Archives: Transcript

What causes ptosis?
Eyelid ptosis is defined as either congenital which means you are born with it or acquired
which means you developed it later in life.
Congenital ptosis is a result of variation in the development of the muscle that lifts
the eyelid called the levator muscle.
The term levator is like the word elevator without the letter “e”.
Congenital ptosis is associated with different levels of severity and muscle function.
Acquired ptosis can be caused by a physical volume of tissue over the eyelid and referred
to as mechanical ptosis.
A more common cause of ptosis is muscular or aponeurotic ptosis which is essentially
a stretching and thinning of a part of the levator muscle.
Sometimes ptosis occurs after someone undergoes an eye procedure such as cataract surgery
or Lasik or laser vision correction.
Ptosis can also be caused by neurologic conditions such as Horner’s syndrome and third nerve
palsy.

I still have hair, but less than before. Can hair be brought back?
In our practice, we have focused a lot of energy toward helping people early when they
first notice hair loss.
When a patient comes to us, we perform microscopic examination of the scalp to determine the
level of hair thinning and hair density.
The key is having hair before the hair thins to the point that the area becomes bald.
We’ve been treating patients for several years with a new method called hair Regeneration
and we’ve reviewed our clinical results.
Hair Regeneration is method of treating hair thinning using a combination of an advanced
stem cell based wound healing material called extracellular matrix with platelet rich plasma
which is a concentration of the healing growth factors derived from your own blood.
For close to 100% of male pattern hair loss we’ve been successful in halting hair loss
progression and restoring thinning hair to thicker hair.
In fact we have proven time and again how much more density, volume and coverage we’re
able to achieve for many of our patients than any hair transplant procedure regardless of
technique.

I’m scared of going bald. Can I stop baldness before it starts?
It’s natural to be scared of going bald, particularly when you first notice evidence
of hair thinning or male pattern balding is essentially a genetic trait with an age of
onset and a rate of progression which is specific to you.
If you don’t have any signs of hair thinning, it’s impractical to initiate any type of
treatment.
We often get inquiries from younger men with early temporal recession who want to have
hair transplant to fill in the area where they’ve lost hair.
This strategy is flawed since the hair loss will continue unless there is any stabilization
of the hair thinning process.
It is important to seek attention once you notice thinning since early treatment can
result in significant restoration of volume without the need for surgery.
As far as options to to treat hair thinning, for men, you have 2 medications, finasteride
which is taken orally daily and minoxidil which is applied topically every day.
Recent concerns about long term sexual dysfunction from finasteride or Propecia has become a
real limitation in the medical options for hair thinning.
We’ve developed a treatment called Hair Regeneration which essentially stops and reverses
hair thinning in male pattern hair loss without the need for other medications or surgery.
We’ve been treating people at different stages of hair loss and have seen dramatic
improvement with this one injection treatment which appears to last from 3 to 5 years based
on our clinical experience.

After a hair transplant, does hair grow back in stages?
Yes.
Hair growth can take in the range of 1 year to
18 months to occur.
We’ve actually had some interesting observations when we’ve modified our Hair Regeneration
treatment to enhance the results of hair transplants.
When we use modified Hair Regeneration at the time of the transplant, we find that the
healing process appears to accelerate.
There is less redness at the sites of the grafts and the donor area healing is quite
impressive.
We’ve also had the unique opportunity to see patients come from around the world after
they had their hair transplants performed elsewhere.
Interestingly, they find us as they search for ways to improve their hair transplant
healing.
We’ve seen a significant acceleration in hair growth from the hair grafts when people
came to us within about 1-2 months since their transplant and in addition our treatment reverses
hair thinning which means the hair grafts look even better amidst thickened native hair.
I’ve even observed that the quantity and quality of hair thickening with Hair Regeneration
actually exceeded the coverage they got with the transplant.
of course if they were transplanted into bald scalp, the Hair Regeneration treatment improved
the volume behind the transplanted hair in the bald scalp making the results look more
natural.

Do you treat hair restoration patients who are from the outside the united states?
We see people from around the world come for our hair loss treatment every week. In particular
our unique Hair Regeneration treatment which reverses hair thinning without surgery and
actually in the majority of male patients exceeds the results of hair transplants has
been a major reason for people to come to us in New York City from all over the world.
These patients appreciate that the procedure is performed in less than 2 hours and they
can actually enjoy the city. In addition in contrast to hair transplant, there are no
scabs or surgical related healing afterwards. The results have been remarkable with significant
improvement in as little as few months after the Hair Regeneration procedure.

What women need to know about hair transplants?
Hair transplant for women is very different
procedure than it is for men. The reason is that female pattern hair loss is diffuse and
also often involves the area we harvest hair from the back of the head referred to as the
donor area. Unlike male pattern hair loss where there are typically bald areas where
you can place hair grafts without worrying about damaging existing hair, in female pattern
hair loss it’s possible to lose existing hairs while transplanting due to how close
the existing thinning hairs are. It’s also important to understand that the expectations
and need for hair is different between men and women. A man with frontal balding can
be satisfied with a small area of hair which helps frame his face. Cosmetically, women
generally in our experience desire a lot more volume. We do hair transplants for women to
help define the frontal hair or to treat areas that appear to be bald where the hair loss
is more advanced. We have been treating female pattern hair loss in our practice with a method
we developed using advanced stem cell based wound healing technology called Hair Regeneration.
Both male and female pattern hair loss involves a process called miniaturization. Although
we don’t know about the exact cause for female pattern hair loss, we’ve used this
Hair Regeneration treatment and have seen improvement in more than 80% of women we’ve
treated.

Does rogaine/minoxidil work effectively? How about propecia/finasteride? The doctor gives insights
Medical therapy for male pattern hair loss comes down to 2 options. One is rogaine, the
generic is minoxidil. Minoxidil was originally used for the treatment of high blood pressure
and a physician observed hair growth as a side effect from use of the drug. The drug
is a vasodilator which mean it can increase blood flow to an area, however the specific
mechanism of how minoxidil stimulates hair growth remains unclear. Minoxidil does not
stop hair loss but it does appear to stimulate growth of existing hair and prolong the growth
cycle of thinning hairs. Propecia or the generic finasteride is an oral medication which blocks
an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase. 5 alpha reductase is an enzyme which converts testosterone
to dihydrotestosterone or DHT. A percentage of men with male pattern hair loss have hair
follicle susceptible to DHT which causes a process called miniaturization of their hair.
By blocking the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone or DHT can result in
slowing down the progression of male pattern hair loss. Unfortunately, several medical
studies have established concern about permanent sexual dysfunction from taking finasteride.
Many people concerned about these side effects have come to our practice for a unique treatment
we developed called Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration is a treatment using a material
called extracellular matrix which is combined with a concentration of healing factors from
your own blood called platelet rich plasma or PRP. We have successfully helped close
to 100% of men with male pattern hair loss with a single treatment without the need for
ongoing medical therapy. With 3-5 years of data from hundreds of patients from around
the world the sustainable benefit of this single treatment has been proven successfully.
It’s very important to learn about your options as soon as you notice hair loss. The
benefits of medical therapy or a treatment like Hair Regeneration can make the most difference
for you the earlier you get treated.

How hair restoration can change lives – a doctor’s perspective
There’s no question that hair loss can have a significant effect on your confidence. The
search for a cure for baldness has been a pursuit which spans hundreds of years. As
a hair transplant surgeon, I spent the past 20 years working to perform strategically
optimal surgical procedures to restore hair as hair loss continued to progress. Since
hair transplant can never restore all the hair that’s been lost, it’s very important
to stabilize the progression of hair loss. Satisfaction with hair transplant surgery
depends critically on clear communication between the surgeon and the patient in terms
of the estimated number of hair grafts which can be harvested and specifically the area
to be transplanted. Another element which contributes to satisfaction is the healing
of the donor area. In our practice, we first address hair loss progression using medical
therapy as option such as oral finasteride and topical minoxidil. We’ve also developed
a nonsurgical solution for hair thinning called Hair Regeneration which has made a significant
impact on male pattern baldness, since a large percentage of men do not want to take finasteride
or Propecia because of the potential risk of long term sexual dysfunction. We generally
wait about 18 months after Hair Regeneration treatment to assess the potential benefits
of hair transplant. When we perform hair transplant surgery, I share with my patients the simple
fact that strip surgery or FUT surgery yields significantly more grafts than a typical FUE
or follicular unit extraction surgery. In the right candidate who wears their hair more
than inch in length, the volume and density of grafts can be 30% more than an FUE procedure.
We also show how with advanced wound healing technology combined with meticulous Cosmetic
Surgery closure, the incision line can be imperceptible. I would caution people to learn
more about these options before they get persuaded to have surgery using so called advanced computer
or other tech based FUE procedures.

Does propecia/finasteride work for thinning hair at the front?
Propecia or finasteride works by inhibiting
an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone or DHT.
If your hair loss is associated with a particular susceptibility of the hair follicles to DHT,
then you may benefit from finasteride. As far as the location of the scalp, its important
to understand that male pattern hair loss affects the whole scalp. There is variability
in the pattern at which hair thins such as with temporal recession and thinning of the
crown. There’s some confusion since a lot of men who have very aggressive frontal balding
often don’t respond to finasteride. Essentially, if your hair is responsive to finasteride,
you should benefit throughout the scalp including the front. In our practice, we’re seeing
many people from around the world who have tried finasteride and it didn’t work for
them as well as men who are afraid to take finasteride because of concerns of permanent
sexual dysfunction. We have been able to help these patients with a treatment called Hair
Regeneration. We developed hair regeneration using an advanced wound healing material called
extracellular matrix which we combine with your own concentrated healing growth factors
called platelet rich plasma. By developing customized formulations and methods to deliver
this formulation into the scalp we’ve been able to reverse hair thinning with a single
treatment session. 3-5 years of data from treating hundreds of patients from around
the world has allowed people to avoid taking medications daily and even avoid having hair
transplant surgery.

When is the right time to meet with a hair restoration doctor?
It’s very important learn about your hair loss options as soon as you notice any evidence
of hair thinning. Hair loss treatment does not automatically mean hair transplant surgery.
In our practice we perform a full evaluation including scalp microscopy to diagnose the
cause of your hair loss. If for example you have male pattern hair loss, we would discuss
medical therapy such as the use of minoxidil or finasteride. We would also discuss a new
nonsurgical procedure we developed called Hair Regeneration. Briefly Hair Regeneration
has become a very successful alternative to hair restoration surgery particularly because
of the impact it has on existing thinning hair. This means that the earlier you notice
hair thinning, the more effective the treatment can be.