Accutane Caused My Hair Loss — Will a Transplant Fix This?

First, let me tell you how wonderful and informational your website is. Never have I seen such an informative site that so clearly tells a customer what they might be getting themselves into if they undergo such a surgery. You should be commended!

Here is my situation…

When I was 22 years old (I’m 31 now), I took the Acne drug Accutane to clear up a moderate problem with Acne. My little brother took it and had no permanent side effects, so I figured it was safe enough. One of the rare side effects listed on the container of the drug is hair loss. Well, as you can imagine, I experienced this side effect. Within 3 weeks of taking the drug, the hair on front part of my head, the “juvenile” hairline, started to rapidly fallout to the point where it was clogging the shower everday. I didn’t realize how bad it was and kept taking the drug for a couple more weeks. After it became apparent that the hair was falling out and not growing back, I stopped taking the drug. The hairloss stopped within a couple of days of stopping the medication. I went to several dermatologists complaining of this because the hair never grew back! They all told me I was crazy and that I had plenty of hair and that they saw nothing wrong. Basically, they were defending their drug!

So to make a long story short, it never grew back but I still have plenty of hair left and have not lost any more hair since. So I do not have the typical male pattern baldness (at least not yet) but would like to fix the minor loss and restore it back to the way it was. I am concerned about the success of the procedure due to the fact that the Accutane changed my skin such that occassionally, the skin in the area where I experienced the Telogen Effluviam is dry. I am in Miami Beach now, so the humidity keeps it pretty healthy, but I am hoping that if I go through this procedure that there is not something else that might cause the newly transplanted hair to not grow there. For example, what if the Accutane changed the skin such that the blood flow is lessened there and hence, the transplanted hair would experience the same event?

I see this as the only risk for me right now and would like your comment on it. If I come in for an evaluation and it is determined that this should not be a problem, I will do the procedure without looking back.

Please advise.

Accutane may have had the side effect you describe. It is difficult to say that it only caused your frontal hair loss, as I would have expected a more diffuse hair loss pattern. It may have been just coincidence, but either way you should be evaluated by a good hair transplant surgeon to map out your hair loss pattern for miniaturization and then develop a Master Plan to ascertain what and when you can address this surgically with a hair transplant. At 22, the mapping I am talking about is critical, for if you do not know what you might look like when you are 30, 40, and 50, then starting before that evidence is in may not be in your best interest. Generally, I can see the pattern emerging on most men by the time that they are 25 with good mapping performed.

By Dr. Jae Pak

[Note: This blog entry has been answered by Dr. Jae Pak, who has been working with Dr. Rassman for the past 9 years developing new surgical instruments and hair transplant procedures.]