Posts

Posted on

What Happened to the Removable SMP Pigment?

Hi,
I read in March of this year on this blog you were soon to be trialling a new SMP pigment that was possibly reversible in one laser treatment. Are there are further developments with this?

Thank you

The initial laser-reversible pigment we obtained was tested on a very limited basis and in small cases. Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain more than the test supplies and have been unable to find a substitute… so it’s not something we pursued much further.

We currently only use permanent pigment in SMP sessions.

Posted on

What Happened to Steve Jobs’ Hair?

Dear Dr. Rassman,

This question is a little bit different, but I’m curious what your opinion is.

What happened to Steve Jobs’ hair? If you look here, he had a good head of hair until he was about 40, and then it all disappeared. Now I know Steve Jobs is a sick man, and has probably had several chemo treatments, but I always thought hair grew back after chemo. I also thought that if you didn’t have some hair loss in your younger years (20-30), that you would probably never progress to the level of balding Mr. Jobs has. Do you think his hair loss is genetic, or cancer-related?

Thanks!Steve Jobs

While it is possible to lose hair later in life due to genetics, we can’t discount what Steve Jobs has gone through with all of his medical issues over the past decade or so. It looks like he was losing hair in his late 30s and 40s, and then he got ill, possibly exacerbating the hair loss issue and leading to weight loss.

Simply put — When chronic illness hits, you lose hair. His multiple medical problems (liver transplant, pancreatic cancer) clearly impacted his hair.

Posted on

What happened to my donor area? I have 4400 FUE grafts taken from it.

It appears that you had too many FUE grafts for the donor density that you had. Usually the typical donor area of a Caucasian can tolerate 3600 FUE grafts. Look at the web-reference here: https://newhair.com/resources/#tab-id-4


2019-03-26 18:14:18What happened to my donor area? I have 4400 FUE grafts taken from it.

Posted on

What Happened to Me? (Photos)

I believe that you developed late onset genetic hair loss. If you are smart, you would get advice from an expert doctor in the field of hair loss


2019-11-22 15:40:12What Happened to Me? (Photos)

Posted on

What Hair Restoration Procedures Actually Work?

Assuming price is not an issue, what are the hair restoration procedures/companies that actually work? (It’s one thing to drop 20 grand and get results, it’s quite another for expensive snake oil).

What we do in hair transplants really work. The other day, I saw a man who had 2000 grafts about 14 years ago and he looked absolutely normal with no signs of balding. His pre-op pictures from oh-so-many years ago showed his Class 3A balding pattern clearly. I looked closely at this man’s hairline now and could not see any hint of surgery, even though I knew what was done.

I can only speak for my own practice and the work we do. You can and should research other clinics on the web, but always remember to meet with patients that had surgery with the doctor you choose. Photos are one thing, but seeing the hair in person is much better. We hold monthly open house events so potential patients can meet patients in person. Most doctors don’t do events like that, but you should ask to meet their patients nonetheless.


2011-01-14 09:45:36What Hair Restoration Procedures Actually Work?

Posted on

What Hair Can Shock Loss Effect? — and the Cost of Hair Transplant Surgery

I can only afford to have my bald patches of my hairline transplanted (FUE) so no other areas of hair will be near. Will the shock loss only affect the donor follicles? or does all of your head hair fall out?

While price/cost is a factor for any cosmetic surgery, it should not dictate the surgery itself. Having cosmetic surgery is not like shopping for the cheapest loaf of bread, laundry detergent, or shoes.

When shock loss occurs, it may be the result of the anesthesia given to numb the head for the transplant and may cover a large area of the scalp, not just the area where the grafts are placed. The mechanical impact of the transplant may not be the cause of shock hair loss. You also have to look at the big picture. We call this the Master Plan. Surgery must be placed along your hair loss timeline and it will be progressive. In other words, you can’t just transplant hair to the small bald patches and expect that to solve your problem, as the balding process is regional. What if you lose more hair around the transplant and behind it as your balding continues? A good doctor should give you insight on your worst case scenario and plan for such consequences. After all, you don’t want to have small patches of transplanted hair scattered around your bald scalp in the years down the line “IF” you were to go bald.

To answer your question in further detail, shock loss is a concern… and while it may not happen, it is a risk. I have addressed your question with the assumption that you have genetic male pattern baldness and not just a patch of bald scalp (which is very rare in genetic balding). Either way, you need a Master Plan created with a doctor (not just me on the Internet) who is willing to look at your hair loss problem as a long term process.

For the follicular unit extraction (FUE), you need to understand it does not work to fill in the scalp balding areas like a patchwork quilt. Do not let the cost of FUE be the primary reason in your decision making process as to what to do and where to put the hair. It is better to be bald than be disfigured with a half-ass surgery.


2009-10-13 18:57:27What Hair Can Shock Loss Effect? — and the Cost of Hair Transplant Surgery

Posted on

What exactly does diffuse thinning mean?

Diffuse thinning is overused. Some men will develop generalized thinning in their pattern of balding. When this happens, I would expect the thinning to continue until some pattern actually appears; however, if one intercedes with drugs like finasteride, these men might reverse the thinning (Miniaturization) or freeze it where it is for some time. There is another condition called Age-Related Thinning, which is a term that reflects that all of the hair on the head will change its diameter uniformly. This commonly occurs in men and women over 50 and is more frequent as one ages; however, I have seen this in many young men who had coarse hair in their youth, then the hair caliber reduced to something less than coarse hair. These men reach out to me and think they are balding, but maybe not.

Posted on

What Does A Poor Reaction to Propecia Tell Us?

Hi, i’ve been on Propecia for 10-12 months now, and I would say that it has slowed it down maybe 90-95%.

However there’s something that i’ve been wondering for a while now. If the rate of loss AFTER one has been on Propecia for this long was still quite fast *even though it would be a lot better than not being on it at all*, would this indicate:

1) That without Propecia, the hair loss would have been very aggressive?
2) That the person has not been very receptive to the drug.
3) Both.

I’ve always wondered, what does a less than average reaction to the drug tell us?

The answer to your three questions is Yes, Yes, and Yes — all are possible.

There is no guarantee that Propecia will work. We see better results with the drug on young men with more relatively short term hair loss. This is a drug that is known to be effective at slowing down, stopping or reversing the hair loss, but what that means is clearly uncertain. Here’s stats from the official Propecia website’s FAQ:

A 5-year clinical study demonstrated the effectiveness of PROPECIA.

  • 9 out of 10 men on PROPECIA had visible results (either regrowth of hair, 48% [134 out of 279], or no further hair loss, 42% [117 out of 279]) vs 25% (4 out of 16) on placebo (sugar pill), according to an assessment of photographs by an independent panel of dermatologists.
  • 2 out of 3 men on PROPECIA regrew hair, as measured by hair count. All the men in the study who were not taking PROPECIA lost hair.
  • A majority of men on PROPECIA were rated as improved by doctors: 77% (210 out of 271) vs 15% (2 out of 13) with placebo.
  • A majority of men on PROPECIA reported their bald spot getting smaller, their hair loss slowing down, and the appearance of their hair improving.

What’s more, in the first year of the study, 86% (587 out of 679) of men on PROPECIA maintained hair or increased the number of visible hairs vs 42% (282 out of 672) on placebo.


2007-02-20 12:17:02What Does A Poor Reaction to Propecia Tell Us?

Posted on

What Does a Doctor Do If a Big Percentage of Grafts Don’t Grow?

Having read a number of postings and messages concerning transplants, the question arose as to what percentage of the transplants actually survive and grow. If, say, 25% of the transplants do not grow, does a typical doctor deal with the situation by trying more transplants? Or is the patient stuck with having paid for something he did not get?

“…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1788

Typically, the success or growth rate of a hair transplant surgery should be in the low to mid ninety percentile, although there may be variability with different clinics. Furthermore, the success of a hair transplant surgery is dependent not only on the doctor, but also on the transplant team and technical staff. That is why the reputation of the entire medical group is just as important as the surgeon. If you feel your hair transplant was not within the acceptable range for survival or it did not meet your expectations, you should meet with your surgeon and address your concerns. On the few cases where yields were less than ideal in our hands, we offered additional transplants at no charge to the patients.