Hair Loss Blog

In the past, prospective patients considering hair transplants had limited online information about clinics they were considering. But recently, we’ve been successful in getting almost all surgeons recommended on the Hair Transplant Network to present examples of their work on our forum.  See “Recommended Clinics Required to Present their Patient Results on our Forum”.

What a great opportunity for prospective patients to see real results from a larger variety of hair restoration clinics they are considering. To see a number of patient examples from a number of leading clinics throughout the world, visit “Patient Results Posted by Leading Hair Transplant Clinics”.

You are encouraged to check this section regularly and give genuine feedback to the doctors regularly presenting examples of their work. Remember that your regular feedback of a surgeon’s results contributes to advancing the hair replacement industry and improving techniques.

Kudos to hair transplant surgeons recommended by this community for rising to the challenge by going public with their results.

Bill Seemiller - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Absolutely no one in my family is bald except for one uncle who went bald at like the age of 40. I’m 19 and my hair is getting thinner. I’ve always had thinning hair but now its getting worse. I don’t think it’s genetic and the only thing i can think that’s causing my hair loss is that I’m a gym rat and possibly be the whey protein I take daily - could this possibly be affecting my DHT levels? If any of you guys can give me any kind of feedback it will be much appreciated.

This question was posed by a hair loss sufferer seeking hair loss help on our hair restoration forum and answered by Dr. Brandon Ross of LaJolla, CA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians. His professional answer is below.

Hair loss is really a crapshoot. Genetics plays a huge role, of course. But it is possible to have everyone in your family have no loss, while you have tons, and vice versa. There are multiple genes involved in male pattern baldness, so it is not easy to predict who will get the loss and who won’t. Some of the genes reside on the X chromosome, which explains why people try to look at “their mother’s side of the family” for clues.

If you are a guy, you have 1 X chromosome, which you got from your mom. But the problem is, you can’t just go and look at her dad and expect to have similar loss. There is only a 50% chance that you got that chromosome, because your mom had 2 different ones to potentially pass along. You would have to evaluate everyone from that side of the family including history of hair loss for any valuable information.

There are other factors which also can lead to hair loss, such as endocrine disorders (i.e. thyroid, etc). Certainly anabolic steroids make one very prone to balding rapidly. However, simply working out a lot will not significantly elevate your DHT levels or cause you to experience hair loss.

Bottom line is you probably still have male pattern baldness with DHT as your culprit. However, it would be a good idea to go to your primary care doctor at some point for a check up and basic labs (which would check your thyroid, anemia, etc.)

Dr. Brandon Ross

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Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Hair loss patients considering hair transplant surgery deserve only the best results. This is why all surgeons recommended on the Hair Transplant Network must continue to meet our high level of standards by producing state of the art results if they are to continue to be a part of our community.

Recently, our hair loss forum community has taken public accountability and transparency to a higher level. Soon we will be giving recommended hair transplant surgeons a strong incentive to post consistent evidence that they produce excellent results on a regular basis in order to substantiate their reputation online. For more information and to offer your input, visit “Recommended Clinics Offered Strong Iincentives to Present their Patient Results on this Forum”.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Is it normal to be shedding vast amounts of hair each day?  I’m talking about 200-300 plus daily (that i can see and guess, so its probably more). I’m also noticing that I’m not just shedding from the top anymore but on the sides.

This question was posed by a hair loss sufferer on our hair restoration forum and answered by Dr. Michael Beehner of Saratoga Springs, NY who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians. His professional answer is below.

You didn’t mention your age. As Bill (Falceros) had mentioned on our hair loss forum, it is normal to lose 50-100 hairs a day simply from the random rotation of the hairs on your head through the hair growth and resting cycles. So on any given day, you will have that many hairs falling out and that many hairs starting up growing out from the follicle again. The number you mention, assuming you’ve proved this by counting them - that’s a hard thing to “eyeball” - and you are losing that many, then one of two things is going on. Either you are really in an accelerated phase of male pattern baldness, or you have experienced a “telogen” reaction from one of many causes. These phases are very common and usually occur around a few weeks to a couple of months AFTER the incident or exposure that actually caused it, which makes it a little harder to figure out.

Common causes of telogen reactions are some of the following: a surgery (such as a hair transplant) or general anesthetic; a severe psychiatric event such as a death of a close one or a sudden divorce breakup; a crash diet of very low caloric total; various medications; a viral illness or pneumonia; and there are quite a few others. If this were the cause, then after the 3-4 month period of time passes after most of the hair loss, there should be a rebound of hair growth gradually back to what it was. It won’t happen quickly, because these hairs won’t grow faster than a half-inch a month.

If you are in the midst of this experience, there is a valuable diagnostic test that a physician does, which you could actually do yourself. Simply take two fingers (thumb and index finger) and pinch a wad of your hair (perhaps 100 strands or so) and simply pull on them. If more than five hairs come out, that may indicate a telogen reaction had occurred. Don’t worry, you won’t lose those hairs. They have already separated from the underlying follicles, which is what occurs in telogen.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

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Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Non-surgical hair loss treatment drugs may help balding men and women with moderate thinning hair but often fall short to deliver dramatic improvement for those with extensive hair loss. In the old days, other than accepting your baldness, covering totally bald areas with a hat or a hair piece was the only way to conceal hair loss.

But today, patients who demand only the best results and surgeons who deliver them continue to revolutionize the hair transplant industry. Surgeons dedicated to performing ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation can now perform even larger densely packed sessions when appropriate for the patient. This minimizes the number of surgeries a patient needs while maximizing both hair density and naturalness.

Below we introduce you to a few of the men and women who have successfully restored their hair and lives with todays revolutionized hair transplant procedures.

“MP96” has been active in our forum community since mid 2007 and has been active in charting his progress on his hair loss blog. Receiving 2100 follicular unit grafts in the hairline, Dr. Rahal was successful in reversing the appearance of his male pattern baldness by restoring his hairline. Visit his blog to see his impressive life changing transformation and congratulate him on his new head of hair.

Hair loss blogger “Hair28” sought hair restoration and found Dr. Jerry Cooley who helped restore his youthful appearance. 2051 follicular unit grafts and six months later, he presents his impressive life changing transformation on his hair loss blog. More hair growth and thickening is expected for another six months.

Forum member “FallenStar” came to our hair loss forum in late 2007 looking for an elite surgeon in the UK who can make his hair restoration dreams a reality. After careful research, he found Dr. Bessam Farjo who transplanted 3426 follicular unit grafts over the frontal half of his bald head. Seven months later, he emphatically states “Almost forgot I was bald”! View his hair loss blog with photos and congratulate him on his hair restoration renovation.

Click here to view over 250 patient hair loss weblogs and study the multitude of hair transplant transformations and those in process. If you have a hair restoration experience to share, you are encouraged to create one of your own hair loss blogs. It’s free and easy and the best way to share your life changing transformation and photos with the world.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog