Q: Will cutting my hair short – skin level – adversely affect it?

A: Hair shafts are not alive (only the follicle is) so cutting the hair will not affect its growth.

 

Q: I am 22 yrs old and I started shedding hair in a very limited form since I was 20. I have now been on Propecia for nearly 8 months. To date I have not experienced any benefit. In fact, I have seen my hair continue to thin. Is it possible that this thinning is a result of Propecia?

A: Usually the shedding associated with finasteride will subside by 6 months.

If you are still losing hair at 8 months, most likely the medication is not working. Unfortunately, it is not effective in about 15% of patients.

 

Q: Five days after my hair transplant I shampooed, rubbing the transplanted area vigorously using my finger tips and all the scabs fell off. Is it possible I have dislodged some of the grafts even though they didn’t bleed? If there was no bleeding, is it enough to assume all the new transplanted follicles stayed in place??

A: At five days after a hair transplant the grafts are pretty secure, but still can be dislodged.

However, if there was no bleeding, it is unlikely that you lost any grafts.

 

Q: I am in my early 20′s and I was told my hair loss pattern is a Norwood Class 6, on its way to becoming a Class 7. My hair is brown in color and medium to coarse and I was told I have high density in my donor area. Although I was told I could have hair transplants, do you think that I should based upon what I have told you?

A: The main concern I would have is that when someone is already a Class 6 by their early 20′s, he may eventually be left with only a very thin see-through fringe as he ages. A high donor density now does not insure that this will not occur – and coarse hair at 22 does not insure that it will not become fine over time.

Since the hair restoration would require one or more large sessions, there is a risk that the donor scar will not be hidden over time. If you had a widened donor scar, you would need to grow your hair longer on the back and sides to cover it (if that is even possible).

This may not be ideal for a younger person who would have otherwise been able to wear his hair short, and now would not have that option. Regardless of the maturity and good judgment you may feel you have now, your thinking may change as you age.

Hair transplants should generally not be performed in those under 25 because:

• Very short hair/or a shaved head can be an acceptable look
• Receded temples and a thin crown is not a good look for a young person
• When hair loss begins at a young age, the course is unpredictable and will more likely than not result in extensive hair loss
• Young persons tend to have worse/more stretched scars than older patients
• When we are younger, we generally tend to think more short-term
• When we are younger, our decisions are often more emotion-based
• When you get older, you may change mind about having surgical hair restoration, but the hair transplant procedure, once performed is irreversible.

 

Q: I seem to be thinning, but I never shed hair as such in the shower. I cannot see my hair falling out. Can it be androgenetic hair loss?

A: In androgenetic hair loss one rarely sees hair falling out in mass, but rather the thinning is due to the hair decreasing in diameter and length (a process called “miniaturization”).