Category: Uncategorized

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I Noticed I Am Thinning At The Vertex, But No One In My Family Is Bald

I always have thin hair when I was young. However, I noticed that the vertex of my head is really sparse. I am only 20 this year. Asian.

The thing is my family has NO HISTORY of balding. Both paternal and maternal side. However, my mom and dad hair are thin probably due to age.

Will I go bald eventually?

Genetic balding in men happens after the puberty years in their 20’s and 30’s. Most hair loss falls into one of the Norwood hair loss patterns. Not everyone who goes bald will fit into one of the many patterns. Of note only 7 to 8% of men go completely bald.

You do not need to have family history of balding to inherit the genes for balding as mutations or gene expressions can cause this to show up. It can skip generations and the exact inheritance pattern is not well defined. If you think you are balding, you can see a doctor for an examination. Some doctors can do the Bulk test of even Miniaturization studies. There is no way to predict if you will go bald. We are not fortune/misfortune tellers.

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Could Alopecia Areata Evolve to Totalis or DUPA?

I have been recently diagnosed with alopecia areata (one spot) and have had several HT session in the past. Recently been under a lot of work related stress. and my hair has been thinning all over event in the safe zone (I am 48 Years old). And the back of my scalp has a see thru appearance. So I am wondering if this is diffuse alopecia areata that could evolve to alopecia totalis or DUPA since my donor area is very thin?

Anything is possible, but not probable. Alopecia areata without any treatment often will resolve over time (which can take up to one year).

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Patient Just 4 Days Following 1700 Grafts “I Think My Hairs Are Growing” – With Photos

This patient with frontal balding (Class 3A pattern) had surgery 4 days ago. He has black hair and white skin, making the grafts very obvious, but as I always tell my patients, keep their hair long so that they could get good camouflage for the grafts, and so that is what these photos of a fresh hair transplant show. The hair already gut pushed out a bit so it looked like the hairs were growing. Note, at 4 days, there are no scabs present and this is typical of our patients because of our special focus on keeping the blood from building up during the surgery and after the surgery in the post operative special washing instructions are followed carefully by each of our patients.


2015-03-24 12:18:54Patient Just 4 Days Following 1700 Grafts “I Think My Hairs Are Growing” – With Photos

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Could Iron Deficiency Be Accelerating My MPB?

I’m a male who has been diagnosed with Iron-Deficiency at age 20. I also have been noticing hair miniaturization and hair fallout from the top of my head (nothing from sides and back).

My doctor said the reason for this is the Iron Deficiency and I should correct it by multivitamins and minerals and then see if the hair fallout continues, since hair loss is a symptom of Iron Deficiency.

My question(s) is this:
– Would my deficiency be accelerating my inevitable MPB?
– Wouldn’t my deficiency result in hairloss all over my head instead of classic MPB fashion?
– Would correcting my Iron levels result is less shed, maintenance, or regrowth at all?

Thanks!

I don’t know what tests your doctor conducted to completely eliminate genetic male pattern baldness as a possible cause for your hair loss. If you’re losing hair in a classic pattern, you could have a combination of genes and low iron.

So to answer your questions — Yes, iron deficiency could accelerate your genetic hair loss. It may also cause thinning elsewhere on your head. Correcting your iron levels is important, but it may not impact the genetic patterned hair loss.

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Could SMP Damage Previously Transplanted Hair?

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am interested in your new SMP process. I have had approximately 3000 grafts in the past and am running low on donor area.

My question is, will the SMP damage the hair that I have already had transplanted? The purpose of SMP in my case is to make the hair look thicker when it grows out.

The SMP (scalp micropigmentation) process works really well for this problem (low on donor hair), provided that you have enough hair to take advantage of the reduced contrast between scalp and skin color. SMP will not damage the previous hair transplants or any naturally growing hair that is present.

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Counterpoint to Dr Rassman’s War on Drugs Opinion

This was received in response to my post — The Economic Impact of Illicit Drug Use on American Society:

I am surprised to see your post on the issue of The War On Drugs. I believe there are a lot of opinions on this matter some in favor of yours (Ron Paul for example) and many who would disagree with you mainly people of a substance abuse history who are now recovering. You use the words lives lost and lives ruined. These words can fit perfectly with a opposing argument in which lives have been lost and families ruined from a love one overdosing or simply using certain drugs.

I for one do not believe legalizing and taxing and distributing meth or any other lethal drug would solve the ultimate problem at hand. And that is that our nation at its present state could possibly have the biggest drug abuse problem in the world, and this is not counting the millions on prescription medication. Its a shame that government has to step in and help us or hurt us, depending on how you look at it, but do you really think that having a legal distributor supplying an addict with a harmful substance and making money so we all can benefit from it is such a good idea? I was taught that the bad guy was the drug dealer and that drugs ruin lives.

There is no easy answer. Our prisons are filled with drug victims and I would not want to promote that we let them out of prison and then encourage them to overdose on legalized drugs. I know that we can not stop people from doing what they will do, one way or the other, legally or illegally. I just see what is not working… and what we are doing is not working.

I agree with you that our drug dependent society goes all the way into the doctor’s office. People demand the prescription medications that they see advertised on TV and some of the problems like “restless leg syndrome” were not even taught to me in my medical school curriculum, yet the industry that surrounds all of the restless legs out there is growing and growing and growing.

When I see patients in my hair transplant practice, I encourage the use of Tylenol, aspirin, and other non-narcotic medications to use after surgery and with the power of my suggestions, my patients seem to manage without heavy use of narcotics. Some of my patients call to ask for antibiotics when they sneeze, sniffle, or cough and I tell them that their body can handle the sneeze, sniffle, or cough without prescription antibiotics, as most of the sneezes, sniffles, or coughs are caused by allergies or viruses that will not respond to antibiotics. I try to be proactive.


2011-06-20 07:33:46Counterpoint to Dr Rassman’s War on Drugs Opinion

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Peyronies disease is a rare complication of Propecia (finasteride)

Merck’s controversial hair loss drug Propecia (generic: finasteride) has been linked to penile fibrosis, a serious sexual disorder which is also known as Peyronie’s disease. This condition can cause severe genital malformation, as well as persistent urological problems. Signs and symptoms of Propecia-induced penile fibrosis may include excessive curvature of the penis, pain during intercourse, erectile dysfunction, indentations in the penis, and genital shrinkage.

In the tens of thousands of prescriptions I have written, no one has ever presented with this condition to me, which to me means that this is a very rare side effect. The incidence of this problem in the general population is reported to be as common as 13%. I do not examine men with an erection so unless they reported this problem to me, I would not know if they had developed it on the drug. I mention this because it is my responsibility to post any such possibility that links the drugs I prescribe to conditions that it may produce.

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Crescina Hair Regrowth Formula

hello Dr Rassman,

i had a hair transplant surgery from a well recognized doctor before 7 months, without noticing very significant results.Maybe a very small change.i have been using that Crescina products for a few months for better penetration of the scalp.(the old skin fell over my scalp 2-3 months ago, after the surgery), and nowadays the skin of my scalp is clean. How long will it take for me to see good results, or shall i worry?please let me know, because i am a bit stressed.

Best Regards

It generally takes 7-8 months after a hair transplant to see enough hair length to show about 80% of the value. At about 12 months, 95% of the value of the hair transplants should be evident.

Regarding Crescina, while I am impressed by the slick product packaging and fancy animations on their site, none of the ingredients listed (including lysine, cysteine, silicon, zinc) blow me away. If its making your scalp feel cleaner and you’re not experiencing any irritation, you should continue doing as you please, but I wouldn’t look to this for hair regrowth.


2007-11-21 13:35:33Crescina Hair Regrowth Formula