Category: Uncategorized

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Is It Unusual For Patients to Travel Far to See a Hair Doctor?

Hey there Dr. Rassman. I’ve been reading through your site here for a few months after I noticed some thinning at the front of my hairline. I’ve been on Propecia for over a month now and I feel better about the situation but obviously have not had any results yet. The reason I’m contacting you is because, frankly, my hair is very, very important to me and it’s hard for me to effectively convey that to my primary care doctor. Is it unusual for patients to travel cross country to seek your treatment or would I be better off finding someone here in Memphis? I am not in a current financial situation that would allow me to come see you but some day I might really want intensive care for my hair. I can tell by reading your material that you are wise man who cares about people. I would appreciate any correspondence and advice you have to offer.

Our practice is not a typical hair restoration practice in that a good number of our patients do travel a long way to see us, though more than half of our patients are local to California or surrounding states. For those patients who are not local to one of our offices, you can set up a “virtual consultation” with us to get an initial opinion. Some things can be managed without a face to face meeting, but we often direct those potential patients to at least have a phone call. We encourage the use of photographs to help us understand the problems at hand. Hair is very important to our audience and many of those we do a virtual consultation with over the phone have developed questions from reading this blog. If you’d like to request additional info or setup a consultation, check here.

With just a month on Propecia and without knowing more about your hair loss situation, I couldn’t begin to guess if you’re a candidate for hair transplant surgery. Hypothetically though, you should choose the surgeon that can best fits your needs and that you feel most comfortable with. I wouldn’t suggest basing your decision on convenience. For those coming from out of town for surgery, we do offer a travel program.


2019-03-12 00:26:33Is It Unusual For Patients to Travel Far to See a Hair Doctor?

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5 months on finasteride & Minoxidil (photo)

This is a terrific result from the use of minoxidil and finasteride after 5 months of use. This man restored his hairline on medication alone


2021-02-24 07:45:265 months on finasteride & Minoxidil (photo)

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Is My Chest Pain from Minoxidil?

I had used minoxidil for hair growth 12 months ago for 4 months. I stopped it. That time I have not observed any side effects. Now I am again using the same to control the hair fall. Now I am feeling like chest pain (muscular). Is it because of minoxidil..? how safe this medicine ..? because chest and heart are more important than the hair.. Thanks in advance

Chest pain with minoxidil may indicated coronary artery disease, because minoxidil can drop blood pressure and cause reduced circulation to the coronary arteries (angina). Please see a doctor to make that diagnosis, as taking minoxidil may be the way you find out that you have some serious heart problem.

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Over 5000 FUE grafts in a single session and this man now is balding in the back of his head

More than 5000 grafts performed in this limited space with FUE will deplete the donor area and this many will now have this huge discrepency between his donor area that was not harvested and the area that was harvested. Ther are two solutions for this type of balding (1) is scalp micropigmentation (https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/) and the second might be just to grow the hair he has long enough to cover the donor area. The over-harvested FUE means that he can never keep his hair short unless he has scalp micropigmentation.

depleted donor 40


2017-12-28 07:29:39Over 5000 FUE grafts in a single session and this man now is balding in the back of his head

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Is My Tight-Fitting Beanie Causing My Hair Loss?

I’ve been wearing a tight fitting beanie or toque as we call them here in Canada fairly regularly for about four months now. Often it will be all day, morning till night (so approx 12-14hrs). Quite frankly I just forget its on my head. I’d always had a full head of hair but have noticed some minor thinning at the hairline which I swear was not there some months ago before I started this beanie trend. I know you’ve spoken against hat or headgear wearing as a contributor to hair loss however some still suggest there may be a small correlation between the two.

I don’t believe excess dirt or sebum would contribute to hair loss but what about the notion of your hair/scalp needing oxygen? or vitamin D as produced by exposure to the sun? In regards to tight headgear, what about the idea of a decrease in circulation? Or a form of traction alopecia as the hair gets pushed or pulled in different directions for prolonged periods of time? Your insight would be appreciated.

Traction alopecia is certainly a possibility from wearing a beanie or anything tight on your scalp for extended periods of time. Problems with blood supply and oxygen levels aren’t going to cause hair loss, though they were once thought to be causes many years ago.

Hopefully, any vitamin D you’re not getting from sunlight is covered by your diet. It is my opinion that the hair does not have to get washed and sebum build-up will not impact hair growth, however, not washing your hair could cause your head to eventually stink.


2010-04-01 12:00:17Is My Tight-Fitting Beanie Causing My Hair Loss?

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6 & 4 months finasteride (photos)

These two photos show two different men responding to finasteride, 6 months on the left and 4 months on the right. This shows the value of this drug for many young men.


2020-09-15 12:50:086 & 4 months finasteride (photos)

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Is Rogaine Making it Hard to Concentrate and Changing My Head Shape?

Hi doctor,
I know its a really silly question but I am really obsessed with this issue. I am applying rogaine solution on my scalp everyday since I was 17. I am 23 now. I think I noticed that my head shape have dramatically changed due to the constant pressure. Its getting longer and slimmer and there is a bulge on my head. Is minoxidil or constant pressure to my head causing this situation? And my last question is, does rogaine affect my learning ability? When I apply this product, it retains me to concentrate on my daily issues. And I hardly understand what I read.

Thank you,
Regards

Feeling a “constant pressure” on your scalp doesn’t sound like something that I’ve encountered from Rogaine (minoxidil). I doubt that your head shape has changed, and while the drug does get absorbed your body, I also doubt that it is impacting your ability to learn or concentrate.

You should see a doctor about what you’re describing for an exam, as it could be unrelated to the medication.

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Is the Flap a “Cure for Baldness”?

There is a post out of the UK that says there is a cure for Baldness called the Fleming-Mayer Flap. Please see the link and give me back your comments. See “An end to baldness – for those who can stomach it“

The original procedure was actually ‘invented’ by Dr. Jose Juri in South America. It was widely performed around the world with, at times, terrible consequences. Dr. Juri has been quoted by doctors I know as believing that this invention was a terrible mistake and I believe he apologized for the damage his procedure did to the many victims that the radical surgery produced.

As there is no cure for baldness, certainly a radical scalp moving procedure has many opportunities for problems. Worse, it can not cover all of the balding area, for that would take God’s hands, and not this technique.

  • A banana-shaped piece of hair-bearing skin is marked out on the side of the head
  • Incisions are made and the flap is loosened, always remaining attached to the head in order to maintain the blood supply
  • The bald area is cut out of the patient’s scalp and removed
  • The flap is twisted, flipped over the top of the head and sewn into place where the bald patch was. Surrounding skin is stretched lower down to compensate

I would not recommend this procedure for many people with ordinary male pattern balding. Even if their balding pattern does not look too bad at the time they have the procedure, as they get older, the flap will make them look freakish and I have treated many patients for deformities resulting from this type of surgery as they continued with an advancing balding pattern. The article you sent is very misleading; the flap is not a cure for baldness.

For more information about the flap procedure, please visit: