I’m 13 and I Am Losing Around 500 Hairs a Day!

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

(female)
Hello Doctor,
I’m 13 years old and I am loosing so much hair. It’s about 500+ hairs per day. I don’t really know what to do, my mom is taking me to a blood check tomorrow. I used heat stylers almost every day but now I’ve stop that. I can’t even run my fingers through it because It falls out. I’m not kidding and I’m getting so stress because of that. Is it possible to lose all my hair ? What can I do ? Please help !!

Anything is possible, but highly improbably that you will lose all your hair (unless you have alopecia universalis or totalis, which is rare). Sometimes hairs go into a cycle of excessive shedding and falling out. This is called telogen effluvium. The good news is if this is the diagnosis, it will reverse and your hairs will likely grow back. But you would need to be evaluated by a doctor to get a diagnosis. Perhaps you’ve just damaged your hair from the heat styling, but it would have to be some excessive damage to see 500 hairs falling out per day.

I would measure the hair bulk you have in different parts of your head and then wait out a 4 month period before remeasuring the hair bulk. That will tell us if you are really losing hair, as this test is highly accurate when comparing two sets of results over time.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, teenager, female hair loss

Taking Ibuprofen After My Hair Transplant

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

Hello there Doctor Rassman!

My compliments on a great blog here. I’ve just had a FUE done for my hairline today. I have 2 simple Q’s –

1. Is Ibuprofen recommended after surgery? My surgeon has prescribed it twice a day for 5 days, but I read on the internet that it promotes bleeding?

2. On reaching home, I have been spraying the recipient area with saline solution every 30 mins as prescribed. I am seeing some drops of blood oozing out of the recipient area. Is this normal? I couldn’t spot any hairs in the blood so just concerned that none of the hair roots have fallen out due to this bleeding.

Thanks for your time and help

1. Ibuprofen in general can cause bleeding, but you need to understand and takes things into context. Believe what your doctor (a real live person you trusted to perform your surgery) over what you read on the Internet.

2. A little bit of bleeding should be normal since you just had your procedure done. It was surgery, after all. Many doctors have different post operative instructions, so if you are concerned you should contact your surgeon.

Tags: hair transplant, bleeding, ibuprofen

My Scalp is Red Years After My Hair Transplants

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

Hi Doc. I’ve had 2 hair transplants. Both over 2 years ago. One in Australia and one in North Carolina.

Today my new girlfriend mentioned to me that “where my hair is it looks red and sore”…. this is very disturbing as I have often thought the skin around my recipient area had a sort of raised redness about it. But I never thought anybody else would notice.

Before you say “see my doctor” I just want to know if you’re aware of this happening and whether or not there are any skin creams that might help my skin go back to normal. If not skin creams… is there anything you can do?

Redness can be an issue for some patients even years after surgery. I’ve seen this on occasion from old (bad) hair transplant days, but I rarely see this anymore. Maybe you have a skin problem, though it’s all a guessing game without an examination.

Tags: surgery, hair transplant, redness

Minoxidil Ruined My Hair Texture, So I Switched to Saw Palmetto

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

Is saw palmetto a good enough option compared to minoxidil?? Minoxidil preparation comes with isopropyl alcohol base. Alcohol causes scalp dryness and that increases hair fall which nullifies the effect of minoxidil. I am using topical application containing saw palmetto in form of a hair oil..also saw palmetto capsules orally. Initially for about 2-3 months my hair texture improved, but now somehow hair fall is accelerated.

I’m just 22yrs old and i’m afraid at my present rate of hair loss i may become bald very shortly. Is saw palmetto of any help to me?? i switched over to it because minoxidil ruined my hair texture. please help !!!

I think that you have to read more on this blog and even visit our newhair.com site to learn what hair loss is about. Saw palmetto has no value whatsoever for treating hair loss. It will definitely allow you to complete the balding process if that remains your main baldness treatment.

There are people that claim saw palmetto is a worthwhile hair loss treatment, but you won’t find me amongst them. There has never been any good scientific study to prove the claims people make.

Even minoxidil isn’t the best treatment for a young man with early loss like you describe, because it doesn’t block the DHT. I implore you to see a competent doctor who will address your problem.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, saw palmetto

In the News – Balding Men 32% More Likely to Have Coronary Heart Disease

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

Snippet from the article:

Men going thin on top may be more likely to have heart problems than their friends with a full head of hair, according to researchers in Japan.

Their study of nearly 37,000 people, published in the online journal BMJ Open, said balding men were 32% more likely to have coronary heart disease.

However, the researchers said the risks were less than for smoking or obesity. The British Heart Foundation said men should focus on their waistline, not their hairline.

Read the rest — Male baldness ‘indicates heart risk’

This paper was actually based on meta-analysis of more than 850 existing observational studies, and it found that vertex balding (not frontal hairline balding) lead to an increased heart disease risk.

Whether there is anything to it, I couldn’t say… but coincidentally (or not), I had someone ask me just last week if having a hair transplant into his crown would reduce his risk for coronary disease.

Tags: heart disease, chd, hairloss, hair loss, baldness, coronary heart disease

In the News – Bill Gates on Capitalism, Baldness Research, and Malaria

/by William Rassman, M.D./5 /

Snippet from the article:

Bill GatesCapitalism means that there is much more research into male baldness than there is into diseases such as malaria, which mostly affect poor people, said Bill Gates, speaking at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Global Grand Challenges Summit.

“Our priorities are tilted by marketplace imperatives,” he said. “The malaria vaccine in humanist terms is the biggest need. But it gets virtually no funding. But if you are working on male baldness or other things you get an order of magnitude more research funding because of the voice in the marketplace than something like malaria.”

Read the rest at Wired — Bill Gates: capitalism means male baldness research gets more funding than malaria

Mr. Gates has said basically the same thing in years past… and it remains true. You can find the previous times he’s said it in 2012 and in 2009.

Tags: bill gates, malaria, hairloss, hair loss, baldness

Can I Transplant Pubic Hair to My Scalp If I Have Limited Donor and Otherwise Thin Body Hair?

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

i have a question about pubic hair transplants. i would like to use this hair because i have limited donor and very thin body hair. i was told the only way to remove this was by incision. i do not want a scar in this area. i would take hair from this area in a heartbeat if fue’s could be done. are fue’s possible in this area? thanks for taking my question

I have done pubic hair to scalp transplants before — a couple of them were with FUE, and most with a small strip. Scarring should not be a big problem, depending on the amount of grafts that are removed. All surgery produces some kind of scarring, though, even if it is minimal or barely detectable. The quality and character of your pubic hair might not be what you want to appear on your scalp, but that is up to you.

If you are looking to give the appearance of thicker hair, there is an alternative with Scalp Micropigmentation. Take a look at some photos of SMP in use with thinning hair and see if this applies to your problem.

Tags: pubic hair, hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss

I’ve Been Using Minoxidil for My Female Hair Loss, But I’m Getting Unwanted Growth At My Sideburns

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

Hi,
I am a 24 yrs old and female. I have less hair at my hairline and it looks like a bald head. So I had started using Minitop (Minoxidil Topical solution USP 2%) which had worked wonders on me and I had noticed my forehead covered with new hair. I’ve been using it for the last 4 months on a suggestion from a dermatologist, but the problem is there is unwanted hair growth on my side locks which is very minimal.

Also I had read on the internet that if we stop using the medicine we are going to lose all the hair again and also the original hair will be effected! I am really scared to take the next step. Could you please suggest me the alternative and also the procedure to stop using the medicine with out any side effects.

One of the possible side effects of minoxidil is unwanted hair growth. Sometimes it appears as a mustache or other facial hair. On an extreme level, body hair may appear as well.

If the sideburn growth is the only side effect you have, is it OK with you to continue to get the benefits you see? Stopping minoxidil will cause you to lose all of the benefits of the drug within a few months. There are no other FDA approved hair loss treatment alternatives for women.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, minoxidil, rogaine, sideburns

In the News – Early Baldness in Black Men Linked to Prostate Cancer?

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

Snippet from the article:

Men who lose their hair may have more to worry about than just vanity, especially if their balding starts early.

Researchers have long known about the potential link between baldness and the risk of prostate cancer, but studies have been conflicting. Now a study of African-American men shows a higher risk of prostate cancer among men losing their hair, supporting the results of a previous study that found similar results in a group of primarily Caucasian men. In the current study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers focused specifically on African-American men, since they have the highest rate of prostate cancer among men in the U.S. and are twice as likely to die of the disease than these men.

Read the rest at Time.com — The Link Between Early Baldness and Prostate Cancer

Tags: african american, hairloss, hair loss, baldness, prostate, cancer

If There’s a Family History of Hair Loss, Shouldn’t My 18 Year Old Son Just Start Propecia Now?

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

if my son takes propecia at age 18 and there is a history of hair loss in my family, will this ensure he will never lose his hair? if so then why wouldn’t all people take it at age 18? why would prince william allow his hair to fall out if all he had to do was take a pill a day to save all the embarrassment he has had to endure now. thanks

Taking a drug on the possibility of hair loss does not make sense to me. Your son can be checked out for hair loss with some simple office tests (miniaturization and/or bulk analysis). Even if he will eventually lose hair, by taking Propecia now, it doesn’t guarantee that he will not lose hair eventually, as the drug is not 100% effective at stopping hair loss. I get that people want to be proactive, but if there is no genetic hair loss seen, there is no reason to take medication to treat it.

As far as Prince William, he can address his hair loss if it bothers him. I haven’t spoken to the Prince lately (or ever), but it’s possible that he doesn’t care.

Tags: hair loss, hairloss, teenager, propecia

Losing Grafts After a Hair Transplant?

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

Hi Dr,

Thank you so much for this wonderful blog. I just recently got an HT with a very reputable clinic. My question concerns shedding of the grafts. I notice shedding began around the 9 day mark. Is this considered normal? Also, i had crusts on my head for approximately 9 days, and i noticed there were a couple of crusts that fell off with a hair in it. My question is, is it possible i lost a graft in one of these crusts. Or would there be some noticeable bleeding from the graft from being dislodged?

Thanks

At 9 days, I would expect that the grafts will grow out nicely. In a published article where we tried to identify when the grafts would be stable to grow out normally, we determined that stability occurs usually in a week or so. When the grafts fall out with the hairs in it after a week, they leave behind the stem cells in the recipient site. Don’t worry, it sounds like you will be fine.

Tags: hair transplant, hair growth, hairloss, hair loss

In the News – Prince Harry is Going Bald, Too

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

Snippet from the article:

HarryThey say we all eventually turn in to our parents but there are some things we’d rather not inherit.

Prince Harry, it seems, has begun to lose some hair around his crown, just like his big brother William and their father Charles.

The 28-year-old royal’s hair shows signs of thinning in pictures taken on a recent charity trip.

Read the rest and see the photos — Prince Harry is going bald just like his brother

This isn’t too surprising, since there is the well-known family history of hair loss. We would love to meet him for a consultation. He may be a good candidate for Propecia if he has not used it yet.

Tags: prince harry, royal, hairloss, hair loss

I Had a Hair Transplant 3 Weeks Ago and Have Necrosis or an Infection! (with Photos)

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

Hello dear doctor
I did fut 21 days ago, and now i have small necrosis on my scalp, what should i do? please help me

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

It looks like something is going on, and it might be an infection, but I’m not sure I would call it a necrosis. I must continue to stress this point — follow up with your surgeon as soon as possible! This (and anywhere on the Internet) is not a place to receive personal medical advice or diagnosis.

Scalp necrosis (a loss of blood supply to an area of scalp) is highly unusual. In my own practice, I have never seen it (15,000 hair transplant procedures over 23 years). I have seen cases from some doctors who reported scalp necrosis in the middle of the head (where yours is) and it was caused by the use of large punches (the old days) too close together. An infection that started off locally could have extended the initial area to a large wound as you have, but good cultures of the wounds should be in your doctor’s hands by now.

The wound in the photo may be the result of tissue slough from an infection. I am limited to what I can do for you here. If you are in the area (Los Angeles), come see me. If the wound gets larger, you absolutely need cultures done to see if there is a difficult to treat infection. There are a variety of virulent ‘bugs’ that can cause it and some of these can make it worse.

Tags: infection, necrosis, hair transplant, surgery

Can I Use Baby Shampoo On a New Hair Transplant?

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

Doctor,

Is Johnsons baby shampoo ok to use on newly transplanted hair?

Thank you

Always check with the doctor who performed your surgery. Basic information such as this should have been explained to you when you had surgery! I sometimes wonder who is doing these surgeries and why some patients kill blindly trust doctors with their medical care.

In general, baby shampoos should be fine on a new hair transplant. But as I don’t know anything about your surgery, you should always check with your surgeon.

Tags: hair transplant, shampoo

Did Finasteride Interfere With My Facial and Body Hair Development?

/by William Rassman, M.D./5 /

Can finasteride interfere with a young man’s development of secondary sex characteristics, such as facial and body hair?

I ask because I have been taking finasteride for early onset MPB for about two years now, starting when I was 21 (and still in puberty), and have noticed that I still lag far behind my peers in terms of facial and body hair. Also, temperamentally, I am prone to anxiety and depression, and my personality is marked by many “feminine” qualities. I assume that all these things are largely genetic, but I wonder if the lack of DHT in my body could have anything to do with it. By taking this drug, have I prolonged my adolescence?

I hardly doubt finasteride would interfere with the development of facial or body hair, or the prolonging of your adolescence. You should’ve been done with puberty years ago. Your secondary sex characteristics are most likely genetic, like the hair loss.

Tags: finasteride, puberty, facial hair