ACell, FUE, and Follicle Harvesting

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

Hi,

Love the site and the calm measured manner you guys take to things. I’m finding the Acell stuff really fascinating for a lot of reasons beyond my own hair concerns. I had a couple questions and was hoping you might be able to shed some light on them.

From what I understand, one of the many unanswered questions in the auto-cloning process is whether or not a plucked hair from the balding-immune donor zone, implanted into the bald area will continue to be fully immune to balding because of the mixed biological source nature of the hair/implant zone/newly generated follicle. Theortically couldn’t this issue be circumvented thusly :

1) Use standard FUE/implant techniques from donor areas
2) Depending on scalp availability, reseed these areas with acell plucked hairs
3) Harvest established acell hairs for further implanting
4) repeat until desired results

Not to get into totally wacky territory here, but is there any investigatory efforts to see if Acell plucked hairs can be implanted in other areas of the body and harvested in that manner if scalp tightness is an issue? For instance, growing a crop of donor hair via auto-cloning on the arm/back/leg, and taking them for standard implant from there?

Perhaps you are misunderstanding what the auto-cloning technique with the ACell product is all about. The research we’re conducting is basically plucking out hair from a donor scalp area (where hairs are considered immune to genetic balding), applying the ACell products, and transplanting to an area of scalp where there is balding. We are not harvesting hairs to be multiplied in a lab. Growing a crop of donor hair is not what this is all about.

Finally, we still do not know if the transplanted ACell plucked hairs will continue to survive years down the line as if they are immune to genetic balding like standard transplanted hair follicles. We are all assuming that it will be just like transplanted hair follicles, but this has yet to be proven. That proof will come many years from now where we can follow those transplanted patients.

Tags: acell, fue, autocloning, auto-cloning, hair cloning, hairloss, hair loss, hair multiplication

How Available Is Dr Rassman?

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

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I’ve been reading your blog for about two years now since I started dealing with hair loss, thanks so much for donating your time to the public in this way. I have a question that I haven’t really seen addressed in past postings: Just how accessible are you to the average working guy who wants a procedure with you? You seem to be at the forefront of your field, I imagine you’re services are quite in demand and I’m not a pro athlete, movie star or CEO.

What are my chances of being able to get through and have a consultation with you? I/m 31, I’ve been maintaining an almost full head of hair with propecia, which grew back a lot of my crown where I was thinning. But I imagine somewhere down the line I will want a procedure, particularly if things like A-Cell pan out to make transplants less invasive.

Thank you

Dr RassmanContrary to what you may think, I am available to anybody who wants to see me for a consultation. In fact, many of my patients are just the “average Joe”. Anyone can call 800-NEW-HAIR to setup an appointment.

Since you indicated you’re in the Bay Area, you can also see my associate Dr. Jae Pak, as he flies up to our NHI office in San Jose every Wednesday. While I usually spend my time at our Los Angeles office, I am also available in San Jose on occasion when Dr. Pak takes a break from his schedule.

Tags: hair transplant, rassman, new hair institute, san jose, los angeles

Is Hair Surrounding a Scar Supposed to Be Thinner?

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

i have a 1 inch scar on my head just above temple. my hair surrounding the scar is thinner than the corresponding hair on the otherside.

i was wondering is it normal for hair to be thinner around a scar.

It may be just a perception of thinning hair, because you have less hair on the scarred area. I doubt that each individual hair strand diameter is thinner. In other words, when you got your scar you may have lost some surrounding hair contributing to less ‘bulk’ of hair in the region.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, scarring, hair bulk

Would You Restore a Juvenile Hairline If There Was Unlimited Donor Hair?

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

hello Dr Rassman,
i have a question about hairlines. although it does concern an unlimited donor supply my question is indirectly related to a hair loss cure.

Would you restore juvenile hairlines on patients who requested this if there was an infinite donor supply? like do your concerns simply stem from the finite amount of hair an individual has available for redistribution? or is it an appearance issue?

thanks and props to all the doctors who make this site what it is!

Hair transplant surgery, just like any cosmetic/aesthetic surgery, is a situation in which the patient chooses to alter his/her appearance. Thus, if the patient wants to have their juvenile hairline back and there is enough donor hair available, I see no reason why a doctor cannot accommodate the request. The caveat is that even if there is unlimited donor hair, you must consider the future of how that patient may continue to bald and that patient must prepare to have more surgeries. We keep referring to this as the Master Plan.

If the person was 20 years old, I might suggest that he wait 10 years to be somewhat certain he will not be balding. If he is 30 years old without signs of balding, then this could be looked at as if it was a safe decision and probably will not bald.

All of this is hypothetical, of course, because even if auto-cloning is a reality you would need multiple procedures to get that amount of hair distributed to cover the area you want to the density you desire.

Tags: cloning, donor supply, hair transplant, hairline

I Switched to 5% Minoxidil and Saw Massive Shedding

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

Dear Dr.Rassman

First I want to thank you for your awesome blog, I am a regular here for almost a year and the information you have provided prevented me from taking many wrong decisions in my battle with MPB. And now for my question:

I am a nw3 and used 3% minoxidil for 6 months along with Finpecia and saw very good results on temples, it almost filled entirely although not very thick but all my temple area was filled with newly grown hairs. it made a real different visually.

Then for past 2 months or so I switched to 5% Minox to see even better results but to no avail! during this time i saw massive shed and almost lost all my previously grown hair on my temples and lost even more ground in my hairline. now my hairline is very thin in front and I am starting to freak out since its getting worse everyday. now what should I do? switch back to 3% or continue 5% Min?

Your opinion on what should I do next is highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance. Best Regards

I do not know what to tell you. If you follow this site, I’ve said many times that there is no cure for genetic hair loss. So all I can offer are hypotheses. Maybe it is just coincidence you are losing more hair on 5% minoxidil. Maybe switching to 3% may (or may not) help. Maybe you are noticing the shedding that many people report from starting on minoxidil.

My best advise is to not freak out and make harsh decisions based on emotions. Weigh out your options and choose your course. There is no wrong answer. Have you thought about seeing a physician and finding out what a professional thinks your course should be?

Tags: minoxidil, shedding, hair loss, hairloss

My Propecia Order Will Be Delayed for Over a Week

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

I’ve been using Propecia for 10 years with good results. The company I order Propecia from forgot to send my order. As a result, I’ve gone three days without Propecia and will probably have to go another week or so without it (i.e., 10 days without it). Am I going to experience noticeable hair loss before I get my shipment of Propecia? I am so ticked off!

I wouldn’t expect any noticeable problems. Missing a few days (up to a week or so) should not have any detrimental effect with respect to your hair, because there is some tissue fixation of the drug that will help keep the benefits flowing for up to 10 days. It generally takes a few months of not taking Propecia to notice “catch-up” hair loss.

Tags: propecia, finasteride, hairloss, hair loss

Would Plucking a Single Hair Multiply the Entire Follicular Unit with ACell?

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

Dr Rassman,

As I can see from the board you are currently getting hammered with unknown questions regarding ACell possibilities prematurely before your own trials are done. That being said, here is another from a former patient to add to the lists of unknowns but to try and get a gage on your thoughts and opinions. If you pluck a hair from the back of the head with Acell the hope is that it will grow another hair and thus multiplying the donor area indefinitely. However, as you currently transplant hairs via strip or FUE it is done by dissecting the hair in their natural “clusters”…1-4 hairs.

With Acell is it your opinion that if you pluck a hair that it will only grow back one or that the genetic makeup will replicate where it was pulled from i.e. if you pluck from a 4 hair follicular unit it will replicate 4 hairs or are we to believe that this Acell procedure will be limited due to the fact that you will only be able to transfer hair as single 1 hair follicular units?

Thanks for your time

In theory, you get one for one. We pluck one hair at a time, not a full follicular unit. So when that single hair is re-implanted with just enough biological tissue on it, the ACell extracellular matrix should theoretically give it new life elsewhere on the scalp.

Tags: acell, hair plucking, follicular unit