Burned Scalp, Missing Hair

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

about 2 months ago i had a seizure and i hit my head on the radiator in my bathroom. it looks like a long pole and it was burning hot, to the point where you cant even put your hand on it for more then 3 seconds. i became unconscious and i dont know how long the back of my head stayed on it. needless to say i didnt feel any pain when i awoke so i know i must have damaged the nerves because im also a nursing student and i learned about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns. that day the spot became very red and then it started to char and it took weeks for it to start peeling and there was some fluid in there. the size is about 2 half dollars in a circle. i dont see it growing back and i dont think it will either because its extremely smooth and like i said its been 2 months already. my question is what can i do for it and if i need surgery what kind of surgery? how much does it cost and where do i go? thank you

You burned your scalp 2 months ago and as of yet you have not grown any hair there. You have a blister on the burned area, which means you had a 2nd degree burn there. As a general rule, a 1st degree burn is superficial and does not involve hair follicles, so they usually don’t cause permanent hair loss. 3rd degree burns are deeper and usually damage the entire hair follicle and cause hair loss, and they may also damage nerve endings and cause numbness in the area.

In your case, with a 2nd degree burn they are in between and may or may not damage hair follicles permanently. You have to wait for about 6 months and by then if you are not growing hair in the bald spots you may want to consider hair transplantation. At that time you could be evaluated to see what could be done for you if the need is there. For now though, my suggestion would be to just wait it out.

Tags: scalp, burn, hairloss, hair loss, burning, radiator

I Want to Sue The Place I Got My Laser Hair Treatments

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

Dear doctor,

please help!

In [name removed], I payed dear money for laser hair treatment which included laser, serenoa products and minoxidil. Now I’m taking the hair studio to small claims tribunal for refund, because they told me the success comes in 85% cases and that I had great chances…

I’m immigrant in this country but like to invest in myself, so I can’t say goodbye to this money.

Unfortunately, now that I investigated it a little bit, I found the figures are different, but how do I present material on tribunal? Where do I find a person, an expert who can say what is realistic success rate with minoxidil, with laser (if it can be taken into account at all…)?

Please advise me where to seek for expert opinion and facts that can be used at court? Do you have any experience? Please help us protect ourselves from these marketing sharks.

Best regards and thanks in advance

Best go to the consumer protection agency in your government, which often protects people from false advertising, as that is their job. In California, this agency is active, but they generally do not like to take on the quest of individuals unless you can prove false advertising/promotion. I do not know where you could find an expert in your region, however.

Minoxidil does work in some people and the 2% solution can regrow some hair in about 30% of male patients with genetic hair loss (see health-cares.net for more).

Tags: laser, treatment, marketing, minoxidil, rogaine, hairloss, hair loss

Can Doctors Deny a Finasteride Prescription Because of My Young Age?

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

hey Doc, i took your advice and i now have a doctors appointment in a bit over a week. i plan to ask him for a prescription to finasteride, my concern now is that he will think im too young for the prescription. Can doctors deny patients a prescription? will tests have to be done because im young? im 19 years old and this is new doctor

thx for your help dr Rassman, i hope you know how much your helping people with this blog

There is no guarantee that a doctor will prescribe any medication you want just because you want it. Some doctors do not believe in Propecia and will not prescribe it. I, on the other hand, will routinely prescribe it once I make the assessment by mapping out the scalp for miniaturization. I just saw a man this morning who does not have any miniaturization and he is 26, so I recommended against the Propecia even though he wanted it badly.

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

My Transplanted Hair is Brown, While My Hair is Normally Blonde

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

I had a hair transplant and the new hair is dark blonde/light brown color, but my top hair is light blonde, so every transplanted hair is much darker and is freaky. I was told this would lighten over time and would eventually grow in the same as my normal top hair color which is light blonde. Can I believe this?

When hair is transplanted, it will be thick shafted, just like the original hair in the back of the head (which usually gets less sun than hair on the top). Your blonde native hair in the recipient area will be miniaturized, so they will be blonder than the transplanted hairs, simply because miniaturized hair has less pigment and is easily bleached by the sun. You may have to dye the transplanted hair just to make it match. Assuming you are a typical summer blonde, the transplanted hair may blonde during the summer months. If you fill out the balding area eventually, then the blend will return more to a normal, where frontal hair gets sun exposure and more blonde as a result.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, blonde, brown, hairloss, hair loss

Retained Hair Fragments 6 Months After Hair Transplant

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

I just read a post by a doctor on one of the hair loss forums saying that retained hair fragments post op can interfere with transplant growth. I’m coming up on six months out from my procedure and haven’t seen a lot of change — still very sparse. I have noticed that I do seem to have a lot of these retained fragments where new hair should be sprouting. I had my wife tug on a few with tweezers last night and they just slid right out. Could these be interfering with my growth? Is it okay to go ahead and remove them this way?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Some people retain the hairs (beard length) for months. I generally do not remove them, particularly at this stage, as they may be the new hair growing in and you would not be able to tell the difference between new hair in its initial growth spurt and the fragments. These retained fragments that go through the skin and look like a beard have no importance and will not impact growth of the new hair. You need to wait out the full 8 months and then set up an appointment to review where you are. Patience is a virtue.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, hair restoration, hairrestoration, hairloss, hair loss

Dr Strick’s Alopecia Treatment

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

Hi Dr Rassman, I was diagnosed with alopecia areata and I would like to see the Dr Richard Strick that you wrote about on this blog but I am coming from FL and am wondering is that a specialty that he does or can any dermatologist do that treatment?
Thanks

If you are coming from Florida and want to see him, I would call his office and get the appointment first. His information can be found on the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery site. Maybe he can recommend a local doctor for you at the time of your visit.

Tags: strick, hairloss, hair loss, alopecia, treatment, dncb

Bull Semen Hair Product

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

Semen Hair

Um, I just read about this and a little weirded out. I thought you mind get a kick out of it, doc.

Metro.co.uk – New hair product uses bull semen

I guess that buying this product is safer than going to the source of the semen. I don’t know anything about putting semen in hair, aside from the joke in the movie There’s Something About Mary, but then again, I’m not a hair stylist.

Tags: semen, bull, sperm, hair, product

Which Is Better — Apple Polyphenols Topical or Capsules?

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

In purchasing Apple Polyphenols what would be more affective topical or capsules? I can’t afford both.

Thanks

There is no documented research on comparison of the topical vs. oral use of polyphenols that I know of. Most research on polyphenols, particularly on procyanidin and hair growth in humans and animals, is done on the topical procyanidin rather than the oral pill.

Tags: procyanidin, hairloss, hair loss, apple, topical, oral

Harvesting Armpit and Pubic Hair for Transplanting to Scalp?

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

I’m 39 and I’ve a thinning crown, and there is a diffused patch on the vertex, and very thin, soft hair with not much density at the back of my head. I’m already using propecia+minoxidil But i don’t see any improvements.Given this i would like to explore my options of using armpit hair and pubic hair for hairtransplant on to my crown using FUE. At the same time i ‘m concerned about donor transection rate for armipt hair and pubic hair ( how difficult it is to harvest this hair?) and the shock loss at the receiving crown?? Can you please let me know my options. Most of the hair transplants i have seen only show frontal hair line but not crown.

ArmpitIt is good that you started using Propecia for your thinning crown hair. Although you don’t think you had improvement with medications, I think it is best for you to continue the Propecia, for you never know how your crown would look if you were not taking the medication. Propecia should be the first line of treatment of crown hair loss in most patients. The next option is to fill the crown balding area with transplants using permanent hair from back of the head. Using the hair from this area is well established for transplant to your crown area. Body hair, as we’ve discussed on this site many times before, is not a good substitute for scalp hair, because of its long sleep phase and limited length. The amount of under arm hair in available numbers is low and the hair is kinky, much different than head hair. The same is true for pubic hair.

Pubic and armpit hair in particular have different characteristics than scalp hair. They are limited in numbers and should be reserved for the cases that no other alternatives are available and when the hair can be used for ‘bulk’ rather than a frontal presentation. If the scalp donor hair is severely diminished and you opt to get a body hair transplant with the FUE technique, a FOX test must be done to evaluate your candidacy for the FUE procedure and you can anticipate the damage from such a procedure in advance. If the FOX test is positive, it means your hair transection rate is reasonably low. With that said, unless you have no donor hair available from the scalp, please think traditional transplantation.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, body hair, bodyhair, pubic, armpit, bht, body hair transplant, body hair transplants

Marijuana Decreases Testosterone?

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

Hi Dr Rassman, I heard [editor’s note: TV and radio host] Dr Drew Pinsky in CA say that marijuana decreases testosterone. My question to you can the decrease in testosterone prevent the production of dht & therefore prevent mpb?

MarijuanaThere is nothing that prevents male pattern baldness. Even drugs such as finasteride only slows down or improves MPB. You cannot cheat your genetic fate.

Decreased testosterone can also lead to low sex drive and energy levels and it might even produce long term wasting disease of your muscles. There are numerous other medications and methods to decrease testosterone, but I doubt the side effects are worth it. The most extreme case is castration to stop virtually all testosterone production.

In short, marijuana does not prevent MPB. Just look at all the bald hippies from the 1960s and 1970s.

Tags: marijuana, pot, smoke, hairloss, hair loss, testosterone, pinsky, dht

Considering BioMatrix at Hair Club

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

I visited doctor Rassman for a consultation on two occasions: the first time was about 6 years ago, the second time about three years later. On both visits Dr. Rassman advised against transplant surgery because of limited donor hair. I appreciated his honesty and have adhered to his advice.

I recently visited the Hair Club in LA. I am considering their biomatrix procedure. I would appreciate any advice you could give me. Thank you

I did write about the Bio Matrix before, but I am still not too familiar with it, so it would be unfair for me to give you solid advice. You were kind enough to come into my Open House on February 3rd to ask me this question after you already submitted it to the BaldingBlog. It was a pleasure meeting you. Your examination showed you have Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA), and based on the Hair Club’s website, the Bio Matrix product appears to be interwoven with your own hair or placed on a bald head (the actual picture they used was man with frontal balding). If they actually weave it into the existing hair, I feel it may actually make you balder from traction. Be very careful with any product that could pull on your hair and deplete your current good hair supply.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, dupa, biomatrix, bio-matrix, hairclub, hair club

Hair Loss and Radical Prostatectomy

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

I’m 63, and 18 mos ago had a radical prostatectomy. About 12 mos before that I began losing hair, and began using Minoxidil, which I stopped when my prostate cancer was diagnosed. I continue to lose hair, even though I am now cancer free and over the “shock” period. My hair is very fine. I am not taking any medications, and regularly take a multivitamin, selenium, vit.D and Glucosamine.

I only wash my hair with baby shampoo. What can I do to slow down/stop/reverse hair loss?

You might try finasteride 1mg dose daily (with your doctor’s approval of course) and restart the minoxidil. Withdrawal of minoxidil (when it has been working well) will cause hair loss (or to be more clear, the loss of all benefits you received). You are to be congratulated for beating the prostate cancer.

Tags: minoxidil, finasteride, propecia, hairloss, hair loss, prostatectomy, prostate

I Thought HGH Thickened the Hair?

/by William Rassman, M.D./3 /,

Hi,
I was just reading the recent questions pertaining to hGH therapy and hairloss. Could you explain the actual reason for the hair loss that occurs while a patient is on hGH therapy. I’m just curious because many physicians who promote hGH for anti-aging say it should thicken the hair in most cases. Perhaps the hairloss is mainly due to the Testosterone therapy that many use in addition to hGH?

It causes hair loss. Also look at the other things that it will do that are not good for you, which is defined well in MedLine Plus’s website: Growth Hormone

I do not want to write a book on pharmacology here. This is one of the master hormones of the body and its influence is massive everywhere.

Tags: hgh, hormone, hairloss, hair loss, pharmacology

Does Hair Miniaturize Even Without MPB?

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

Hi.

If you are losing hair for a reason that isnt MPB will you still have miniturisation?

i.e does miniturisation in the front mean that it is MPB, or could it still be to do with thyroid, low immune system etc?

Thanks

Miniaturization of the hair may occur in many conditions where hair is thinning such a thyroid disease, malnutrition, and even old age (as the hair character does change in some older people). It means that the hair ‘generating machinery’ is shutting or slowing down (e.g. age the growth cycle may slow down and shorten). We actually see the effects of miniaturization as the hair is more ‘see-through’ and that is what most people call hair thinning.

Tags: miniaturization, hairloss, hair loss, miniaturize, thinning

Polysorbate 80

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

Have you ever commented on polyscorbate 80? – the primary ingredient in the so-called Helsinki Formula? And jojoba oil? Both laid claim to scalp hair regeneration.

I am not aware of any solid document to prove this product really works for hair loss prevention or treatment. The Helsinki company was tied up in difficult legal challenges for years in the 1980s. They pioneered the promotion of hair growth formulae before the market developed for such activities. It seems to be dying and then being reborn on a regular basis since then.

Tags: helsinki, hairloss, hair loss, polysorbate