You have recipient area necrosis which means that the skin in the black areas you see has died. These crusts will eventually fall off, many times showing red granulation tissue which will close over time. My team has done over 16,000 surgeries and have never seen a single case of this. This means that either the grafts were placed too closely together, the instruments were too large, or both.
2019-01-04 05:38:452019-01-07 08:52:34What Is Wrong with My Hair Transplant? (Photo)
Did you say that scalp excercises and massages actually CAUSE wrinkles in your forehead?
Also, Im not sure if you answered my question regarding hair follicles, but if you have a hair transplant and hairs fall out due to shock loss and dont grow back….does that mean that the follicle is actually destroyed or is it still intact, but just not producing hair anymore.
Thanks for your help
Massages do not cause wrinkles in the forehead, nor will exercising the forehead muscles make that happen. You may be thinking about what I said when a person is trying to find out where their hairline was when they were youths. Wrinkling the forehead will produce a line at the top of the forehead muscles (frontalis muscle) and that line marks where a child’s hairline or a woman’s hairline starts.
‘Shock loss’ from a hair transplant may grow back if the hair is permanent hair (most women) or hair that is not at the end of its life cycle (such as an accident with a scalp wound in a non-balding man). When the balding process is at the end of the cycle for those hairs that fall out from shock loss, these hairs may not grow back. Miniaturized hairs which result from genetic balding are ‘weak’ hairs that will not live through a major stressful event.
When it does grow back in balding men, it is because the hairs that were lost are usually not at the end of their natural life cycle. If they grow back, then clearly there is life still left in them. Hair that does not return after shock loss in the male is for all practical purposes hair at the end of its ‘life’. With that said, I do not really believe that the hair is ‘dead’, but rather impacted by whatever the defect that causes male patterned genetic hair loss. Some day, hopefully in my lifetime, a medication will be produced that will take up all of the ‘seeds of hair’ that I believe are still in the scalp, closing the defect so that the hair will start to grow… in a way much like the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty, I suppose.
Sometimes ‘shock loss’ can be minimized by being on Propecia prior to having the hair transplant. Shock loss does not happen to all patients who undergo hair transplants, just some of them. Most people are quick to forget the robust nature of permanent hair which comes with the hair transplant process. Shock loss should be something that is explained to you before you get hair transplants. It is a part of the informed consent process and you need to know all of the risks involved when you undergo a hair transplant (or any surgical procedure).
2006-05-04 13:35:162006-05-04 09:25:39Wrinkles, Shock Loss
Dr. Rassman,
Fist let me say I love this blog and think you are do a wonderful thing by informing people about the many dynamics of hair loss.
I noticed you mentioned and have recently posted about hair cloning as a future treatment for hair loss. I was wondering, let’s say in the next 5 years, there is a big break through with hair cloning and it becomes widely available as a safe treatment for hair loss. What then will happen to hair transplants? Wouldn’t that be bad for the NHI or would your practice just shift to hair cloning and stop doing transplants?
The specialty of today’s hair transplant surgeons can become tomorrow’s hair cloners. Who else would be sitting at the cutting edge and wanting to make the market happen?
When the flying car becomes commonplace like everyone has been wishing/hoping for 50+ years, I’m sure the major automakers will be right there at the forefront. As the industry evolves, those that blazed trails aren’t likely to just disappear.
If you have no donor supply left would it be possible to use body hair to help with density. I understand your positions on BHT having read your posts on the topic, however is that something you would ever consider?
There are few indications for body hair transplants (BHT). From what I have seen, the results are quite variable. It might be a waste of your money doing it, especially if it did not meet your objectives. I occasionally refer patients who are committed to body hair, but I do not do them myself.
Hey doc. I’m just wondering something. Since you’re willing to trial the laser hat technology would you also be willing to try out Dr Gho’s smaller 0.3m FUE punch.
I don’t really care about the supposed hair multiplication stuff that he claims but I am really interested in the size of his punch. And I am interested in the size of his punch because cosmetically speaking its really hard to see any white dot scaring on any of his patients.
Lots of people on various forums are showing really good photographic evidence of what I would simply call really really really refined FUE. The proof does seem to be out there and since I know for a fact you fight for the balding brothers would you be willing to try that out on willing patients? in the name of science and progressing FUE technology.
Cheers!!
I assume you mean a 0.3mm punch, not 0.3m.
I am open to any innovation, but I am also a realist. Have you actually gotten out your microcaliper and measured what a 0.3mm diameter punch really looks like? It is smaller than a hair follicle, and smaller than a hypodermic 30 Gauge needle (OD). See the needle gauge comparison list here.
My Brother Is Balding and My Father Has What I Would Call Advanced Balding
Your hair line is a classic low mature hairline, and I don’t see any balding in you at this time (I actually saw photos of his head from the top-down as well). I would not recommend the use of finasteride at this time. The mild blunting of your right temple peak may eventually be mirrored by the left side.
2020-03-09 04:00:302020-03-09 08:24:59Would You Recommend That I Take Finasteride Now? (Photos)
Dr. Rassman!
Thought I’d ask an off topic question.
How do you feel about men with long hair in a professional setting? Would you allow someone to work in your office with long hair if it were neatly kept and groomed?
The reason I ask is I am a 21 year old male with long, well shoulder length hair. And I have been told to get a professional job or career, the common consensus is that i will have to cut it off. I was just wondering as to what your feelings were on the matter considering you are in the hair restoration business it would seem hypocritical in some ways to not let someone capable of growing long hair actually have it in your office, then again you are a professional in a very professional setting I presume so maybe you would have reservations against it? Any thoughts?
By the way I obviously don’t want to cut my hair off, and am a huge fan of your blog and professional opinion. Thanks 🙂
Prejudice comes in many ways. I am not a bigot. You would be welcome in our office as an employee if we were looking for a hire. Long hair is not a problem for me.
I’ve been wondering about this for some time. I’d be inclined to think that they take fin, but they also have the cash to just hop into a doctors office if they notice any thinning. I wish Steve Carrell would do an AMA. I wanna know if his progression is the result of fin or multiple transplants.
Many of the celebrities I have worked on (movies, CEOs, politicians) will keep working their hair with additional hair transplants until they achieve their expectations. Many use the drug finasteride as well. A good doctor sets expectations with his patient prior to the first surgery.
2019-12-23 04:43:242019-12-11 09:18:04Do celebs take finasteride or just get multiple transplants?
There is a lot that is not known about microneedling. In theory, once you get the hair growing and healthy, you might be able to stop it and then wait a full hair cycle before worrying if the hair will fall out or not. Alternatively, you can significantly reduce the amount of microneedling like once a month or once every other month just to keep the stimulus there. IF any reader has more information about this, I would like to hear from them. Transplants go much needler than the microneedle so scarring should not be a problem, in theory.
2021-03-05 01:54:242021-03-05 09:55:04Would years of microneedling prevent me from getting a hair transplant?
Hi Dr. Rassman –
I had a question about your SMP. So if I currently have a thinning head of hair (had a HT two years ago, but need a second) and I wanted to get SMP as a form of permanent Dermatch or Toppik, would you have to shave my head to do it? Or can you do the procedure without shaving?
Would having SMP done make it more difficult/prevent me from having a second HT in the future?
Thanks!
In some patients, we have been using Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) to thicken up the look of a thin transplant, thereby avoiding another transplant. This can be done without shaving the head, but it all depends on your current state of hair and your overall expectations. SMP wouldn’t prevent future surgery, though.
You should see a doctor with expertise in this area (like us) to find out if your proposed approach will work. This could be done with photo consultations with good, clear photos sent to us at the address on the Contact page.
