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Hair Loss InformationResuming Physical Activities After Surgery – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor,
I am an avid weight lifter and exercise quite frequently. I heard that after surgery, I won’t be able to my normal routine physical activities for 3-4 months. Is this true? What type of weight lifting am I allowed to do in that period and for how long? Thanks.

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There are two types of surgical approaches in harvesting of donor hair. One is where the surgeon removes a strip of skin and then sutures back together (standard for today’s Follicular Unit Transplantation). I generally ask people who have strip harvesting to hold off on body presses, sit-ups and other such types of exercise that can strain neck muscles for a few weeks after the surgery. All types of aerobic exercises. otherwise, are ok.

The second type of surgery is Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), where the follicular units are harvested one at a time. With this procedure, you can resume full exercise within a few days of the surgery with no limitations at all. The FUE surgery is more expensive than the strip surgery and the surgeon can not as easily move as much hair in a single surgery. This means that FUE requires more procedures.

Patients who had FUE surgery have not complained about pain, but those that have had strip surgery generally have some discomfort, mostly on the first night.

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Hair Loss InformationIs There a Scar-Free Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a hindu. I have to shave my head at various religious cerimonies. is there a way where I can get a scar free hair implantation? Having a scar is out of question

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Anyone who has a cut or break on the skin develops a scar. The proper question is, “Can the scar be seen in a routine social situation?” There is a surgery (developed and published by me in 2001) called Follicular Unit Extraction, or FUE for short — otherwise known as the FOX™ Procedure. With this procedure, individual follicular units of one, two or three hairs are removed with a 1mm punch. That leaves a scar measuring 1mm and a series of these are produced proportional to the number of such grafts that are removed. These scars close by ‘secondary intention’ which means that the skin from the sides of the wound, grow to the center as the center fills from below. The resultant scar can be seen in close-up detail on the FOX Megasession page at newhair.com. Near the bottom of that page, there are photos of scars shown at different levels of magnification and with the hair clipped and shaved.

For further information on FUE / FOX Procedure, please see our FOX Procedure page.

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Burn Scars – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have terrible scars on my head from a burn I got when I was a child. I had many, many surgeries with balloons placed in my head to stretch the scalp and the scars (which are significantly better) are still there. Prior to the last three surgeries, I had a scar that ran from ear to ear which was about 1/3rd inch wide. The cosmetic surgeons tried to remove the scar but it kept coming back. Is there something that you can do for me with Hair Transplants?

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Yes, hair transplants work very well for the scars you are talking about. Depending upon your hair color and the density we need to get in the scars, we can usually fill scars in nicely in one or two surgical sessions. In some patients we can not push the density so more than one session may be required. Still, after just a single session, you should see a benefit of the surgery.

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Hair Loss InformationHair Multiplication – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor.
I have visited the site you posted, www.clonemyhair.com. Within the site I read alot of information on Prof. Carl Bazan, M.D., MTTS. Have you ever heard of this Doctor before. I am asking you because I have heard alot of good things about you front the Bald Truth. In his site, http://www.itzan.com/, he claims that he is doing Dp-Hair Multiplication. My question is, have you ever heard of this doctor and this procedure. Is there any light to his claim?
Thank you.

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Hair Multiplication is not a proven technique. There is no evidence that it works reliably. Whenever I hear claims that are unsubstantiated by any scientific or objective results, I am skeptical, to say the least.

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Hair Breakage – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have bleached blonde hair which I have been bleaching for about 1.5 years now. For the past 10 months or so I have only bleached the roots and experienced the regular breakage associated with bleaching. It has all been quite normal and certainly nothing to be alarmed about. However for the past 2 – 3 months I have noticed a large amount of hair loss at least 50 hairs a day which is very unusual for me. The other unusual thing is that for example at the moment I have brown regrowth of about 1 cm length. If I purposely pull a hair out of my head it is blonde all the way down with 1 cm of brown at the root. However every single hair that comes out of my head on its own has a tiny 1 mm of brown on the end as opposed to the 1 cm of regrowth that I actually have. Every single hair that comes out has this 1 mm of brown on the end which is making me wonder if it is actually coming out from the roots or not as the roots are much longer. I am started to get very concerned and would appreciate any answers you could give. Thanks.

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It is always difficult for me to interpret the meaning of what you are seeing without making my own observations of your clinical examination. I generally employ densitometry (a science I invented and patented) which allows me to visualize the degree of miniaturization of the hair and the area in different parts of your scalp. First, I need to know if you have genetic balding. A good visualization with high magnification would serve to address the diagnosis.

The average person loses 100-150 hairs per day, so your report of 50 is not alarming. Although we undergo asynchronous hair growth, many people do see some cycling of the hair loss, not to the degree of animals with synchronous growth (shedding), but certainly what you describe could be present on a temporary basis. Time will clearly tell us and after you get a good diagnosis (reassuring yourself that you do not have genetic balding), then waiting this out is a reasonable next step. The hair character does change with age, and it is possible that you are changing the character of your hair which makes you more conscious of your recent past history of hair loss and hair breakage. You might consider letting your hair go natural brown and see if the hair loss slows down, but the first thing to do is to get a good examination and diagnosis.

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Missing Hair on Side – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i have hair missing on one side of my head and i am only 26 years old please advise what i should do?

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I am not sure what side hair you are missing. A diagnosis on the cause of the hair loss is critical. If the temples are receding back above your ears and it is part of the genetic balding process, then you need to treat it as part of that process. If you have defects in the temples since your youth, it may be another type of balding, something we call triangular alopecia. Send me a good set of pictures and I will give you an opinion if you can not come in person to one of my California offices. If you’d like to email me some photos, my email address is on the Contact page.

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Hair Loss InformationPropecia and High Blood Pressure – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

First of all, I’d like to say that this site is very informative, and thanks for providing it. My question concerns Propecia. I take high blood pressure medication, specifically a beta blocker (Toprol XL) and a diuretic (Triam-Hctz, the generic of dyazide). Are there any known cases of these types of drugs having an unfavorable reaction with Propecia? I ask only because a friend told me he once knew someone who had to stop taking it after having chest pains that he hadn’t had since he started his high bp meds. I would like to get on Propecia, but I’d rather be bald than have a heart attack. I’m just wondering if my friend was exagerrating.

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There is no impact to my knowledge of Propecia on blood pressure medications or diuretics. The medication minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) may impact blood pressure as it was originally defined as a blood pressure medication. Maybe your friend is confusing the two.

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Hair Loss InformationCheaper Proscar, A Bargain – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Can I buy Proscar instead of Propecia and put it on my insurance? Is it as good as Propecia?

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Finasteride is the generic name for Propecia (1mg) or Proscar (5mg). They are exactly the same medication. The drug company that hold patents on the drug determines the pricing in such a way that the 1mg pill is almost the same price as the 5mg pill. Some people try to cut the 5mg pill into 1/4 or 1/5 sizes, so that it should be the same value as the 1mg pill. Certainly, 5mg pills are far less expensive mg-for-mg than 1mg pills.

With regard to using your insurance, most insurance companies will only cover prescriptions that are for medically necessary reasons, not for purely cosmetic reasons. When I write the prescriptions, if a patient asks me for Proscar, I will write the directions to cut the pill into 1/4 pill. If the drug store gets authorization for Proscar from the insurance company, then so be it, but most of the time they will not abe able to obtain insurance authorization for use by young men. I am not familiar with which insurance companies routinely authorize Proscar.

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Hair Loss InformationFragile Hair and Hair Gels – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr, may I know what is the difference between normal hair gel and alcohol free hair gel? Does alcohol free hair gel provides less damage than normal hair gel?

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Anything that dries out the hair shaft will make the hair more fragile, so the use of alcohol based products may cause more drying in those individuals who already have dry hair. We are all different, so I generally tell people to experiment with the various product offerings and see what works for you. If your hair is in the balding phases, it will tend to dry easier, making it more fragile, so alcohol could be a problem for those with genetic balding.

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Hair Loss InformationHair Cloning & Stem Cells – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am constantly asked about hair cloning, and when I respond to a question where I suggest that cloning is not close at hand, I often get attacked for that view. I am outspoken and critical of over-simplification. There is too much sensationalism — setting up false expectations targeting desperate men who then think that the answers to hair cloning, stem cell treatment, and hair multiplication are around the corner.

The July 2005 issue of Scientific American magazine has a lengthy feature that puts stem cells and cloning into a comprehensive overview for those of you who want to know what is and what is not at hand. Though it doesn’t directly pertain to cloning hair, it is not a far reach to understand hair cloning after reading this series of articles.