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• Setting Hair Restoration Goals

  In Hair Transplant / By Steve Gillen / 7 May 2009

  

  Setting goals may be the most challenging aspect of planning hair restoration.  Many of us can be emotionally devastated by our hair loss.  We tend to want to fix what’s missing right now.

  Until hair cloning, hair multiplication, gene therapy, or anything else becomes viable and affordable, we are left to work within the confines of our available donor supplies.  And for the sake of our discussion, our references will be to scalp donor.   Hair harvested from other regions of the body are methodology still in their infancy stages and because of the lack of consistent results (yields), we cannot and will not rely on it as a realistic or feasible donor source.  Hopefully that will change in the near future.

  Hair restoration is an all encompassing term and extends beyond the realm of surgery.  First and foremost, patients have to decide if they will use the available medications approved by the FDA for treating MPB. Interestingly enough, the earlier an individual decides to begin treatment after formal diagnosis, the better overall results achieved including regrowth.  These medications are Propecia (men only, finasteride 1mg daily), and Rogaine (minoxidil 3% & 5% strength).   Why is this an important element in setting one’s goals? We know that MPB is a progressive disorder in its nature so without the effective use of hair loss medications, the loss will continue in its predestined course.  Read more ›

   

• HELP! What Can I Do When I First Notice My Hair Loss?

  In Hair Loss / By Steve Gillen / 9 April 2009

  

  When you look in the mirror, are you beginning to lose that appearance of volume in your hair? Is your hair beginning to look flat in spite of the blow dryer?  Do your temple points seem to be retreating southward?  And where did all this hair in my sink come from?!  Sound familiar?

  It could very well be the first signs of genetic hair loss that the medical community may diagnose as Male Pattern Baldness or commonly referred to as MPB.  The medical term is ” androgenetic alopecia.”   The term “alopecia” is simply a word for hair loss and there are in fact multiple forms of it.  But for men, especially younger men in their late teens into their early twenties, it’s almost always confirmed as MPB.  Why?  Because it exists in either their maternal or paternal side of their family history.

  What can I do when I first notice my hair loss? Well the first thing to do is not to panic.  The first signs of MPB can be psychologically devastating especially to younger men and to women in general.  Yes, you read that correctly, women too.  DHT can be deposited in their scalp sebum as well, and their hair follicles can be potentially receptive to the hormone just like men. Read more ›