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I received a thank you card from a patient that I wanted to share. This is what was written on it:

“You truly deserve a bigger thank you than this card for what you did. I will forever remember what you did. Thanks for my new hair. May this new year of 2012, bring good health and love to you and your family.”

On the same card his sister wrote: “Thank you so much for my brothers new hair! It’s truly awesome.”

Each time I receive such cards, emails, or letters, I get emotional because I know each patient personally. The relationship I develop with every patient is what makes this profession great.

All of my patients have my home and cell phone numbers and are told to call me anytime of the day or night if they are worried. The other night, a patient called me at 10pm with some bleeding that he said would not stop, so he and I met at 11pm at my office. I put him in the hair wash room and washed off all traces of blood and then took him to the operating room (I did not call my staff in) where I examined the patient. All signs of bleeding had stopped. He apologized for bothering me and I told him that this was my job and no apology was necessary, so instead of working on his ‘bleeder’ which had gone away without any help from me, we just talked and joked over many things that we had in common. We both enjoyed our time together and left the office around midnight.

Is it possible to permanently damage the Sebaceous gland to where it is not secreting any sebum? Two yrs ago i used a re moist intensive hair treatment and left it in my hair for several hours and every since then my hair has been brittle and dry.

I know that sounds crazy but my hair just hasn’t been the same. While i might be wrong about the product that i left in my hair causing my brittle, dry hair, one thing i do know is that (all of)the hair on my head is very unhealthy. Im debating to see a doctor about it but im afraid to waste my money to just be told to use a deep conditioner, which i have been.

Is there any thing that a doctor could do about very brittle, dry hair? Or is there any way to get the body to produce more sebum?

Maybe it is probable, but I do not really know. Some people just have dry and brittle hair, and it can change during one’s life. I do not know of any way to increase sebum production aside from perhaps washing it regularly.

Hello dr Rassman,

I think you are 68-69 years old.Does that mean that you are going to retire soon?If yes what will become of baldingblog?I hope you are going to be with us for another 5-10 years.

My grandparents lived well past their 90’s and longevity runs in the family… and since I love what I do, I suspect I will be doing this for a very long time. In fact, I am very involved with Dr. Pak in the engineering process of new hair transplant instruments and we will be testing a new FUE extractor and implanter in the next month!

Besides, even if I do eventually retire, I only need a computer and Internet for BaldingBlog, right? With respect to what you read on this site, Dr. Pak and I equally share contributing to the posts without the reader knowing who answered what. So even if I am gone for a long vacation, BaldingBlog will continue on. But in general, before any content is posted, both Dr Pak and I cross check and edit each other’s answers.

But just to make it clear, I am not planning on retiring yet.

I came in and asked for a bulk hair analysis but you said I did not have enough hair on the side for the device to grab. What is the minimum length you would need?

Also when I do a pull test on the sides of my hair (DHT resistant region) no matter how hard and how many times, I fail to get any hairs to come loose. But when I do it to my thinning areas hairs come off freely. Does that mean the cycling is accelerated in those areas? And that those areas will eventually become bald?

Thanks in advance.

Bulk measurement is done by grasping hairs that are in an area about one square inch of your scalp. So if you can pick a region and mark off about one square inch and you are able to grab the hairs freely with about two fingerbreadths, that should be enough of a length. I’d say that about 3 inches long would be sufficient.

Also, you should not have any styling product (gel, pomade, hair spray) in your hair, as that would artificially increase your bulk. Remember that no test is perfect and these are all just our way of trying to standardize and quantify the hair loss progress.

If you are a patient who came to see us at NHI you should have gotten a follow up consultation letter with your likely Norwood diagnosis. Also, stop pulling on your hair.

Have you seen this article? Just wanted to get your opinion. Thanks for the blog.

Link: Requiem for my hairline

I hadn’t seen it before, but I enjoyed it. Thanks for sending. Well written, funny, and for many men that are losing hair, it’s entirely true.

There are many great men who are balding. Some of them tell me that the hair falls out because their brains were working too hard. Considering the famous people the article mentions, there may be truth to this statement.

Hi, I was wondering if you can answer to my question. If i use the 660nm light on my head for more then 30 minutes and for 3 days, will it burn my skull, and i will lose more hair because of it. I bought red LED light 660nm and i am using regular light stand and i sit under it and watch TV, but i wasnt sure how long to keep it, and i was aiming about 1 hour a day, and i used for 3 days, but i think, i see more hair loss, at the place that i used for 3 days. It makes me worried, if the 660nm red led light is not safe and instead it makes my hair?

Please let me know, thank you very much

I personally do not believe in using LED lights for the treatment of hair loss, nor am I an LED expert. I’m posting this in case someone with laser or LED experience has more information to help you. I wouldn’t expect a 660nm light to do cause damage though, particularly in burning your skull.

If you are asking a question on how to use your equipment, I would read the instruction manual that came with your device.

Happy new year Doctor

I understand there are about 100.000 hairs on a NW1 dark haired caucasian.Is there an estimation (or even guesstimation ) on how many hair are lost per norwood scale ?

I would guess that a full Norwood class 7 patterned patient will lose 65-75% of his hair, an advanced class 6 patient would lose 50% of his hair (depending upon the degree of balding), and a class 3 pattern would vary all over the place, as the 3 pattern varies significantly between men.

I’m wondering if there’s a way to lower my eyebrows. My face structure makes my eyebrows look like they’re too high on my head and I hate the space between my eyes and brows. What kind of procedure could be done to lower the eyebrows?

There are cosmetic surgeons who may do this, but I am not one of them. See a good plastic surgeon and ask that question to him/her.

My question for Dr.Rassman is: Can highlighting/coloring your hair using a salon cap cause baldness due to inflammation? Five years ago I got streaks put in my hair by stylist. She used a cap to do so by pulling strands of hair through the holes in the cap. It was very uncomfortable process and afterwards I began noticing my scalp was very sore and itchy, a condition which has persisted ever since. Could this have started the inflammation process that has led to hair fallling out over the years?

I have no way to know how to answer your question without even seeing what you mean. You may have developed an atopic dermatitis which has persisted over time. I would suggest that you see a good dermatologist in your area.

Snippet from the article:

He’s accused of being the Richmond County ripper.

Staten Island cosmetic surgeon Robert Cattani has been sued for malpractice more than 40 times over three decades, but the state Health Department did nothing to stop the doctor while patients were being maimed and disfigured.

Cattani performed an eyelid lift that blinded a preschool teacher in one eye in 2005, and a tummy tuck on another patient that resulted in life-threatening blood loss, according to state and court records.

Read the rest — Cosmetic Dr. Doom

This is a physician in NY that performed hair transplants, among other cosmetic procedures. The recourse patients have is not only in the courts to prosecute the doctors in civil trials, but to also report improper doctors’ activities to the medical boards in the state where the doctor practices medicine.

In California, the medical board must conduct an investigation if a doctor is involved in improper behavior and this can include giving misinformation or any acts that constitute delivering a substandard of medical care that does not meet the “Standard of Care” offered by the community of his/her peers. I wonder here why it took so long and so many suits to get the State of New York to act.