If I Pull On My Body Hair, It Comes Out

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

i notice that i’m shedding alot of hair in all my body. for example if i pull my eyebrows i can get like 2 or 3 hairs every time, same with legs and arms. So i shaked my hair very strong with my hands and i counted 67 hairs fall out in just like 30 seconds. should i go to the doctor or what?

my hair and eyebrows are thick though

Perhaps you should stop pulling on your body hairs. If you cannot keep self control of doing this, it may be something called trichotillomania. Most people do not count the hairs that fall out and catalog them. I don’t know about your environment or hair styling methods, so I can’t really say whether losing 67 hairs by shaking your hair is abnormal for you. If you use hair product (gel or hair spray), you might be trapping some of those hairs that would normally fall out during the day, so you’re seeing many fall loose at one time. Or if you wear a hat, the same could apply. It’s normal to lose 100 or so hairs per day.

If you’re concerned about hair loss, see a doctor. It couldn’t hurt. You indicated you’re in New York, so I’d suggest paying Dr. Robert Bernstein a visit.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hair pulling, body hair, trichotillomania

Hair Transplant for a 21 Year Old Woman Losing Hair?

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

Dear doctor

I am a 21 year old female. I’ve been losing my hair since i had my first period when i was 12. Now i have very thin hair and almost no hair on the front of my scalp. i went to many doctors here in the middle east and all of them said its genetic. Now i am using Regaine 2%. I am thinking of doing a hair transplant. what do you think? And if there is any recommendation of my case?

Thank you

I can’t tell if you’re a candidate without an exam. Many women are unfortunately not hair transplant candidates, though. I’m not sure what tests the doctors you’ve seen might have run, but if you went to many doctors and all of them say it was genetics, I won’t argue the point.

How long have you been using the Rogaine? Also, have you looked into using a topical camouflage like DermMatch or Toppik? Here are some examples:

Tags: rogaine, minoxidil, regaine, hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, female hair loss, toppik

Generic 5mg Finasteride at Walmart for 9 Bucks

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

Hello,

I just wanted to let you know that Wal-Mart has added Finasteride 5mg to their discounted generics program, they charge only $9 for 30, 5mg tablets. I just thought that your readers might find this information helpful…

WalmartYes, I’m sure many readers are very pleased to learn about this info. Thanks for sharing!

That pricing is on par with what Target charges for generic 5mg finasteride.

Tags: generic finasteride, wal-mart, walmart, finasteride, hairloss, hair loss, propecia, proscar

All Medications Have Side Effects

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

MedicationsI was watching TV last night and saw a commercial for a depression medication called Abilify (aripiprazole). I often treat and see patients on anti-depressant medications and it is a great benefit for them (for treating their depression). What struck me about the TV commercial was the lengthy side effect warnings, including stroke, high fever, muscle rigidity, high blood sugar, higher risk of infection, etc. These side effects are very rare, and many other anti-depressant medications have very similar possible side effects.

Then I turned on my computer to look up the common side effect of a popular erectile dysfunction medication most of you probably heard of: Viagra (sildenafil). Some reported and documented side effects include blindness, heart attack, hearing loss, etc.

Which brings me to the controversy of Propecia (finasteride) and its negative sexual side effects. I acknowledge there are websites devoted to the unreported side effects of Propecia (as well as other medications) and that there are men who are experiencing something. I really cannot say if what they are experiencing is due to Propecia, but for the sake of argument, let’s give them the benefit of doubt. I think we can all agree the chances of getting these side effects are relatively low. From personal experience in treating thousands of patients for over 10+ years I personally have not seen any permanent side effects associated with Propecia, and about 1 to 2% of men do experience negative sexual side effects (which have been all reversible). Again, this is from my personal experience among thousands of patients I have seen.

My point is this: ALL MEDICATIONS HAVE SIDE EFFECTS. You must understand this and discuss the benefits as well as the risks with your doctor and make an educated and informed decision. Millions of people use Viagra knowing that they can go blind or have hearing loss… but the risk of this happening is extremely low! If you believe the extreme side effects associated with Propecia, it is your choice not to take it. To some, sex may be more important than their vision or hearing. And to others, hair is more important than their sexual activities. Of note, I can say that I have prescribed Viagra to men who are taking Propecia and they still have their hair, sight, and hearing.

Tags: propecia, finasteride, hairloss, hair loss, side effects, abilify, depression

Morning Erections Gone After Taking Finasteride for Months

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

I tried taking Proscar, cut into quarters, for 3 months and at the three month mark quit as I felt I was experiencing side effects (frequency of erections dropped drastically, morning wood gone, very difficult to maintain an erection, etc.) After quitting, within approximately 2 weeks I felt that sexual functions were back to normal. I had done tons of research prior to taking it, and was very worried about sexual side effects, and cannot rule out the possibility that the side effects were psychological in nature; however, the lack of morning wood I felt to be pretty significant.

I can’t get the idea of trying it one more time for a little longer than 3 months out of my mind. If I were to try it again, would you recommend sticking with 1/4 a pill a day, or do you think I could get by with taking 1/4 a pill every other day or just on Monday, Wednesday, Friday?

Morning woodIt does not sound like your erections have been “tested in the field”. Just the absence of morning erections does not fit the “field test”. The libido issues certainly could’ve been prompted from psyching yourself up about side effects, but it would be impossible for me to say one way or the other. I don’t know how old you are or anything about your medical history, but there’s some info at WebMD that you might find interesting.

In general, you can try a lower daily dose to see if that helps, but you need to discuss this with your prescribing doctor.

Tags: morning wood, erection, npt, hair loss, hairloss, finasteride, proscar

Buying Rogaine Foam Internationally?

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

Dear Dr. Rassman, Thank you for this wonderful blog. Me and my friends in Dubai are eager to know any reliable international online pharmacy (such as drugstore.com) that can send us Rogaine FOAM to the UAE. We only have generic minoxidil here which causes severe irritation. My heart broke when I came to know Amazon.com and Rogaine.com do not take orders from UAE. These were the two sites I could trust. I’m not sure about minoxidilshop.com. Kindly help us. Thank you very much in advance.

I searched for online pharmacies that ship to Dubai and couldn’t find any that I’d put trust in. I suggest that you might check with doctors who come from the United States and practice hair transplantation in Dubai, as they may be willing to bring in the medication with them. Check out the physician search at ISHRS.org for physicians in the United Arab Emirates.

Or if there are readers in Dubai that know where Rogaine Foam can be purchased, please let us know! Thanks.

Tags: rogaine foam, minoxidil, dubai, uae, hairloss, hair loss, united arab emirates

In the News – Gay Sex Addiction a Side Effect of Parkinson’s Med?

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

In non-hair-loss-news:

A French father-of-two is to take GlaxoSmithKline to court on Tuesday, alleging the British firm’s drug to treat Parkinson’s disease turned him into a gay sex and gambling addict.

The 51-year-old’s lawyers say their client’s behaviour changed radically after he was first administered the drug in 2003 for the illness, which causes tremors, slows movement and disrupts speech.

Read the full story — Man claims Glaxo drug made him ‘gay sex addict’

That’s a hell of a side effect. The drug in question is Requip (also known as ropinirole).

Tags: glaxosmithkline, gsk, requip, parkinsons, side effect, health

Testosterone By Itself Causes Hair Loss?

/by William Rassman, M.D./14 /

Hello doctor William

why don’t doctors ever mention that testosterone by its self can cause hairloss as well. I know its metabolite DHT is more potent at causing hairloss but we all know testosterone on its own can cause hairloss as well.

I mentioned this before, propecia increases testosterone by about roughly 15%. A persons front region/temple/hairline is more sensitive to testosterone and has more testosterone receptors.

Doctors always fail to mention that propecia has a possibility to accelerate hairline thinning. Yes it help the crown but at the expense of the hairline. For example if a person has mild hairloss, then by simply taking propecia it will jump start his hairline thinning.

Foil hatI enjoy a good conspiracy as much as the next guy, but come on…

Doctors do not mention testosterone causing hair loss, because testosterone does not cause hair loss… except by its conversion to DHT. If the body has testosterone, it automatically has DHT. Genetics cause androgenic alopecia that is precipitated by DHT, and that is why finasteride works. It is not a hormone issue, it is a genetic issue. If you do not have the gene for hair loss, you can have all the testosterone or DHT or whatever hormone you want to blame and you will still have a full head of hair.

Also Propecia does not cause hair loss. It slows down hair loss. I can see why you think this, but your logic is flawed.

Tags: testosterone, hairloss, hair loss, dht, conspiracy

Is Dr Rassman Investing in ACell?

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

Hello Dr. Rassman and others

Im a little hardwired to detect threat and overly skeptical, and I just noticed you sure do have a lot of information very rapidly and discussion about ACell, and I noticed on their site their trying to get investors. ACell.com

Im curious are you one of the private investors of this company? Do you have an interest in generating interest and popularity because it might one day go public or have an IPO? It just seems odd how important it became on your site, and did so very quickly.

Thanks

The reason there was increased discussion about ACell on this site starting around late October was because of the presentation at the ISHRS meeting in Boston, piquing our interest.

Since I receive a fair amount of conspiracy theories from our readers, I’ll try to put this to rest once again. Neither myself (Dr. Rassman) or Dr. Pak have investments in ACell, Merck, or any hair related stock or products. In fact, we are just as skeptical as you are about various claims made regarding ACell’s use in auto-cloning. This is the reason why we are conducting research and not selling the product. Dr. Pak and I are mainly invested in creating the best hair transplant surgical clinic.

Tags: acell, investor, hairloss, hair loss, hair cloning

Should I Have a Transplant Now Even Though My Left Side Hasn’t Receded?

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

I’m 22 and have planned a hair transplant to fill in my temporal recession. One of my concerns though is that my right temple has receded further than my left temple, however, I assume over time my left temple will eventually recede as well. Right now the hairs on my left temple are definitely thinner and weaker than my other hairs.

In doing a hair transplant should I wait until these hairs recede or can I still have a transplant now? I don’t know have any notice hair loss except around my temples and thinning above my forelocks

A quick fix is never the answer, and at such a young age a hair transplant can accelerate more hair loss. You should see a hair transplant doctor to get his/her opinion. I’m certainly not suggesting you have the surgery right now, but your doctor should come up with a Master Plan for treating your loss.

Remember, genetic hair loss is progressive — so treating a minor issue now could result in those grafts not being available if you continue to thin elsewhere.

Tags: hair transplant, temple, hairloss, hair loss, age

Teen with Very Stressful Situations is Suddenly Losing Hair

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

Recently my mother has noticed that my hair has thinned considerably. Over the past year I have undergone dental bone graft surgery, from which I swelled considerably and received a high fever of 102. My grandfather died, followed by my dog the following week. I have also had a large amount of stress do the the ever increasing pressure of school.

I am an 18 year old male from a family with no history of early male pattern baldness. The patterns of hair loss on my head do not seem to be of any consistent pattern. About two weeks ago I visited my dermatologist who proceeded to pull a few hair out of my head and quickly diagnose me with early male pattern balding. The more that I read on the internet I am starting to believe that I have a case of telogen effluvium, as I have had this sudden onset of hair loss following a period that seemed like my hair was not growing at all. My hair has always been thick and healthy. I am starting to become obsessed with my appearance and was wondering what, if any, of your opinions may be on this type of hair loss. Thank You

Maybe you need to talk to a counselor.

Hair loss is not the problem you should be concerned with right now. You’ve had a lot going on and you need to manage your stress. If you indeed have telogen effluvium, your hair will come back in 6 to 12 months. Good luck.

Tags: stress, teen, hairloss, hair loss, telogen effluvium

Repost – Learn How To Select Your Hair Transplant Doctor!

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

We’re taking a week off from posting new content — our first break in almost 6 years — so we’re using this opportunity to repost some older articles that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around.

FROM THE ARCHIVE (Originally published on July 1, 2009.)

—

Dr RassmanEach and every day, I receive emails from readers asking about individual doctors’ and their reputations or even wondering if the doctor they just met with is a good doctor. Most doctors care about you and are competent and ethical, but there are a few who really don’t give a damn about you and look at you as a way to simply make more money. The unethical doctors often push men who are too early to have a transplant (like most 20 year olds) into getting one when they don’t need it, or they expand the number of grafts in a transplant procedure into areas that do not have hair loss under the guise of performing preventive hair transplants which happen to push their fees higher. Unfortunately, there are too many unethical doctors doing hair transplants and while I’m always willing to help when I can, I’m disappointed when I hear how some doctors take advantage of people in an attempt to line their pockets with your money.

In the years I’ve been posting on BaldingBlog, I’ve accumulated a lot of content about avoiding doctors that don’t put patient welfare as priority #1. I’m outspoken when it comes to patient advocacy, so I’ve also written much about how to select your hair transplant doctor. Most of my comments have been put on the daily responses I write to questions posed to me, but I’ve never put all the information in one easy-to-find place and organized it in a way that makes the job easier for the reader. So with that being said, I now present you a new “How To” type of series. These are MUST READ articles for those interested in having hair restoration surgery.

Selecting a Hair Transplant Doctor

How to Avoid Dishonest Doctors

 

TravelI also write about why it’s important to shop around for the best doctor before committing to a hair transplant. Don’t be afraid to have to travel to get a surgery that is PERMANENT and on your head! Don’t settle for someone you’re not comfortable with just because it is convenient. At NHI, we offer travel discounts, so factoring travel and hotel costs into your surgery should not be a concern.

Why Should You Visit Us?

 

Tags: hair transplant, hair restoration, hair loss, hairloss, doctor, physician, how to, baldingblog, nhi

Repost – Fixing Past Hair Transplant Mistakes (with Photos)

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

We’re taking a week off from posting new content — our first break in almost 6 years — so we’re using this opportunity to repost some older articles that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around.

FROM THE ARCHIVE (Originally published on November 20, 2009.)

—

This is a patient who I just performed a corrective procedure on. There were many mistakes made here in the past with his other doctors and I wanted to share those problems with you. Knowledge is power, and I hope this will teach you what to look out for so you can prevent them from happening to you. So let’s jump right in…

The Problem

First, let’s take a look at the “Before” photos (click to enlarge):

 

  1. The patient had received around 3000 grafts total in three surgeries on the frontal hairline at another clinic.
  2. The hairline is harsh, without single hair grafts in front of the larger grafts. Plus, these were not follicular units, but the old type of minigrafts of 3-5 hairs each.
  3. The hairline was placed too low and too straight, creating an abnormal edge which made the transplants obvious to the patient.
  4. The surgeon made incisions in the scalp that were not kept in the same place, so the patient had two scars rather than one (see arrows in photo above). The second and third surgeries should have been performed at the same location as the first surgery. The location of the upper scar was too high as well, so transplanting into the upper scar made sense to me.

 

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Repost – For Bruce Willis, Bald is Beautiful?

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

We’re taking a week off from posting new content — our first break in almost 6 years — so we’re using this opportunity to repost some older articles that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around.

FROM THE ARCHIVE (Originally published on March 2, 2006.)

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I saw Bruce Willis on the David Letterman show the other day and he told everyone that he was bald and happy. That could put you out of business so don’t buy your new Mercedes yet doc. What do you think of the balding trend? Is bald beautiful?

Bruce WillisI have followed Bruce Willis’ hair loss over the years from his thinning during the TV series Moonlighting, to the present day shaved head look he sports. A while back, I did notice what I thought were hair transplants placed in the front of his head, showing a less than artistic straight line of hair (suggesting a poor hair transplant), but if my initial guess was correct, there would be some signs of it on the front (recipient area) and in the back of the head (donor area). Judging by photos I’ve seen, I can not stand by my original assumption. I do not think Bruce Willis ever had transplant work done. It is interesting that my daughter met him at a party in the mid-90s and engaged him on the balding issue and my transplant services. He commented that he would remember the connection when the time came, so with that knowledge, I have followed his balding over the years waiting for him to come to my office and join others in that line of work that have come my way.

It must be clear to anyone considering hair transplants that the option to shave the head as Bruce Willis does may be lost if you have the procedure, as some scarring may be present at the donor site (even with the FUE technique). I have seen many patients that had a small-session transplant, which was inadequate to cover the bald area, because less hair is moved to produce the fullness that a reasonable person might expect. Small, delicate follicular units will mimic the normal hair and to get that, the doctors performing the surgery must be adhering to the standards of Follicular Unit Transplantation. Anyone with even a good hair transplant that uses strip harvesting would have a noticable scar if the head was shaved, even if it were 1mm in size. For the unfortunate person who had unsightly or poorly planned hair transplants, they may have no choice other than to live under a hat or a hair piece most of the time.

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Repost – Patient’s Guide — How Many Grafts Will I Need?

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

We’re taking a week off from posting new content — our first break in almost 6 years — so we’re using this opportunity to repost some older articles that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around.

FROM THE ARCHIVE (Originally published on March 2, 2007.)

—

People always ask, “How many grafts will I actually need to have transplanted?” Time and time again, that graft number answer will vary by doctor. When a doctor recommends a certain number of hairs/grafts, the doctor’s experience and his/her artistic skills are used to estimate what it might take to fill in the balding area with enough fullness to meet the person’s needs. I have seen estimates that could be a four fold difference and when you are shopping for a hair transplant, the differences in the estimating abilities of the doctors can be very unsettling. Who do you believe? Clearly you want to believe the doctor who has the lowest estimate for hair moved (transplants are priced by the graft), but then you are locking yourself into what might become a never ending series of hair transplant surgeries with an unrealistic amount of hair transplanted that may not meet your goals.

Does your doctor have the necessary artistic ability, not just to estimate the number of hairs/grafts, but also to take advantage of the hair supply to create a distribution that maximizes the value of the transplants for the most fullness? We have put some factors together to address how a surgeon actually calculates the numbers of grafts. These factors may not apply equally to all people. No two people are the same. The various factors like the thickness of the individual hair shafts (coarse vs. fine hair), the character of the hair (curly vs. straight hair), the color of the hair and the skin (the closer the match, the more full appearance of the hair), and any special needs defined by the patient, make us very different.

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