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Follow-Up — Dr Rassman’s Recent Hair Transplant (with Photos)

As promised, here are some follow-up photos from my recent hair transplant surgery. I, as everyone else, will be waiting out the growth period. I expect that I will see some of the growth in 4-6 months and will share any exciting pictures with you at that time.

These photos were taken 19 days after the procedure. You can see how my donor scar is looking in the photo at the left, and the crown on the right. Click the photos to enlarge:

 

And in case you missed it in the original post, here’s the before photo:

 

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Follow-up with a HAIRCHECK test in 5 years

I consulted with this 30 year-old man five years ago. At that time, he had frontal hair loss and did not want to take the drug Finasteride. The HAIRCHECK instrument showed no crown loss but today, five years later, he lost 50 percent of his hair in the crown since the test was last taken. Because his hair is so curly, you can’t see the crown loss very well in the photos, but had he taken the drug Finasteride, I doubt that he would have lost the crown hair had he taken the drug finasteride. The HAIRCHECK instrument is very sensitive in picking up early hair loss. He will go on the drug now to see if there is possible reversal of the crown loss which happens at times, but until a year passes, we will not know. He will get a hair transplant in the frontal area where the lines were drawn.


2017-09-15 08:29:23Follow-up with a HAIRCHECK test in 5 years

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Follicum Reports Early Studies

I tried to supply the link; however, the link was blocked. If you want to see this, you can search “Follicum reports early studies” and see this study.


2019-02-14 11:44:21Follicum Reports Early Studies

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Do I have folliculitis?

My doctor said I have folliculitis and he started me on antibiotics, is that the right thing to do

Yes, you have classic folliculitis and it must be treated, first with a drainage of the pus pockets, then a culture must be taken to be assured that the antibiotic selected is the right antibiotic, then wet/warm soaks three times a day until the infection seems to be under control.


2017-09-12 07:34:09Do I have folliculitis?

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Folliculitis on Chest As a Young Teen — Now I Want Chest Hair!

Hello. I am a 19 year old male. When I was 16, I had a really bad infection on my chest (follicultis) which destroyed a lot of hair on my chest. Now that I am older, I am showing lots hair starting to grow, but because of the infection, its growing in clumps and patches, and looks HORRIBLE. Is there any sort of topical thing I can apply to my chest that can possibly restore these damaged hair follicles? A response would be GREATLY appreciated, sir.

You might try minoxidil. It should grow or stimulate hair growth on the chest. Give it a full 6-8 months before concluding that it is not working and use it twice a day. Chest hair can be transplanted from the scalp. I have done that before, but I would hold off on that until you are older (25 years old minimum), as chest hair is often delayed into the mid-20s and through the early 30s.

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I have been diagnosed with Folliculitis Decalvans, can I have a hair transplant? Hold until mid-september

Folliculitis Decalvans is a terribly aggressive disease. I have seen this appear in a couple of patients over the past 27 years in practice and it is difficult to manage. I would consider an alternative like Scalp MicroPigmentation which will not be aggravated by this disease.

See here: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/bold-shaved-look/

You seem to keep your hair cut short and that means you would be an excellent candidate for this procedure as it will cover all of the scarring on your scalp.

folliculitis decalvans

 

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Follicare and Propecia

Is it ok to take propecia and follicare together, since there is a vitamin you take when using follicare

I have reviewed the “supplement” listed at the Follicare website for ingredients. I can say, right off, that they seem to have put everything but the kitchen sink into the product. I do not believe it will be harmful if taken with Propecia.


2006-11-14 14:34:10Follicare and Propecia

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Follica

Dear Dr.,
I see that Follica Inc. have lincensed a technology developed at Penn university. The research suggests that new hair follicles can be produced in the skin with the protein wtn. Apparently this protein can make lots of new follicles in the skin. If this is the case would it lead to an end of male pattern baldness? Surely, any new follicle made would be affected by DHT. What are your thoughts on this new approach? Many thanks

Yes, I read of them as I was skimming the Scientific American website. It seems the research is relatively new with good potential. There have been many that promised the world, but delivered little. With regard to the ‘new hair’ I really don’t know the answer to your question. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Scientific American – Bye-Bye Comb-Overs? Hair Follicles Found Able to Regenerate


2007-05-30 15:55:05Follica

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Fo-Ti, PABA, and Solving the Gray Hair Problem

Hello Mr.Rassman.

I heard a lot about Fo-Ti which is a Chinese herb which gives colour to hair. We can Find it in so many websites now I have two questions.

  1. I am aware that grey hairs cannot be reversed . But If I take Fo-ti atleast can I prevent my existing hairs from truning grey??So many Fo-ti suppliments are available in the market. Please go through the following site which contains the reviews of an over the counter medicine called Shenmin. Folica.com and more information on Shenmin.com
  2. I also heard about PABA which also helps giving colour to hairs. I think that is an FDA approved medicine will it be of some help in preventing my hairs from turning grey? If it is what is the recommended dosage for adults?

Sorry for such a big question. But you know my questions are always long.

Gray hair

  1. I believe there are just as many Chinese men and women in this world who have gray hair compared to those of other races in other parts of the world, which makes me think that if something as simple as taking a fo-ti supplement really stopped gray hairs, there would be a disproportionate amount of the Chinese population with black hair. That being said, I’m not an herbalist and my opinion on these types of treatments has been generally poor, because there’s really not much regulation on them and most of the claims people attribute to them are old wives’ tales. Here’s an article about fo-ti on About.com that you might find helpful.
  2. Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) is a chemical found in the folic acid vitamin and also in several foods including grains, eggs, milk, and meat (source: RxList). PABA is reported to be used for giving color back to hair if the graying was caused by stress or malnutrition, but I can’t find any studies to back up the claims and I have no personal experience with it. Because PABA is a supplement, the FDA does not approve, endorse, or verify claims; I also do not approve, endorse, or verify those claims.

Feel free to try these supplements if you want, but always remember that it is a buyer beware market and there is a lot of money to be made on false hopes and promises. Reviewing supplement information online is often quite daunting due to the seemingly hundreds of websites using unproven claims to sell you things, which helps spread the legend and creates a blurred line between what is real and what is fantasy. For further reading, I’ve written about the problems with supplements before.

Photo: CNN’s Anderson Cooper doesn’t mind his gray hair.

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Flying in a Small Plane After a Hair Transplant

Dear Dr!
First, excuse my “not so good” English as I am not native English speaking. I had a FUE (1500 grafts) hair transplant done 3 weeks ago. Today, I joined a short flight (half an hour) with a small (2 seats) air-screw-plane with my brother in law who is an enthusiastic hobby-pilot.

i know that there is no problem to fly with a regular (big) commercial airplane. but these planes have cabins with controlled air pressure and so on. what about these small planes where there is no hermetic cabin and no controlled air pressure? we were flying as high as 3000 meters and during the descent i experienced some headache behind my front (the space right above my eyebrows). now I am worried that the change of air pressure during the flight only 3 weeks after the

transplant could have damaged my grafts due to changes of the vasculature. are these worries without any reason or not? I am very concerned about this.

Thank you very much for your answer. kind regards.

Hair transplants should be considered fully healed by the third week after the procedure, which means that nothing that you would reasonably do can negatively impact the growth of the grafts… even flying, as you have described.