Post Hair Loss Questions and Get Answers

Can I get body hair transplanted to my scalp?  How effective is this solution?

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

There are other hair transplant doctors who have done a lot more body hair transplants than me. I have performed body to body hair transplantation in rare situations but do not usually recommend transplanting body hair to the scalp for the following reasons:

• Body hair is not the same quality of hair as scalp hair and does not look as good or as natural.
• The life cycle of body hair is different than for scalp hair so it takes longer for the transplanted hair to grow.  Also transplanted body hair will spend less time in the hair growth phase and more time in the resting phase than transplanted scalp hair.  See the normal scalp hair growth cycle for more information.
• Body hair transplantation is still quite new in medical terms, so there is not a lot of data about results or survival of the transplanted hair.  FUE for body hair is usually technically more difficult than for scalp hair.
• So far, I have been disappointed by the few results that I have seen of other surgeon’s body hair transplants.
• Most men still have scalp hair available for transplantation.

Hundreds of hair loss questions are answered on our discussion forum and received in our inbox on a weekly basis. Below, we’ve collected some of these hot topic questions of the week and posted responses by veteran hair transplant patients and leading hair restoration physicians.

You can also ask your own questions and get answers on our hair restoration forum or privately by using the contact form.

Is Finpecia (Generic Finasteride) as Effective as Propecia?

Can Doctors Predict Future Hair Loss?

Dealing with Hair Restoration Complications (Dr. James Vogel)

What is the Difference between Rogaine and Minoxidil?

How Many Grafts are Needed to Restore a Balding Crown?

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair loss, hair transplant, hair restoration

Many balding men and women waste time using hair restoration products that promise hair regrowth but seldom deliver. Get past the hype and learn what really works to stop hair loss.

Recently, we asked several of the world’s leading hair restoration physicians to answer a number of frequently asked hair loss questions. Below, we share what the medical experts have to say about hair loss and today’s available treatments.

Is Propecia (Finasteride) Effective When Applied Topically (Dr. Tim Carman)? Read this Q&A blog and learn if finasteride can be an effective DHT blocker when applied topically.

Compare Today’s Non-surgical Hair Loss Treatments to Surgical Hair Restoration (Dr. Mike Meshkin): Learn about today’s non-surgical treatments and how they compare with today’s revolutionary hair transplant procedures.

How Do You Properly Care for Your Hair Transplant Right After Surgery (Dr. Paul Shapiro)? Immediately following hair replacement surgery, it’s important to apply tender care to newly transplanted grafts. Read this article to learn how to prevent damage and optimize hair regrowth.

What are the Risks Involved in Surgical Hair Restoration (Dr. Mike Beehner): Read this article to learn about some of the risks involved with hair transplant surgery.

Why Won’t My Doctor Prescribe Proscar for Hair Loss (Dr. Ricardo Mejia)? Proscar and Propecia both contain the same active ingredient finasteride. But some doctors won’t prescribe Proscar. Read this article to find out why.

Men and women with hair loss are rightfully excited by the prospect of being able to restore a natural looking head of hair with surgical hair restoration. However, understanding the limitations and risks of hair transplant surgery is just as important as counting its benefits. One important but controversial topic worth discussing is hair transplant dense packing, which enables the appearance of a thicker, fuller head of hair.

Though most surgeons agree that a certain level of dense packing is appropriate in some patients, not everyone requires large quantities of hair packed in a single area. Whether or not a balding man or woman is eligible for and how much dense packing is appropriate largely depends on the patient’s current and risk of future hair loss, donor hair availability, long term hair restoration goals, and what can realistically be accomplished.

A few hair replacement clinics have made claims that they can pack up to 70, 80, and even 100 follicular unit grafts (hairs as they occur naturally in the scalp) per square centimeter (FU/cm2). And though men and women  suffering from baldness are often intrigued by a physician’s ability to pack hair closely together due to dreams of recovering a full head of hair, too much dense packing might inhibit healthy hair regrowth.

Like many cosmetic procedures, patients need time to recover and heal from hair transplant surgery. Therefore, it’s vital to protect your scalp and newly transplanted hair during the recovery time.

It’s important for men and women who expose themselves to the sun for extended period of times to protect their scalp with a head covering or sunscreen. This is even more important during the hair transplant recovery period.

Hair loss forum member “Raphael84” expresses his questions and concerns about postoperative exposure to the sun. Join in the discussion and learn why extended sun exposure during the hair transplant recovery period could potentially harm your hair transplant.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair transplant, transplanted hair, Hair loss

This insightful hair loss article was written by Dr. Michael Beehner of Saratoga Springs, NY who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

I was asked to update my comments from what I said before about hair growth and follicle survival in high densities, but for the most part would pretty much say the same thing now in late 2008.

There was a nice study published in the journal, Dermatologic Surgery, by Coalition members Dr. Tom Nakatsui and Dr. Jerry Wong about a year ago or so, in which they used small lateral slits and created study boxes of between 23 and 72 slits per square cm of surface area, and obtained a 95.6% survival in the 23/cm2 box and 98.6% in the 72/cm2 box. These results are outstanding, although we have to keep in mind that the study was done on only one hair transplant patient and the same results may or may not occur with another person.  Also, as I recall, these boxes were around the periphery of the area transplanted and I don’t believe any were actually in the center, which I think would be the area most at risk for possible less-than-optimal hair regrowth. I have noticed in past studies I have conducted that, even though I did everything exactly the same, I often would see marked variation in hair follicle survival a year out. Every hair surgeon that I have spoken with acknowledges that there is an individual patient “X factor” that we can’t totally put our finger on, but does in fact exist.

The internet is so rich with information on hair loss, how will you handle the contradictory information? How will you be able to differentiate the legitimate hair loss treatments from bogus scams?

Our hair loss community is designed for balding men and women to review, critique, and challenge marketing hype and learn the most effective ways to treat baldness.

Below we’ve compiled some of this week’s hot topic hair loss related questions and answers from our forum, blogs, and email. Follow the links below to a topic that you find interesting and read what real patients and physician experts have to say about each topic.

How Weight Lifting, Protein Intake, and Hair Loss are Related: (Dr. Brandon Ross) Muscle heads and gym jocks should read this blog to learn if lifting heavy and protein supplements are in any way related to hair loss.

Hair Transplant Risks – A Surgeon’s Point of View: (Dr. Mike Beehner) This is a must read for all patients considering surgical hair restoration. Not only should prospective patients learn about the benefits of hair regrowth, but about the potential risks as well.

How Poor Diet May Contribute to Hair Loss: Learn whether poor diet, genetics, or other factors are contributing to your baldness.

How Stress and Hair Loss May Be Related: Just as a poor diet may contribute to some hair loss conditions, learn whether or not stress can play a role in causing or expediting alopecia.

This insightful information was posted on our hair restoration forum by Dr. Timothy Carman of La Jolla, CA, who is recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

I’ve been doing some research on this, but haven’t been able to find the answer anywhere.  When you have a second hair transplant, do you receive multiple scars or does the hair restoration physician “overlap” the old one, removing it entirely along with the second strip?

If the previous donor hair was taken in a much lower position on the scalp than is the usual case (NOT a common occurrence), it may not be prudent to attempt to remove the first donor scar as the re-occurrence rate and/or development of an even wider scar in that area is a very real possibility.

In general, amongst experienced hair restoration surgeons who are current in their techniques, there should be fairly small variability in the size and location of donor hair chosen, and thus the residual scars, so that the salient points brought up by hair loss forum member “tofueornottofue” should be the rare occasion.

Also, then, as he points out, most hair transplant surgeons will remove the previous donor scar so that at any one time, only one minimal scar is present.

Hope that helps,

Dr. Timothy Carman

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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

In addition to the excitement in receiving a new head of hair, hair loss patients are concerned about scarring.  Sporting a new head of hair is exciting, but bad scarring from a hair transplant can draw unwanted attention to your scalp.  But what do hair restoration physicians do to minimize donor scarring?  What are the risks involved?  Is there anything a patient should be doing to avoid scar stretching?

This hair transplant patient recently had scar repair and wants to know what he can do to minimize scar stretching.  Click here to read other and offer your own input and experiences.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair loss, hair transplant, hair restoration

I just wanted to see if anybody had a similar situation like me when I had my hair transplant procedure done.  After I received a handful of shots to the donor area, my heart started racing for about 15 minutes, up to about 230 beats per minute.  I also felt very nervous and felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.  This also happens to me at the dentist when I am given novocain). Once the hair transplant surgeon started removing the donor area I was fine for about 15 seconds and then I started to feel really light headed, sick, and my blood pressure dropped. I communicated this to the hair loss doctor and he had me lie on my stomach which got rid of all of those horrible feelings.  I never took any valium that was offered; I just borrowed two Xanax from a buddy.  Has anybody experienced any thing like this?  I am scheduled to go in for a second hair replacement in September and I am really nervous - I do not want to experience those feelings again.  Please let me know your thoughts.

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.

If your pulse truly did reach 230 during hair restoration donor removal, that is not directly from the epinephrine, but almost certainly has to be a brief supra-ventricular arthythmia.