Tag: Traction Alopecia

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.

Information on Traction Alopecia

Traction alopecia is caused by chronic traction (pulling) on the hair follicle. Traction alopecia mostly occurs in African-American women and men who braid their hair too tightly. It is also common in other ethnic groups known for traditional hair styles that involve pulling the hair.

There is also seen a pronounced traction alopecia in the beard area of this Sikh man. The Sikh men do not cut scalp or beard hair. The beard hairs are pulled straight and then twisted and tightly knotted. Daily knotting often results in this form of traction alopecia.

Men who attach hairpieces to their existing hair also suffer from this type of hair loss. The traction alopecia in such cases can also lead to permanent hair loss if the hairpiece is attached in the same location over a long period of time.

If we put the examples from ethnic groups aside, traction alopecia occurs most often in pre-teenagers, teenagers, young adults then it does in older men and women.

It is a very unfortunate state that hair styles and fashions and hair styling methods are causing baldness and hair loss among today’s younger generations. The hair loss in all such cases is mostly due to Traction alopecia. The hair loss is caused by long term hair pulling and breakage due to very tight hair braiding, hair weaves and cornrows.

The over use of hair style aids such as sponge hair rollers or curling irons may also promote traction alopecia. Traction alopecia often shows as distinct patches of hair loss in those areas where the hair and hair follicles have been put under excessive strain. The hair loss may occur anywhere on the scalp depending on the nature of the hair style or process that is causing the traction alopecia. Prolonged traction alopecia can lead to cicatrization of the new hair follicle and permanent hair loss.

Traction alopecia is reversible if diagnosed in the early stages. Permanent hair loss can occur too slowly for immediate detection. Hair loss is often occurs in the front, and hair line but is also subject to the immediate adjacent area to where the hair is being pulled and damaged.

An effective treatment is to simply avoid hair styling that puts excessive strain on the hair. Even with removal of the cause of traction alopecia it may take up to three months for the hair to recover. Areas of scalp subjected to chronic traction alopecia may never fully recover.

Traction alopecia is generally a non-scarring, non-inflammatory form of hair loss although long term use of hair styles involving traction over 3 or more years may result in a mild immune cell infiltrate and irreversible scarring damage to some hair follicles. Any form of chronic traction alopecia will eventually lead to fibrosis around hair follicles and total destruction of some hair follicles. Once destroyed the hair follicles will not re-grow under any circumstances hence chronic traction alopecia can be described as a scarring cicatricial alopecia.

Permanent traction alopecia does not respond to medical treatment such as minoxidil or finasteride due to non-genetic nature of hair loss. The only way one can treat traction alopecia is with hair transplants. Follicular unit hair grafting has been identified as the only practical solution to treating traction alopecia. Number of patients with traction alopecia coming to hair transplant clinics is generally increasing and the treatment is providing them a good response.