This is a video I received which shows the use of nails to dilate the incisions in the scalp. This was more common years ago when doctors were learning the process. The nails were used to force open the recipient holes so that the doctor or his staff could place the grafts into the balding scalp easily.

Few, if any other doctors, use these today and those that did do it, eventually learned to do so with more delicacy. The use of dilators reflect the doctor’s comfort with the technique of placing grafts.

The first minute is worth watching… the ending part is an advertisement that I do not endorse. I’ve embedded the video below:

Easy at home hair transplant. What do you think about this doc?

Video: Do it Yourself Hair Transplant

This is not as far fetched as it seems…

I once had a patient come in for a hair transplant. I believe he was a phone consultation with photos sent in beforehand. So on the day of surgery, when I washed his hair before the transplant, his entire frontal hair came off in the sink!. He had glued it in place. This man was very upset and I felt like a fool by not knowing that is what he had done.

He was an African American with kinky hair, and let his natural hair around the glued hair grow long. He did a really good job with gluing the hair in place, and had me completely duped. He was very upset with me and as I believe that the “patient is always right”, I worked like hell to re-glue that salvaged hair pulled from the sink after I did the transplant. It was one of those unforgettable moments in my hair restoration career.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend people doing this — but for a parody video, it really hit close to home.

Video: NHI on California Adventure TV

When we did this interview and video shoot for California Adventure TV, the host was very excited and she showed it in this piece. Can you imagine why we got excited?

And in case seeing a beautiful woman talk about hair loss treatments isn’t enough to get you to watch it, the video also gives a brief look at the Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) process.

Dr. Rassman,

What can you tell us about this new German development?

YouTube

Exciting stuff. Thanks for sending the link! I’ve embedded the video below.

The first two researchers are certainly stimulated to find a cure (they are very bald) so I would trust them. Growing hair follicles in a petri dish has been done before by Dr. Jahoda in the 1990s (here and here). When grown in the petri dish, it is exciting, but moving them into a scalp and having them grow is much, much harder.

Hi Dr. Rassman

I just watched a timelapse video of a man age for 17 years, which shows the balding process really nicely. I noticed that his hairline recedes very slowly and gradually. But his crown thins all of the sudden at age 44. Can you explain why this happened?

Thanks

This is a great video illustration! This man took multiple photos daily for nearly two decades. As to why he lost his hair in this way… it’s all in the genetics.

See the video below:

Hello doctor, I don’t know if you already have seen this but I think you might find this interesting. Maybe you have comments on it?

YouTube

Thanks for sending the video. I had not seen it before. The video is of Dr. Ken Washenik from Aderans Research discussing where his company is at in the hair cloning race at the ICRAH (International Congress Research Against Hair Loss) meeting in France earlier this year. Even though it seems his voice was replaced with a female speaker in the video, this is very exciting stuff. It appears that we are getting closer to the final solution to the hair loss problem.

I’ve embedded the video below:

Here’s a hilarious video from CNN about conspiracy theories and President Obama’s mysterious scalp scar that I thought you all might enjoy…

I wanted to show you some interview videos we took of patients that have had SMP done, so you can hear what they have to say about their hair loss journey.

Happy Friday!

Hey! I’m a balding film maker out in LA, and I recently shot a short comedic film about my hair loss – take a look…would love it if you posted…I think many people would relate. Bald is beautiful!!

Link to the entire 10 min film: Chris Weisberg is Growing Bald

Keep in mind there is some cursing in the video, so if you’re at work or somewhere that requires the F word not to be uttered, you should probably wait to watch the video. It’s very funny, though! Here’s the trailer:

One of my favorite BaldingBlog contributors (who shall remain nameless) sent in some great insights about FDA advisory committees. We’ve previously posted his thoughts on the LaserComb, clinical trials, and FDA trials. This post will be used in the future as a point of reference:

—

Dr Rassman,
Given the many questions related to consideration of FDA expansion of the finasteride label for prevention of prostate cancer, your readers may wish to access the data themselves and better understand the process (which becomes more transparent and less “conspiratorial”).

 
The recent finasteride and dutasteride opinions noted in the Dec 3 Balding Blog posting are not from the FDA, but are from an independent group termed the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee is composed of 18 voting members (and several non-voting members) – mainly oncologists, with some statisticians, epidemiologists, and a patient representative, the former mainly from academic institutions.

The FDA eventually considers the committees opinion in approval or withdrawal of drugs (or “expansion” of a drug label for a new indication). The FDA usually follows the recommendations of advisory committees, as the committees’ recommendations are presumably “data-driven” and the FDA typically comes to similar conclusions. However, as in the case of many decisions that are split or where significant differences in interpretation of risk-benefit exist, the FDA has occasionally approved or rejected a drug against the recommendation of an advisory panel. Examples of split Advisory decisions (where a majority vote did occur) are the opinions this year related to several weight loss drugs.

The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 17-0 against expanding the label for finasteride to include prevention of prostate cancer. A unanimous vote by FDA Advisory Committees is rare. I have no special knowledge of the meeting. This decision was based in part on data from the 19,000 patient Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and the belief that the data did not support the risk benefit profile (i.e. possibility of increased aggressiveness of tumor did not outweigh reduced risk of low-grade tumors). As with all such committee meetings, which are open to the public (including listening via live webcasts), the transcript will be published and available within a few weeks at the FDA’s web site.

However, interested readers can go to the FDA web site now and access the Briefing Document and presentations given to Committee members from the drug company seeking approval. This information is public and typically posted several days before the meeting. The meeting was held on Dec 1, but the date of posting was Nov 26 (see under Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee). The info can be found at the following links [note – all are PDF files]:

1. Draft Agenda for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
2. Briefing Information for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
3. Draft Questions for the November 30, 2010 Meeting of the Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
4. Merck Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
5. FDA Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
6. GlaxoSmithKline Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
7. Draft Questions for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
8. Draft Meeting Roster for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
9. Webcast Information for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee