WRassman,M.D. BaldingBlog
    • Menu

    African-American Female Hair Loss

    Apr 12, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /African American, Female Hair Loss, Hair Loss Causes

    Here’s an email I just received today…

    Dear Dr. Rassman,

    I am an African- American female, aged 62, with pattern baldness around my hairline. I would like to know if the “new hair” will grow and how will any chemicals, ie. straightners, dyes, etc. might affect the transplanted hair. I would also like to know where and how I can schedule an appointment for consultation ASAP. I have been using Rogaine but I am still compelled to wear wigs to look my best…HELP! I am VERY interested in getting this procedure and I have the blessing of my husband of 40 years!

    I have done work on many African American females. As you may know, frontal balding is common amongst African American females largely because of the combined effect of pigtails that were used for styling in their youthful days as well as the abuses with chemicals, ie. straightners and dyes. First, a good examination needs to be done to separate the effects of chemicals and pigtail styling (if appropriate) to the female genetic hair loss. Then, a complete examination needs to be done to make sure that other medical conditions are not the cause of the hair loss such as thyroid disease, hormone imbalances, anemia, etc. There are a series of blood tests that can rule this out.

    My recommendation is to make an appointment first (if you wish to see me, ask for me by calling 800-NEW-HAIR). The consultation is free.

    Thanks for the good question.

    Hair Transplant Doctor Training

    Apr 12, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./6 /Favorites, Training

    What type of training does a hair transplant doctor need?


    This is a difficult question to answer properly, so as I have lots of room and time to consider the question thoroughly, I will answer it in great detail. Read as much as you wish.

    The Hair Restoration industry has a society called the ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons) and they are trying to provide both the public and the doctors who ‘specialize’ in hair restoration a way to define this, both for those who call themselves specialists and those doctors who want to enter the field and learn how to become a hair restoration surgeon. As you may notice the way I started answering this question, I have divided the answer into two categories: The existing doctors who call themselves specialists (like myself) and the new doctors wanting to get into the field.

    Existing Restoration Doctors: The existing group of hair restoration surgeons come from a wide diversity of specialties. Dermatology was the field that produced the original hair transplant process in the late 1950s, so this specialty has officially hosted the field ever since. The text books are largely written by Dermatologists and the leading medical journals in Dermatology have articles about advancements in the field with great frequency. In fact, most of the articles written by New Hair Institute doctors have been published in Dermatologic medical publications.

    Read more

    April 11 on NBC in Los Angeles

    Apr 11, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./3 /FUE, Other

    I just got word that the local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles are going to air a piece about the FOX™ Procedure tonight (April 11) on the Channel 4 News at 11pm. Readers from the LA area should try to watch (or set your TiVo).

    Update (April 13, 2005):
    Found an article on Los Angeles NBC News

    Update (April 12, 2005):
    Here’s the video from NBC News in LA.

    Read more

    Multiple Sessions

    Apr 11, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Megasession, Scarring

    A recent post I made about large sessions has lead to another good question:

    What about multiple smaller transplant sessions… are they better?

    In the hands of experienced doctors who understand large session hair transplant surgery and the nuances in performing them, the larger sessions are better than multiple smaller sessions. Each and every time the donor area is harvested, scarring to the deep structures are the inevitable result. I am not talking about visible scarring at the skin level, but deep invisible scarring below the skin. This scarring increases with each subsequent procedure. Fewer procedures produce less deep scarring.

    Simply, I will answer your question with another question: Why have two surgeries if you can do it just once?

    Hair Loss in the Mature Man

    Apr 11, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./5 /Age, Hair Loss Causes

    Reader Tom asks…

    My hairline has been receding for a number of years, I am now 62 and recently had a heart attack. It seems to me that the hair loss has accelerated since that trauma. My hair now has sort of a trough down the middle that was not there before, but it was thinning. My question is, Can a heart attack cause acceleration of hair loss and can hair replacement techniques be employed to reverse it? Thank You

    Hi Tom, thanks for writing.

    There are generally four causes of hair loss in men. Genetic inheritance and male hormones are the two most important. Time and stress are the other two. Typically, genetic hair loss occurs well before 35 years of age, and in most people it slows down with time. There are some older men who start showing the hair loss over the age of 45, although this is more the exception to the rule. Don Ameche, a popular film actor in the 1930s and 40s, was a hairy sex idol even at the age of 50, but was bald at the age of 75 when he had a prominent role in the movie Cocoon. So, he had an ‘expression’ of his genetic balding late in life. Your heart attack certainly brought on ‘STRESS’ and with a delayed genetic expression, probably precipitated your hair loss. I have seen this in illness or even divorce, both of which are heavy stress induced initiators for hair loss in the genetically prone man.

    As your hair loss is recent, I would probably recommend that you go on the drug Propecia, because continued hair loss is possible. This drug may slow or stop the progression of the hair loss and it might even reverse it. If it does not do the trick, then a hair transplant works wonderfully.

    Hope this answers your question.

    FUE – Follicular Unit Extraction

    Apr 8, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /FUE

    Can a Hair Transplant be done without a cut in the back of the head? I really do not want to be cut upon!

    In an article I wrote in the August Issue of the Journal of Dermatologic Surgery (2002), a new Procedure for hair transplantation was introduced which can be performed without a traditional surgical incision. The healing time is clearly reduced and the risks of surgical scarring are practically eliminated. This type of surgery is particularly useful in patients who have limited donor hair, a small balding area, a tight scalp, or the need to keep the option of wearing their hair closely cropped (crew cut style).

    We called the technique the FOX™ technique, (short for FOllicular unit eXtraction). The FOX procedure involves the direct extraction of the follicular units from a patient’s donor area using a small instrument called a trephine. Healing is quick, scarring is virtually nonexistent, and discomfort in the donor area has been practically eliminated. I was quoted by the LA Times to say: “The FOX procedure gives yet another option for those patients who were hesitant or were unable to undergo traditional surgery.”

    The article in the August 2002 issue of “Dermatologic Surgery” discusses our research, methodology, and detailed results. This new procedure is currently available at NHI’s offices.

    In various surgical specialties, minimally invasive surgery has shortened recovery time and lessened the risk of complications in fields ranging from orthopedic joint surgery to open heart surgery. Now, minimally invasive surgery has arrived to hair transplantation. The technique has become a standard offering in the field, but only a few surgeons have mastered it as the technique takes years to perfect and a lot of practice. Our website has good videos of the procedure and a shaved head after the procedure wounds have healed so you can see what you would look like if you shaved your head.

    • FOX Videos
    • FOX Procedure info / photos
    • FOX Megasession info / photos

    Large Sessions

    Apr 7, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./3 /Megasession

    Here’s a question I get quite a bit from people that just start doing their research…

    Hi Dr Rassman,
    I have been reading a little about hair transplantation but I am still very new to this stuff. I was wondering why all hair doctors can’t transplant a high number of grafts in a single procedure?

    Not all physician teams are equal. In our medical group, we (NHI) pioneered the large graft session transplanting as many as 4400 grafts in 1994. So performing a large hair transplant session is a function of experience and the skill of the surgeon and his team. If a doctor routinely performs sessions in the 3000+ graft size, then it would be safe to assume that this doctor has mastered the skills required for large session. Unfortunately, not all doctors have either the teams or the skills to accomplish the feat on a routine basis. For us, we have been doing sessions of over 3000 grafts for almost a dozen years and are performing sessions of this size almost every day. If a doctor must limit the size of the session to under 2000 grafts, it may take more surgical sessions to accomplish the same goal as when twice the number is transplanted.

    Scarring Advances

    Apr 7, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /Scarring

    Have there been many advances to the visible scarring problem that is talked so much about?

    This is an interesting question, most appropriately directed to me. A small number of patients do develop noticeable scars (less than 5% of first time patients). This is more intrinsic to the healing properties of the patient themselves, but the techniques used by the surgeon have not generally been able to address the unique needs of the small number of patients with a scarring problem. Now there is a new closure process that allows the surgeon to better address the scarring risk in this 5% of patients that have a scar widening tendency. We are using this new technique in virtually all patients. We have actively solicited patients who have widened scars as a new business activity and have been repairing scars from patients who come from around the world.

    Density Limits

    Apr 7, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Density

    What is the limit for transplant densities?

    Hair can be transplanted at a density that approaches 35% of the original density in many people. The ability to place such densities depends upon many factors which include: hair thickness, skin characteristics, the size of the instruments for making sites, the skill of the surgical team at placing grafts tightly together and the processes that reflect the quality management of the surgical team. Not all doctors can place, for example, two hair grafts into a 0.9mm recipient site. Even in the hands of a good surgical team, not all hair grafts can be placed into a 0.9mm recipient site. So there is a balance between what can be done and what should be done. A surgeon with considerable experience in hair transplantation dense packing is best able to make the judgments required for maximizing hair densities. I pioneered Dense Packing with the first published mention in a 1993 article in the Hair Transplant Forum and have been using this technique ever since. More recently, we have moved to combining Dense Packing and Large Session surgeries to maximize yield and reduce the number of surgeries required to get a person to his goal faster.

    Visible Scarring

    Apr 7, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /Scarring

    Do most people have visible scars from a traditional hair transplant?

    The answer is that every person that receives a cut to the skin gets a visible scar. The more appropriate question should be: How often are scars large enough to be seen in social conditions? Most people who have donor hair taken with a traditional incision get a scar that is about 1-2 mm wide. A scar of this width can only been seen by combing back the hair and closely observing the scar with good lighting. Fully 95% of patients fall into this category. These scars should never be detected when the hair is at least 1/4 inch in length (this may not apply to a coarse, straight haired individual). If a person shaves his head, a pencil line scar will be evident in virtually everyone.

    Keloid Question

    Apr 6, 2005/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /African American, Scarring

    An African American woman writes…

    I am interested in the restoration process to my temples. Having black skin I am concerned with forming keloid scars in the visible frontal and back area. Does this happen? I noticed pictures of African Americans however they may be some of the lucky ones who don’t form big scars. Can you give me some more information on this?

    There also didn’t seem to be any info on other possible pitfalls to take into consideration?

    Thank you for your email. If you are a known keloid former, then a test of the scalp may be the safest way to determine if you would form a keloid. Such a test might be performed with a very small incision in the area where the hair would come from and a few needle ‘pokes’ in the area where the transplants were to be placed. If you have no history of Keloids, and have had scars in the past that did not produce Keloids, then it would be reasonable to assume that you would not form a Keloid in a hair transplant area.

    As a black woman interested in hair transplants, please make sure that you are evaluated by a good, ethical and competent doctor. With regard to Keloids of the scalp in association with a hair transplant, they are very, very rare even in black skinned people.

    123
    Page 3 of 3

    Videos

    Podcasts

    Ask Dr. Rassman

    * Your questions may be published (without your contact information).

    [contact-form-7 id=”27935″ title=”Sidebar Contact”]

    Over 21 million women and 35 million men in America suffer from hair loss. For many of these people, the psychological impact on their life is debilitating.

    Dr. Rassman is a world leading expert in hair loss with over 25 years of experience and over 50,000 satisfied clients.

    About

    This site exists to educate about hair loss and hair restoration.

    William R. Rassman, M.D.

    Categories

    • ACell
    • African American
    • Age
    • April Fools
    • Density
    • Diseases
    • Drugs
    • Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)
    • Favorites
    • Female Hair Loss
    • FUE
    • Hair Cloning
    • Hair Loss Causes
    • Hair Pieces / Systems
    • Hair Products
    • Hair Transplantation
    • Hairlines
    • Megasession
    • Other
    • Other Surgical Procedures
    • Personal Stories
    • Photos
    • Pigments
    • Podcasts
    • Post-Operative
    • Repair
    • Repost
    • Scalp MicroPigmentation
    • Scarring
    • Thinning
    • Tidbits
    • Training
    • Videos

    Archives

    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • June 202
    • May 202

    Links

    Disclaimer

    This site is intended to educate the public on hair loss topics based on personal experience and opinions from Dr. William Rassman and contributing physician editors. Information provided on BaldingBlog.com should not be used for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment.

    Scroll to top