Tag: baldness

How Are Eyebrow Hair Transplant Procedures Different?

It is not unusual for men to have hair transplant surgery for male pattern baldness. Even female baldness is discussed on commercials for hair transplant clinics. A less common use of hair transplant surgery is to replace eyebrow hair. However, this procedure is quite different from other hair transplant surgeries.

It is important to replace eyebrow hair that has fallen out because it is such an integral part of the human face. People realize that men have receding hair lines and balding on the tops of their heads. It is not out of the ordinary to see a woman with thinning hair. Yet, look at a person without eyebrows and the effect will be disturbing. Eyebrows are just expected.

Some people have hair transplant surgery to their eyebrows because the hair has simply fallen out over time. Others have thyroid disease or other diseases that affect their hair. A certain type of alopecia results in eyebrow loss. Excessive plucking can be a problem, too. Burns, tattoos, and infections can cause the eyebrow hair to fall out, and some people just are not able to grow eyebrows at all.

Hair transplant surgery for eyebrows is different because eyebrows are different from scalp hair. For one thing, the hair has a distinct growth pattern with each section of the eyebrow pointing in a different direction. The hair forms a sharp angle so that it grows out and then flat to the face. Scalp hair has a much gentler angle.

Eyebrow hairs do not grow in the same type of follicular units as scalp hair. Rather than growing in groups of one to four hairs, they are simply single strands of hair. You can see this if you look carefully in the mirror at your eyebrows. Hair transplant methods have to take this fact into account.

When doctors do hair transplant surgery to replace eyebrows, they have to make sure that they put the hairs in so that they will point in the natural hair direction. For this, the surgeons use very fine gauge needles. They must also use this to help the hair to lie flat.

Because the eyebrow hair is made of individual hairs, hair transplant surgery must involve creating those single units of hair. To do this, hair is taken from the scalp, just as in other hair transplant procedures. Then, the follicular units are divided into individual hair grafts. This is done with a stereomicroscope.

Inserting these micro-grafts is a very tricky business. Creating the correct angles is difficult. If the patient does not have straight hair, her curly hair must be inserted by rotating it so that it lies even with the curve of the brow that is being made.

One drawback to eyebrow hair transplant surgery is that eyebrow hair, which usually does not grow, will grow and need to be cut because it is actually scalp hair. Also, when the wounds heal, the lay of the eyebrows may change and not be so natural.

However, if you need hair transplant surgery to replace your eyebrows, it is usually a much better alternative than other choices you have. Eyebrows drawn in with eyebrow pencil do not look natural at all, and the option of going without eyebrows is unthinkable to many people. Hair transplant surgery may just be your best bet.

Facts about Hair Transplant Procedures

It is getting more common for people to get hair transplant procedures as the methods keep improving. It is just less obvious than in earlier times when everyone could spot a person with bad hair plugs. Yet, there are still a few facts about hair transplant surgery that are not widely known.

1. A large percentage of men have balding issues. In fact, 50% of American men that are 50 years old or older are dealing with some amount of hair loss. Hair problems in today’s society beg to be conquered. Some do it by shaving their heads completely. Others take the exact opposite route and have hair transplant surgery. Those who accept their baldness may have a healthy psyche, but they are slightly out of step with the rest of the world.

2. The procedure is permanent. If you decide you do not like the results, it is not as simple as taking off a wig to change your hair. You would have to go through many surgeries and your head may never look the same. This is why you should never accept any doctor’s offer to do a few hair grafts and see how you like it before doing a full hair transplant surgery. Once you start, you are committed.

3. You need several days of rest afterward hair transplant surgery. Since the operation is so easy to endure, you might think that you can jump up and go right back to your regular activities. It is just your scalp after all, not muscle or bone. The truth is that you have many small wounds and you need to protect them.

4. Hair transplant can be a time-consuming commitment. Treatment can often last one to two years. Mega-sessions where thousands of grafts are done in one sitting help to shorten the overall time. However, the length of these sessions is often grueling.

5. Hair transplant surgery may be combined with other procedures. If you do not have enough hair, you cannot have a normal hair transplant surgery. However, there are other surgeries that can be used in conjunction with hair transplant to achieve similar results. The difference is that these procedures are generally more painful.

6. The grafts may not survive. Few surgeons will divulge to you the fact that hair grafts do not always survive after hair transplant surgery. The hope is that only a few will be lost and the overall result will not suffer. The reality is that is what usually happens.

7. Hair transplant treatments do not cost as much as you think. For example, you might reasonably spend $12,000 on a hair transplant. If you got it done at age 30 and died at age 70, you would have the transplant 40 years.

That would average out to $300 per year, or $25 per month. Many of the supposedly low cost treatments for hair loss cost much more than $25 per month. You would actually save by getting the hair transplant surgery done in the first place.

Are Women Good Candidates for Hair Transplant Surgery?

Balding is not just a men’s problem; women often lose hair as they get older as well. You might wonder, if that is the case, why more women do not have hair transplant surgery. You may be surprised to know that many women are not good candidates.

Women usually have a different type of hair loss than men. Male pattern baldness uncovers parts of the top of the head. However, the sides and back of the head are usually covered with healthy balding-resistant hair follicles.

Men with this pattern of balding will have donor hair that survives the hair transplant process and flourishes long afterward. That is because a naturally-occurring enzyme in the body combines with testosterone to create a chemical called DHT. This chemical is responsible for the hair loss on the tops of men’s heads when they have male pattern baldness.

However, it does not affect the back and sides of their hair in most cases. These areas have healthy hair follicles and make excellent donor sites for hair transplant surgery. These are called stable sites because they remain unchanged over time rather than shrinking like the hair follicles affected by DHT do.

Female pattern baldness is different. In most cases, they do not have large areas of stable balding-resistant hair follicles. The sides and back of their hair tends to thin just as the front and top of the head do. The DHT affects all the areas of their hair.

Any hair follicles that are affected by DHT will simply fall out if they are moved by hair transplant procedures. Moving them from one place to another does not affect the basic nature of the hair follicle.

Also, women do not have the problem of receding hairlines in most cases. Their hair is lost in a more diffuse manner, thinning uniformly all over the head. It is not so much where their hair is that is the problem, but how much they have. Hair transplant surgery will not correct this problem. It is best used to move hair from one place to another.

There is a very small percentage – about 5% of all women with baldness problems – who are good candidates for hair transplant surgery. The thing that all these women have in common is that they all have healthy areas of hair follicles that can be used as donor sites.

For example, women with mechanical or traction Alopecia have lost their hair because they have scratched their head for a long period of time, they have used tight rollers or their hair has been pulled or stretched in any manner. These women almost always have an area of their hair that is unaffected. If they do, they can have hair transplant procedures.

Some women have cosmetic surgery and suffer hair loss around the incision sites. In these cases, hair transplant surgery can help. Other women actually have a pattern of hair loss that is similar to male pattern baldness. These women are able to have the surgery, too.

Finally, women who have suffered trauma from accidents or burns are good candidates for hair transplant procedures. If you are a woman with balding problems, is worth the time to consult with a doctor to find out if you are one of the women who can benefit from hair transplant surgery.

Why Are Some People Better Candidates for Hair Transplant Surgery?

Why Are Some People Better Candidates for Hair Transplant Surgery?

Just when you think you have found the solution to your problems with balding, you might discover that hair transplant surgery is not for everyone. It is discouraging, but do not give up hope until you investigate to find out if you are a possible candidate. You may be surprised.

The most important thing to remember is that you need hair for the hair transplant to your balding areas. The hair has to come from somewhere on your body. Wherever you take the hair from is called the donor site. There can be different donor sites for different people.

The most common donor site for hair transplant surgery is on the head. If the sides and back of your head have full lustrous hair, you are in luck. This hair can be used as donor hair to replace hair you have lost on your balding spots. If your hair in these areas is not healthy, you face a difficult problem – where does the surgeon get the hair?

A new procedure allows doctors to use donor hair from other parts of the body. For example, if a man has a particularly hairy chest, some hair can be used from that area as donor hair for the head. This hair transplant procedure requires a surgeon skilled in the latest techniques in order to keep scarring to a minimum.

Another aspect of choosing donor sites is the color of the hair being used in the hair transplant. If it does not match the area around the balding area, it will look unnatural. The texture should be even as well as the waviness or curliness of the donor hair and the area of hair around the balding area.

If you have lost your hair due to genetics, or a family history, you will likely be a good candidate for hair transplant surgery. Men who have hair loss in their families usually have a good idea of the way the baldness pattern will play out.

Your relatives may have had hair that went bald into a horseshoe pattern and held at that stage. If this is the case, your surgeon will know what to expect. Then, he can take “bald-proof” hair from the sides and back of your head as donor hair and perform the hair transplant.

If you have lost your hair because of some kind of trauma or burns, you will also make a good candidate for hair transplant surgery. This is because the hair you still have will probably still be healthy. It will provide good donor hair for your hair transplant. The most likely situation is that you will have enough hair to make this possible. However, if you have lost too much hair, a hair transplant may not be possible.

You can benefit greatly from hair transplant surgery if it is right for you. Do not give up on it until you talk to a surgeon. If your surgeon says that you are not a good candidate for hair transplant surgery, you may want to get a second opinion. However, if you are a good candidate for the procedure, it is nice to know that there is a good reason you are being accepted. It will make you more confident in your surgeon.