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hey doc, i am a 36 year old man who always had such thick hair up to a year ago. To some it may even appear to still be thick cuz its wavy. I started propecia about 9 months ago and it was effective for regrowth and maintenance. However, i started taken 2iu’s of jintropin about 4 months ago and noticed more sheading. Can jintropin cause this to increase, and if so, why. In all my readings hgh was supposed to help in hair growth and maintenance. Is it the combo of propecia, procerin, and hgh that is causing this. Im also taking 10grams of l-arginine

Human growth hormone can cause hair loss. If this is not being done under a doctor’s care, then simply stop it and maybe you will arrest the hair loss process. If you are being treated by a doctor, then check with that doctor on the relationship I have discussed here. You are playing with fire with regard to your hair loss and may get burned (in other words, you can lose even more hair) You might feel healthier, but can you manage undergoing progressive hair loss because of the jintropin?

I am female, age 71 and have a question. My hair has been breaking off quite badly for over a month. My Physician says I am not taking medication that would cause it. I have never dyed, bleached, or stripped my hair but I do wash it daily. I have been treating it with the Nioxin treatment kit for about 3 weeks but see no improvement. I do not brush it, use wide comb and have it man cut short. Have any suggestions for stopping the breakage?

Try a good conditioner made for dry hair and see if it helps. Check with a good stylist for suggestions.

I heard that thinning hair can not benefit from surgery. That the hair follicle will be over impacted along with area around it? Just balds spot can be helped.

This is a partial truth. When transplanting thinning hair, one must worry about precipitating hair loss. That is why I do not recommend preventive hair transplants, because there is always a damage risk. If the thinning is very advanced, then my view may change, for the value of the residual hair may not be great. There is a balance between the value of thinning hair vs the value of transplanted hairs. Propecia works well for preventing hair loss damage (shock loss) in some situations. That is where the experienced surgeon that is honest has great value. Please note that I use both terms — experienced and honest. Many doctors who treat thinning as a balding problem and do not weigh out the long term value of these decisions may have lots of experience doing hair transplants on thinning men and women, yet their lack of integrity may be more the rule that is in play.

For the crown, the degree of miniaturization does relate to the decisions for transplantation. If the degree of miniaturization is high (above 70%) and does not respond to finasteride, then transplantation may be a reasonable decision. By reasonable, I mean that there will probably be a visual benefit from the transplant. Decisions for crown transplantation must weigh the supply and demand issues reflecting existing or progressive hair loss, considering the Master Plan for long term hair loss as the primary focus. For the advanced balding patterns, crown transplantation may not fit well into a long term Master Plan if considerable frontal loss is either present or predictable. If the patient is very young (under 30) then the risks of accelerated hair loss may be a problem, so isolated crown transplantation may be contraindicated.

In conclusion, thinning hair can be transplanted effectively in some patients, while in others, it could be a disasterous step in accelerating the hair loss process or leaving patients with a limited remaining hair supply for treating future hair loss.

Taking the day off today for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Please check back tomorrow for more new entries — and feel free to search through this site for thousands of past hair loss questions and answers.

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Hello. I am a 19 year old male. When I was 16, I had a really bad infection on my chest (follicultis) which destroyed a lot of hair on my chest. Now that I am older, I am showing lots hair starting to grow, but because of the infection, its growing in clumps and patches, and looks HORRIBLE. Is there any sort of topical thing I can apply to my chest that can possibly restore these damaged hair follicles? A response would be GREATLY appreciated, sir.

You might try minoxidil. It should grow or stimulate hair growth on the chest. Give it a full 6-8 months before concluding that it is not working and use it twice a day. Chest hair can be transplanted from the scalp. I have done that before, but I would hold off on that until you are older (25 years old minimum), as chest hair is often delayed into the mid-20s and through the early 30s.

Dr Rassman,

I appreciate your reponse regarding sebum question in whether it causes hairloss. You responded by saying it doesnt cause hairloss but it may cause your hair to be stuck to your scalp, then pulled out when combing or brushing, which leads me to 2questions.

1) IF hair is pulled out, would that loss of hair be permenant or would you regrow it once consistant washing resumes?

2) To put simply can hygiene like my case of not washing my scalp consistantly for 4yrs cause permenant hairloss? Like I said, its possible I went up to a month w/o washing with shampoo although the scalp got wet everyday because I did take a shower daily. Are all the factors that contribute to hairloss below the scalp, so even if a scalp was dirty or oily, it wouldnt make a difference?

As I said in my last response to you, not washing your hair will not cause hair loss, even for years.

If hair is pulled out once, twice or just a few times, it will usually regrow. If it is consistent, we call the hair loss traction alopecia (caused by pulling) and it can be permanent.

I remember a patient of mine with a beautiful hair transplant (one time surgery). He was mugged and the gang that mugged him, held him by his hair while they beat him and robbed him. After they finished with him, they yanked out his transplanted hair, laughed and left him with a broken nose, lacerations on the face, torn lip and scalp bleeding. He was taken to my office looking like a train wreck because he refused to go to a hospital Emergency Room. He only cared about the hair that was pulled out and gone. I told him that his hair would come back and sent him on to a hospital emergency room with the ambulance that brought him to my office. Later that year, he told me that all of his hair grew back within 4-6 months.

I am 21 years old and I have about 15 white hairs around my temples… I used to have about 3 or 4 last year but a lot of stress over this past year has spread the white hairs. I have been told that plucking out the white hairs will cause for the white hairs to spread. Is this true? Also, are there any spray on dyes or temporary touch up dyes that are available on the market? Any information would be helpful, thanks!

Plucking hairs produces traction alopecia and may cause permanent loss of the hair if you persist on doing it. Plucking hair in one area will NOT cause hair to be lost or gray in another area. You will almost certainly see more white hairs over the years. I would put my money on genetic causes, not stress.

As for hair dyes, you should ask your local hair stylist.

I had a gash on my head about an inch and a half that required 7 stitches. I received immediate medical attention and I now have a scar on that spot. It is close to my hairline, will hair eventually grow back?

If the ‘gash’ repair produced a scar, then the scar will not grow hair back. If the scalp repair was done scalp to scalp, it may grow hair back. The direction of the scar has a lot to do with what it may look like. Front to back scars near the hairline tend to do worse than side to side scars at the hairline. As you are in Los Angeles, pay me a visit in my LA office and I can tell you that answer after examining your scalp and scar.

hi was just wondering whenever i get stressed i start to feel the right side of my head above my ear area get warm and tingly so ive just noticed recently that whenever it happens i tend to scratch/rub that area i ahave very bad thinning now on that side and also my right eyebrow for same reasons will these hairs ever grow back ? thanks

Chronic scratching will produce traction alopecia. What you are describing is a variant of a condition previously discussed on this blog, trichotillomania. It may grow back if the damage is not severe and you stop picking at it. Only time will tell you the answer.

Does playing with your hair cause hairloss?

I get bored during the day and i have a tendency to twist and pull my hair around my fingers and push it back alot with my hand. does this at all weaken the hair enough to cause any damage or hairloss?

There is a point where traction alopecia develops when there is enough pull on what you are doing. Some people are also pickers and as they pick out their hair they also develop alopecia (alopecia means hair loss). When this happens it is called trichotillomania (obsessive compulsive disorder).