TEENAGER Jack Taylor was left looking like an ‘elephant boy’ after trying to dye his hair black.
His head swelled up after he had a suspected allergic reaction to dye made by L’Oréal — whose slogan is “because you’re worth itâ€.
The 15-year-old still has a rash on his face and body TWO WEEKS later — and is being treated with steroids and antihistamine tablets.
Full article here — The Sun – Dye job just wasn’t worth it
I have a 13 year old african american daughter continually suffers from her hair shedding. She has alot of hair however, I cannot get it to grow consistently due to the amount of shedding she experiences. She has a relaxer done professionally and I keep her hair moisterized. She stresses over this and so do I. I do not know what to do at this point. Please help.
Many African Americans who use relaxers have hair pulling and hair loss. Look to what she is doing as the cause. Try to have her stop the use of relaxers and see if this does not stop the shedding.
While my son is watching TV or playing games, he doesn’t realize it, but he is pulling his hair out.
What can we do to help him be conscious of it and stop?
Seems like your son has the condition called trichotillomania, which is a compulsive disorder characterized by the urge of pulling out hair from different areas. This is one of the common causes of hair loss in children and is usually self limiting. This condition that is often an obsessive-compulsive disorder and it could be aggravated in children by stress and environmental factors. You should see a psychiatrist or at the least his pediatrician for further evaluation of your child. If the problem persists, it will eventually produce permanent hair loss (traction alopecia) in the area that the picking is focused.
Look to:
Also, please read this previous posting, I Am Pulling My Hair Out and Need Advice.
I have a 9 year old daughter that was burnt as a baby. She has had two expanders on her head. There has been great improvement. However, there are still few spots that are bald and there is no hair. Is there any solutions available, as the hair is quite thin and probably no more expanders will be recommended. I would greatly appreciate any guidance you can provide. regards
Excising a scarred area and using expanders to provide more flexibility with flaps, could create a drastic improvement. If there are still some bald spots in your daughter’s scalp, they might be filled through hair transplantation. A hair transplant could be used successfully in the selected thinning area to give more coverage in areas that are cosmetically more important, but you need to be evaluated by an expert. The first place to start is back at the doctors who did the expanders for her. I would be happy to see her, but you need to be in or near California for easy access to me. In this case, photos will not be adequate and a personal examination is needed.
What’s the best hair length for an initial consultation to have my head mapped for miniaturization? I’m 32 and in the last few years, I’ve noticed I have developed a “mature” hairline and there appears to be miniaturization occurring at the front inch of my hairline and at the left and right rear vertex of my head. It’s hard to tell though since I still have all my hair. It just appears thinner. I scheduled an appointment for the beginning of February to have the mapping done so I know if my hunch is correct. Thanks.
You are doing it right. The key is to get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have a Class 3Vertex pattern developing, something not uncommon in a balding 32 year old. A good doctor should be able to diagnose and map your head with growth that is as short as 2mm length. You should be on Propecia (finasteride), as this will slow down the process and possibly reverse what is happening in the crown (vertex).
I have been on Propecia now for about 4 years. I did get some regrowth and thickening, but everything now has leveled off. Because I would like to get more density in my crown area, I went on .5 mg of Avodart yesterday. When do you think I can discontinue my treatment of Propecia without losing any of those results since I am now on Avodart? Or do you think it is wiser to remain on both drugs? Also, do you think the generic form of Avodart which I think is called Dutagen will have the same benefits? Thank you.
You are asking me questions to which the answers are unknown. I can logically tell you that if you are taking Avodart, there is no need for finasteride anymore. Let me know if you have benefits from the change in medication and if so, when you started to observe it. I have no experience with the generic Avodart, as neither medication is FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss.
(female) I’m losing hair in the crown of my head.It stays itching and dry.I do relax my hair and I’m trying to find something to help my hair start back growing in that spot.Do you think you can give me some advise.Thanks
Some women do have ‘patterned’ hair loss and you need to have your hair mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you are one of these women. I have lots of advice, but I need to know far more information that you gave me here. Some medications work well in the crown of women with hair loss. First, see a good doctor and take it from there.
Doc,
I am a 24 year old male and am just starting to use Rogaine. I have no hair loss on the top of my head, but have the widow’s peak going. I am trying to find out if Rogaine works the same on the forehead as on the back of the head. The directions on Rogaine said “not intended for forehead use”, but I didn’t think it mattered. I also use Procerin as well. Should I continue to use this, or is it detrimental to my hair? Any information would help.
Thanks
Procerin states that it reverses hair loss and there is promotion that it is a DHT blocker without any proof. The buyer should be on alert with such claims in the product. Are you wasting your money?
Minoxidil (Rogaine) is worth a try for keeping the widow’s peak, but Propecia would be better. Let me know what happens to you, as there is no evidence one way or the other that either medication will hold the widow’s peak that is disappearing from MPB genetics.
Hi Dr. Rassman …..I’ve been seeing a lot about FIT and HT reversals. Has reversing a HT with good cosmetic results become possible?
Reversing a hair transplant is difficult to impossible. There will be scars from any reversal. I have done quite a number of these, but although many patients have liked the results, I generally did not. It is easier to fix a bad transplant (if it is fixable) then to reverse one completely.
hey doc i was wondering a few things, the men on my mothers side of the family are all bald and not to tall… the men on my fathers side all have full heads of hair and are tall.. in the 6 foot 5 area.. me and my brother are that tall as well..
does hair colour have anything to do with the balding gene?
lets say my father was born blonde then turned brunette and i was just born light haired brunette then turned dark hair brunette… and my mothers side are just brunette
does that mean i will go bald cause my hair colour or are those different genes?
Balding genes and genes that control hair color are not related. Looking to your parents and their parents, brothers and uncles will tell you what you might inherit. If you are over 30 and have no balding, then you may not be balding. Hair color does change with age.
I was just diagnosed with Diffuse Alopecia. I’m devastated, you can see my scalp already on the top, the sides, and the back. What ever hair falls out there is nothing there to replace it, just smooth skin, no hair is growing back. I’m almost sure the BCP yasmin is the culprit here. My hair loss accelerated 4 months into the pill, i have been on it since april of 2006, and since this past summer the bulk of my hair has fallen. I’m so depressed, I’m a woman, and wearing wigs for the summer is making me ill already. What can i do besides stopping the pill? any vitamins i should take? any other suggestions? thank you.
The medication Yasmin is a combination of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. Loss of scalp hair is a reported side effect of this medication. The hair loss from most birth control pills is usually benign and self limited. Losing hair in this situation is thought to be caused by inducing hair follicles to go into their telogen phase. You must stop the medication and use other methods of birth control in the hope that the hair will go back into a normal growth phase. You may see hair re-growth within 2-6 months upon stopping Yasmin.
Women with sudden diffuse hair loss should also be evaluated for some other common causes of hair loss including thyroid disease and Iron deficiency. Most these problems could be ruled out with a simple blood test. A thorough physical examination is also important before establishing the diagnosis.
I am assuming you have done a complete work up for your current condition. If everything has been checked and there is no other reason for the hair loss, you only have to wait a few months to see your hair regrowing.
I see the lasercomb people do not take kindly to criticism. Any thoughts about that? The link is here on the official hairmaxforum.com
I took the time to review their data and contrary to their protestations that there was not enough resolution in the photographs, I would challenge that statement. If they felt the photos didn’t well represent their claims, why would they bother posting them? In fact, the resolution in the photos were excellent (we looked at the macro photos, which quite clearly show the hairs or lack thereof), as was their scientific methodology, and that is why I was willing to state what I said, that the conclusions of their ‘scientific paper’ were inaccurate. I have declared that I am an expert in viewing these photographs because I am the inventor of the technology that they used to do the very experiment being challenged by me (U.S. Patent 5,331,472 issued July, 1994). I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but based upon the data I reviewed, their conclusions are not credible.
Just so everything is easy to find, here was the follow-up email I received from Lexington after my initial blog post — Email Response from Managing Director of HairMax LaserComb.
Hi,
Im a 25 year old male and Im confused about a development in my hair over the past few years. Four years ago I had thick (like a bush) hair all over my head. Now my hair seems to be thinner all over (almost as if I lost density on the whole top of my scalp at once). My hair line, however, is and has been stable since I was in high school.Am I losing hair/going bald or is this just my hair “maturing” ?
Thanks
You are within the period that hairline maturation occurs. Some of your frontal hair loss might be associated either with the maturing hairline (the frontal 1/3rd inch) or possibly genetic balding (which would be behind the frontal 2/3rds inch). Since you are experiencing generalized thinning (mostly behind the leading frontal hairline), you may have some components of male pattern hair loss with miniaturization, suggesting some ill defined early ‘patterned’ loss. In order to confirm your diagnosis, you need to be examined and get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to help define the diagnosis of your current condition and it can be used to predict where you are heading in terms of eventual hair loss.
Hi,
Great website! I recently had a consult to see if I am a candidate for Lasik eye surgery. I was told by the eye doctor that my pupils are too large, and this may be a result of propecia, which I began taking two weeks ago. Does propecia cause dilated pupils that you are aware of, and if so, is it temporary? Also, can excessive scratching of the scalp cause thinning hair in a person without MPB, or does it accelerate it if that person has MPB? I was told by a hairdresser that I have thinning in an unusual place, and this may be caused by excesive scratching in that area.
Thanks so much.
Dilated pupils are not known complications from Propecia (finasteride) at normal prescribed doses. I can not imagine what your doctor is talking about.
Scratching may reflect a drying scalp from hair thinning and it usually can be treated with shampoos and conditioners for dry skin.
Dear Dr. Rassman:
Thanks for the informative website.
I am a 28 year old male who has been diagnosed with diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), and I have some questions about available treatments.
My doctor prescribed Propecia, which I have just started taking. I was wondering about its effectiveness with my condition. Your blog says in various places that finasteride works for about 50% of people with DUPA. Does that mean that 50% experience regrowth, or just a halting of the DUPA process? I feel that my DUPA hasn’t progressed particularly rapidly, and while I would love to have regrowth, I certainly would also be happy to have the process halted.
Also, I have been using Rogaine foam for about 10 weeks with no noticeable results thus far. I end up using a lot of it, as I use it on almost my entire head, and as you can imagine it’s an expensive pain. Is there any reason that minoxidil does/should work better or worse with DUPA, such that I might stop using it and use only finasteride?
Thanks
Benefits for diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) with Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is a subjective call on my part. You may see cessation of the process or reversal. Half of patients who I follow, have no impact from the medications.
The effects of minoxidil (foam or otherwise) will not be seen for 8-12 months. Wait it out.