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 Dr. Alan J. Bauman is the Founder, Medical Director and Chief Surgeon of the Bauman Medical Group, P.A. located in Wharfside at Boca Pointe in Boca Raton, Florida. His practice is dedicated exclusively to treating male and female pattern hair loss. Dr. Bauman uses state-of-the-art medical and surgical techniques to help his patients maintain and/or restore their scalp hair.
Socks
2006-04-28
diffused hairloss
Dr. Bauman,
I'm 26yrs male and up until 3 years ago I had a very full head of healthy hair.
3yrs ago I lost a gf who I was very much in love with. Afterwards I had a plastic surgery procedure go wrong which resulted in dozens of minor corrective surgeries.
Within 6 months of these treatments, which included fat-injections and steriod injections to the fatty layer of the skin, I noticed for the first time in my life hair falling out.
As the treatments continued so did my hairloss. It didnt follow any MPB pattern... All my hair (all over my head) just got thinner and more diffused.
8 months ago I had an endocscopic forehead lift as the final stage in correcting the aboved mentioned "plastic surgery gone wrong". I was not under a general but was rather awake the entire time. Afterwards my hair loss was profuse.
I quicky noticed my hair, from the front to the beginning of the crown on top, was "sicky", "diffused", and "thin" looking. I shaved my head in hopes in would regrow later.
Well, when it grew back I noticed, when my hair was spiked or combed back, the middle front was very thin to the point of looking horrible.
There is no doubt that this surgery played a role in this.. However, my question is:
Is MPB playing a role here?
I tried propecia for the last 6 months and noticed no improvement (though that doesnt mean it hasnt prevented it from getting worse).
I tried Rogain for 3 days but the shedding got so bad by the third day that I couldnt even get a comb through my hair without picking up 20+ pieces of hair per pass... most of which was either baby fuzz or hair that was only half the size as the average hair on my head.
There is MPB on my mom's dad's side.. however nothing like what I have. They all followed the typical pattern of MPB and had a slow recession over many years.
The only other thing I would note, besides living in what feels, from an emotional standpoint, hell on earth for the last 3 yrs, I also have a horrible sleep pattern.
Sometimes I sleep durning the day...sometimes at night...sometimes not at all. I never have energy (though my weight is stable) and I can say it looks like I aged 10yrs over the last 3yrs.
Thank you for your time and sorry for the long letter.
RE: Plastic Surgery and Hair Loss
I can certainly appreciate the frustration you are experiencing with your situation. Unfortunately, very few plastic surgeons will discuss 'hair loss' as a potential complication from cosmetic procedures. However, I can tell you it is quite common. In my practice, I evaluate and treat plastic-surgery related hair loss routinely. Many of the local plastic surgeons here in South Florida send patients to me PRE-operatively for hair loss evaluations---especially if they have hair loss in the family history or appear to have early stages of hair loss. With regard to your situation, there is probably a genetic component to your hair loss. Meaning, you were probably going to experience some degree of hair loss eventually. But, as is the case with many men and women I see AFTER plastic surgery, it was probably accelerated. Just going under the anesthesia associated with cosmetic surgery can accelerate hair loss--not to mention the disruption of the blood flow from browlifts, etc. and the inflammation associated with your healing process. Propecia and Minoxidil are a good start--to be used for 6-12 months before judging the result. I might even consider using low level laser therapy. If there is hair loss from scarring (from the endo-browlift, etc.) this can be camouflaged with hair transplantation. Transplanted hair DOES GROW in scar tissue (contrary to popular belief). The middle area (top) will probably rebound to some degree on the non-invasive treatments, but that area might also require some degree of transplantation if it does not improve to your satisfaction. Keep me posted.
You might also want to check out the articles on my website regarding post-plastic surgery hair restoration. Those are posted on www.baumanmedical.com under "Special Cases."
Good luck.
Sincerely,
Dr. B.
doctorb@baumanmedical.com
www.baumanmedical.com
Bauman Medical Group, PA Boca Raton, Florida
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