The Lion’s Mane

Sir, my age is about 23 years i am the student of information technology where hairs are the main part of human personality which make a man live and active every here. when ever i use to set with my friends and compare my hair i feel some shame. My hair are falling with a big speed what should i do.

I use the metaphor that hair to men is like the ‘lion’s mane’ is to a lion. It is what creates his majestic look. You are like the lion, and are confronting a real problem- that your age and your hair do not conform with the overall image that the world expects. At your age, I understand that confidence in your appearance does count for your ability to feel comfortable with others. The shame you feel is clearly not of your making but you feel it nevertheless. None of these feelings are abnormal behavior and I have seen it in many men of all ages-from all walks of life. No one wants to look old and our society has been less than fair to the balding men out there, many times cruel.

There is good news for people with hair loss. The drug Propecia can slow, stop or possibly reverse hair loss in young men and it has been on the market for 8 years with good results reported by millions of men. I would advise you to seek out a competent doctor in this field (your dermatologist or family practitioner), then seek his advice. I am certain that this drug will help most young men with hair loss, but you need a diagnosis and you need a doctor to manage you. If you are in California or New York, you can make an appointment with me or one of my associates (see newhair.com) or if you are not near by, visit ISHRS.org where other doctors who focus on this field can be found in your area.

Most 23 year olds are not good candidates for hair transplants for it may be too early, but the future is bright. Good luck.

The limits of hair graft calculators (from Reddit with comment by W. Rassman)

This is nice to see, however, it doesn’t take into account a few very important factors:

1- Your hair thickness (fine hair has 1/4 the value of coarse hair) so the calculations are different based upon hair thickness

2- Your hair density in the donor area: We are all different with different hair densities. The density reflects the donor bank so if you take out say 3000 grafts, and you only have 3000 to donate, then you have used up your reserve. A good doctor will tell you how much hair you have in your donor bank and as you use it, how much remains.

3- What can you expect in the future as hair loss is progressive. Today, for example, you have some frontal loss and you transplant it with 2000 grafts. In a few years maybe you have more frontal recession behind the area that was transplanted and you also develop some early crown loss. If you transplant these two areas, then maybe in time, the crown loss will become more and wider, what do you do then? Did you leave enough hair in the donor bank to manage future hair loss?

The hair transplant conundrum is not so simple as a graft calculator can easily solve. A good doctor who has experience, will address this for you and give you a realistic assessment of your short term and long term needs. I always tell my patients don’t think a year out, because balding is a lifetime problem.

HOW MANY GRAFTS Do You Need? Try this 30 Second GRAFT CALCULATOR! from tressless


2019-08-22 08:19:29The limits of hair graft calculators (from Reddit with comment by W. Rassman)

The Laser Hat – our experience (with one set of patient photos)

A little over a five years ago, I agreed to work with a company that supplied Laser Hats to us at no charge (valued at $3,000 each). I got 12 volunteers and sold them a Laser Hat for $500 with the caveat that they would come into our office every three months for photos. At the time we did this, we did not have the HAIRCHECK instrument. It would have been the perfect tool to measure if any value was achieved with the once-a-day use of the Laser Hat. There were clearly problems in the quality of the photos and the way the patients combed their hair. I for one will admit that I was less than fastidious about standardizing the quality of the photos. None of the dozen patient reported any significant benefit. Four of the 12 did not come back for photos but I did speak to each of them a year later. They were incentivized to get their $500 back and to keep the Laser Hat if they came in four times in a year.

The patient below had pictures 18 months apart which are shown. These photos were less important than what the man told me, essentially he was disappointed that he did not see results to the experimental Laser Hat. The upper row of photos are 18 months earlier than the lower row of photos. You judge for yourself. Is is worth $3,000 to purchase a Laser Hat?

 

before laser hatafter laaser hat

The invention of Cardio-version for arrhythmia of the heart

In my general surgery practice, I met a man who had burns on his chest during an examination for an elective surgery. I asked him about it. He said that he got fainting spells with heart palpitations and one day he fell against the electric fence and it reversed the fainting spells and the heart palpitations. That was in the 1940s, so he put electric fence wires around his property and through his house and every time to had a ‘spell’ he would shock himself. I believe that this man actually discovered cardio-conversion before the medical profession did. The burns were from the electric shocks and his entire chest was covered with old and fresh scars. Don’t laugh at the value of electricity, it might save you life and your hair.

The Internet Rumor Mill Says Dr Rassman Was Paid By Merck

This is part of a comment someone posted that I wanted to address:

I was disheartened last night to read that Dr. Rassman was paid to present to a Merck Committee which could perhaps explain his bias. I don’t know how much he was paid, how often it occurred, or if the company used any psychological manipulation on him, but I am starting to feel he’s lost for good. It is a very scary world in which we live, if one can trust their own animal instincts over the educated and experienced opinions of doctors.

To clarify, I was never paid by Merck. Anyone can post comments on forums, but this is bordering on slander.

Over the years of writing my BaldingBlog, I have come across a select group of critics who have an issue with Propecia and I address those issues here without censorship. To clarify again, I prescribe Propecia, the only FDA approved oral medication for genetic androgenic alopecia (AGA) to my patients who have been diagnosed with AGA. The risks and benefits are explained to them as an optional medication.

I do not make money from selling Propecia, as I sell it in my office for almost my cost (just enough extra to cover stocking costs). In fact, most of my patients go to a drug store to get the generic finasteride 5mg, which they cut in quarter doses. I have nothing financially to gain from recommending Propecia (finasteride). Since I make most of my income from hair transplant surgery, it would actually be advantageous for me NOT to recommend Propecia. So where is my bias?

A Good Master Plan Will Not Produce This Type of Result (Photo)

This patient had a hair transplant many years before. The surgeon clearly didn’t understand the hairline or the balding potential for this poor man. He is now stuck with a terrible frontal hairline presentation and an isolated hair transplant in the front and top surrounded by his balding scalp. He needs to have a real expert manage his problem today and it will not be inexpensive.


2020-01-09 14:11:25A Good Master Plan Will Not Produce This Type of Result (Photo)

The Importance And Power of Sleep To Your Overall Health

This is taken from this most recent issue of the Scientific American, October 2015

Author Robert Stickgold discussed what happens if you do or don’t get enough sleep. I will outline some important points that stood out from the article:

1- The immune system: works better with a good night of sleep. When individuals were vaccinated and sleep deprived, they produced significantly less antibodies to vaccine virus than those who had a good night sleep. This suggests that the immune system does not work efficiently in a sleep deprived individual.

2- Appetite is stimulated when a person has less sleep because (a) an appetite stimulating hormone (ghrelin) increases in the blood and (b) the production of leptin which normally inhibits hunger, is decreased. The results are that adults who do not have a good nights sleep have a greater risk of obesity by 50% and children from 6-9 years old who sleep less than 10 hours a night, are 2 1/2 times more likely to be obese.

3- Diabetes: There is an association between sleep restriction and the development of type 2 diabetes. The management of sugar is impaired in sleep deprived adults as well.

4- The brain’s ability to recognize words in various situation is impaired with less sleep. We also need sleep to integrate what we learn every day into our memory.

5- Many psychiatric disorders including depression are more likely to occur in individuals who do not have a good night sleep.

6- Sleep promotes selective stabilization, strengthening, integration and analysis of new memories.

7- Important focused learning is improved with a good nights sleep. Things that you need to remember to take a test, for example, apply here.

8- The brain cleans house when you sleep, is more efficient in removing toxins during sleep than when you are awake.

9- A good nights sleep enhances the integration of past experiences with future performance.

10- The more complex our lives are, the more we need a good night’s sleep to manage these complexities.

Comment: Many people snore and their airways are obstructed, disallowing them to sleep uninterrupted through the night. These people will have many of the above stated problems with overall health. I have a smart watch, which I have worn at night to find out how much I move around restless while I sleep. I found that I lay still more 85% of the night while I slept. A nice function to test for sleep disturbance for those of you with a smart watch. Evaluate how long and how well you sleep.

Conclusion: If you are deprived of sleep, you are more than just being very tired when you wake – you may wind up sick more often, overweight, forgetful and depressed.

A good nights sleep varies between people, but it is plausible that a minimum of 7 hours of restful sleep for an adult is important for good body and brain health.

 

The Hair Transplant of Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi

It’s pretty common gossip in Europe, but what do you think about the hair transplant of Silvio Berlusconi (Italy’s PM)?

Mr. Berlusconi’s hair transplant makes a big difference in his appearance, as evident in the before-after comparison above. I have some mild criticism in that the hairline should be a bit more irregular and possibly very slightly lower, but it does make him look younger than his 73 years. The facelift he had also didn’t hurt his desire to have a more youthful appearance.

I should note that the photos I’ve seen tend to be a little blurry and I haven’t been able to find any great high-resolution photos of his transplanted hairline.


2010-03-16 08:30:42The Hair Transplant of Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi

The Hair on the Sides of My Head Started Thinning at 17 Years Old

Hello Dr. Rassman

I have a question about a condition I’ve had since the age of 17. During school i first noticed that the hair on the sides of my head started to thin, i then noticed general thinning of my entire scalp hair, i noticed the thinnest hair coming from the crown. as a few years pasted i noticed slight recession on both sides of my hairline.

What i find bizarre is that I’m now approaching 26 and still have pretty good coverage, the only thing I’ve noticed in the last 3 years is 2-3 tiny bald spots in random locations across the scalp (no conventional pattern) my crown thinning has not to my knowledge progressed

What i can tell you is that i am a male, my mother also has entire scalp thinning, but even thinner than mine but no slight recession. i always remember my mother having hair like this.

My father who’s 69 has still got quite a lot of hair, in fact he only started losing a bit of hair around his early 60’s.

If i do in fact have DUPA what does the future hold for me in terms of further hairloss?

I do not know what you have, but if you have diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), then in the future you will have diffuse thinning in no particular pattern. I have no way to know how much more you will lose hair though, as everyone is different.

There is a cosmetic treatment for DUPA patients, called Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP). It is not a cure by any means, but it can make you look fuller. In any event, you should see a doctor and get a diagnosis.