Posts

Posted on

Can I Bring the Temple Peaks In with Surgery Without Filling in the Hairline?

Dr. Rassman,

I am 26 y/o, I have a very high hairline with uneven and very receded temple points. I do have some thinning on top and a family history of hair loss, but I believe that medication has been very beneficial for me. I take it every three days and have had almost the same benefit as everyday but without the side effects.

My question is regarding the temples (or sides) of my hairline. With a very high AND wide hairline, I feel its making me especially conscious of my hair loss. I’m wary about having anything done to the top of my hairline because I’m sure I don’t want to be stuck coming back for multiple surgeries if/when my hair continues to fall out.

If I were to have something done to bring the sides (temples) of my hairline in to better frame my face and add symmetry to my hairline, would I be right in thinking that this can be done and could achieve a natural looking result without lowering my hairline? and in the case that I do continue to lose hair on the top, it wouldn’t require that I come back for additional surgeries?

This is an individual decision between doctor and patient. What is best for you will depend on many factors — for us, these factors can be analyzed and recommendations given.

Yes, a good hair transplant surgeon can replace the temple peaks. An experienced surgeon is critical for making sure it is done right and for making the proper analysis of what to do. You never want to have a cosmetic surgery with results that look unnatural, so an experienced surgeon with a good eye will be able to tell you what’s achievable for your particular case.

Posted on

Can I Be Helped Without Having a Hair Transplant?

If my balding is due to one of these: (braiding (dreadlocks), hypothyroidism, iron deficiency, malnutrition, stress, hormone imbalance) can I really be helped without having a hair transplant?

In your case, probably not — but you should correct the medical conditions. You seem to have a lot going on. See a doctor, because an in-person, face-to-face meeting would be miles ahead of internet advice.


2006-07-31 22:19:02Can I Be Helped Without Having a Hair Transplant?

Posted on

Can I Avoid Hair Loss Gene Triggers?

First off I would like to say thank you for answering people’s questions on this site. I’ve learned more here on the subject of hair loss than anywhere else. I have a few questions that I would appreciate some clarification on. I’m a 17 year old white male. My family tree doesn’t have much of a history of hair loss. My father is Norwood 2 at 50, and both of my grandfathers had full heads of hair, and so does my mom’s brother. The last bald person in the family was my maternal great grandfather. My hairline is probably identical to my fathers.

You spoke before of people having the balding gene but not expressing it – I’m wondering if that could be the case with any of these people and that I could have possibly inherited it. If it were, are there any triggers that could trigger it that I could avoid? For example, you said malnutrition can activate the gene. Specifically does that mean not getting enough calories, vitamins and minerals, or eating too much salt, fat, sugar, etc.

I’m also considering starting urine therapy for something completely unrelated to hair loss, but I read that male urine contains DHEA, which is supposedly another trigger of the gene. Do you think the amount of DHEA in urine would be sufficient to have any negative affect on hair loss?

I am assuming that you plan on ingesting the urine, as opposed to applying it on your scalp. I don’t think drinking it would be a negative on your hair (nor would applying it to the scalp — though I don’t know why you’d do that), but I have to admit that I don’t know a lot about urine therapy. Anyone with more experience in this area would be welcome to add a comment.

I do know that avoiding potential hair loss triggers really isn’t a great way to prevent hair loss, so long as you have functioning testicles. In other words, anything can potentially trigger it and there’s no perfect checklist to guarantee you’re safe from genetic hair loss.

Posted on

Can I Accelerate Male Pattern Baldness?

is there any way to speed up mpb???? if mpb is caused by adrogens, would using any product that may otherwise cause some form of hairloss speed it up??? acelerate it????
also do you recomend any recomended sleep patterns for men loosing their hair?

Good question. Although the mechanism of hair loss in men is known to be hormone related, there are many other factors that can accelerate your hair loss, including:

  • emotional changes and stress
  • major medical condition
  • major surgery
  • inflammation of skin
  • nutritional imbalance
  • steroid or steroid-like drug use
  • extreme dieting
  • hair transplant surgery

Having said that, most of those conditions never cause permanent hair loss if you don’t have the genetic susceptibility for it.


2007-10-08 15:33:50Can I Accelerate Male Pattern Baldness?

Posted on

Can Happiness Levels Have Anything to Do with Hair Loss?

Dear Dr Rassman

I am a 19 year old who has had temple recession since the age of 17. I am a norwood 3 with a strong window peak (My right temple has a larger bald surface area than the left). I have the following questions.

1) Do happiness and relaxation levels have anything to do with triggering hair loss?

2) I am very conscious of my hair thinning, and sometimes have slight sensations in my head when I think my hair line is receding, is this possible or could this all be triggered by anxiety?

3) My hair line is definitely not symmetrical. If someones balding is only a norwood 3 and not higher, does it have to be symmetrical, or can people stabilize at norwood 3 have unsymmetrical hair lines for the rest of their lives?

thank you for your help

Stress is a cause of hair loss. So if you’re stressed, you’re not going to be relaxed. In that sense, they are related. As for the sensations you feel at your hairline, I’d guess it was probably anxiety.

The fact that your hairline is asymmetrical indicates that the lower side will rise to the level of the higher side eventually. The higher side may also rise.


2013-03-02 11:44:52Can Happiness Levels Have Anything to Do with Hair Loss?

Posted on

Can Half of My Hairline Be Juvenile and Half Be Mature?

First I’ll like to say, I really enjoy your blog. I found your blog about a year ago and love it.

I have a question about hairlines. I have an asymmetrical hairline. I think its mature on the right and juvenile on the left. So could it be that my right side is juvenile and my left side is normal? I know you said they eventually even out, but are there any cases you know of where they DON’T even out?

You can have both the appearance of a juvenile hairline and genetic male pattern balding occurring at the same time. Unless you have an examination and also followed over a course of a year, it is likely difficult to tell. Other factors, such as your age, family history, degree/pattern of miniaturization, and even bulk measurements can aid in a more objective diagnosis.

Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about your case to give you a decent idea of what is happening to your hairline. Having an asymmetrical hairline isn’t impossible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in time you see the other side catch up.

Posted on

Can Hair Transplants Completely Cover Up Balding?

Hello doctors,

I’m a black male with very early stage thinning in a 3v pattern. I’ve been on finasteride for about two years, and am basically satisfied with the results.

I’ve talked to friends and family who might have similar patterns of thinning, and in discussing the options, several of them are skeptical about the effect transplants would have.

My question is this: what is the authoritative opinion on how well transplanting can cover up balding (specifically, can It be made to look like I have virtually no thinning?)

Your question isn’t really fair. You are asking a hair transplant surgeon who thinks about hair transplant surgery as a matter of livelihood. It’s like asking a chef if you should eat their food.

My point is you should be asking these questions to the patients who had hair transplants. You should meet them face-to-face to judge what the value has been based upon the change you see. Looking at some before and after photos has some minimum value, but face-to-face meetings like we have at our monthly Open House events in San Jose and Los Angeles give you the opportunity to see for yourself!

Hair transplants all depend on the supply of donor hair and the size of the balding area. Setting patient expectations is critical to what we do. You will never look like when you were 16 years old with regard to hair fullness. Maybe you can come close, but that depends on the number of grafts, hair color, hair texture, hair style, and skin color. For example, curly black hair on dark skin gives great coverage and fullness over thin straight black hair on while skin.


2010-08-03 10:39:04Can Hair Transplants Completely Cover Up Balding?

Posted on

Can Hair Transplantation Damage Surrounding Follicles?

Hello,

Great informative blog. I have a question about future density after transplanted hair. Does your thinning hair follicles around where transplanted hairs gets inserted die from having that area worked on? In other words, say you still have some hair left on you hairline or mid section and you use transplants to help fill that area. When you use Propecia or Rogaine to help thicken your original hair follicles does that hair get “damaged” from having transplanted hair around them?

Thank you for your time and keep up the great site you have.

You raise a very important question. Yes, you can potentially damage the existing surrounding hairs with a hair transplant procedure. Thus, you must consider the risks versus the benefits of the surgery. Most of the time, hair transplantation near normal hair should not damage the normal hair, but if the surrounding hairs are weak (miniaturized) you may precipitate a “shock loss” phenomenon where you will experience loss due to the trauma of the surgery. Although drugs like Propecia work to minimize the shock loss risk, your doctor must not talk in generalities with you and should specifically address your risks. You must discuss this risk with your physician before a hair transplant surgery.

Posted on

Can Hair Transplant Techniques Be Refined Even Further?

hey dr i was just wondering if you feel hair transplants have peeked or will they improve some way in the future i just analyze them in terms of reaching their full potential but your opinion is greatly appreciated as always and also do you see them getting any cheaper in the near future also

I think that the technology has been pushed as far as it can go as we mimic just what nature does. The problems in the community are mainly related to the surgical team, and a few issues with physician education. Too many doctors are doing this with inexperienced teams of assistants, so the practical problem is to get the standards up. When the transplants do not grow as expected and the surgical team is less skilled, the failures are often caused by an inexperienced team.

With regard to pricing, this is not a commodity and as such if the prices go down much from where they are, the quality of the teams just won’t be there. We pay our staff competitive wages so that they can support a family, have health insurance, etc. If you ask our patients you will find the theme they speak of is our quality patient care and great results.