Balding Blog – Page 1887

December 28, 2005

Hair Loss InformationAlopecia and Pregnancy – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,
I got alopecia and I am 4 months pregnant. I have started using fluort lotion as it helped me 5 years back, but I worry if it will have side effects because I am pregnant now. Will it effect my baby’s growth? I am very worried. Please help me out.

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I would be hesitent to use things that can be absorbed into your body (transepidermal absorption) as they may harm your baby. Hair loss in pregnancy is not uncommon, most of the time it will reverse after the baby is born (give it up to a year post partum). On occasion, pregnancy may precipitate the onset of female genetic balding, but until a year has passed after the baby is born, do not focus too much on that possibility. Good nutrition is critical both to the baby’s welfare and health, as well as your hair health.

December 27, 2005

Hair Loss InformationHair Loss After Chemically Straightening Hair – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
Im a male, 23, with no family trends of hair loss at all. About 2.5 months ago i had my hair chemicaly straightened, by a professional, im sorry im not sure of the exact chemical name. For a week or so after i had a sore scalp, and a couple of small burns/scabs on my scalp. A couple of days after i had the treatment i noticed hair loss. I noticed at my desk and on my pillow, everytime i run my hands through my hair gently i lose several strands of hair. I also lose alot during washing. I do also heat straighten my hair, but am trying to limit this too, could this also cause it? I dont wear my hair in a style thats induces traction. As the hair comes out i can see a little follicle on the end, so i guess its not breaking but is coming out at the root. To this day it appears to be getting no better, and my scalp often feels tingly and itchy, although the sores have long since healed.

Im worried that im going to go bald, the hair is still falling out and i was basicaly wondering what i could do to help it, could this be related to the chemical treatment? And how long could it take for the hair loss to stop….or could it be perminent. I am now using Alphosyl 2 in 1 medicated shampoo as recommended by my doctor, but it doesnt seem to help, and my doctor doesnt seem to be of much help. Sorry for the lengthy email, i really appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks in advance

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Although there may be no obvious genetic patterned hair loss in the family, it sometimes can skip generations, so evaluation for miniaturization is always a good approach to put metrics to the problem (good clinical science). There is no doubt that you have precipitated a problem with your straightening and chemicals, but if you stop with these abuses, then the dry scalp and short term hair loss should reverse, provided that you do not have genetic hair loss.

December 27, 2005

Hair Loss InformationRepairing a Flap – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

First of all I would like to commend you on your website. It is the first I have seen not trying to sell anything, but trying to help. To help people like me.

I apoligize for not giving my full name, but given the sensitivity of my query I wanted to establish a rapport and trust with you prior to identifying myself on the world wide web, I hope you understand. I really hope you can help. I feel that you can identify with my plight as having been a recipient of scalp reductions as you have mentioned in your replies.

About 10 years ago I had a scalp reduction in Beverly Hills. Looking back, I was certainly of low self esteem, and uninformed for what I was about to do. The plan was to eventually get a flap surgey done, after several scalp reductions. They advertised the fullest head of hair I had ever seen in various magazines, and had an office in tinsletown, they must be good I thought. Well I went through with the reduction and have regretted since. To my credit, I had not returned to have any more work done, and have certainly come to terms with my alopecia. I see pictures and read the horror stories, and thank God I didn’t continue on, as it seems a never ending pursuit to cover up the damage most recently caused.

Ten years later, and my hair slowly getting thinner, and the scar is becoming more and more visible. I have come to terms that I will never have the scar completely removed, or at least until some revolutionary technology is availible. But I would like to minimize the appearance if it is safe, and very probable (I am soooo very leery of making matters worse!!!!!. I will not succomb to sales pitches and insecurity, and may have actually learned a valuable lesson from this about the inner beauty of people (to look at the bright side). I have about a six inch scar starting from the back of my head over the crown, and about three inches thereafter. The scar on the back is very fine-at least he did that right. However on the top it seems to have stretched somewhat, and still a little pinkish, slightly elevated and still sometimes sore. This is the part that is most visible, and concerning.

I will send you pictures if you respond to my email address to help you with helping me. I read that you suggested a scar revision from a Dr. Nordstrom in Helsinki with a new type of suture. To be honest, surgery scares the hell out of me given the result of my last one, and would like to try anything else that may be less risky and effective in reducing this scars appearance. Can you recommend a dermatologist that you think can help? A minimal risk dermatology procedure? Maybe a product? I have read about several silicone based products that claim to help.
Would you recommend daily massage to lessen the pain?

I would like to take advantage of only the latest most effective remedies, and am in the information collecting phase, and would like to be thoroughly informed . Of all the hours and hours I have spent on the internet, your blog has made an impression on me the most, and I hope you can offer some suggestions-if only some creams that may reduce the colour and slightly elevated skin until some new better technology is availible.

Of course if they ever master hair cloning-I want hair like Bon Jovi in the 90’s! Anyways, I sincerely appreciate your time, and keep up the good work, you offer some realistic hope to people like me.

Best Regards

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I appreciate that you are very sensitive about your scar. Repairing scars is an art form, because every scar and every person is a variable and the differences between people and their scars make the repair of choice a difficult selection. I encourage you to send your photos, and even when you do, I can tell you that the number one best thing you can do for your “information collecting phase” is to be evaluated in person.

Scars are all different. They may respond differently to different treatments depending on the person, skin type, the direction of the scar (in your case a particularly important point) and the only way to know what the treatment options are is to have someone trustworthy and experienced to give you a hands-on evaluation and an opinion based upon experience with the problem. In my practice, I get doctors and patients sending me people for scar repairs almost every day, so a good deal of my practice profile deals with scars and/or difficult cases.

Hair transplants into scars may help and can be done with minimal invasiveness (see FUE/FOX procedures) and may apply to you. There are scalp coverings like Dermatch that when applied to the scalp make it match the hair color. Daily massage is something I recommend wholeheartedly for everyone regardless of scarring – and you are correct in that it has been shown to decrease pain in some cases and loosening up the scar from the surrounding tissues.

A trip to Los Angeles may be your best investment with the discounts now available on the various airlines.

Wishing you the best in the New Year! (and PS – I want hair cloning to be perfected, too!). Dr. Rassman has extensive experience in dealing with these problems, but before you come, please do send pictures from many good angles.

December 27, 2005

Hair Loss InformationGoing Gray and Losing Hair at 14 – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
I’m only 16 years old and i’ve noticed I’m losing alot of hair, more then the 100 hairs a day that is “normal”, probably about 400+ a day. My hair has been going gray since I was 14 years old and I’ve died it a few times using the same product each time so I don’t think thats the problem. Since it started (or maybe a day before?) it was VERY itchy, and has been since. Is there anyone you can recommend going to see? or anything I can do myself? As its obviously far from normal losing hair/graying at 14-16yrs old.

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You have an interesting problem which is not common and so your first step (based on your symptoms) should be to go to a dermatologist. You should expect that they will want to get some blood tests and possibly do a scalp biopsy. The dermatologist will likely advise you to stop using the hair dye at least until a diagnosis is established since dye in itself can cause itching and hair loss in some cases.

Before you go, there is one thing you can do – perform a hair count. Here is how you do it:

Clean your brush and shower drain of all hair and change your pillowcase.
For one week, collect all the hair that falls out and place it into an individual baggy marked with the day of the week.
At the end of the week, sit down and count EACH hair in EACH baggy — keep a tally.

If your hair loss is less than 100 hairs per day (and some experts say 150 hairs), this is considered a normal amount of loss. When you go to a doctor for this problem, this will also be useful information for them so you might consider making a copy of the tally or bringing the hairs in so that they can be examined under a microscope. Whatever you collect, the actual hair loss will be higher because hair falls out everyplace you go, so if you count 100 hairs/day, it is possible the actual loss might be double that number. You will want your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you have premature genetic balding.

Hope all goes well!

December 27, 2005

Hair Loss InformationHair Miniaturized on One Side – Should I Get a Transplant? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

First of all, thank you for the time you put into answering questions and posting them on your blog. I have found it a truly unique resource in the often troubling search for useful information on MPB and Hair Transplants. I am 27 years old and have been very slowly losing my hair since I was 20. All the loss has been in the form of a receding hairline and I am now probabaly only a norwood class 2 – 2.5. I have kept most of my hair most likely due to my use of propecia off and on for the past 5 years (2 years on and then 1 year off (like an idiot) and now 2 years back on). The outline of my hairline is now a normal mature hairline but it has slowly gotten thinner and thinner especially on one side while the other side has stayed relatively full. My question is two parts: Is it common to see significantly more miniaturization on one side of the hairline? Are there down sides to doing a hair transplant among those thin hairs to add density? Some might call me crazy for even considering such an option but the hair has gotten very thin and I would like to enjoy a full head of hair and not have to worry about covering up a balding area. I dont mind where my hairline stands but would really like to fill in the thinning area if there are not significant negative repercussions. My two biggest concerns are shock loss and what my hair might look like years down the road (will I have a small patch of transplanted hairs while everything else has thinned out or fallen out?). Thanks again for your time and this blog in general.

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I am glad that you find my blog helpful. Thank you for your kind words.

It is not unusual for a person to show more hair loss on one side than the other. The reality is that the other side will catch up to the worse side eventually.

Transplantation may be an option, assuming that your hair loss extends beyond the class 2 pattern. If the miniaturization goes well into the existing hair, then a transplant AFTER you are on a course of Propecia, may be a reasonable option. Shock loss is rare if you are taking Propecia. Good planning with a good doctor will assure your best outcome concerning your final appearance and should prevent you from having islands of hair. This requires a master plan for your short and long term hair loss, because hair loss is a progressive process. Since you are in Los Angeles, you should call my office at 800-NEW-HAIR or visit the Request Additional Info page to setup a free consultation in our LA office, or better yet, come to one of our Open House events where you can see a patient surgery, meet many patients who had the transplants done by me and meet other patients who had surgery done by others so you can compare apples to apples.

December 27, 2005

Hair Getting Thinner with Rogaine Use – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am nearly 23, and my hair has begun to thin out quite a bit (in my opinion). There doesn’t appear to be a pattern at all, so I believe this may be diffuse thinning. About six months I felt that the front of my scalp felt thinner, but the rest didn’t. When I got my hair cut two months after, I became alarmed at the thinness of my hair behind my hairline and decided to go on Rogaine in September. I spoke with a dermatologist, and he described it as “minor thinning” and after a blood test (nothing abnormal although I initially tested positive with the lupus test), he prescribed Propecia for me which I went on in the beginning of November. Since I initially have gone on Rogaine (about 3 months), I have noticed that the thinning has seemed to spread throughout my hair – in fact my hairline has thinned (not receded) significantly in my opinion. I know without a miniaturization test (I’m going to go back to my dermatologist in a month to do this), it is difficult to diagnose, I would like your opinion on my prognosis. Although the thinning only is noticable to me (my parents can’t tell in pictures and no one has commented on it to me) when I apply the Rogaine in the morning and at night, it looks quite thin in parts, particularly behind the hairline. I don’t know if I’m responding to the Rogaine yet (it has only been three months on it, and since its diffuse thinning, it would probably be difficult to see results at this point), although on my hairline, I do feel small hairs (which could either be new hair or old hairs being miniaturized).

My maternal uncle and grandfather both had receding hairlines and went bald at young ages, but my father still has an extremely thick head of hair. I have always had thick and coarse hair like him, but in the last six months I feel that I have lost half the density of my hair. The dermatologist described it as “minor thinning” and said usually when he sees hair loss in someone my age, it is usually stress (I moved to New York to begin a job in finance six months ago), but I don’t believe it’s TE as I don’t shed (either on my pillow or in the shower to the best of my knowledge), nor have I. I would appreciate your advice/opinion.

Thank you.

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Nothing replaces a good exam, but it sounds as if you are experiencing (possibly accelerated) genetic hair loss, regardless of your Dad’s currently thick hair. Rogaine typically takes at least nine months for maximum results and the Propecia needs about that long to show a change as well. It will be difficult for anyone in your position to make an objective assessment because of the emotions involved with losing one’s hair. Before starting more medications, you will want your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you have premature genetic balding. I suggest the following:

Stay on the Rogaine/Propecia for at least a year. Neither of these drugs are associated with hair loss unless you stop them. Be patient and 9/10 times you will see results.
Each month, have a good friend take a photo of your head where you are concerned about the loss. I will warn you that hair loss often looks worse in photos (especially if you use the flash), but the benefit is that if you standardize the lighting and the pose in the photo, you will be able to compare them over time and make an objective assessment.
Do follow up with your dermatologist or a good hair surgeon (since you are in New York, I recommend Dr. Bernstein) to both document any miniaturization and classify your hair loss according to the Norwood-Hamilton Scale. These people can take photos for long term documentation as well.

December 27, 2005

Did My Pain Pills Cause My Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i am 21 years old and i started loosing some of my hair when i was 19. It was all of the sudden after i had a kidney infection and was put on pain killers and cipro. it began to grow back until i got my wisdom teeth out which required me to be on pain pills for a month which caused significant hair loss. That was about a year ago and although i feel it doesnt fall out in the same large quantities i feel that the hair that has grown back is fine baby hairs. Is there anything that can reverse this or will i loose all my hair?

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Physical stress and sickness are known causes of temporary hair loss, as are adverse drug reactions. That being said, pain pills are not a known cause of hair loss and are unlikely to be the reason your hair thinning orfalling out, so it may be a coincidence since when you were sick both times you had to take pain pills as part of your recovery. Therefore, the most likely cause of your hair loss is that the physical stress from your sicknesses caused the hair to have weak growth and/or shed.

Hair can take some time to recover, especially if your body is still recovering to full health – getting healthy is the best way to reverse this sort of loss. You may want to get evaluated by a dermatologist or a knowledgeable hair doctor to see if there is some component of genetic/pattern loss and get your hair mapped for miniaturization, but you should be reassured that it is unlikely you will permanently lose all your hair due to the events and medications you describe, unless you are amongst the unfortunate few who has hair shaft thickness changes early in life.

December 27, 2005

Risks and Pain in Transplanting a 50 Year Old – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am considering a hair transplant of 2200 grafts and am 50 years old. I am in good health and I have plenty of donor hair. I feel that this would make a tremendous difference in my hairline and appearance. What are the risks and pain involved for a man my age and with that amount of micrografts? How long would it take to heal? thank you

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2200 grafts is a moderate-sized surgery that would likely take about a week to heal in the donor area. The risks for someone of your age if you are in good health are roughly the same as those for most other ages – to be more precise, there are surprisingly few. As with any surgery you risk the possibility of scar formation, infection, and possible adverse reaction to anesthesia or other drugs are very, very rare. These are the big ones we worry about and incidences are very uncommon in a proper surgery center and with a trained and experienced doctor and team. There is also no excuse for this elective surgery to be any more painful than a mild dental visit. Good pain medicines and effective techniques are available, well known, and should be used.

To be completely honest, your biggest risk is in the choice of your surgeon and the team they use. Choose a surgeon with a good reputation whose hairlines you like, and make sure they are willing to let you meet their patients and evaluate their results for yourself. Check the facility and ask the surgeon who is on the surgery team. An experienced staff makes all the difference in the world both in your experience that day and in your final result because of the way the staff members treat the grafts. Lastly, choose someone with whom you feel comfortable. Many of my patients who come in for corrective work had a less than good feeling when they went to their doc or they chose them solely on price. Remember, you are the one who gets to live with the permanent results after all, so be a little picky.

December 27, 2005

Will I Go Bald if Dad is Bald? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

If my dad is bald will i be bald too?? If so, when will I start losing my hair. I am 26 now.

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We inherit our genetic balding from both sides of the family, even from our grandparents when our parents do not express the balding gene and have a full head of hair. Do not obsess with what may happen to you for if it has not started by 26, it is less likely that you will follow a signficant balding pattern. Ask your dad when he first noticed balding, and if it was after 30, then maybe time will yet unfold an outcome like his. If he started before 26, then it is likely that you will not follow his pattern. Most bald men have signs by the age of 26 that balding may happen.

December 23, 2005