How Can I Tell If I’m Seeing Regrowing Hairs or Miniaturizing Hairs?

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

Doc Love the site!

Do you know any way that you can tell the difference between regrowth and hairs that are currently miniaturizing? I have lots of shorter hairs that are growing on my hairline and at least an inch back, they seem to be the same thickness as the other hairs but am worried that they are miniaturizing, I recently started avodart which I have heard can cause frontal thinning. Any response would be greatly appreciated!

New hairs that grow out from the normal telogen cycle have a normal shaft width, while miniaturized hairs are finer hairs reflecting decrease hair shaft width.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hair growth, telogen, miniaturization

Playing the Stock Market with Intercytex Shares

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

Dr. Rassman

I understand you are a doctor, not a financial advisor, but I thought this question was worth mentioning anyway. Currently Intercytex stock is trading around 52 British pounds per share, giving the company a value of about 42 million British pounds. This means that the company is valued at around $83 million. Lets be serious, the success of the cloning procedure is worth way more than that. Lets say there is a 1 in 5 chance of success along with FDA approval within 10 years, the company could be worth a couple billion I’d say. So I would think the stock is a decent bet, at least for those willing to speculate. What do you think?

You are correct in stating that I am a doctor, not a financial adviser. Risks are a matter of timing and intelligent selection. If I knew what to do with discounting the long delays in a financial sense, then it might be worth the gamble. In other words, your best bet is to ask a financial adviser.

Tags: intercytex, hair cloning, stock, stock market, financial advisor, financial adviser

Limit to Bleaching Hair?

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

How many times can you bleach your hair before it falls out if it is possible?

With professional products and a knowledgeable person applying it, there is no practical limit to the use of bleach, unless you see negative effects on your hair. If you see breakage occurring or loss of hair, then stop the use of bleaching agents.

Tags: bleach, hair style, hairloss, hair loss

I Haven’t Seen Any Growth After Hair Transplant a Year Ago!

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

Greetings from Indiana. I have written to the blog before, but have never had my question posted. I noticed on the site that you have stated before that if no hair is growing after a year after a transplant, that there is something wrong. I don’t have a typical pattern of baldness. My bald spot is at the front top of my head and is “T” shaped. I had a transplant in October of 2006, and I have not seen any growth. Is it possible that I have some sort of underlying medical condition? Did my transplant fail? I can send a photo if you would like. Any
help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thank you for following BaldingBlog! We try to get to all the questions from hundreds of questions sent to us weekly, but it just doesn’t seem possible. A good number of the questions are the same or similar to those that have been asked before, so we put priority to the questions that have never been answered. You can always search to see if a question has been answered using the search field on the top right corner (opposite the logo) of every page of this site.

I cannot tell you why your hair transplant was not a success. First, I would want to know why you lost your hair. A “T” shaped hair loss is not in the normal genetic patterned hair loss (or your description is not clear enough). There are many diseases that cause hair loss and that can cause a hair transplant to fail — and there are also technical problems in the less experienced teams that perform the surgery. You need to follow up with your doctor to address your concerns and your doctor should be alarmed over the failure. Generally, it take 6 to 12 months for results of a hair transplant surgery to show. It can rarely take up to as long as 18 months.

Yes, by all means send me a photographs to the address on the Contact page (please reference this blog post when sending).

21 Year Old Had a Hair Transplant Last Month, Wasn’t Aware of Shock Loss

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

Im a 21 year old male and I had a ht about a month ago and wasnt aware that shock loss could be perminant and im not on propecia yet and now am worried that its too late to get the hair i lost back. Is this the case or will it come back if i start taking the pill now? I have been losing a lot more hair since the ht and am worried i just wasted my time/money. what are the chances that it will regrow? thank you.

You absolutely should have been on Propecia (finasteride 1mg) prior to the hair transplant. You should be on it now although some of the loss with be permanent. Better late than never.

Why did you have a transplant at only 21 years old? I find the combination of a transplant in a 21 year old and not being prescribed Propecia to be very bothersome. Consider sending me pictures of yourself (confidentiality will be maintained — reference this post when/if sending). Also, please read some of the previous blog posts about transplanting hair in young men:

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, shock loss, hairloss, hair loss, propecia, finasteride

Is a Hair Transplant Really Permanent?

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

Hey doc, hows it going? I was reading some of the posts and was wondering if a hair transplant really is completely permanent? Or will that area bald again and another transplant of hair to the same area will be needed? Thanks.

Permanency of the transplanted hair depends upon the donor hair that is used. Since most men never lose the hair in the back of the head (the typical “donor area”), they will not lose the transplanted hairs that are used for transplanting from this area. However, if that donor hair is diseased (alopecia, for example) and a hair transplant is performed, that hair will still fall out, even in its new home elsewhere on your scalp.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, permanent, hairloss, hair loss, alopecia

I Have White Follicles Showing on the Day of Surgery

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

The evening after my transplant, I noticed a lot of white follicles above my scalp line. Is that normal or should they have been implanted further into the scalp?

I am not sure what you are talking about when you refer to ‘white’ follicles on the day of the surgery. All of the grafts should be buried flush to the skin and should not be outside. Are you seeing entire hair shafts with the white bulb showing lying on the skin? If that is what you are talking about, it would alarm me. If what you are looking at is the crusting and this is what you are calling white follicles, then there is nothing to worry about. Whatever it is, see your doctor. Consulting with me on the internet does not help me to help you.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, follicle, hairloss, hair loss, crust, white

Water Here in Dubai Has a Lot of Salt In It — Is That Why I Have Hair Loss?

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

Hello

I see you have someone already mention hair loss in Dubai. I have the same issue, huge hair loss. I have always had healthy thick hair. It is becoming a real concern, I’m rather frightend, how bad will it become? It is a very common complaint here many people suffer from it. The water also has a lot of salt in it, much of Dubai’s water is desalinated sea water. Some professional advice would be very welcomed.

Kind regards

I really have no comment on this subject other than to bring up the stress factor with cultural dislocations that could precipitate hair loss. I would suspect that the drinking water that comes from desalination would have less salt just because of the way it is made. Perhaps I am wrong, though. I wish I could be more helpful, but unfortunately I don’t have all the answers.

Anyone else care to chime in?

Tags: salt water, saltwater, hairloss, hair loss, dubai

Could a Fungal Infection Mimic a Norwood Classification of Baldness?

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

Does fungal infection if not treated mimic Male pattern baldness say (norwood 5)?. Could u explain types of infections or fungal infections in general a little better?? would we see hair loss in patches or one might start losing hair from the front due to infection to all the way back? if treated do these conditions reverse back to having a full head of hair??

Simply put, if you let the fungal infections go on for years, it might look like patterned hair loss to the inexperienced eye. For more on fungal infections, see Wikipedia – mycosis.

Tags: mycosis, mycoses, fungus, fungal infection, hairloss, hair loss, norwood

Scalp Aches and Feels Bruised After Using Minoxidil

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

Dr Rassman,

I am in my late twenties and my hair has shown signs of thinning out on top. I have been using minoxidil (5%) for 6 months now and, although there has been some benefit, i have noticed my scalp aches and feels bruised in several areas. My hair feels it has been pulled at when i run my fingers through it. It doesn’t feel right so i am considering stopping treatment. I have previously had this sensation with minoxidil after a similar amount of time and stopped treatment but restarted after a few months. Do you have any idea what may be causing these sensations?

You may have sensitivity associated with topical minoxidil and you may not be a good candidate for its use.

Tags: minoxidil, rogaine, allergy, sensitive, scalp, hairloss, hair loss

Testicle Pain from Propecia — It’s Rare, But Real

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

Hi there,

Great website, with lots of great information!

However in one of your responses to a question entitled “Problems from Fincar (Generic Finasteride)” you mention not being aware of testicle pain being associated with US Propecia.

I am not sure how it is in the US, but in the U.K., this (testicle pain) is listed as a possible side effect on the Merck product insert for propecia. It is also on their website and in the “prescribing information” document for propecia on Merck’s website.

I have looked this up and yes, testicular pain is a rare reported side effect. If you set up the relationship, try a half dose or just get off of the medication. From Merck.com’s site (info provided by Lexi-Comp), it states under “Adverse Reactions” for finasteride:

“<1%, postmarketing and/or case reports: Hypersensitivity (pruritus, rash, urticaria, swelling of face/lips); breast tenderness, breast enlargement, breast cancer (males), prostate cancer (high grade), testicular pain”

In other words, these symptoms were reported in less than 1% of men that used the medication. It does not indicated how much finasteride was being taken when these occured though (1mg Propecia or 5mg Proscar).

For more about finasteride, see Merck.com.

Tags: merck, propecia, finasteride, proscar, testicular pain, testicle, hairloss, hair loss

Wnt Proteins and Hair Loss

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

has there been any further talk within the industry about the break through using wnt proteins as a cure for baldness? also do you believe that intercytex are the closest to finding the cure for baldness with their study with hair cloning? finally is it true that hair needs only to be 30% of its original thickness to be cosmetically adequate? many thanks for this website easily the best on the web.

Reference the following pages for Wnt proteins:

  1. PDF file – Towards a molecular understanding of hair loss and its treatment
  2. PDF file – Wnt-dependent de novo hair follicle regeneration in adult mouse skin after wounding
  3. ScienceDaily – Researchers Identify Signals That Cause Hair Follicles To Sprout

I don’t have any knowledge as to how close Intercytex really is in the grand scheme of hair cloning. Their past press releases have indicated that they are doing some exciting work, but the last I read, they were still quite far off from having their technology available to the public (let alone with a good success rate). So really, I have no idea that anyone is close.

With regard to your comment on the thickness of your hair shafts that are able mimic full thickness, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, intercytex, cloning, hair growth, wnt, protein

Losing Facial Hair From Stress?

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

About 2 months ago i started to lose facial hair the only problem is its in patches – 4 different locations, a spot on my chin (size of a 10 cent coin), neck and side of face. They are also getting bigger as the days/week progresses. I have seen my doctor and he has said its caused from stress??? He prescribed me a cream to use 2 times a day and it hasn’t helped. now im getting injections where the patches are and still the facial hair isnt growing. what i want to know is if stress is the actual cause and how can i cure this my problem?

Not to make light of your situation, but the simple solution would be to shave. Hair loss in patches can sometimes be related to a series of autoimmune diseases, like a condition known as alopecia areata in which there is no definitive treatment. Ringworm will also cause patches of hair loss, most commonly seen in children. There are doctors who prescribe medication or inject medication to the bald area in alopecia areata sufferers, but its effectiveness varies. In the end, you might want to get a second opinion.

Tags: facial hair, stress, hairloss, hair loss, injection, bald spot

My Hair Loss Stopped After I Moved to a Warmer Climate

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

Dear Doc
Mine seems to be a unique case as I have not found answers anywhere. Though I have seen many people with my condition.

I lived around 4 years in UK; where I used to shed a lot of hair. I do not shed hair anymore after migrating to a warmer climate.

Now I am left with a diffused patch on the top of my head. It is very unlike a male-pattern case. Before UK; I used to notice a little thinning. But now it is very prominent as my scalp reflects light from the top of my head. All other areas; including hairline have very thick hair. If I part my hair in the middle, the thinning top of my head is very clear.

If you wish I can send you some pictures. But my description sums it up. Any idea why some people have this form of hairloss? Thanks in advance.

It may just be coincidence or less stress in your life. Otherwise, you would see more bald men in the northern/southern poles and less in the equator. Clearly this is not the case. I can give you no medical explanation for this.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, climate, hot, heat, warm

Woman Picking at Sore Spots on Her Scalp

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

(female) I have very sore sporadic spots only on my scalp. If I pick at them it is agony. They are really tiny and have a little white head. Also if i rub my scalp with my fingertips little hard white bits come out like they were the hair follicles. Most disturbingly my hair is getting shorter, thinner and has become dry and extremely frizzy. I used to have beautiful long curly hair. I am so distressed. I feel so embarrased. I have just turned 40 also. Have you ever heard of anything like this.

You describe a condition known as trichotillomania.

From Wikipedia: Trichotillomania (TTM), or “trich” as it is commonly known, is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, facial hair, nose hair, pubic hair, eyebrows or other body hair.

There are support groups and learning centers such as Trich.org.

Tags: picking, female, women, woman, hairloss, hair loss, trich, trichotillomania