Mark
01-13-2009, 08:40 AM
Hi everybody,
I'm back to go over another miniaturization study that we did on someone who came in for a consult. Notable is the fact that he had an extremely short haircut. I've mentioned before that it's easier to do these tests when the hairs can't overlap and turn into a jumbled mess, and in the photos below you can see what I mean.
So first things first, we'll check the donor area to get a baseline of what should be "normal" for this particular person.
Right Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=139
Middle Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=138
Left Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=137
As you can see in his middle donor area, he's got about 54 hairs in about 19 total follicular units. What's notable is not really the density of his follicular units, but the number of hairs per follicular unit that we're seeing here. He's averaging at least 3 hairs and in some we're seeing 5 hairs in a follicular unit. You see the occasional small vellus hairs (http://www.baldingblog.com/2005/12/16/size-of-minaturized-hairs/) but no real miniaturization which is to be expected since this is the donor area.
Now lets compare the donor area to the spots where we look for miniaturization.
Area A.
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=134
Here in area A, the first thing that's immediately noticeable is the drop in the number of hairs per follicular unit. We still see about 23 follicular units, but only 42 hairs, four of those hairs being miniaturized giving us about 10% miniaturization. The the next thing we notice is that his hair is pretty uniformly thick here, not a whole lot of miniaturization. If we were to look at this without first looking at the donor area, we might just think this is normal and nothing to worry about, but since we've looked at the donor area first we know better.
Area B
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=135
In area B here, the hairs look a little thicker than in spot A, but you can really see quite a few more miniaturized hairs here. I counted 62 total hairs in 24 follicular units, with 10 of those hairs being miniaturized showing approximately 16% miniaturization. Dr Rassman came in while I was writing this and pointed out the circled areas above. Compared to the donor area, we should be seeing 3+ hairs per follicular unit but we're not, and you can see perfectly here how these follicular units are now two hair units but will soon be one hair units.
Area C.
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=136
In area C, the mirror side of the head from area A, we notice that it's not as bad as A, but you can see some miniaturized hairs here. I counted 55 hairs total, 10 of them miniaturized, in 23 total follicular units. Giving us about 18% miniaturization in this area.
In the interest of brevity I won't go into the other photos as there's not a whole lot new to talk about with them.
So what are we to learn from all this?
1. Evaluating your hair when it's cut short is much easier to do than if you've got long hair. If you can even cut a very small portion of your hair short to get measurements, it can really help with getting an accurate measurement. Remember, the viewing area of this microscope is only 7x5mm.
2. Even if you don't see extensive miniaturization in a particular area of your scalp, it's important to look at your donor area to get an idea of what is "normal" for you. In this instance, we don't see a whole lot of miniaturization but clearly his density is lower than normal for him. Miniaturization can come and go in cycles and it seems that he's already had a fairly good bit of miniaturization take place. Dr Rassman prescribed propecia to this person to help prevent any future loss of density.
I'm back to go over another miniaturization study that we did on someone who came in for a consult. Notable is the fact that he had an extremely short haircut. I've mentioned before that it's easier to do these tests when the hairs can't overlap and turn into a jumbled mess, and in the photos below you can see what I mean.
So first things first, we'll check the donor area to get a baseline of what should be "normal" for this particular person.
Right Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=139
Middle Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=138
Left Donor Area
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=137
As you can see in his middle donor area, he's got about 54 hairs in about 19 total follicular units. What's notable is not really the density of his follicular units, but the number of hairs per follicular unit that we're seeing here. He's averaging at least 3 hairs and in some we're seeing 5 hairs in a follicular unit. You see the occasional small vellus hairs (http://www.baldingblog.com/2005/12/16/size-of-minaturized-hairs/) but no real miniaturization which is to be expected since this is the donor area.
Now lets compare the donor area to the spots where we look for miniaturization.
Area A.
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=134
Here in area A, the first thing that's immediately noticeable is the drop in the number of hairs per follicular unit. We still see about 23 follicular units, but only 42 hairs, four of those hairs being miniaturized giving us about 10% miniaturization. The the next thing we notice is that his hair is pretty uniformly thick here, not a whole lot of miniaturization. If we were to look at this without first looking at the donor area, we might just think this is normal and nothing to worry about, but since we've looked at the donor area first we know better.
Area B
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=135
In area B here, the hairs look a little thicker than in spot A, but you can really see quite a few more miniaturized hairs here. I counted 62 total hairs in 24 follicular units, with 10 of those hairs being miniaturized showing approximately 16% miniaturization. Dr Rassman came in while I was writing this and pointed out the circled areas above. Compared to the donor area, we should be seeing 3+ hairs per follicular unit but we're not, and you can see perfectly here how these follicular units are now two hair units but will soon be one hair units.
Area C.
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=136
In area C, the mirror side of the head from area A, we notice that it's not as bad as A, but you can see some miniaturized hairs here. I counted 55 hairs total, 10 of them miniaturized, in 23 total follicular units. Giving us about 18% miniaturization in this area.
In the interest of brevity I won't go into the other photos as there's not a whole lot new to talk about with them.
So what are we to learn from all this?
1. Evaluating your hair when it's cut short is much easier to do than if you've got long hair. If you can even cut a very small portion of your hair short to get measurements, it can really help with getting an accurate measurement. Remember, the viewing area of this microscope is only 7x5mm.
2. Even if you don't see extensive miniaturization in a particular area of your scalp, it's important to look at your donor area to get an idea of what is "normal" for you. In this instance, we don't see a whole lot of miniaturization but clearly his density is lower than normal for him. Miniaturization can come and go in cycles and it seems that he's already had a fairly good bit of miniaturization take place. Dr Rassman prescribed propecia to this person to help prevent any future loss of density.