Can I Send Samples of My Hair for Analysis?

Dr. Rassman,

For the longest time I have wanted to visit your clinic, but I am as far away from California as I can get. I am a 20 year old male experiencing abnormal hair growth throughout my entire scalp. I saw a dermatologist recently who told me that I do indeed have bitemporal recession, but that the kinked and bizarre hair growth is something independent of MPB. Beyond this, he was not helpful in the least. What concerns me most is that hairs all throughout my supposedly permanent region are growing in wiry, almost identical to a mathematical sine curve. As the hair thins, I noticed that the amplitude of the waves also gets smaller.

I have a sample bag of at least 100 such hairs and would like to send them to you or your clinic so they can be analyzed. Is this possible? I have waded though alot of literature, and the closest thing I can find to my condition is progressive acquired kinking or “woolly hair” – except it is not isolated in any one spot. I have looked at the hairs under a microscope (I’ve got access to a lab) and they are clearly abnormal. It looks similar to pili torti, but the hair is waved and not twisted. It also shows a spangled appearance when I view it under bright light.

Please help me, doc! I understand there may be no cure, but at the very least I’d like a diagnosis, or a name by which to call it. If you can supply a mailing address, I’ll send the samples to you.

Unfortunately, sending samples of your hair will not help me to figure out what is going on, as I do not do hair analysis outside the head and scalp. I am afraid that I can not offer you experience or insights with this condition without a proper examination. Sorry.