Out of Box Thinking for Poor Hair Supply — Using Glue

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

The technology of hair transplants have certainly changed since I first started with Dr. Sparkyl. NHI has refined and developed techniques that has been appreciated by all of us.However the denisity of hair and the amount of donor sites is limited and can limit the final outcome.I’m interested in developing a method where two to three hair would be glued around existing hair and eventually would come of after 4-6 weeks similar to a traditional hair piece.The question I have is somebody working on this process, and if not what do you see as potential problems or any valuable suggestion for this project.

I am not aware of anyone working on this today. There is a problem in that any hairs that are glued to existing hair will ‘pull out’ the existing hair and create traction alopecia. I’d love the opportunity to talk to you about it.

Tags: glue, density, hairloss, hair loss

Hair transplant scars

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

What does a normal scar look like?

The first photo is a patient from our office who had one procedure totaling 3000 grafts. The scar measures about 2-3 mm wide and with his hair combed down, unless he shaved his head or cut it very, very close, it would not show. The second photo is my scar. I believe these to be scars that represent what’s “normal” and I am showing them to educate those people who are overly concerned about scars and want to know as much as they can.

Click the photos to enlarge.

The scar of a patient who had 3000 grafts in one surgery:

 

My scar:

 

I’m a Female with Thinning Hair

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

Hi Dr Rassman,

I am a 27 year old female. Just under 2 years ago I began to notice my hair was quickly becoming thinner and thinner and stacks of it fall out each day. I have not counted exactly how much hair falls out, I just measure more by the thickness and amount left on my head and also the density on my scalp. I am about 1/4 Lebanese on my dads side but his sister has lots of hair and she’s 60. The men in my family still have full heads of thick hair, and most of my female relatives do too, although my mum and grandmother have had hair thinning, but after menopause, some stress and in my grandmother’s case, after prednisone.

My hair is sort of wavy/messy curly and I used to have very thick hair up until the last few years. I have many health concerns at the moment, but I’m pretty sure I have been tested for things like thyroid function, lupus and hormone levels. I have been on and off medicines such as the pill, some antidepressants, epilum and zyprexa, but even after being off all medications for a couple of months, my hair continues to fall out. I do not brush it very much, but I am not concerned that the loss from brushing is a build up over days, I also do not blow dry, straighten and colour my hair more than a few times a year. I even tried laureth sulfate free shampoos which seemed to possibly slow down the loss for a couple of weeks, before it resumed again, but its hard to tell. Do you know of anywhere in Sydney or Canberra Australia that does this miniaturization testing you speak about?

Are there any other causes you know of, or things I can do to help this problem? I am pretty young to be on Rogain or permanent medicine.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated, as I am frustrated and concerned by the hair loss and the lack of answers.
Thanks.

You clearly need a good doctor to take charge of your complex situation. See ISHRS.org for a doctor in your area. There are a number of good doctors in Sydney and throughout Australia.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, female hair loss, female, australia

13 Year Old Panics About Hair Loss!

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

I am a 13 year old girl and have a perm from curly to straight and it would be very nice of you if you would pleeeease help me. I went on a winter vacation with my family for 3 days and the second day I went to the pool with out a cap. After a while I went up to my hotel room by myself and blow dried my hair. After the vacation was over I went home to wash the chlorine out of my hair with V05 conditioner and shampoo. After I washed it, I blow dried my hair some more.

Now, every time I comb my hair a whole chunk of hair comes out of the back of my head. This has been happening every single day for 3 weeks. I only noticed when my hair dresser told me it looked like a short boys hair cut. I started to cry for weeks. I did not want to go out in public, especially to school where my friends had better looking hair than I did. I felt jealous and lonely because a few of them had longer hair than me and it was straight without a perm. I don’t really want to show my natural hair because it’s crazy looking so if you would pleeeeease help to grow it back faster i’ll feel much better again and take better care of it. Thank you so much.

I know it feels horrible when you think your hair is a mess, but the only thing you should do at this point is wait it out and keep from perming your hair until it all grows back. Hair grows at 1/2 inch per month so it will grow back in time.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, perms, female hair loss, young

Head Fungus from Diet Pills?

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

could my prescribed diet pills be the cause of my head fungus and breakouts on my face? the prescription’s name is phentermine. i took the pills for 1 yr and a year later my head fungus developed. could another possibility for my head fungus be my nerves and stress? should i get therapy?

Just so I’m clear, here’s the summary of what you’ve told me is going on…

    1. Diet pills
    2. Head fungus
    3. Breakouts on the face
    4. Nerves and stress

Perhaps you are on the right track of considering therapy.

Phentermine is a potentially dangerous diet medication and you should be under close medical supervision. I do not believe phentermine would potentiate head fungus. It may be multifactorial — including your stress level causing a depression in your natural body’s defense system.

Tags: phentermine, fungus, diet, hairloss, hair loss, stress

Tidbits: Bald Cruelty in Literature

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

Our language is full of colorful derogatory comments that use bald people as targets without realizing just how sensitive balding men are. Here are a few balding comments:

  • Bald as a bean, an egg, a melon, a baby’s ass

Great literature occasionally had unkind references about balding:

  • You bald-pated, lying rascal (‘Measure for Measure’, Shakespeare)
  • Whoreson smooth-pates (‘Henry IV’, Shakespeare)
  • A Pitiful bald crown (‘Henry IV’, Shakespeare)
  • You bald old saturnine poll-clawed parrot (‘Old Pictures in Florence’, Robert Browning)
  • The jealous, the jealous old Baldpate (John Keats)

Pate is a chiefly disparaging term used negatively about the crown or brain. I would guess that in olden days, people struck out against dimwitted behavior with this term, much like a “knuckle-head” might be used today.

Lasers for Hair Loss?

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

Hi Dr. Rassman

I was wondering if the hand held LLLT (Low Laser Light Therapy) Lasers work at all. If so do they work as well as the expensive ones in the doctors office? Is there a certain type and name brand that you would recommend? Thank you very much for your time.

As of right now I am open and hopeful that LLLT will show the benefits that are proclaimed, although I am not 100% convinced about them. There are some encouraging studies from a well respected researcher who supports LLLT in concept. I can not comment much about this subject until I have more data and have reviewed better scientific papers on the matter. You are correct, the handheld systems are less expensive, but the only study that I’m aware of was published and sponsored by the manufacturer, making me skeptical of anything I read about them. In my opinion, when things sound too good to be true, they frequently are too good to be true.

Tags: LLLT, lasers, laser, hairloss, hair loss, hair growth

Abnormal Thyroid & Hair Loss

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

I have experienced what I think is abnormal hair loss within the last year. I had my thyroid levels tested and the TSH came out normal. Someone suggested I should also have had a free T3 and a T4 test done. Have you ever seen a thyroidal cause of hair loss where the person’s TSH level is normal but T3 & 4 levels are abnormal? Would you suggest I also get the latter tests taken? What other tests would you suggest should be done to identify the abnormal loss of hair. I am taking 5000 IU of vitamin A everyday with my vitamins. I have read that too much Vitamin A might cause hair loss. Is 5000 IUs of VA too much vitamin A?

I have been aware of people suffering from hair loss if they have thyroid abnormalities, especially women with genetic hair loss. This is a very detailed and difficult area to assess and the number of variables involved in the hair loss equations are not well defined by the medical profession. Generally, even after the thyroid has been normalized, many women with genetic hair loss will have taken an irreversible hit, that is to say, can not get it back. Large mega doses of Vitamin A can also contribute to hair loss and the amount you’re taking falls into this category.

Thank You for Explaining the Maturing Hairline!

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

Hello,

I wanted to send this e-mail to thank you for running such a great site, specifically in regards to your information on “mature hairlines”. I’m turning 31 this year and have noticed over the past 4 to 5 years that my hair has thinned slightly above the temples. I would say I’m between stage I and II. The rest of my hair is thick (for a redhead that is) and my crown hasn’t changed much over the last 10 years.

My father is somewhat bald but the men on my mother’s side have decent hair for their age. When my thinning started, I, like probably every other male out there, started scouring the internet for information. It wasn’t until today that I actually found more than cursory information about normal, mature hairlines. Funny how all those other sites selling “miracle cures” don’t mention that. What you described in your blog entry explains what I’ve been seeing with my hairline over the past few years.

I generally try not to worry about hair loss and I’m truly thankful for what I have; it’s nice to read useful and reassuring information though for those moments of doubt. If I do start losing my hair, at least I know where to look for more information!

Thank you again.

You’re very welcome! :)

For those interested, I’d recommend reading Maturation of a Hairline — Moving From Juvenile to Mature.

Tags: mature hairline, hairloss, hair loss, hairline

Feels Like Something Is Crawling In My Scalp

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

(female) My scalp is alway itching and it feels like things are crawling in my scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and I think I need help from some other source. I have hair loss in several spots. I have used a lot of products and nothing is helping. Please help tell me what I need to use

Many people want me to guess at what is wrong with them without at least some pictures. Seeing you would be ideal. You could have Ringworm, alopecia areata… and on and on. Get a good doctor and if you don’t get the answer from one, go to another. I am in California and would be happy to see you, but perhaps a local dermatologist would be much more convenient for you.

Tags: dermatology, ringworm, alopecia, itch, scalp

In The News – Viagra for Hamsters?

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

This isn’t hair-related, but I can stray from hair stuff just for a moment or two. From the article:

The “little blue pill” given to treat impotence might also help people overcome jet lag faster, a new study in rodents suggests.

Hamsters that received small doses of sildenafil, sold under the name Viagra, adjusted more quickly to laboratory simulations of a six-hour time-zone change than animals in the control group.

and also…

But in the jet lag experiment, the tiny doses given to the hamsters were too small to trigger erection.

Read the rest here — NewScientist.com – Viagra reduces hamster ‘jet lag’

Maybe someday soon you’ll take a smaller dosage of Viagra to avoid jet lag and not have to make excuses. Interesting stuff.

Tags: viagra, sildenafil, hairloss, hair loss

Follica

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

Dear Dr.,
I see that Follica Inc. have lincensed a technology developed at Penn university. The research suggests that new hair follicles can be produced in the skin with the protein wtn. Apparently this protein can make lots of new follicles in the skin. If this is the case would it lead to an end of male pattern baldness? Surely, any new follicle made would be affected by DHT. What are your thoughts on this new approach? Many thanks

Yes, I read of them as I was skimming the Scientific American website. It seems the research is relatively new with good potential. There have been many that promised the world, but delivered little. With regard to the ‘new hair’ I really don’t know the answer to your question. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Scientific American – Bye-Bye Comb-Overs? Hair Follicles Found Able to Regenerate

Tags: follica, hairloss, hair loss, regenerate, follicle

Dealing with Unhappy Patients

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

Dr. Rassman, how do you deal with patients that are not happy with their results, or suffer complications, such as shock loss, grafts not growing, and incorrectly misplaced hair. How often do you encounter this? Thanks.

My philosophy on patient care is that a doctor and patient relationship should be a partnership. Both parties should understand one another and treat one another with respect. I found that through the years from my days as a surgeon, mutual respect and partnership have always kept my patients happy. Setting realistic expectations are much of it, and listening to what people are telling you helps work through the partnership. We have had monthly open house events for the past 14 years where patients who have had surgery show off their results and prospective patients can talk to them and see what they got. Prospective patients can also see a live surgery (just imagine that we were doing this for 14 years on monthly basis in every office we had). Of course there have been unhappy patients along the way, but the partnership and respect goes a long way in resolving any unforeseen issues and a good dialogue usually does not pit one side against the other.

Tags: hairtransplant, hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, patient, doctor

I Want to Grow Chest Hair!

/by William Rassman, M.D./8 /

I am 22 yrs. and I have very little hair around my nipples but no hair on my chest. Is there any way I can grow chest hair?

No. There is no practical way to grow chest hair. I guess you could try minoxidil, which is known to grow hair, but it might get you a big dose of the medication if you apply it all over your chest. At your age, I would advise you to wait it out. If you have any Native American lineage, you may not grow chest hair at all. And some men just don’t have much chest hair.

Tags: chest hair, hairloss, hair loss, nipples