Advertisement for Cheep Hair Tansplants

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

I do not doubt that these people will deliver on this promise, but at what cost?  Your out-of-pocket costs will be a bargain, but the following are real risks if you take up the ad and get a hair transplant from these folks

1- Your donor area will be depleted, and you are probably going to be bald around the side and back of the head

2- You may be over-treated with anesthetic and may not live through the surgery

3- The grafts may not grow because they were not handled properly

4- You may end up with necrosis in some of the transplanted recipient areas

5- Highly likely these are not doctors offering the service

 

Finasteride, long term does it lose benefits?

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

Does finasteride eventually stop working over time to either regrow or maintain hair for everyone that takes it as their genes for balding take over?

Finasteride maintains benefits; however, your hair’s ability to stop its eventual pattern may not be stopped by finasteride, just slowed down. I have seen men on finasteride for 15-20 yrs stop it, and they lost significant amounts of hair as a result suggesting even that far out (20 years) doesn’t stop finasteride’s effectiveness

Maturing hairline

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

Note that this young man has a widow’s peak, which is a remnant of his juvenile hairline. He also has his corner hair from his juvenile hairline, which appears to be weaker and will eventually fall out as his hairline takes on a “V” shape (see arrow). Some men falsely think that this is balding, but I tell them that this is a maturing hairline is process. 

5500 Grafts in Indian Male

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

The average Indian has a lower density than a Caucasian of about 1.9 hairs/follicular unit (the Caucasian average is 2.2 hairs/follicular unit), so unless his hair is very coarse, his donor area is clearly depleted.  He may find that he doesn’t have enough hair to cover the donor area. Additionally, this man’s FUE was taken outside the donor area.  His entire remnant Class 6 pattern was harvested.  If he develops a Class 7 pattern of balding, then he will lose more than half of the hairs transplanted.  

6 weeks minoxidil, finasteride and microneedling

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

I am 37 years old and had this balding for 10 years. I started using 1 mg PO finasteride daily 1 ml topical minoxidil twice daily 1 biotin vitamin daily, Saw palmetto shampoo, plus 0.5 mm micro needling at home 2-3 times per week.

I would increase the microneedling needles to 1.25mm and reduce the treatments to once a week. That depth gets to the stem cells that control the growth of the follicles to react to the wounds.  You also might consider switching to oral minoxidil.  Speak with your doctor.   The photos suggest that the stem cells are still there and alive, so push the depth of the microneedling t where the stem cell reside.

Did this celebrity get a hair transplant?

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

David Beckham’s photo in the Telegraph shows a very normal hairline with possibly some frontal thinning.  The shape of his hairline is normal and the temple peaks are prominent.  The picture on the right must have been created for some nefarious reason. The picture on the right shows an abnormally shaped hairline; however, it was likely photoshopped? We can’t always believe what we see.


40 year old with hairline regrowth (photos)

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

This 40-year-old male reversed his hairline recession with minoxidil 6%, 0.3% finasteride topical solution as well as microneedling.  I suspect that without the microneedling, he would have had no response.  Microneedling is a fantastic treatment for almost any age man with balding. The problem with microneedling is “Will it last” and if so, how long without continuing the process.