Post Hair Loss Questions and Get Answers

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

This hair loss article was written by Dr. Ron Shapiro of Bloomington, MN who is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. 

When Hair Restoration Surgery (HRS) was first popularized by Orentreich, the primary graft used was the “standard” 4 mm round punch graft.  However, over the past 10 years we have seen the introduction of much more diversity with respect to the size and shape of grafts. Grafts used today vary significantly and can be described with respect to a number of different variables including:

• Number of hairs
• Number of follicular units (FU’s) per graft
• Graft shape (linear, rectangular, round, chubby, skinny)  
• Size and type of the recipient site used (i.e. slit, slot or punch incisions).  Although technically this last variable refers to the recipient site and not the graft, in clinical practice, grafts are often described in this manner. 
• Process of graft production (i.e. cut “to size” vs. deliberately cut to contain a specific “number of hairs (or FU’s)”.

The reality of the situation was that for a long time a great deal of inconsistency and lack of specificity existed  when grafts were  described in the literature or at conferences.   Often in the past all that was stated was  that “Micrografts” or “Minigrafts” were  used.  This lack of specificity contributed to much of the confusion that existed when trying to compare different techniques that have developed over the years. 

This hair loss article was written by Dr. Ron Shapiro of Bloomington, MN who is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. 

What is Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)?

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a method of obtaining donor hair for Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), where individual follicular units are harvested directly from the donor area, without the need for a linear incision. With the FUE technique, a .8mm to 1 mm punch is used to make a small circular incision in the skin around the upper part of the follicular unit, which is then extracted directly from the scalp.

Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) are sometimes mistakenly viewed as being two totally different hair transplant procedures. FUE, in fact, is a sub-type FUT where the follicular units are extracted directly from the scalp, rather than being microscopically dissected from a strip that has already been removed. To say it another way, in Follicular Unit Transplantation, individual follicular units can be obtained in one of two ways; either through single strip harvesting and stereomicroscopic dissection, or through FUE. Therefore, when comparisons are made between FUT and FUE, what is really being compared is the way the follicular grafts are obtained (i.e. strip harvesting and dissection vs. direct extraction). The process in the recipient area is the same.

The main advantage of FUE is that it does not cause a linear scar. Therefore it is useful in patients who for one reason or another may in the future want to have their donor area very short. (<1cm in length). This advantage was the main reason for the development of the technique.

Can hair loss be predicted by a medical professional?

This insightful article was written by Dr. William Lindsey of Reston, VA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

I have had a number of balding patients who recently have either seen other local hair restoration doctors for consultations, or who have had a hair transplant procedure in the past and now have lost more hair.  A common theme has been that they were told by other consultants that they weren’t going to experience more hair loss.

I am pretty frank with folks and admit:

1. If I could predict the future, I wouldn’t be doing hair work, but picking stocks or making bets in Vegas.

2. Since a major component of eventual hair loss is genetics and luck, I can estimate potential loss if “everyone in the family” has a certain pattern, but its only a guess.

So my question to hair transplant patients or men and women with advanced balding patterns who’ve seen a doctor, was their prediction about future hair loss right?   Were you advised to a smaller or larger hair transplant session?

William Lindsey, M.D.

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Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair loss, balding, hair restoration, hair transplant, future hair loss

Our community was created by and for hair loss patients to share experiences, evaluate hair restoration physicians, and offer input on hair loss treatments that really work. For over 10 years, our discussion forum has enabled balding men and women to share the good, the bad and the ugly.

Today, over 350 patients have authored weblogs to share their hair restoration experiences and hair transplant photos with you. Below we introduce you to just a few of the patients whose hair restoration dreams became reality and the doctors who made it happen.

Join the ranks of these hair restoration super stars and create your own free hair loss weblog to share your experience and photos.

• Blogger “Wantego” came to us with a receding hairline looking for real ways to restore his hair. His research on our discussion forum led him to surgical hair restoration with Coalition member Dr. Rahal. Receiving 4374 follicular unit grafts, he’s been able to restore his “true” hair density and no longer shows any signs of balding. View his blog for a detailed account of his experience with photos.

• After receiving two previous hair transplants, “Phoneguy” found Coalition member Dr. Cooley by researching our community. Bothered by hair loss in the frontal half of his scalp, Dr. Cooley placed 1947 follicular unit grafts into the areas of thinning hair, eliminating signs of baldness. “Phoneguy” has quickly learned why other Dr. Cooley patients refer to themselves as “Cooleyfied”. You can read his experience and view his photos on his blog.

Getting your hair loss questions answered quickly and accurately is what draws balding men and women to our site’s resources. Thankfully, our sites include plenty of information and a great multitude of knowledgeable patients and quality physicians regularly contributing their expertise to our Hair Loss Q & A Blog and hair loss discussion forum.

Below you will find answers to 5 of this week’s hot topic hair loss related questions provided by educated hair loss sufferers and physician experts. We encourage you to contribute your thoughts to any of these articles by adding comments to the blog articles. Some of this week’s hot topics include:

Real Solutions for Female Hair Loss Sufferers: The high esteemed Coalition member Dr. Keene gives advice to female hair loss sufferers and how to successfully combat baldness.

How Permanent is a Hair Transplant? Learn whether or not a hair transplant is really permanent and what, if anything you can do to contribute to its success.

Can Young Hair Loss Sufferers Get Hair Transplants? Learn why hair restoration surgery may be suitable for young patients in certain circumstances.

Warnings about Possible Side Effects with Rogaine (Minoxidil): Coalition member Dr. Paul Shapiro cautions patients on the possible side effects of Rogaine (minoxidil) and what to do if you experience them.

How Much Hair Can be Transplanted in a Single Session? Patients are often enamored with large hair transplant megasessions. Learn how many grafts can be realistically harvested and transplanted and the reasons and conditions why.

Though hair loss sufferers are typically enamored by large densely packed hair transplant megasessions, sometimes smaller sessions can be more appropriate and appear to accomplish the same goals. But how is this possible?

Take a look at these hair transplant photos posted by a concerned hair loss forum member posing the very same question. See for yourself why “less” can often be “more” and how to get great results for only a fraction of the cost of larger hair restoration sessions. Also read and contribute your own input as to how and why this is even possible.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair loss, hair transplant, hair loss forum, hair restoration

Have you ever wondered why so many actors have a full head of hair? Though it may appear that Hollywood is immune to male pattern baldness, many may have restored their hair with today’s revolutionary hair transplant procedures.

Thanks to the online collaboration between educated patients and quality physicians, today’s surgical hair restoration procedures can produce results so natural that even your hair stylist can’t detect them.

Ultra refined follicular unit grafting has raised the bar for physicians and their staff. Today, clinics dedicated to this revolutionary procedure can perform larger densely packed sessions when appropriate for the patient. A hair transplant surgeon must have a large and experienced enough staff to carefully trim all follicular units under microscopes and pack them closely together into tiny incisions carefully and timely. Only experienced and delicate hands can properly place grafts into small and densely packed incisions without damaging the grafts.

Thankfully, a handful of surgeons, such as members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians have mastered this technique and regularly perform it with excellent results. Below we’ve provided a few recent examples provided by real patients sharing their stories and hair transplant photos with us. You are encouraged to offer your input on their hair loss blogs.

The concept of hair transplant surgeons giving varying estimates on the number of grafts needed to meet a patient’s hair restoration goals has concerned prospective patient members of our hair loss forum for years. Where one surgeon may estimate only 2500 grafts are needed, another may suggest 4000. But how many will a patient need to get a great hair transplant result?

The topic of splitting grafts has been heavily discussed on our patient hair loss forum for a long time. Where most if not all clinics will subdivide larger grafts into singles for hairline reconstruction, which clinics (if any) will cut smaller grafts and split true follicular units? What are the benefits and drawbacks to cutting smaller grafts?

Forum member “Reptile” was told by a doctor he consulted with that no hair transplant clinic can do sessions larger than 4000 grafts unless their splitting true follicular units. View this thread to read others and offer your own input on whether or not what this doctor saying has any validity.

Bill Seemiller - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Technorati Tags: hair transplant, hair restoration, hair loss, follicular units

Hair transplant patients often gauge the success of their surgery on whether or not they are satisfied with their hair after it grows and matures. And though this sounds like a sound method of assessment, often patient expectations are too high resulting in their discontentment. Below we’ve provided tips for evaluating the successfulness of a hair transplant and how to gauge reasonable expectations.

• Time: Hair restoration surgery takes up to a year to fully mature. Therefore, assessing the success of a hair transplant before one year is often premature. See more regarding a typical hair transplant growth timeline.

 

• Hair Growth Yield: One of the most important components to determine the success of a hair transplant is hair growth yield. World renowned clinics utilizing the most current techniques will usually produce over 90% growth with few exceptions. But evaluating hair growth yield is difficult since most patients can’t count all the hairs to see whether or not they’ve grown. This is why following up with your surgeon to evaluate hair growth at one year is extremely important.

 

• Naturalness: The beauty of today’s hair transplants is that they are very natural, unlike the old hair plugs. Evaluating a hair transplant’s naturalness is somewhat subjective however; it’s typically pretty easy upon inspection in a mirror or by an objective eye-witness. See more on the evolution of hair transplant surgery.