes Follicle Damage?

Is it possible that hair follicles could have been damaged/destroyed by hair chemicals, such as repeated bleaching of hair? If so, is it possible to restore damaged hair follicles?

Hair follicles grow through the skin. These follicles arise from the bulb which is located 5-6 mm below the skin edge. Between the skin edge and the bulb, there is a ‘tunnel’ which allows the waxy sebum to rise out of the follicular unit to the skin. In theory, this tunnel could become a two way highway allowing chemicals, dyes or bleach to find their way deep into the hair follicles (note: the drawing is simplistic for illustrative purposes only). Through this route, it is possible to damage the machinery that grows hair either by killing it, or damaging it so that the hair that grows out might be a smaller gauge hair that has a different character to it. The question you ask is whether or not this process be reversed, and the answer really depends upon how much damage was produced. Generally the hair is quite a robust organ and will recover from insults. Hopefully in your case, the damage is such that it is reversible.


2006-04-04 19:34:38Repeated Bleaching Causes Follicle Damage?

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Does Miniaturization Guarantee Balding?

I know you’ve discussed miniaturization mapping as the best way to predict someone’s future balding pattern. If someone shows mild miniaturization, does this guarantee the area will eventually be bald, or is it possible the person may never completely lose their hair in a miniaturized region?

Thanks!

Hair loss can not be predicted with 100% accuracy. We use miniaturization mapping as one tool to monitor the progression of hair loss, which allows us to give an educated understanding and prognosis for our patients.

Miniaturization does not guarantee balding.


2012-05-09 13:18:18Does Miniaturization Guarantee Balding?

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Result from minoxidil, finasteride and the dermaroller

I don’t know what the usual experience is for NW6+, or what the success rate is, or if my progress is going to just fade away one day soon, but as long as it keeps coming back im gonna keep doin what im doin. Has anyone else seen recovery from NW6+? are there limits to regrowth potential? I’m thinking in another 6-12 months if I can keep what I have or get a little more that I will consult a hair doctor and see what my options are as far as FUE/FUT to maybe get me back to a full short haircut. That may still be a pipe dream. Worst case I go back to buzzin.

Amazing results already in just 6 months so stay the course.


2019-01-04 12:46:26Result from minoxidil, finasteride and the dermaroller

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Does Propecia Only Save Hair for 3 Years?

I’m very seriously considering starting a course of propecia/proscar. But before I began I wanted to ask two questions.

1. It has been said that if you start propecia early the better chance you have of slowing down/halting hair loss, but that doesn’t tally with the propecia chart from studies which show that it generally peters out after 3 years. so surely you’d only save your hair for 3 years and then it would quickly regress, not making much difference how early you start because you only have 3 years of good hair.

2. I was wondering if you could recommend a good dermatologist/hair doctor in London, who I could have a consulation with before I begin taking proscar, do you know any who do miniturisation tests or some kind of form of monitoring on hair loss? There are a lot of snake oil merchants in London that are willfully telling you that you must get on medication and I just want to talk to who is honest and experienced.

I have many patients that have reversed their crown loss and held the reversal over 10 years. Everyone is different, but the official studies show that the expected maintenance should be about 5 years on average. That means that some men get better than 5 years and some worse results while on the drug. It depends upon how aggressive your genes are.

As to your second question about London-based doctors, Dr. Bessam Farjo is a contributor to this site. He and his wife are terrific doctors and worthy of a trip to their offices (in London and Manchester). They may be able to give you a referral if you call their office.

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Retane

Hi Dr Rassman, like many others, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to maintain this blog. I’m 40, have considerable recession at the temples, but recently I started noticing more in the middle front and overall thinning. Obviously that’s not sitting well with me, probably causing a chicken and the egg situation, as its stressing me out, which can be a major contributor.

Do you think Propecia would still do anything for me? In addition, Retane is another product I’ve read about. Have you heard of it and if so, whether its worth looking into further. I hope you will be able to respond to my question. Thanks very much in advance.

RetaneRetane doesn’t appear to have anything of value in it to regrow your hair or cease your hair loss. This list the ingredients on their site as inositol, biotin, protodioscin, folic acid, vitamin B5, vitamin E, aloe vera, and ginseng panax extract. These ingredients simply don’t have value in treating hair loss. The product’s website references an 86% success rate over and over — and a closer look at the clinical study they reference shows that it was conducted 7 years ago, included only 22 people (15 men, 7 women), and was only 4 weeks long. Their website informs us that you might see regrowth at the 6 week mark, so why their “study” went to only 4 weeks is beyond me. That is such a half-cooked study for a hair growth treatment that I don’t think I need to go further with my comments.

As for the other part to your question — I haven’t seen your photos and don’t really have a full history of your hair loss, but if your doctor prescribes Propecia to you, I don’t see why it couldn’t work. At the very least, it could halt the hair loss from progressing for some time. As long as you know that you for sure have genetic balding (think miniaturization mapping), you should spend your money on a hair loss treatment that is proven to work, like Propecia and minoxidil.