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Most balding men and women would love to restore their natural full head of hair by waving a magic wand and/or by popping a miracle pill. However, hair restoration involves careful and strategic planning with a skilled and experienced hair loss doctor. While Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil) are typically good at slowing down or stopping the progression of male pattern baldness, hair transplant surgery is the only method of hair restoration proven to grow hair in completely bald areas.

Today’s state of the art hair transplants are very natural looking and undetectable by even the harshest critics. This explains its increase in popularity over the last several years. But while advancements in surgical hair restoration are indeed exciting, it’s crucial for men and women considering this procedure to develop realistic expectations. What can realistically be achieved with hair transplantation varies for each patient. Below, we’ve cited a few important tips in helping you learn what to expect from hair replacement surgery.

Supply Verses Demand: What can be realistically achieved depends on the supply of donor hair and the amount of baldness in demand of new hair. Most patients can typically only achieve an illusion of fullness even under the best circumstances. Thankfully, this is usually enough to provide patients with a cosmetically significant improvement. Those with advanced balding may have to make additional sacrifices and leave some balding areas untouched. To see what hair transplants can accomplish on patients of varying degrees of lost hair, view Hair Transplant Photos by Norwood scale.

Recently, we sought the advice of our online patient hair loss forum community regarding the potential Coalition membership of two impressive doctors recommended on the Hair Transplant Network for the last year. These physicians are Dr. Timothy Carman of La Jolla, California and Dr. Brandon Ross of La Jolla, California. To learn how we recommend hair transplant surgeons, click here.

View the Potential Coalition Membership for Dr. Timothy Carman

View the Potential Coalition Membership for Dr. Brandon Ross

In addition to garnering feedback from our patient community and highly respected hair restoration physicians, surgeons considered for Coalition membership are often visited and observed in live surgery by Patrick Hennessey, publisher of the Hair Transplant Network. Highlights of each visit along with surgical photos are prominently featured in the “Visits to Leading Hair Transplant Clinics” forum. To view the highlights of Pat’s visit to Dr. Ross’ clinic, click here. To view the highlights of Pat’s visit to Dr. Carman’s clinic, click here.

After extensive research and seeking input from our patient community and other leading surgeons, both Dr. Carman and Dr. Ross have been approved to join the ranks of the elite Coalition. Feel free to congratulate them by clicking on their featured potential Coalition membership threads above.

We encourage those local to these cities considering surgical hair restoration to consult with these excellent physicians to develop a long term hair restoration plan.

Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Coalition member Dr. Alan Feller recently released a new and revolutionary surgical tool designed to make the follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure easier and more effective. Since FUE places forces on the hair follicles during extraction that could potentially damage the grafts, the development of this tool was designed to reduce these forces and create more viable and better quality grafts during hair transplant surgery.

Though state of the art tools can assist in making the hair restoration procedure safer and more effective, ultimately, nothing replaces the experience and skill of a dedicated hair restoration physician who can adapt as needed based on patient characteristics and circumstances.

To learn more about and discuss this revolutionary tool for follicular unit extraction, visit this hair loss discussion thread. You are encouraged to offer your experience and input on this important topic. You can also view a video demonstration of how this FUE tool is used to effectively reduce the risks of follicle transection.

Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: FUE, hair transplant, hair restoration, hair restoration physician, follicular unit extraction

This insightful article was written by Dr. Bernard Nusbaum of Coral Gables, Florida.  Dr. Nusbaum is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. 

Hair transplantation for hairline reconstruction is gaining popularity among women with hair loss, thinning hair, high hairlines and those who have undergone cosmetic facial procedures which can alter the hairline, such as face and forehead lifts.  While male hairline patterns have been described in the medical literature, these parameters, when applied to women, do not achieve appropriate facial framing and a “feminine” look.

There is a general lack of   information describing natural hairline patterns in women.  Most descriptions only address the height of the hairline by evaluating vertical facial proportions. In order to develop guidelines for female hairline restoration design, we studied 360 female volunteers at an informal hair salon setting and determined the most common features necessary to achieve a feminine, natural look.  The average age of the subjects was 41 with a range of 16 to 70.  This type of extensive survey has never been done before and we hope that with greater awareness of what occurs in nature, hair restoration results in women will improve.  Below you will find the results.

Today, physicians and scientists demonstrate that platelet rich plasma (PRP) may actually wake up dormant follicular stem cells and could quite potentially become the next major breakthrough in treating hair loss and growing hair. While some people feel this is yet another marketing attempt to rob balding men and women of their hard earned cash, others are very excited by its potential.

Blood is made from approximately 93% red blood cells (RBC), 1% white blood cells (WBC), 6% platelets, and plasma. When platelets are activated in the body, these sponge-like molecules form branches and release healing proteins called growth factors. Though growth factors have a multitude of responsibilities, the cumulative result is accelerated tissue and wound healing. The basis for the benefit of platelet rich plasma lies in decreasing the RBC count to 5% since they are less useful in the healing process while increasing the platelet count to 94%.

A recent case study on a 26 year old hair loss sufferer suggests that platelet rich plasma can stop and reverse hair miniaturization caused by androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness. While this 26 year old patient had hair transplant surgery to recover lost hair in the hairline, his posterior crown was traumatized using a 1 mm micro needling roller and platelet rich plasma injected into the crown. The result suggests that PRP not only stopped hair loss, but reversed miniaturization.

The experience and skill of hair transplant surgeons vary, as do their results. That’s why only surgeons with a proven record of producing quality results are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago Illinois, his technique, and results were carefully reviewed over the last year by our hair loss forum community in consideration for recommendation. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Panine has been approved for recommendation by our online community. To learn how we recommend hair transplant surgeons, click here.

Dr. Panine has over 15 years of experience performing surgical hair restoration as the primary part of his practice. He has the staff and experience to perform large sessions of quality follicular unit hair transplant surgery exceeding 3000 grafts when appropriate for the patient.

After thorough evaluation and seeking input from the patient and physician members of this community, we believe Dr. Panine deserves to be recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

Dr. Panine is now recommended on the Hair Transplant Network. To congratulate and welcome him to our community, visit the “Potential Recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago, Illinois”.

Those local to Chicago, Illinois and beyond considering surgical hair restoration should definitely consult with Dr. Panine and consider him for surgery. To view his physician profile and learn how to contact him, click here.

Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair transplant, Dr. Panine, hair restoration

Are young men with extensive hair loss more suitable for follicular unit extraction (FUE) due to the lack of a linear scar?  After all, I can always just shave my head later right?

This hair loss question was answered by Dr. Cam Simmons of Toronto, Canada, who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

I think patients need to be just as cautious about starting follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair transplantation as they would be about starting follicular unit transplantation (FUT) by strip.

FUE is still a relatively new technique and it is too early to know all of the long term consequences. There are not a lot of hair transplant photos of patients who have had thousands of follicular unit extraction grafts transplanted. I have not seen one photo of a class 7 patient on the Norwood scale of hair loss treated by scalp FUE alone. I have been quite disappointed by the results I have seen online and in conferences of extensive body hair transplant FUE.

More and more I hear the notion that it may be OK for someone to have FUE transplantation into their hairline then shave the head later if they lose their hair and don’t want or can’t do more surgical hair restoration. If a patient had a hair transplant then went quite bald and buzzed their head or shaved it slick, they would still have a five o’clock shadow in an unnatural pattern. The texture of the skin in the recipient area may be better than it would have been in the old days of the bigger graft but it won’t be perfect.

Selecting a quality hair transplant surgeon is crucial to obtaining the most natural looking results. This is why patients have the final say as to which physicians are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

We would appreciate your advice and/or input regarding the potential recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine in Chicago, Illinois

Dr. Panine has over 14 years of experience in performing hair restoration surgery as the primary part of his practice. He and his experienced staff can perform over 3000 follicular unit grafts in a single session when appropriate for the patient.

Dr. Panine uses minimally invasive techniques to reduce trauma to the scalp and produce the most natural looking result. All follicular units are dissected by his staff under microscopes to minimize transection and maximize hair growth yield.

We invite you view his results and offer your input on the “Potential Recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago, Illinois”.

To see our standards for recommendation, click here. To see the list of all current physicians recommended worldwide, click here.

Onwards and Upwards,

Pat Hennessey and Bill Seemiller – Publisher and Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Discussion Forum.

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Given the number of impressive hair transplant results presented in the “Results Posted by Leading Hair Transplant Clinics” forum, Coalition member Dr. Jean Devroye has quickly become recognized as a leading hair transplant surgeon in Europe.

In an attempt to improve the quality of results patients can achieve with follicular unit extraction (FUE), Dr. Devroye designed and has been using for 6 months a unique powered instrument (prototype) for FUE hair replacement procedures. This prototype was designed to improve the speed of the follicular unit extraction procedure while maintaining the same effectiveness as when performed manually by a skilled surgeon.

This new powered FUE device works by spinning alternatively with a low angular motion.  This allows for fast and effective penetration of the scalp and extraction of the follicle while keeping the risks of damage to the follicles virtually nonexistant.  It’s speed is controlled by a foot treadle allowing for better hand control of the device.

While Dr. Devroye believes his FUE tool prototype helps to increase the speed of the hair restoration procedure, he admits it doesn’t reduce the already very low transection rates he achieves while performing follicular unit extraction with a manual tool. Dr. Devroye’s powered FUE instrument has allowed him to increase the number of follicular unit grafts he can transplant daily via FUE from approximately 1200 to 1500 per day.

Dr. James Harris has been recommended on the Hair Transplant Network for several years and has consistently gotten very good patient reviews. Impressive examples of his results can be found in the “Results Posted by Leading Hair Transplant Clinics” forum and his recommendation profile.

Dr. Harris is also world renowned and recognized among his medical colleagues as an innovator in refining and teaching follicular unit extraction (FUE). His two step FUE process, which he refers to as the “SAFE System“, improves on traditional FUE by virtually eliminating follicle damage during the extraction process.

Follicular unit extraction (FUE) has become an increasingly popular procedure over the years due to its elimination of a linear scar and increased recovery time for patients.

Recently, Dr. Harris presented the “Powered SAFE Scribe“, a new and revolutionary surgical FUE tool to his colleagues at this year’s 2009 ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) scientific meeting in Amsterdam. Research and testing have proven that this new powered instrument is even more effective than its manual, non-powered predecessor. The Powered SAFE Scribe is safe and effective in the hands of a skilled hair restoration physician and can reduce the time it takes to perform the procedure by half. Extraction rates of 500-700 per hour have been reported using the new powered version of the Scribe as opposed to approximately 200-300 with the manual one.

Surgeons who have used the powered SAFE scribe have reported the following benefits