Regular Member Dr. William Lindsey Posted April 10, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted April 10, 2008 This week I was reviewing my hair procedure records and came across an interesting finding. We have had 9 patients who presented for hair consultation who on examination, were found to have skin cancer on their scalp who were treated for the skin cancer and subsequently had hair transplantation at our office. I would guess that I have had twice that number who were referred out for the skin cancer treatment and didn't proceed with hair surgery. Recall that the 3 types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Basal cell and squamous cell are related to sun exposure and often present as a pearly white or scaly plaque-like areas that may itch, hurt or bleed. Melanomas are thought to be contributed by sun exposure although many melanomas occur in places not exposed to direct sunlight including the retina of the eye, nasal cavity, and peri-anal areas. Melanomas are often lesions that are like dark moles and patients should look for the A,B,C and D warning signs on there moles. A is for asymetry, B is for border irregularity, C is for color change or variation within the lesion and D is for diameter larger than a pencil eraser. Everyone should have their family doctor do a thorough skin check yearly and people should check themselves periodically. Since sun exposure is contributory to 2 of the skin cancer types, and likely contributes to the third type as well, everyone should follow sun precautions such as sunscreens containing zinc oxide and wearing a wide brim hat. For patients with thinning hair, that hat instruction is particularly important, and don't hesitate to apply sunscreen on the crown. Finally, it is hard for patients to self examine the crown, even with 2 mirrors, so get checked yearly. As to the patients that we have transplanted after skin cancer surgery, we have had uniformly good results; but we wait 6 months or more, to allow for sufficient healing and adequate circulation restoration in any operated upon areas. And, if someone has had 1 skin cancer on the scalp (or anywhere) they have likely enough sun exposure to have another at some point in the future, so continued followups with the dermatologist or family doctor yearly are very important. Dr. Lindsey www.lindseymedical.com William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS McLean, VA Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Dr. Lindsey, Thanks for posting this. Even now after 3 hair transplants, if I am going to be in the sun for an extended period of time, I wear a hat that completely covers my head. I just prefer not to have to spray sun screen in my hair to try to get to my scalp, not to mention I'd like to avoid any painful burn that I can and of course, skin cancer. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member balody Posted April 10, 2008 Senior Member Share Posted April 10, 2008 this obviously doesnt apply to uk members as we cant remember what the sun looks like only joking(how very irrisponsible) good advice doc. 2381 fut Dr Bessam Farjo 2201 fut Dr Bessam Farjo 2000+ fut Dr Bessam Farjo My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Bessam Farjo challenge the unchallenged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Dewayne Posted April 10, 2008 Senior Member Share Posted April 10, 2008 Dr. Lindsey, Bill or anyone else: Help me with this, please. Last Sunday I went to this fundraiser / classic car show at our local high school. Now, I'm 17 days out at that time and it was sort of overcast when I got there. I (like a dummy) didn't wear a hat and when I felt the sun affecting my scalp I went to the shade. I was there for about two hour. My scalp is a little red but I'm not sure if it's sunburn or just after effects of the tp. How much sunburn could do damage to a 2-week fresh hair transplant? Because, even if I got sunburned, I don't think it was by much. Thanks. 100? 'mini' grapfts by Latham's Hair Clinic - 1991 (Removed 50 plugs by Cooley 3/08.) 2750 FU 3/20/08 by Dr. Cooley My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Cooley Current regimen: 1.66 mg Proscar M-W-F Rogaine 5% Foam - every now and then AndroGel - once daily Lipitor - 5 mg every other day Weightlifting - 2x per week Jogging - 3x per week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Dewayne, I am pretty sure you will be ok. A little bit of a burn won't be good for the transplanted area, but at the most, it will probably cause extended redness but won't impact the grafts and hair growth. Confirm this with your physician however, and perhaps Dr. Lindsey will give us his medical opinion also. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 You could try some Aloe Vera on it ROTFL! There he goes again, trying to build his "side" Aloe Vera business! Good thing I have purchased a lot of stock in it Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairbank Posted April 11, 2008 Senior Member Share Posted April 11, 2008 Originally posted by spex:You could try some Aloe Vera on it LOL, you kill me, Spex, you really do!! The Aloe Vera King Lives!!!!! Hairbank 1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's 2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong 3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day My Hair Loss Weblog Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Dr. Ricardo Mejia Posted April 24, 2008 Senior Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 Kudos for warning patients on skin cancers. I recently wrote an article about Scalp cancers in hair transplant patients. I will try to get the article to Bill to post. It is in the Hair Forum this past month. Just today there was a suspicious lesion in a patients donor area that I biopsied that could be a basal cell. Melanomas are the deadliest of skin cancers and can also occur whre the sun does not shine. See your dermatologist for a good full body skin exam. Ricardo Mejia MD, FAAD Jupiter FL Hair Transplant Network recommended physician; photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HLBD Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 There are shampoos and conditioners that provide UV protection. Most of the protection is for the hair - especially in the case of shampoos as they guard mostly against sun damage to the hair itself. There are leave-in conditioners, however, that double as sunscreen for the scalp. Just a suggestion. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Dr. Mejia, I'll be happy to create a hair loss Q&A blog from it like I did with Dr. Lindsey's above. Feel free to post it on the forum or email it to me privately and I'll be happy to post it. Thanks for joining live chat last night Best wishes, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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