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This is in response to Unethical Graft Counting — Avoid the Scam!

That’s scary! I have a related question - do you think these Doctors “waste” grafts or do they cut thin strip containing less number of grafts to begin with? i.e., cut 3000 grafts from “donor” area and put only 1000 grafts on balding areas to save labor cost? or, Do they cut a strip with ~1000 grafts and put 1000 on head.

If it’s the later, at least the patients will have the grafts for a later surgery. If the later, the doctors are worse than Bernie Madoff!

Having been through 3 surgeries, one good way to approximately estimate how many grafts were implanted was to count (a) number of hours and (b) number of technicians putting those grafts on your head. For 1640 grafts HT — it took 2 techs@NHI about 5 hours (excl lunch break); for 1850 grafts HT — it took 3 techs about 6 hours; for 1400 grafts HT — it was about 4 hours for 2 techs. I don’t know if these are somewhat standard.

The question is really whether or not you always get what comes out of the head. Most hair transplant doctors will be close to the graft estimate when cutting the strip, but what if the doctor got more grafts than you paid for? Does he/she throw the extras in the garbage? This is a matter of ethics and you must know that your doctor cares about your hair supply and does not waste it. Everyone has a finite amount of donor hair, and to throw those precious follicles away would be awful. If you have an ethical and honest doctor, the doctor will ALWAYS do things in your interest, even if it means giving you more than you paid for. But if he scams patients as a way to make his living, a skunk should be known by his smell.

As for speed of your procedure — all technicians are not created equal. Some are efficient and fast, while others are just the opposite.

My friend Dr. Robert Bernstein was recently featured in a couple of segments on the Fox News Channel’s morning show, Fox and Friends. I got the 1st segment posted in a video below:

• Video: Bigger version of the above video

I can’t figure out how to embed the video for the 2nd segment (”After the Show”) on the page, so I’ll just link to it below. I hope I’m not spoiling any surprises, but in this clip, Dr. Bernstein gets asked about treating a seal for hair loss. And no, they were not talking about the singer.

• Video: Fox - After the Show (with Dr. Bernstein)

Snippet from the article:

Can stress really cause hair loss?

Yes. Studies on both laboratory mice and disembodied human hair follicles have shown that external stresses can cause hair loss. Researchers have exposed otherwise healthy mice to mouse-repelling sounds at 15-second intervals for 24 hours. The follicles of the stressed mice went dormant significantly faster than their more relaxed cousins. No such experiment has been conducted on people, but scientists do know that if you expose human hair follicles to substance P, a stress-related neurochemical, they will also become dormant.

Read the rest — Slate: Can Stress Really Make Your Hair Fall Out?

The article references a recent tabloid-style story (in the New York Times) about soon-to-be-former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s mystery hair thinning, and wonders if it is due to stress (telogen effluvium), alopecia areata, or genetic hair loss. I haven’t seen the hair loss they’re talking about, but if I had to guess, I’d put my money on it being stress-related.

I had a 1500+ transplant about 2 months ago. It was a phenomenal experience, and I haven’t had any issues, aside from some minor itching. My question is I have been using Xandrox with 15% minoxidil at night. Is there anyway the concentration of minox in this product or amount of alcohol (80%) damaged the newly transplanted follicles? Any information is appreciated.

Fantastic blog btw.

I don’t believe that minoxidil will cause damage to the new hair grafts. I also do not believe it will help cause more rapid hair growth on the newly transplanted hair either. I tried applying minoxidil to half of the head on a number of patients some years ago to see if it made any difference and it did not.

I have a question about the number of hairs a race typically has. Since Caucasians typically have 100K as opposed to Africans who have 60K, is African hair, strand per stand, literally thicker, or something? Because at least I usually see Africans and notice Caucasians have almost twice as much density on their head.

Hair thickness has nothing to do with hair density. You find fine, medium, and coarse hair in all races. African hair mats together and gives the illusion of more fullness.

I’ve read in many instances here that sebum does not cause hair loss. While I believe this, a small part of me has some doubts. Is there any definitive proof you can convey to us here?

What sort of proof are you looking for? Sebum is an oily substance secreted by the sebaceous glands. We all have sebaceous glands and we all secrete sebum. Sebaceous glands secrete the oil to give your hair the healthy shine, coating and protecting it from the environment so your hair does not get brittle and break off. Sometimes excess sebum can cause oily skin/hair. You can treat this by washing your hair with shampoos that address oily hair. If you do not wash your hair and let sebum build up you can have bacteria growth that causes a foul smell or even clogs up the pores to cause pimples and cysts. But this will still not cause hair loss, just poor hygiene. If sebum caused hair loss, there would be many more balding women out there.

Hair loss in men is caused by genetics 99% of the time. It occurs in specific patterns, thus the term “male pattern baldness”. Its not called sebum-baldness.

I have been on Propecia for 11 months now and on rogaine for about a 6 months. I have found that it is harder to style my hair after using the rogaine foam due to it making my hair stiff. Due to this, I started using the rogaine foam only at night. I have recently gone back to using the rogaine twice a day and just putting up with the difficult styling. The problem is that I have seen more and more hairs on my hands after applying the rogaine foam after a shower then before. Is this due to the change in using the foam once a day to twice a day? Also, do you have any recommendations for a doctor in Washington D.C./Northern Virginia area?

Thanks!

Some people report not liking the Rogaine Foam for the same reasons. Having never used it, I can not comment on your complaint. It should be the same when comparing liquid and the foam with regard to results. Twice a day use should be better than once a day use, but you may have accelerated the cycling, which in the long term should be fine for you.

I don’t have any specific recommendations in the DC area, but Dr. Robert Bernstein is in New York and does work that I have seen, approved, and I therefore can recommend him. It is worth the trip to NY. Or better yet, come visit me in Los Angeles and you can see Disneyland or Universal Studios as part of the trip.

this is my first post and i really appreciate the community you’ve made here. Thanks to the internet and specially all you contributors.

I am 28 years old (29 in september) healthy male. Been losing hairs since i was 17 (its in the genes). I had a hair transplant (FUT) 12 days ago with 2024 grafts. Yesterday i went to get my stitches out but since my overall hairs are very very thin and weak my doctor has advised me to take: 1 tablet GENESIS (Finasteride 1mg) daily. The whole medication has been advised for 2 years

I really have doubts about this ”Finasteride” thing. I would really appreciate answers from doctors and professionals whether i should take Finasteride’ 1mg daily or should i take it alternate days..

What is the time frame in which the sexual side effects can be detected and it is possible, for example if am not having any side effects for the first 2 months of taking finasteride I wont get any side effects in future.

Finasteride will help prevent further loss and should be taken daily. Side effects are rare, but vary for each person. If you take the medication for just 2 years and stop, any benefits you saw will disappear… so I’m not sure why you were told to just take it for a limited time. It is a medication that must be taken forever (or until something better comes along that works in a similar fashion). Stopping the finasteride will produce catch-up hair loss.

Hi I have recently been experiencing sudden hair loss. I am a 23yr. old male, and have always had thick brown hair. This past march I took some pro-hormone supplements (oxyguno) to help my workout program. At the end of May, I noticed my hair was alot more blonde in areas, and noticeable thinning in the front hairline. I immediately went to a physician, and he said it was probably the supplements I took. I also had two tough last semesters (both 18hr loads). My doc prescribed me some propecia & told me to take Rogaine. My hair began to shed really bad after starting the two medications. After about a month I decided to stop the Rogaine, because my scalp was itching and I was continuing to shed alot of hair.

My question is, do you think this was caused by the supplements? Also is I got back on the Rogaine do the shed hairs grow back? Also there is some MPB in the family, although this hair loss just seems too sudden.

I would doubt that supplements caused your hair loss. The stress you are apparently experiencing will accelerate the genetic process and it can happen in a relatively show time frame. I can’t say what Rogaine will do for you — not everyone reacts the same.

I recently had a FUE procedure (about 200 grafts) for a revision on some old scars (traction alopecia scars from a hairpiece system with clips)on the back and side of my head (about two weeks ago). When will the little holes turn white and how soon can I buzz my head down to a 1 blade without disturbing the grafts in the scars? I’m 49, bald most of my life, I just wanted to improve the scars a little bit for the buzzing…

For FUE, healing for the recipient area is easily complete in 2 weeks provided that the scabs are gone. You can do what you want as soon as the scabs comes off.