Dr. Rassman
I had transplant (the flap) about 25yrs ago. I want to try laser comb, I it safe to use on flap area? thank you
It won’t hurt, but it probably won’t help. Get a proper evaluation before you treat yourself. I see many flap procedure patients and have helped many of them. The changes that the laser comb will possibly bring you is like playing the lottery — in other words, it’s a huge gamble and probably not worth the money.
I turning 34 and have a patchy beard. I understand it’s most likely genetics, I’m part Peruvian. I can tell if my beard grew out it would look good, but at this point I don’t think that will happen. In reading the posts on your site I hear time and transplants are the thing. I think time is against me here (I don’t want to wait until I’m 40) and I don’t care that much about it for a transplant. So my question is if I were to use Rogaine could this help my beard’s growth and since I have no problem with my hair anywhere else could there be side affects to that hair? Also I used Rogaine and it worked would I have to keep using it or could I stop and my beard remain? Thanks!
Minoxidil / Rogaine may cause hair growth to facial skin. I suppose you can try it for 6 months or so and see.
I have been using Propecia since the drug was approved by the FDA, which I believe was at least 6-7 years ago. I have had very good results up until 8 months ago when I started shedding hair for the first time since I started taking Propecia. I am now at a point where my thinning is becoming noticeable and my hair is very difficult to comb. I am wondering why it stopped working after all of these years. My doctor did change my prescription from Propecia to 5MG Finasteride which I break into quarters, but reassured me that Propecia is just a lower dosage of Finasteride. Is this true, and could inconsistence dosages impact the drugs effectiveness even though I always take atleast a 1mg per day.
Propecia is 1mg finasteride. Proscar is 5mg finasteride. Finasteride is a generic name for the brand name drugs Propecia and Proscar.
For the treatment of male patten baldness (MPB), otherwise known as androgenic alopecia (AGA), 1mg of finasteride is recommended. Taking a higher dose does NOT mean it will be better or work faster. Instead, you will have more risk for negative side effects.
Finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) does not stop MPB / AGA, but it slows it down. Eventually it may become a uphill battle, as you are finding out, because your problem may be progressing. Do not stop the medication, for if you do, you will lose massively more hair than you are now (in other words, you will lose all the hair you managed to retain with finasteride use). Acceleration of the balding process does not mean finasteride is not working and that you should stop taking the medication. It may seem like it is not working, but it is still slowing your hair loss down as best as it can.
Tyler, Texas- Wes Pemberton thinks he may have a world record. He’s submitted a hair on his leg as the world’s longest leg hair. A hair on his calf measures about five inches. The world record is 4.88 inches.
Full article here — Man goes for world record leg hair
One can infer this is why body hair transplantation to the scalp is so difficult. Body hair does not grow like scalp hair and the length is limited. Some doctors claim that when body hair is transplanted to the scalp, there are scalp influences that give it more length, but not more thickness of the shaft.
Good luck to this guy though. The world has been searching for a new world’s longest leg hair. I hope the search is finally over. I’m being sarcastic, by the way.
Hi, I’m a 21 years old male. I was prescribed Proscar 1.25mg to be taken once every other day. I was wondering whether this skipping a day dosing suggested by my doctor will affect the proper functioning of the drug? According to Hairlosstalk.com , here’s what they say:
“Propecia should be administered at 1mg daily in pill form, with no exceptions. Many people talk about custom dosing, skipping days, doubling up, etc. This will not only do nothing to help your hair loss, but will also do your system more harm than good. Hormones are very delicate chemicals that operate in conjunction with each other Therefore a constant daily dose will ensure a stable hormonal environment, and keep your biology in harmony”
I need to confirm what they say here is true or not according to your clinical experience. Thank you!
I don’t know why you were prescribed to take finasteride every other day, as it should be taken daily. Just to give some background for the readers that might not be familiar, Proscar (or generic variation) is 5mg of finasteride, and cutting the pill into 4 equal parts is easier than cutting it into 5 equal parts, which will have you winding up with 1.25mg per piece. The recommended dosage, of course, is 1mg finasteride a day, but if you do end up taking 1.25mg daily, it shouldn’t cause you harm.
Hi!
I just read a question by someone who shaved his pubic hair, and claimed the hair regrew with multiple hairs from the same follicle. I have experienced a similar thing myself, and wondered about it for a while.
I shaved my stomach and chest a while ago, and in a lot of places there are two, sometimes even three, hairs growing from almost the exact same spot. It looks like extra thick hair, but if I examine closely, I see that it is more than one hair.
Have you never heard about this? I don’t feel any need to go to a doctor to have it examined like you suggested, it doesn’t seem to do any harm at all, but I’m still a little curious about it.
Is it possible that you are looking at your shaved body hair before it becomes long enough to appear normal? I doubt that the hair count of each follicular unit will change with shaving, and aside from the two posts I’ve now made about this phenomenon, I don’t recall ever hearing about this before. I don’t know if it is the type of thing really worth focusing attention on, but I can understand your curiosity. Unfortunately, I just don’t have an answer for you.
Hi, i realise that this is a similar question to others you have been asked but i would really appreciate it if you could lend me your knowledge.
Basically i have blonde hair, at the temples it has always been really bright, white hair, the rest went brown and at 18 the bright blonde started to thin. i am now 20 and in the space of a
year and a half the temple areas have receded and changed to around a 2 on the Norwood scale.Is it normal for a maturing hairline transition to happen this quickly?
Yes, it is possible. Maturation of the hairline can start at around 16 years old and can progress with different speeds in different individuals. Some patients complete their maturation in one to two years, while in some the process may take up to several years and could be mistaken for progression of male patterned baldness.
(female) I recently removed my hair weave that I had for eight weeks (first and only time). I went to a professional Hair Weaver and anticipated no problem. I have noticed a few bald spots and hair thinning. I am worried that my hair will not grow back with the thickness and fullness I once had. I have read on the blogs that consistency on braids causes irrerversible hair growth. Is eight weeks considered a long period of time?
What you describe is traction alopecia, where hair is put in traction (a tight weave, for example) and the hair follicles can be permanently damaged. I cannot say if eight weeks is considered a long period of time, but I would wait about 6 to 12 months before you conclude permanent damage.
Following a scrape on the knee and an ear piercing I developed keloids. Would this present a potential problem if I were to undergo transplpant surgery?
Yes, it may present a problem, particularly since you developed a keloid after a single needle piercing.
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I am a genetically born male, who just turned 23 years old. I am a transgendered and just recently began taking hormones 2 months ago to transition into a woman.
At age 21, as a male, I noticed my hair thinning in the temple regions. My mother father began balding pretty heavily in his 20’s. I knew I was transgendered but was unable to afford transitioning and beginning hormones at that age so I went to two dermatologists and was prescribed Propecia both times. I was on it for a little over a year. Surprisingly after a year I seemed to have less hair in the temple region and front hairline region. I can’t say it didn’t work because who would have known if I would have lost that hair anyways and Propecia helped me loose less? I’m not sure. My hair is definitely thinner and some family noticed but it’s not “socially” noticeable.
Two months ago I stopped taking Propecia I began a female hormone regimen to transition into a female begin that I am transgendered. I take 6mg of Estrace as well as Avodart daily. I also get a monthly injection of Depot Lupron 7.5mg used to treat advance prostate cancer in men and is similar to a “chemical castration”. So needless to say my testosterone levels will be taken WAY down and hopefully Avodart will absorb the leftover DHT in my system. However, at this point, now living as a female with female hairstyles I still have an issue because my hairline has started to mature in a masculine look and it’s very thin in the temples and at my hairline.
With my situation, and based on the medication’s I am taking – should I expect more hair growth than I did on Propecia? Honestly I think I need a forehead reduction but this could be particularly tricky with my thus receed hairline. What are you suggestions, or observations? Should I give it time? I CAN NOT loose ANYMORE hair and I REALLY need regrowth! I haven’t tried Rogaine because I was told in doesn’t work in the temple region on genetic men – but now that I’m on female hormones does that change that?
PLEASE HELP ME DOCTOR!!!!!!
Thank you SOOO much for this wonderful opportunity!
You have chosen non-surgical, hormonal treatments for eliminating your male hormones. Dutasteride, although not yet FDA approved for regular male pattern baldness, is studied and believed to be more potent than Propecia (finasteride) for prevention of male pattern baldness. You are right in that using other anti-androgen medications are also important to slow down the process of your male patterned hair loss. I am not sure whether Rogaine can add anything to the medication regimen that you are currently on. You have to know that it is unlikely that you can grow your receded hair completely back and medical treatment can only prevent further loss and in some cases thicken the miniaturized hair in thinning area.
For treating the receded areas that are not recovered by the maximum hormonal treatments that you are doing and to make a female hairline, the available options include hair transplantation and possible hairline lowering procedures. The latter runs a risk if you should continue to bald from your genetics, while a hair transplant has been successfully used for people like you who have male pattern hairlines and wish to migrate to a feminine hairline. Please consider coming in for a consultation so that a Master Plan will have will be clearly defined for you.
I saw an episode of the Simpsons many years ago that had a premise where Homer had a scalp transplant from an executed criminal. His new beautiful head of hair was possessed. I think it was a Halloween episode. Anyway, now I’m reading that this could be true (without the possessed hair from a criminal)!
Here’s the link: USA Today – Hair-raising ideas to cure baldness
Regarding that Simpsons episode, I found what you’re talking about in a brief description here. Fantasy meeting reality? Well, not exactly.
Dr. Maria Siemionow is a plastic surgeon who has performed many face transplants in research animals. She has also shown that cadavers may have value as a source of donor scalp/hair, but I would not hold my breath for this to become clinical. The research is mostly on rats, and to my knowledge no human has ever been tested. Her focus has been using such transplants for severe injuries, like the face transplant that was done in France a few years ago. The article makes for interesting reading. Thanks for sending the link to us.
So, when you get a transplant, MUST you shave your head? Kind of negates the whole deal. I have a very public job (actor) and the last thing I want to do is show up bald for a performance… thanks
Nope. Some doctors recommend shaving or clipping the hair close, but like you said, it would be a deal-breaker for most men who do not want their lives or their looks to change immediately after a hair transplant. The doctors who require shaving believe it is better to see the balding pattern, but I believe it is just to make it easier for them to perform the surgery. The expertise to keep everything looking the same and not call attention to the transplant is what we get paid for, though.
At NHI, we do not shave any of our patients recipient area for a hair transplant unless they really want us to. Rarely does anyone ask for this.
Hello,
I am a 28 years old female, I was told diagnosed by my Derm when I was 24 years old …up to recently I have had extremely mild case of AA but starting in May on this year I got 5 spots and diffuse hair loss with the end of the hair from the scalp looking very dystrophic for example it looks like the hair is tapered feathered like.
I have seen four different Derm the last one was referred to me by NAAF she took some hair samples told that I have Telogen Effluvium but I don’t believe it.
The hair that is falling is almost dead like..and it short and I have long curly hair also I did get some Kenog injection and my spots are slowly filling in but the diffuse hair loss is continuing..I am lost here I am also using 5% minoxidil for men two cups full daily but I see more of hair shedding. please help me if you have any ideas
The dermatologists you visited with had the advantage of being able to observe you and examine you closely. They can perform a pull test and elect to do a biopsy if they wish. They can examine the hair microscopically on the head and look for miniaturization. I can not do this through the internet and I’m particularly reluctant to take a position against these other doctors who had the opportunity to examine you. Sorry.
I am wondering if there is a fix for spare beard growth. I cant grow a french beard because I dont have hair under my lower lip connecting to my chin. What can I do about it without invasive surgery?
Although you do not want to have surgery, a small Follicular Unit Extractation (FUE) procedure may be worthwhile. The hair that exists under the lower lip usually reflects very small quantities of hair. The entire procedure can be done in an hour with no significant pain and certainly no visible scars. The transplanted hair will grow like the rest of your beard and you can shave it if you get tired of it.
I’m 18 years old (male) and I have dandruff really bad. I’m losing more hair than usual and I have no family signs of baldness. I went to the dermatologist and he said I have seborrheic dermatitis. Does seborrheic dermatitis cause temporary hair loss. My hair itches real bad and its real sore at times. If I touch my hair it hurts in certain places. I don’t think my dermatologist really knew what was wrong. What do think is my problem?
Seborrheic dermatitis, when scratched continuously, can cause traction hair loss. Seborrheic dermatitis does not cause hair loss by itself. Whatever pain or feeling you are having on your scalp needs to be evaluated by a good dermatologist. If you don’t get the answers with one doctor, get another opinion.