Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Why All the Negative Doctor Posts Without Stating Their Names?

Dr. Rassman. I have noticed that you have a fair amount of threads about bad transplant surgeons such as this one here, but you never say the doctor’s name. What is the point in posting this unless you mention the Doctor’s name so patients in the future will stay clear of this doctor and others? Without mentioning the doctor’s name, other patients will be subject to his horrible results.

CrookI would love to mention the doctors’ names, but that would almost certainly bring me into court, something that I do not wish to spend my life doing (it might bring me to the brink of financial ruin with large lawyer fees just to prove what I said). I get angry when I see the mess created by many of these doctors, but alas, you must use the information in ways to become a knowledgeable buyer, so I use this blog to call people’s attention to what they need to look for when engaging a doctor’s service for a hair transplant.

In 1994, at a medical meeting that easily had 400 physician in the audience, I rose to the microphone and openly referred to the sleaze in this business, with doctors low balling patients and deforming them without telling them the risks to hair transplantation (giving them proper informed consent). The surgical results before 1994 were often deforming and pluggy. These, in hindsight, were very substandard when compared to today’s artfully performed hair transplants. Many doctors would not enter the business to perform hair transplants because of the deforming nature of the surgery at that time. One doctor, in particular, was my target and when I exemplified this sleazy, dishonest doctor without mentioning his name (I called him a “crook” in the true sense of the word), the audience responded with a standing ovation for my being so outspoken, echoing my message. At the end of the session, I was surrounded by many doctors congratulating me on my outspoken comment. One doctor (the one whose name was never mentioned) waited for the crowd to clear and approached me with great anger, saying that he did not appreciate my calling him a crook. As I never mentioned his name, I said “If the shoe fits, wear it” and walked away.

Posted on

How many grafts can be taken from the donor area by FUE safely without over-harvesting

The donor area in the average Caucasian male has ~12,500 Follicular Units of which possibly up to 60% can be taken for hair transplants. For FUE without becoming over-harvested, about half of this amount (30% or 3,750 grafts) can be taken with FUE to be safe. The thickness of the hair shaft (fine, medium or coarse) alter this number (lowers if for fine hair and increases it for coarse hair). The question to ask, is how much hair do I have to leave behind to keep my donor area LOOKING healthy and full enough not to reveal that I was transplanted.

Posted on

Why Can’t I Have a Hair Transplant at 17 Years Old?

I’m a 16 and half year old guy. i started losing my hair since i was 13. (i was overweight and i used not to eat much) which affected me badly afterwards. i lost much hair, but i can say it has stopped. i went to several doctors and dermatologists they say that it’s hereditary (we have many bald men in our family. especially mom’s family).

it’s something that is bothering me all the time and makes me cry alot. i have nothing else to do but to undergo a hair transplant. i searched alot on the internet about that and i read a question on BaldingBlog.Com from another 16 year old guy facing the same problem of mine who wants a hair transplant too. but the doctor told him that he’s too young for a hair transplant.

My only question is … is it too risky for me to have a hair transplant ? or Why can’t i have a hair transplant at this age or at 17 ? … I think it’s the only way to get my hair back. because i’m tired of using Minoxidil and someproducts that won’t help me to get at least 90% of my hair back or something.

I’m really sorry for distrubance … but i feel hopeless about my hair.and Thanks in-advance.

Here are some basic questions you should answer before considering a hair transplant:

  1. What do you expect to get from a hair transplant?
  2. Do you really know what a hair transplant can and can not do?
  3. If you are receding or thinning, did you get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you are really balding?
  4. If so, are you being managed by a competent, caring doctor?
  5. Are you on medications?
  6. What is the Master Plan you (or even better, your doctor) has in mind for you?

At 17 years old, you can not know much about the subject if you think that a hair transplant will solve your problem. Hair loss at 17 is at the beginning of a lifelong process and you simply can not know what type of pattern you will develop until it shows with miniaturization and/or recession/balding. You really need to develop a Master Plan before you consider doing anything. Get a good local doctor to evaluate you and start to get smarter and more educated about this.

Posted on

How Many Grafts Will It Take to Fill in This Area?

To answer the question of how many grafts it will take, I will have to know the thickness of your hair (fine, medium or coarse). The range therefore would be 2,700 for fine, 2,300 for medium, and possibly 2,000 for coarse hair. From the photo, it is evident that you are balding behind the line you drew, so extra grafts should be considered for this area depending on how far back it goes.

how many grafts 2

Posted on

Why Do I Have a High Forehead?

hi i am a 16 year old male and for as long as i have known i have had a high forehead. my hairline is straight not receded but when i push up my eyebrows my highest wrinkle is just short of an inch below my hairline. i have never noticed any change of my hairline so what could be the problem.

We see wide variations in the construct of people’s faces. I remember a hairline that I put back which was less than an inch from the eyebrows. The man told me that it was his family mark and that he wanted to look like everyone else in the family. It would not have been my choice, but it was his. You can always move it if you do not like it, but at 16, I would want to get your parents involved in any and all decisions with regard to altering your hairline.


2007-02-27 10:59:07Why Do I Have a High Forehead?

Posted on

How Much is Enough Hair?

This 26 year old man received 2200 grafts into the frontal hairline. He came into my office today asking me if he should do any more transplants. He trusts me and felt that I would give him the correct advice.

His results are remarkably good and he is very pleased with the results. Like most young men, he feels he might be happier with more hair, but he is not at all dissatisfied with the fullness he sees when looking in the mirror. I told him that considering his age and his overall satisfaction with the results, that additional hair transplants should be postponed, and we should watch for more hair loss over the next 5-10 years. If his balding does not progress and his present stage of fullness is maintained by continuing Propecia (he has been taking it for the last three years), then he can increase the fullness with more grafts into the frontal triangle. If, however, his balding pattern should progress to a more advanced pattern, the additional donor hair may be best placed elsewhere on his head, for the best results.

This is a call that could go either way. If he felt that a fuller forelock area was his focus, then I would have no hesitation to fill in the rest of this frontal triangle. Clearly, I am in no rush to take his money and he is in no rush to get more hair, so for the moment, we have decided to wait out the unfolding nature of his future.

Photo on the left is the “before”, from a few years ago. The photo on the right is the “after”, taken today.

Posted on

Why Does Minoxidil Packaging Say to Only Apply on the Vertex?

I recently received topical generic minoxidil solution and it says that it is only to be used on the vertex and is not for frontal hair loss. Is this true, will applying it to the front hairline be useless, if so, why?

Also, i would like to use a non-finasteride supplement in addition to the minoxidil, can you recommend one, or which ones are most popular??

The FDA only approved claims for crown benefits for minoxidil so the manufacturer complies with the FDA ruling. I don’t think it’ll be completely useless in the front, but the success rates are likely higher in the vertex than in the hairline.

There is no good substitute for finasteride in my opinion, but a popular natural supplement is saw palmetto. Popularity and reliability are too different things, however.


2008-12-18 14:45:27Why Does Minoxidil Packaging Say to Only Apply on the Vertex?

Posted on

How stem cells make hair, teeth, glands and other organs (Schematic Diagram)

It should be clear from this schematic that to make a single hair, requires the use of epithelial stem cells with a lot of coaxing (click to enlarge).

Functional ectodermal organ regeneration as the next generation of organ replacement therapy, Etsuko Ikeda, Miho Ogawa, Makoto Takeo, Takashi Tsuji Published:06 March 2019https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.190010

Author’s Conclusion about Hair: “Because hair follicle stem cells are the only adult stem cells possessing organ-inductive potential that can be transplanted autogenously, the first human clinical trial of organ regenerative therapy will undoubtedly investigate hair follicle regeneration. The regeneration of hair follicles using our organ germ method is now being investigated in a pre-clinical study to cure patients suffering from androgenic alopecia, with an aim of conducting clinical trials in 2020. This hair follicle regenerative therapy will be a milestone in organ regenerative therapies and will lead to the development of material and responsive infrastructure to realize organ regenerative medicine. Applying knowledge of hair follicle regeneration and expertise obtained from clinical trials to other organ germs or organoids will enable the regeneration of other organs from pluripotent and tissue stem cells in combination with organoid technologies in the next few decades.”


2019-05-19 10:39:39How stem cells make hair, teeth, glands and other organs (Schematic Diagram)

Posted on

Why is hair loss irregular with age?

I just don’t understand why the earlier someone starts balding doesn’t always mean they bald extremely quickly. Like what explains a 30 year old balding almost completely in 2 years vs a 20 year old who starts balding at 20 but takes 15 years to show significant loss?

Again, it is tied to the genetics. Each hair in a region has a finite number of hair cycles to it. when the hairs go through its limited # of anagen growth cycles (a growth cycle in men is between 2-3 years), then the hair often dies. The death may be partial in the Folliclular groups (normally say a hair follicle has 3 hairs in a group, one of two my die off) making the hair look like its is thinning from above (it is thinning) and eventually that last hair will fall out sooner than later. So for an aggressive balding pattern (Norwood Class 7 pattern) the number of three year hair cycles for all of the hair from the front to the crown might be 8 cycles (pre-programmed at birth) of 3 years (3 times 8 = 24 years old to balding). Not a good scenario. Most Class 7 men will be bald by the time they are 26 years old. The same thing can occur in older men 30, 40 or even 50 and they may lose parts of each Follicular group of between 2-3 hairs each) and then eventually the rest falls out at its pre-programmed death. Drugs like finasteride, prolong these cycles making the hair last longer.

I hope I didn’t confuse you, but I got stimulated to give you a scientific view of the process that you are describing in different men of different ages.


2020-05-14 06:21:10Why is hair loss irregular with age?

Posted on

How Will The Doctor Know To Diagnose My Female Hair Loss?

well i have this thinning problem for the past 4 years. it was started when i conceiving my daughter 4 years back. i was prescribed chronostim for my hairloss and i used it for 2 months and my hairloss stop for a year (2005). the problem seems to show again about a few month ago roughtly on January 2006. the hair loss is diffuse and can be seen clearly on the crown. i started using minoxidil a month ago and my hair still falling.

To be honest i would like to have the hair transplant for the crown only so that it can look more dense.

my question is whether i am the right candidate for the hair transplant?. how will the doctor know that my donor area is not affected by AGA since females always have a diffuse thinning?

A doctor should look at your donor area with a hair densitometer to look for miniaturization. The greater the miniaturization, the worse the donor hair will be for hair transplants.

The important thing to understand is that women are generally not good candidates for hair transplantation, because the ‘donor hair’ is not healthy. If there is an area of good donor hair and the balding area is small enough to make a difference with a limited supply of your ‘good’ hair, then hair transplants MAY work, but you run risks that include the failure of the hair to grow enough to make a difference, and even experiencing hair loss with the transplants (this a real risk). You need to be able to trust that the doctor is not just taking your money for a quick sell, leaving you no better or even worse off once you empty your purse.