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As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation continues to evolve, our #1 goal at all times is to protect the health of our patients, our team members, and our community. In light of this, we’d like to take this opportunity to answer recent questions very regularly asked.

I address this topic the most, but it’s always worth repeating. If keeping your hair is important to you, the slightest change you notice either in texture or "thickness" or just a little more scalp is visible - this is concern enough to make an appointment for a treatment recommendation. Do not wait. Be proactive about hair restoration. The phrase “better late than never” does not apply to hair loss. Your mentality should be "better early than late."

I have been following a 48-year-old female for the past year who was diagnosed with breast cancer some three years ago and was experiencing generalized thinning over her scalp and eyebrows when she came to see me. She was negative for the gene mutation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes with no positive nodes at the time of surgery when she underwent bilateral mastectomies with reconstruction.

Before consultations, I ask new patients to fill out a detailed questionnaire which allows for providing information I need to determine the etiology of their hair loss. In general, during the consultation, I am looking to assess the pattern and course of hair loss as well as any associated symptoms.

Most of us can’t live without using some form of heat on our hair, whether it’s a blow drier, flat-iron, or curling iron, but unfortunately these heat styling tools can cause, among others, a condition that dermatologists call bubble hair. A sign of thermal injury, bubble hair is the result of bubbles formed within the hair shaft when water in the hair is heated and turns into steam. Clinically, hair appears to be kinked, break off, and the condition may develop into localized alopecia over time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco is the most significant preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Nicotine, a component of tobacco found in cigarettes, cigars, and e-cigarettes, is a highly addictive substance which contributes to compulsive use, relapse after abstinence, and physical dependence. In spite of the well-documented health hazards, an estimated 17% of Americans smoke cigarettes leading to nearly a half million deaths each year.

For many people, hair loss is just a fact of life. People tend to speculate on what causes hair loss, which leads to a lot of misinformation. Misinformation is harmful because it misguides people on what to actually do about their hair loss. Here, we have some of the most common myths about hair loss.

A 53-year-old male patient came in for a consultation because he noticed over the past few years his hair thinning on both the top and crown. He asked his hair stylist if she could also see it, and from her perspective, his stylist only saw thinning in the crown. You can see in the first picture that his hair looks very full and dense except for some thinning in the crown.

Trichotillomania, colloquially known as excessive hair-pulling, is one of a group of body-focused repetitive behaviors, or BFRBs. Body-focused repetitive behaviors include skin-picking (Excoriation), nail-biting (Onychophagia), or biting one's lips or cheeks (Keratosis).