I Take Aspirin Therapy and Plavix — Can I Get a Hair Transplant?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

I am a previous patient of yours. Since my procedure several years ago I suffered a heart attack. As a result, I am on aspirin therapy (325 mg/day) and Plavix (75 mg/day), indefinitely. Does this preclude me from ever having another transplant?

I would like to have a conversation with your doctor prior to going forward and then meeting with you as well. Please send me your doctor’s name and phone number.

I have transplanted people on both of these medications. The bleeding time will be longer, but the bleeding that is prolongs will not be life threatening and the clotting mechanism that is made to stop you from bleeding will stop the bleeding (it just might take longer). Fortunately, all of the bleeding areas from a strip harvesting technique of hair transplantation will be seen at the time of the surgery and the surgeon can use basic techniques to address these bleeding areas safely.

For your general information, aspirin and Plavix medications prolong bleeding times, making it more difficult for a clot to occur in the short term. Heart attacks and strokes often come about when a clot forms inside a blood vessel that has considerable plaque build-up. The point of taking these medication is to slow down the clotting mechanism for heart attacks and strokes in these areas of plaque so that the heart attack and stroke does not develop. But the clotting process is a necessary part of daily life and is not disabled. We constantly have small bleeding episodes when we ‘grunt’ or stress during a bowel movement (for example). Many people will note that they develop small clots on the legs or if they bump themselves, they depend upon the clotting mechanism to prevent any excessive bleeding. So, in effect, the clotting mechanism still works and in a safely controlled surgery like a hair transplant in the hands of a skilled surgeon, bleeding should not be a problem.

Tags: heart attack, blood, aspirin, plavix, hair transplant

GNC Men’s Mega Men and Hair Loss?

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /, ,

Hello, Dr.Rassman.
I want to ask does GNC Men’s Mega Men cause shedding or hairloss?

Drugstore.com – GNC Mega Men

Many forums say it contains too much B complex and some Saw Palmetto. By the way, is it benefit to take lots of B complex per day?

The GNC product contains DHEA, a hormone that is known to produce or accelerate hair loss. I do not have direct knowledge about shedding with Saw Palmetto or high doses of B complex vitamins.

Tags: gnc, mega men, hair loss, hairloss, dhea, saw palmetto

Removed Plaque with Hairs Caused by Severe Dandruff

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I have severe dandruff and/or psoriasis that results in unsightly plaques on my scalp. Recently, I had a temporary lapse in judgement and gently removed one of the plaques forming on the hairline. To my surprise, the plaque came off with six or seven hairs, causing me great anxiety and grief. I do not habitually scratch my head or remove plaques, but the sight and itchiness of this one was driving me crazy. Do you think the loss of these hairs is permanent, even though I don’t normally pick at my scalp? Or does traction alopecia occur only with frequent picking?

You will not get traction alopecia from one or two hair pulls. It takes many hair pulls to get it to become permanent. Sounds like you have it all together.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, dandruff, alopecia

Stopped Propecia For a Month — Now I Want To Go Back On

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Hello, I have been on propecia for about a year, I stopped taking it for literally 1 month because I didnt have the money for it. I have noticed a decent amount of hair loss since coming off the drug. I am back on propecia now, but my question is can I grow back the hair that I lost within that month? and do I have to wait the intial 3 to 4 months again for propecia to start blocking DHT?

Thank you so much for your time

There is no way to tell other than to wait it out. Most men can regrow what they lose after stopping Propecia for a month. What I want the readers of this blog to note is that the hair on this man is being held on his head because of the Propecia. Had he not started the drug a year earlier, most likely he would be substantially balder than he is now. For those of you on the drug, stay on it or the loss that occurs from stopping it may not be reversible. Why gample?

Tags: propecia, finasteride, hairloss, hair loss

Chlorine, Swimming, and Hair Loss

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

I have noticed rapid hairloss over the past 8 months. After trying Propecia for two months, I have seen no improvement. I am an avid swimmer and wanted to know if swimming and exposing my hair to chlorine has any effect on the hairloss?

Swimming PoolSwimming and chlorine in the pools will not produce hair loss.

Two months on Propecia is not enough. To get benefits that you might be able to see, it takes a good 8 months. Of course, that implies that hair will regrow, but this drug works well to arrest hair loss which will not show anything that the eye can see except the hair loss will slow or stop. Try to understand the difference as it is all in the expectations. I always tell people that if they are under 40, they can almost always assume that the Propecia is working to slow or stop the hair loss. Stay the course for your own good.

Tags: chlorine, swimming, hairloss, hair loss, propecia, finasteride

I Don’t Have Hair Loss, But I Want A Lower Hairline

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /

Hi – I am 36 years old, male. Good hair genes on my mother’s side, father is balding but not completely bald.

I have always had very thick wavy hair. Over the course of time I have noticed a gradual “shrinking” of my hair – hair is thinner and noticeably less dense when I run my fingers through it. This shrinking density has occurred everywhere on my head – not just the front or top but even on the sides and back. No balding areas, thinning is probably only noticeable to me. While my hairline receded slightly due to maturity, I really don’t seem to losing that much hair. It’s just that the “poofyness” is disappearing along with some of the waves.

If I would like to have a transplant just to lower the hairline by a centimeter with maximum density, would I be a good candidate? I don’t think there would be any shockloss since the hairline would be lowered. Thank you.

Shock loss producing permanent hair loss in a person without genetic balding is very rare. If it occurs in a person without genetic balding it usually returns in 3-6 months. You are defining a series of things including:

  1. Suggestion that the hairline has risen. If it has without genetic balding, you may just have developed a mature hairline and if there is no genetic balding, then you can lower the hairline with a surgical procedure where the upper part of the forehead is removed and the hairline is then lowered. This is what we call a ‘hairline lowering procedure‘. Alternatively, hair transplants also work.
  2. The thinning of the hair where you say the “poofyness” is disappearing along with the wavy nature of your hair may just be the changes occurring with age. To be sure that this is not miniaturization, you need to have your hair mapped out to be absolutely sure that it is a uniform process impacting all of the hair on your head, not just selected areas in the front.

You need to be properly examined before you embark upon the types of decisions that could be dangerous if you really have genetic balding and then lower your hairline. Also, I’d recomment that you read through some of the previous posts I’ve made regarding hairline lowering for more info.

Tags: hairline lowering, hairloss, hair loss

Did Johnny Depp Have Hair Transplants?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hi doc, I have a few questions.

  1. Do you think Johnny Depp has had hair transplants?
  2. I’ve been on propecia for 5 months now and so far the right portion of my hairline has actually filled in while the left has gotten worse. I’m 19 right now and I dont expect my right side to get as bad as the left side. Is it possible to get a hair transplant on just one side of my head? Would there be a particular reason why its like that?
  3. I’ve found this very interesting article on the aging process. (Hankooki.com) What would its implications have on the advancement in hair restoration?

Thanks.

Johnny Depp

  1. I am guessing that Johnny Depp did not have them either as I have no direct experience with him. I haven’t read anything where he has said he’s had hair transplants, so I couldn’t say. If he did and I did it, I would not be able to say that I did him because it would expose his confidential personal information.
  2. It is not uncommon to bald faster on one side than the other. The two sides will eventually even out. If Propecia worked on one side and not the other, then I suspect sooner or later the side it worked on will start to bald as well. Maintaining the Propecia may keep the imbalance present. I have transplanted one side in certain unusual cases. I judge each one on their own merits.
  3. I read with interest the article you referenced. I only know what I read. There are parts of our genetic material called telomeres which shorten as we age. This is an aging clock in our system and when the telomeres drop off to a certain level, cell death occurs. A great deal of research has been done to increase these telomeres so that our biological clock is extended. The science of anti-aging is developing rapidly, and hopefully we will live long enough to see the fruits of such developing science. Genetic hair loss may or may not be helped by this research. Your guess is as good as mine.
Tags: johnny depp, actor, hollywood, propecia, proscar, hair transplants, hairloss, hair loss, telomeres, aging, finasteride

Femara and Tamoxifen

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

I am a 58 year old woman who has been on Femara for 18 months. I was on Tamoxofin for 3 1/2 years prior. I have always had fine hair but over the last year it is thinning much more. It is becoming difficult to style despite keeping it short. Have you had other women on these drugs experience this? Any recommendations?

It may seem crazy, but I felt that cancer had a cure. This feels overwhelming.

I have not treated cancer of the breast for many, many years so I am not familiar with these drugs on a specific level. Cancer chemotherapy goes after cells that have a high metabolism and hair is unfortunately one of the most active metabolic organs in the body. That is the bad news, but the good news is that hair is very robust and once it gets used to some of these drugs, this side effect reverses. I am sure that the doctor who prescribed these medications will be in a better position to answer that question about both Femara and Tamoxifen.

Tags: femara, taomoxofin, cancer, hairloss, hair loss, female, women, woman

Using Visine on The Scalp for Hair Loss Prevention?

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /

Hello Doctor,

Since I moved to Calgary I’ve been losing hair like crazy. I’ve always been affected by hair loss, but was using Rogaine and I was happy. Since I moved here though, I’m losing hair like I’ve never exprienced before.

Anyhow, I heard about an idea of applying Visine to your scalp to prevent hair loss and cause hair regrowth. Have you heard about this idea before or have any info you could share with me?

Visine on the scalp? I never heard about that approach, but if I get emails from readers about this, I will post them here.

Hair loss is common when stress comes into play. For women who are prone to hair loss, a move like you just had can induce the hair loss — when it all calms down, the woman who loses hair this way should see it reverse. For men, the hair loss can be permanent.

Tags: stress, hairloss, hair loss, visine

Accutane and Hair Transplants

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hello Doc.

Thanks for your continued efforts to answer most hairloss related questions. Am 26 healthy male & I have had a hair transplant for frontal & side burns some 8 months ago. Growth is great. I do have some problem with ACNE & actually planning to take ACCUTANE, my question is, will the treatment with this drug have any side-effects on my transplants?

Accutane can cause hair loss in some patients, even in hair transplanted follicles. It is a known side effect of that drug. Are you sure that alternatives are not available that would work to address your acne? Talk with your doctor.

Tags: accutane, hair loss, hairloss, hair transplant

Free Hair Transplants from Trainees?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

my question is, do medical students do hair transplants for free. For experience, like a dentist in trainning would give free cavity fillings if the patient let them work on them. i ask this because i dont make alot of money and is hard for me to save up due to bill. also i dont want to go bald, so im trying to find out other ways to not go bald. thanks for reading my question.

Surgery is not something that is legally allowed in any ordinary hospital or clinic for a non-physician to do and that includes medical students. Teaching hospitals have special waivers for medical students (who are not licensed medical doctors), so it is possible that medical school hospitals can offer this, but I am not familiar with this service being offered at any medical school in the United States. We do not have a medical school affiliated with New Hair Institute.

Tags: free, hair transplant

Minoxidil’s Potent Side Effects

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I had used minoxidil 2% and then 5% when it became available. Roughly 7 years in total. I just stopped using it in May ’06.

The reason I stopped did not become apparent to me right away. I had two near fainting incidents. I went to the ER for both of them, saw my doctor, went to a cardiologist etc. One person, the ER Dr. suggested that it might be the minoxidil. Everyone else thought it was not a ‘new’ element in my life and looked for other causes.

Well, after I got a clean bill of health, I decided to stop the minoxidil and other symptons I had experienced, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, headaches, dizziness etc slowly are going away.

I figured I was getting older, 43, and that the above were part of aging. This has caused considerable distress in my life, including my marriage. My wife was concerned about my lack of performance and within 3 weeks, the ED is going away.

Please let your readers know that minoxidil is a potent drug. The side affects I experienced are considered rare, but they came on gradually and was hard to connect to the minoxidil.

I posted the above email as the sender wrote it, unedited. Minoxidil was originally a antihypertensive drug and those that used it noticed it grew hair. The hair came to the face and other body parts as well. Like any such medication, different people require different doses and the problem with minoxidil for the treatment of high blood pressure was that it was not as predictable as other drugs. Eventually the drug became out of favor for the treatment of blood pressure as better, more competitive drugs were on the market. What is important to note is that when a drug is put on the skin, it gets absorbed into the body to some degree in every person who uses it. The above story shows just that.

Tags: minoxidil, heart, blood pressure, hairloss, hair loss, rogaine

Soybeans, Prostate Cancer, and Male Pattern Baldness

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /,

hello

Iam suffering from dandruff for the past 6 years.I used many drugs to cure it (nizoral,coaltar,salycilic acid)but of no use.iam not going to ask for any more drugs ,but i just want to know whether dandruff alone can cause baldness (excluding male pattern baldness).

one more thing I recently came to know that soybean can prevent prostrate cancer and male pattern baldness.does soybean do really prevent from pattern baldness.

Kindly clarify me….

Dandruff can not cause balding unless you pick at it and then you develop traction alopecia. People who pick at their flaking areas may have an obsessive disorder called trichotillomania. Balding and hair loss are usually genetic. Too many people are using drugs like you listed above that do little to address the dandruff (no ringworm is present in most people).

Prostate cancer prevention with Propecia has been documented in an authorative research paper (see: New England Journal of Medicine). There is also a lot of press on the value (good value) of dietary approaches to cancer prevention with soy. The story is not final yet, but a lot of promise is coming down the pike.

Tags: prostate, finasteride, propecia, proscar, soy, beans, dandruff, cancer, alopecia, trichotillomania

Effexor and Hair Loss?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Taking effexor for two years. Have noticed that I am losing hair from the top of my head. I am female, post menopausal.

Effexor has hair loss as a known, but rare side effect. Always check with your doctor about alternatives. Although most antidepressants have hair loss as a reported side effect, some may not impact you as much as others.

Tags: effexor, hair loss, hairloss, female, women

Taking Propecia for 4 Months, But My Hair Loss is Getting Worse

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /

Hi. You have a lot knowledge but I couldn’t find this answer. I have been on Propecia for 4 months and my receding hairline seems to be getting worse the past 3 months. i am only 23 yrs old. Does this mean the Propecia is just not working? Shouldn’t it be slowing down? Should I increase the dose? thank you for your advice.

You may be going through a rapid hair loss phase and it is possible that if Propecia is working, it may not be working enough to stop the recession. We know that this drug traditionally works better in the crown, so I would not be surprised to see it less effective in the front (particularly for re-growing hair).

You need to know what is happening so mapping out the hair and scalp for miniaturization will give you some measurements to define what is happening. At this point right now, there is no way to tell. I would stay on Propecia for a full year or more. You need a good doctor to manage what is going on and a Master Plan to know what you will do next.

Tags: propecia, proscar, finasteride, hairloss, hair loss