Dr. William Rassman
A True Medical Pioneer
by David Christopher

William R. Rassman, M.D. is a true medical pioneer in every sense of the word. Beyond his work in the 1960s designing heart valves that have saved countless lives, his breakthroughs in modern hair restoration have changed the face of the industry and the appearance of patients all over the world. The days of the hair plugs that were commonly seen in hair transplant patients for decades are now over. Today's hair transplant techniques provide results that will not draw unwanted attention to your scalp. Dr. Rassman is the man to thank for that.

This profile of Dr. Rassman contains patient photographs and discusses some of the innovations he has made, for which he was recognized in 2004 by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) and awarded its 'Nobel Prize' equivalent, the Golden Follicle Award. His pioneering work in creating the Follicular Unit Transplant technique allows doctors to transplant hair in their natural growing groups of 1, 2, 3 and 4 hair units and it has now become a gold standard in hair transplant surgery techniques used all over the world. It was not only difficult to 'invent' a new surgical process in the early 90s, but Dr. Rassman had to overcome industry resistance to the change. "Those who say it can't be done should not stand in the way of those who are doing it every day," proclaimed Dr. Rassman in 1994. The following year at a medical hair meeting in Las Vegas, he brought 23 hair transplant patients to demonstrate to the disbelieving doctors that absolutely undetectable hair transplants were not only possible, but routinely practical. For most of the past 12 years, Dr. Rassman showcased his patients at these meetings to bring attention to the many 'faces' and situations where hair transplants can bring value. Thanks to these innovations, the practice of bringing patients to these annual physician meetings has become commonplace.

In 2002, New Hair Institute physicians pioneered and published a classic article showing how to perform 'minimally invasive hair transplant surgery' without a linear scar. The technique, called Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), removes individual follicular units of 1, 2, 3, or 4 hairs each, taking out only the hair follicles and leaving the scalp intact without a linear incision. As the wounds created by the extraction of these small follicular units were less than 1mm in size, this procedure does not require any suturing and the wounds virtually disappear in a matter of days. The published technique became yet another gold standard in the industry. The patient below is a 25-year-old male who had frontal hair loss. He underwent an FUE procedure to treat his bald area.

NHI has been in the public view for quite some time and Dr. Rassman himself has been a featured cosmetic surgeon on ABC's Extreme Makeover (two of his patients are shown here). What is generally not well known is that Dr. Jon Perlman, one of the most exploited and popular plastic surgeons on Extreme Makeover, had transplants performed by Dr. Rassman.

Dr. Perlman - before

Dr. Perlman - after

Men are generally averse to surgery and pain. There is a belief that a hair transplant procedure is deforming, very painful, and will proclaim one's vanity to the entire world. Most men think that public recognition of a man's vanity can be more painful than any transplant, yet very few of them have had their transplants detected. In most men, any evidence of a hair transplant is gone in about a week and there are many tricks one can employ to address the issue of detectability. To address this concern, one TV and radio sports announcer came forward to discuss his hair transplant and to show off the results of his surgery just one day after his procedure. Sports Radio and CBS TV Sportscaster Steve Hartman discussed his hair transplants openly on his radio show. Steve now gets comments from his fans almost everywhere he goes, like "Hey Steve, those aren't really hair transplants, are they?" Even when a person knows that a hair transplant was done, most of the transplanted hair on our patients can not be detected.

Modern hair transplantation can change the look of a person, sometimes quite radically. Victor is a 67 year old man who used a wig for decades. He said that he hated himself every time he put it on, but it brought him closer to the 'real' Victor, rather than the bald man he saw in the mirror. His hair transplant produced a radical change in his appearance and confidence, and he burned the wig once his own hair grew in.

Victor - before

Victor - after

Women can get hair transplants as well. Only some women qualify for hair transplants, because the hair from around the sides and back of the head (we call that donor, permanent hair) is often not healthy. However, in some women, hair transplants can produce a radical change in their appearance is it did with Betty, who felt that her high hairline and wide forehead did not conform to the feminine look that she felt was the real her.

Betty - before

Betty - after

There is a sense by some that hair transplants can be easily detected, because there are so many people who had a procedure many years before the real art of hair transplantation was perfected. To get around this fear, NHI holds open house events regularly in our Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, and San Jose offices where visitors and their guests can actually observe a surgery and also meet with people who have been transplanted by NHI physicians. "We believe that everyone considering a hair transplant is best served by seeing and meeting patients, and watching a surgery", said NHI's Dr. Jae Pak. NHI has held these monthly events for nearly 15 years, proudly allowing prospective patients to see and meet those who have already gone through the process. "Seeing is believing," continues Dr. Pak, "and meeting actual patients and looking at their hair from all angles gives you the chance to see not what a photographer wants you to see, but what a modern hair transplant actually looks like. Most people are surprised that a hair transplant does not look any different from a non-transplanted person's head of hair."

So while some people might carry the notion that a hair transplant will make them look freaky and cause them to stand out in public, thanks to the wonders of computers and Photoshop, you can see that even a bald monkey can look years younger with hair on his head. Imagine what it might do if you, your son or daughter, or your spouse is balding.

Dr. William Rassman
New Hair Institute
www.newhair.com
1-800-NEW-HAIR (639-4247)

Beverly Hills New Hair Institute
9911 W. Pico Blvd., Suite 301
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Bay Area New Hair Institute
2021 The Alameda, Suite 390
San Jose, CA 95126

Orange County New Hair Institute
1401 Avocado Ave., Suite 810
Newport Beach, CA 92660

(South Coast Magazine - Winter 2006)