April 2008
Monthly Archive
Wed 30 Apr 2008
I am a hair loss sufferer 6 months out from a transplant. I am somewhat satisfied with the hair growth I’ve experienced so far but am wondering how much more can I expect? I was really hoping for more hair.
On the average, a hair transplant is at 60% of the final hair restoration result at 6 months. Whereas most patients see the majority of the new hair regrowth at this point, the transplanted hair has a long way to go and will continue to thicken, darken, and mature up to 18 months.
Remember, as the the new follicles grow, it typically grows in thin, fine, and colorless. Over time, it will thicken and fully mature. Big differences can be seen between 6 months and 12 months post-op, with additional hair maturation between 12-18 months. However, by one year, you’ll have a pretty good idea of the final hair replacement result.
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Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: hair loss, hair growth, hair transplant, hair restoration, hair regrowth, transplanted hair, hair replacement
Permanent link to this post (184 words, 0 images, estimated 44 secs reading time)
Wed 30 Apr 2008
Hello, My hair started thinning approximately 2 years ago. I take Propecia (finasteride) which has helped, but I am conscious of the hair loss I am experiencing at the front of my head. Is it possible to have a hair transplant while still having a considerable amount of hair left? Many thanks.
Yes, it is possible to have a surgery in the frontal area of your balding scalp even if you have a good amount of remaining hair.
A qualified hair restoration physician will have to take into consideration factors such as:
- Your age
- Your current level of balding
- Whether or not you are taking any nonsurgical treatments to prevent further baldness such as Propecia (finasteride) or Rogaine (minoxidil)
- How many follicular unit grafts you will need in a single hair replacement session
- Working with you to formulate a long term strategy in the event you lose more hair.
Developing a long term hair restoration plan is highly critical as hair loss is unpredictable and progressive. Propecia and Rogaine may not work forever, which means subsequent surgical procedures may be necessary.
I recommend consulting with at least 3 high quality hair transplant surgeons and using our hair loss forum as a tool to see what their patients are saying.
Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: Propecia, finasteride, hair loss, hair transplant, balding, hair restoration, balding, baldness, finasteride, minoxidil, hair replacement, Rogaine
Permanent link to this post (236 words, 0 images, estimated 57 secs reading time)
Tue 29 Apr 2008
Dr. Kabaker has been recommended on the Hair Transplant Network for several years. View his profile – on the Hair Transplant Network.
Dr. Sheldon Kabaker is renowned among hair restoration physicians for his superb surgical skill, which he developed and refined over the past thirty years.
During my visit he and his staff performed a small session of 1,100 grafts into a patient’s crown area. Dr. Kabaker removed the donor strip using a single bladed knife and then did a double layer closure so that the internal sutures would reduce tension on the skin level external sutures. He believes this produces a minimal donor scar. He then used a 19 gauge needle to create graft incisions of about 0.9 millimeters in size.
In addition to the quality follicular unit grafting that he performs, Dr. Kabaker has developed a reputation for being an expert at female hairline lowering, below is an example.
This can be a cost effective surgical solution for women who have naturally high hairline that they want lowered. Many women feel that the high hairline makes them look masculine or older.This is not due to hair loss but rather their heredity.
Although transplanting hair to recreate a lower hairline is an option, such transplantation normally requires multiple sessions to create a hairline that is sufficiently dense.
Mon 28 Apr 2008
This insightful hair loss article was written by hair restoration forum member “HLBD”. Below he shares with us a piece of what he has learned in researching real hair restoration solutions for his hair loss condition.
I know that there is a lot of skepticism towards laser hair treatment on our
hair loss forum and my view – although I’m not endorsing or supporting the use of any low level laser therapy (LLLT) product – is equally unpopular simply because I believe, from a scientific standpoint, there is not enough evidence to validate nor dismiss claims of effectiveness and so I refuse to outright condemn laser therapy as a treatment until further investigation is done.
History of Laser Therapy for Hair Loss:
In 1967, shortly after the first working laser was invented, a researcher named Endre Mester with the Semmelweis University of Budapest developed a theory that exposure to cold laser light would, eventually, lead to cancer – he theorized that melanoma (a malignant form of skin cancer) was likely to form from exposure to these cold laser light bands, similarly to exposure to UV radiation emitted by the sun. To test his theory, he shaved a group of mice and trapped some of them in a cage with constant cold laser light exposure and left the other half as a control group. To his surprise, the light didn’t cause cancer in any of his animal subjects; however, the mice that were exposed to the laser light grew back their shaved fur much faster than the control group. Mester named his discovery laser or photo (light) biostimulation as he theorized that, somehow, the laser light had stimulated the hair cells into an excited state of hair growth.
Simply knowing this, however, is not enough for us to assume that laser hair treatment would be a satisfactory treatment for male pattern baldness (MPB). The first problem is that animal studies are notoriously unreliable. Secondly, mice do not suffer from MPB. Finally, just about anything can make a mouse grow hair.
Problems with Validating Laser Therapy as a Hair Loss Treatment
For the validation side of the argument, there are plenty of problems:
- Most of the pictures presented to provide “evidence” are circumstantial (submitted by users of the therapeutic products) and are often taken under different conditions – head positions different from ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos, different lighting, different hairstyles or colors, and/or no visible change.
This is a preview of
Laser Therapy Hair Loss Treatment – A Researcher’s Point of View
.
Read the full post (1203 words, 1 image, estimated 4:49 mins reading time)
Sun 27 Apr 2008
I am considering taking Propecia for my hair loss, and I am worried about the chest growth due to this medication. Would you please tell me more about it?
I can’t say I’ve ever heard about a “chest growth” by using Propecia (finasteride) as a hair loss treatment. Where have you heard of this? Just a general caution: be careful also not to believe everything you read as there is a lot of false information out there. For solid information on medication for treating baldness, consult with a dermatologist or hair restoration physician who can answer all your questions.
A list of Propecia’s potential side effects can also be found at www.propecia.com.
Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: Propecia, hair loss, finasteride, hair loss treatment, baldness, hair restoration
Permanent link to this post (142 words, 0 images, estimated 34 secs reading time)
Sun 27 Apr 2008
Is there any evidence to suggest that wearing a hat or covering the head day in day out over a long period of time (years for example) may lead to premature hair loss?. Also is there any evidence that suggests taking glucosomine supplements can lead to baldness, or is this just a load of old cobblers?
This question was posed by a hair loss sufferer on our hair restoration forum and answered by Dr. Michael Beehner of Saratoga Springs, NY who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians. His professional answer is below.
I would agree that hats do not have a negative effect on hair growth, either your natural hair or follicular unit grafts that have been transplanted.
The only thing that goes on the head that I do know can have a negative impact on some patients is wearing a hairpiece. Over the years, I would say that approximately 15-20% of my alopecia wig wearing hair restoration patients have had slight to moderate diminishment of growth compared to my normal non-hairpiece-wearing patients. A few years ago I had a discussion about this with some other very experienced doctors, including Dr. Bobby Limmer and Walter Unger, and they had noted this also in their practices. Their recommendation to me at the time, which I have followed, is to not have a hairpiece worn during the week after a procedure, and then to have the patient have the hairpiece off as much as possible, wearing it only for essentials such as work and social engagements – but wearing a ballcap around the house or nothing on the head. I have noticed a slight improvement since switching to this policy, but still see an occasional patient with diminished hair regrowth.
This is a preview of
Does Wearing a Hat or Hair Piece Cause Hair Loss or Negatively Impact Hair Growth?
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Read the full post (401 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)
Fri 25 Apr 2008
I have been using Finapecia (1mg) since August 2007. I still have hair fall. Should there be any increase in the dosage…should I be taking 2mg instead? Should I switch to Finax, rather than Finapecia?
Please advise.
Hair shedding can be normal up to 50-100 hairs daily. See the normal hair growth cycle. The question is, is your hair getting thinner? Finpecia (or Propecia which contains finasteride) sometimes takes some time to work for hair loss which is why it is recommended to use it for at least 1 year before giving up. The best way to determine whether or not it is working for you is to take quarterly (or monthly if you want more data) pictures and compare them to see if your hair is getting worse (possible sign of it not working), staying the same or improving (both signs that finasteride could be working). Switching to Finax won’t make any difference as it still contains the same active ingredient.
Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: Finax, Hair shedding, Finpecia, Propecia, finasteride, hair loss
Permanent link to this post (194 words, 0 images, estimated 47 secs reading time)
Thu 24 Apr 2008
I’ve been prescribed Proscar for male pattern baldness (mpb) by my doctor in October 2007. It’s 5mg and I’m taking 1 tablet per day. Is this too much? Could I be risking my health taking this dosage? Would I experience hair shedding if I reduce the dose?
Please don’t take one tablet of Proscar per day for hair loss unless your physician has instructed you to do this directly. The recommended dosage is only 1mg of finasteride and one Proscar tablet contains 5mg, which is way too much. Go to your local pharmacy and buy a pill splitter, cut the pill into quarters, and take one quarter of it daily. You may even consider skipping the 5th day. This will translate to approximately 1mg of finasteride daily, which is exactly what is contained in Propecia. I doubt that cutting down the dosage will induce additional hair shedding as only 1mg daily is needed to treat baldness.
Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: Proscar, male pattern baldness, mpb, hair shedding, hair loss, finasteride, Propecia, treat baldness
Permanent link to this post (193 words, 0 images, estimated 46 secs reading time)
Thu 24 Apr 2008
There is nothing better than following a real patient’s live hair restoration progress. No gimmicks, no games, only a real balding male trying to restore his hair. Visit our hair loss forum to read about this patient’s continued experience and progress with Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil to date, what he hopes and expects for the long term. Join him on his emotional journey as he attempts to successfully restore his hair. Feel free to add your own experiences, thoughts, and support for this patient.
Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: hair restoration, balding, Propecia, finasteride, Rogaine, minoxidil
Permanent link to this post (114 words, 0 images, estimated 27 secs reading time)
Wed 23 Apr 2008
I just recently had a hair transplant for my hair loss and was wondering if the pink area represents the eventual width of the donor scar? The pink area where they took the strip is up to 7mm on both sides and seems to be getting wider and obviously there is no hair growing in it.
The pink area is not necessarily indicative of the width of the final hair replacement donor scar. Anytime a wound is healing, a halo of color will surround the wound as blood is rushing to the area to heal it. Most likely, your donor scar will be much thinner than the entire pink area. Over time, it will fade and the halo will lessen and eventually fade away leaving you with the final scar.
If you follow my hair restoration journey and click on my hair transplant photos, I post a number of donor scar pictures in that helps show this progression of healing.
However, if the donor scar appears to be getting wider, be sure to express your concern to your hair loss doctor.
Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog
Technorati Tags: hair transplant, hair loss, donor scar, hair transplant photos, hair loss doctor
Permanent link to this post (211 words, 0 images, estimated 51 secs reading time)
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