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When attempting to find a good HT Doctor, should one that doesn’t do a Miniaturization test be a strong factor in determining whether to use them?

There are many doctors that do not map the scalp for miniaturization. It is a relatively easy procedure, and in my hands it is basic to using medications like Propecia, in determining the health of the donor area, and in developing a long term Master Plan for the patient. If they do not use a high-powered video device to examine the hair, they will miss things like diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) on many patients who have it. And to continue that example, I am sure that if they end up performing surgery on a person with DUPA, they will absolutely harm them.

I am not a fan of doctors that do not do a complete examination of the scalp before they go forward with hair transplantation surgery. Of course, you should make your own determination of that issue.

Snippet from the article:

When football fanatic Sophie Nixon started losing clumps of her hair, no one in her family knew that bullying at school was making the youngster ill. Now the 12-year-old from Lowestoft has spoken out about her alopecia to encourage other young people to seek help if they are being bullied.

Sophie’s hair started falling out two years ago and she soon lost her eyebrows and eyelashes. It was only when her parents took her to see a doctor that she told them she was being teased at school and she was diagnosed with the condition, which causes sudden hair loss.

Read the full article at the UK’s East Anglian Daily Times.

She’s quite brave to speak out about her condition and I wish her well. This story reminded me of an article from a couple years ago, where a young girl’s hair loss was triggered by bullying (see here).

There are genetic disorders that cause hair loss at the young age, starting at 2-4 years old. This can be alopecia totalis or a form of ectodermal dysplasia, which are often genetic in origin.

(female) About 1 year ago, I found out I had Alopecia Areata. I went to the doctor right away and got the steroid injections to the bald spot I had. Well, in about 5 month, i got all my hair back, but it starting thinning out. Now after full 10 months, I noticed a very small bald spot on my scalp again. So, my question is why am I loosing hair after almost 1 year again. Please suggest something.

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease and based upon your history, it sounds like it is active. It has been known to return after disappearing spontaneously or with treatment. Read up about the disease at the National Alopecia Areata Foundation site.

(female)
i have alopecia areata and my hormone levels are up the creek . i am growing new hair , however why does it get so far and then fall out again ?

I do not know what you mean by your hormones being up a creek. Which hormones and what creek?

I am glad to read that you are growing new hair, which is to be expected for those who have alopecia areata. But it also may fall out again, also to be expected for those who have alopecia areata. This is something that happens with this disease, where it may spontaneously reverse and at times recur. For more info about alopecia areata, see the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

I have been taking CellCept for 6 weeks and I noticed hair loss, I have stopped taking it now but this was 8 weeks ago and I have seen no improvement.

Can you advise if it will grow back?

I’ve answered this question about CellCept before and have nothing new to report since then.

If it grows back it would take over a year, though it often does not grow back to its original fullness, particularly in the area where genetic balding is active.

i recently was diagnosed with something called acromegaly which partly means the pituitary gland produces too much hgh. one of the symptoms of this disease is course or thick hair, which i have. i’m wondering once i correct this issue & my hgh levels return to normal. will this cause hair loss of any kind whether its the legs, eyelashes, etc…

Many of the body’s changes from acromegaly do not reverse after the pituitary problem is fixed. Unfortunately, I have no real experience dealing with this disease or the hair changes that go along with it. Perhaps you can find more info here or here.

What is frontal fibrosing alopecia? I haven’t heard of this before and I just read an advertorial that mentions that it is a cause of hair loss in women.

Link here

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) requires a microscopic diagnosis made in the hands of a good dermatopathologist. To quote the link you sent, FFA “can cause women to lose up to five inches from their hairline. If FFA goes undiagnosed, women can even lose hair at the sides and back of their head.” For more info and some photos, see DermNet NZ.

In general, there are two types of hair loss — scarring alopecia and non-scarring alopecia. Genetic (male pattern) hair loss is the non-scarring type. We usually do not perform surgery for those with the scarring alopecia, because as the name implies there is scarring and inflammation underneath that is causing the hair loss. So a hair transplant would not likely work because your own immune system can still attack the transplanted hair.

I don’t know what to call this but I have found myself scratching and itching my scalp for the past few years during times of stress such as exams. The reason why I do this is because there are these tiny white bumps on my head that I try to pick at and just continue to do so. My hair has greatly thinned and is more oily. What is this condition called? how do I treat it?

I can not address the white bumps you are talking about without seeing you and them. It could be an infection, folliculitis, dermatitis, or even dandruff. You’ll likely want to see a dermatologist for that, as I can’t simply guess as to what it is or tell you how to treat it.

The hair loss you are experiencing in the areas you are scratching is probably traction alopecia. Some people with dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking) can also have trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), which leads to permanent hair loss.

I would like to thank you first for this wonderfull and highly educating blog.I am a 20 years old Male with type 1 diabetes. I have been experiencing hairloss for the past 2 years. I tried Regaine for the past year but stopped it because of the major itching it was causing. My two questions are if I started taking propecia, would it cause me any health damage related with the my situation.? is there any particular tests I should take before starting on propecia? (I dont have any health problems other than type1 diabetes). Thank you

Type 1 diabetes should not be a problem when you take Propecia, but get a good hair doctor involved in the diagnosis and treatment.

I’ve written quite a bit about the drug, so I won’t rewrite the same stuff again… but Propecia will work best when you’re in the early stages of genetic hair loss, which it sounds like you could be (I can’t say for sure as I haven’t seen a photo or met you).

Hi what the problem is that just about a year ago i started to get seborrheic dermatitis mildly starting on my eyebrows. It has now progressed all around my scalp and has produced reasonably large flake’s all over my scalp. what i worry about is that when these flake’s fall out a hair would sometimes come out with it and what looks like the root of the hair aswell. I am just wondering will these hairs grow back if it is not part of the normal growth cycle? or may i be facing permanent hairloss if there is no true way to permanently get rid of these flakes. Thank you for your time Doc.

You may have psoriasis rather than seborrheic dermatitis. The hair that is going to fall out in normal hair cycling will often come out with the big flakes. You need to be evaluated by a dermatologist.