This questions was actually asked of a patient. Would I Put Hair On My Tattoo Of A Horse So That IT Has a Real Hairy Tail?

This came in through an email as many of our patients do to get access to us. After considerable thought, I thought through the process and I would be happy to meet with this patient and then make that judgment. Doing something like this is easy for me; however, I would not want to do it if the patient was mentally unstable and did not fully comprehend the significance of what they were asking for. This would not be irreversible if he eventually changed his mind as he could have it removed in one or more laser hair removal sessions.

Cosmetic surgery is purely elective surgery. It happens when a patient and a surgeon agree on goals and realistically under the risks that all surgery impose, not matter how simple. People have died from allergic reactions to Xylocaine or have had spontaneous heart attacks having nothing to do with the surgery, but things happen. So an interview is critical to making a decision to go forward from my perspective. I even thought, why not create a hairy mane as well.

If you are interested in reading about a horses mane, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mane_%28horse%29

More and more healthy adults are raising the issue of “rational suicide” and we are ill prepared for this concelt. Doctors have thought about it for themselves if they should get very sick an terminal. Doctors are just people with the same concerns and at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) 2015 Annual Meeting, there was a session dedicated to the issue “aimed to provide guidance to clinicians who may be faced with elderly patients expressing a desire to die by suicide while they are still relatively healthy and cognitively intact”.

If you saw the movie Still Alica where Julianne Moore played a woman who knew she had early onset Alzheimer Disease and while she was rational, she made a tape in the hope that the ‘Alice of the future’ would see. She recognized that the Alice of the Future might be unable to take her life, so she created this video, step by step, on how to overdose herself with a bottle of pills she hid and tole that Alice how to find and what to do with it. OF course, as Hollywood or the writers would have it, she was incapable of following even the simplest instructions and failed to do what the rational Alice (the same person who should have been able to control her destiny, wanted.

I am 73 and healthy. My Great Grandmother lived to 114 and one Grandfather to 102. I hope that I will never be confronted with Alice’s problem whatever my age. If the terminal cancer patient who lived a good life and rationally wants to move on, he should be given the choice between suffering and a rational death. Death is something that we all will face and we should have the ability to face it with the dignity we want, particularly if we are rational and at the end of our lives. Governments should not only, not tell us how to live, but not interfere with our choices at the end of our lives.

I currently take Propecia, 1 mg., and am paying $86 at Costco for a one month’s supply. I have been told by a pharmacist that the generic has the same ingredients as the brand name. The generic sells for $22 for the same amount. My question is – are the results the same? If the brand name works better, I’ll gladly pay the extra money. Am I paying too much? I could really use a professional’s opinion. Thank you.

Genetic drugs are same as brand name drugs in its efficacy. The difference is the price and the shape or color of the pill and its packaging. Even the 5mg version which you cut in 1/4s will give you the same results. The 5mg version costs about $6 a month and I believe that Costco will sell you a 3 month supply for $28 which is quite a cost saving.

Long time reader, first time poster. As an avid reader of your excellent blog i just wanted to post a few pictures and get an indication of where you think my hair loss is? I have been receding for a while now however over the last year I have become very concerned with the progression of my front hair loss. My father is essentially bald with a small island of hair in the middle of his scalp. My mothers side of the family also has been deal the unluck card male pattern baldness. Now I was on propecia from 20 to 25 then got off it for God knows what reason.. I guess I was just worried that I wasn’t going to be able to have kids one day (fertility issues have always been a major question for me with regard to finasteride), I guess this stems from the fact that there are no clear studies indicating if this is the case or not? And if it is then I am none the wiser. I am currently taking minoxidil tablets aswell as applying minoxidil to my hair line (I know that it is not that effective on the bi-temporal area, however I just thought I’d give it a go.. This coupled with the minoxidil tablets could be a start in my quest to beat MPB). I guess if this doesn’t work I can always go back to finasteride.

Thank you for being a avid read of Bladingblog. I generally do not give diagnosis or opinions on hair loss. We are however planning to start a new website AmIBalding.com where you can post your photos for anyone to comment. If you want a doctors opinion, you need to see a doctor (in person).

Finally, you really need to see a doctor before experimenting with drugs. Minoxidil tablets is not something you take to treat male pattern balding. It is a blood pressure lowering medication when taken orally. So for a normal person without high blood pressure, taking a blood pressure lowering medication such as oral minoxidil (by mouth) can have severe life threatening consequence and even death.

Guess if you know this famous celebrity on the left. Our patient has a hair loss pattern similar to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge shown on the right above. They both had the same original pattern of balding but our patient did something about it.

He is actually is on a weekly Reality TV show and his hair is the result of an absolute commitment to getting the most hair he can and had it done over the last 13 years! He had 9985 grafts and is back again for a bit more which will bring him up to well over 10,000 grafts. He had agreed to speak on TV about his wonderful experience with us. So stay tuned.

Compare this post to the one from BaldingBlog on Monday March 30th 2015. It is like night and day. The patient above relished the experience, every part of it while the patient from 3/30/15 went through a kind of hell that no person deserves. I hear this often from the patients who had surgery in the days before we introduced the follicular unit transplants in 1993.

Another previous patient came in for a touch-up yesterday, Dr. Pak did the surgery of 1000 grafts and I met him in the lobby. I knew him, of course, but I wondered if he needed to be seen more quickly as I had just finished a consultation. IF he was in a rush, I would expedite the visit. He told me, much to my surprise, that he had surgery yesterday and I had no clue that he was one day our of surgery. I even looked closely at his head, and could not find the 1000 grafts that were placed between the thinning hairs on the front and top area. Both these men were present at the same time, got to know each other and laughed with each other about their experience with us. This is part of the pleasure of this business that I have every day i.e. the interpersonal relationships we build and maintain over time, often a lifetime.

I have been following your blog for quite a few years now and it is an excellent source of information on balding.

I am 24 years old (male) and will begin my medical studies in California (or Alberta, Canada if I receive an acceptance there as well). I have been thinning for a while and have been paying attention, perhaps too closely, to hairlines and hair in general to the point that I believe I have a very good eye as to what looks good and natural and what doesn’t.

As such, I am wondering if it would be possible for me to someday work for you in the field of hair transplantation. If that were the case, what kind of residency would you think would be most appropriate for me to pursue?

Thank you for your time.

It is great to hear you are interested in the field of hair transplantation. You can read about Board Certification and what it means in Hair Transplant Surgery here

There is no clear prerequisite training in the field of hair transplantation nor an approved American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) board certification. Most hair transplant doctors receive training from mentors or apprenticeship programs. Of course you should have fundamental medical knowledge, surgical skills, and artistic skills. I cannot say which residency program will best prepare you. Many people think plastic surgeons will be best equipped but it does not mean they will make the best hair transplant surgeons.