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Hair transplant procedures – are they better than ever?
The answer to this question depends on how you define the term “better”. From
the perspective the ultimate goal of growing the most hair in the area transplanted, I
would say this is not the case. Why is this? Unfortunately, undesirable scars from FUT
or strip surgery and a perceived popularity of short hair styles has led to a new focus
on an old procedure. Essentially FUEs or follicular unit extractions have become the new standard
approach. The claimed superiority of this procedure is avoidance of an undesirable strip
scar however the yield of grafts can be 30% less than the strip method. Ultimately this
means that there’s less hair growth. Ironically, several well known hair transplant specialists
are promoting new technology which implies an improvement in the procedure. In the light
of the progressive disenchantment with strip or FUT surgery, it’s a matter of time before
people realize how limited the benefits are of FUE surgery. It’s very important for
you to understand all of your options before making a decision. Your ultimate goal is to
get the most hair growth you can in the area you need hair. With this basic concept in
mind, we are performing a treatment we developed called Hair Regeneration for people who have
thinning hair. Essentially, we’ve successfully achieved significant improvement in hair growth
and coverage, without surgery. Once again, the take home message is to learn about all
your options both surgical and nonsurgical before you made your decision

How are modern hair transplants different from old procedures?
Modern hair transplants from an uninformed perspective appears to be technologically
advanced with the use of various mechanical devices to harvest hair grafts for FUE or
follicular unit extraction surgery. Hair transplant surgeons who have performed FUT or strip surgery
and FUE surgery know that FUT or strip surgery has a much higher yield of grafts. This means
that the modern FUE procedure actually creates less volume and density than procedures of
the past. In addition with the reality of the progression of hair loss and the limitations
of the donor area, these same patients who chose to have FUEs for the perceived benefits
of less noticeable scars, have to have another FUE procedure which yields more scars and
less hair growth than their first procedure. In our practice, we’ve changed the conversation
about hair loss by changing when we recommend hair transplant surgery. Briefly, we first
treat many of our patients with hair loss with advanced wound healing technology called
Hair Regeneration which stops and reverses hair thinning which typically restores more
volume and coverage than a hair transplant without surgery. if the patient desires hair
transplant to areas where they don’t have any salvageable hair, we discuss the benefits
of strip surgery and FUE surgery and optimize their surgical results with the same wound
healing technology we use for Hair Regeneration.

Can hair grafts fall out after hair transplants?
Proper medical management of medical problems,
blood pressure and blood thinners is critical to the success of a hair transplant. Hair
grafts are greatest risk for falling out within the first 48 hours due to dislodging or bleeding.
I’ve seen patients who underwent megasession hair transplants lose more than 90% of their
grafts due to these factors I mentioned earlier. Once the hair graft is stable for about a
week to 10 days, the graft is unlikely to dislodge. A related question would be “how
many of the grafts actually grow?”. This question is more relevant than ever due to
the popularity of FUE transplants. FUE transplants have a much lower yield when compared to FUT
transplants. We’ve helped people who’ve had FUE transplants performed elsewhere optimize
their healing by coming in for Hair Regeneration treatment injection within the first month
to 2 months after their surgery and have been very pleased with the benefits they see.

Why does transplanted hair not fall out?
Properly performed hair transplant involves the harvesting of hair grafts from an area
we refer to as the “donor area”. This area is the permanent zone of the scalp where
the hair never falls out. The physiologic term is called “donor dominance” which
means that the hair will retain this permanence when transplanted to an area where hair is
vulnerable to further hair thinning and hair loss. An important related question is “what
happens to your native hair next to the transplanted hair?”. Well, depending on your hair loss
pattern, this native hair can thin out and disappear unless there is any treatment to
prevent or reverse hair thinning. In our practice, particularly for men who are not taking finasteride
or Propecia, we actually apply a treatment we developed called Hair Regeneration to stop
their hair thinning and actually reverse the process so their hair actually becomes thicker.
In fact, we’re seeing more patients from around the world who have had hair transplant
recently and recognize the benefits of the advanced stem cell based technology to enhance
the healing of their hair grafts and to reverse the thinning process of their native hairs
which were at risk of disappearing.

Who makes a good hair transplant candidate?
In our practice, we perform hair transplant
for people whose hair loss has been stabilized. This is important since hair transplant surgery
does not stop hair loss progression. It’s important to understand that hair transplant,
regardless of technique or technology is a procedure limited by your hair loss progression
and the hair you have in your donor area. Unfortunately, marketing of hair transplant
tends to be deceptive about results and the number of transplants needed to obtain these
results. In addition, the results of modern hair transplants referred to as FUEs or follicular
unit extraction transplants are actually more limited than the results of follicular unit
transplants or FUTs also known as the “strip method”. Ironically due to a combination
of factors such as undesirable scars and hair styles becoming shorter, the hair transplant
industry has moved toward performing FUEs. The problem with FUEs is that the area of
harvesting is wider and outside the true permanent zone which means many grafts are at risk for
thinning and balding. In addition, there is in my opinion an unacceptable rate of hair
grafts being transected or being divided above the most important part of the hair graft
which is the root or the hair follicle. Conservatively it has been reported that 30% of grafts can
be transected. To address this limitation, technologies have been developed such as the
robot to reduce this and other technical aspects. This doesn’t change the reality that the
yield or coverage with so called modern hair transplants are being compromised. To address
the limitation of ongoing hair loss progression we offer our male patients the option of taking
finasteride or Propecia which is an oral medication which needs to be take daily. Unfortunately,
this drug has been associated in a small percentage of men to be associated with permanent sexual
dysfunction. This unfortunate event has been addressed in our practice with a new method
of treating hair loss we’ve developed called Hair Regeneration. Briefly, Hair Regeneration
is the application of advanced stem cell based wound healing technology to stop hair loss
and reverse hair thinning. With hundreds of patients who’ve come from around the world
and 3-5 years of data proving the long term benefit of one injection treatment, we have
overcome the frustration people have with hair transplant surgery. Essentially, we’ve
addressed progressive hair thinning and by thickening your existing actively thinning
hair, we’ve actually exceeded the results of any hair transplant surgery. From my perspective,
the best candidate for a hair transplant is someone who desires hair in an area where
there is long standing hair loss after they’ve had their hair loss stabilized and reversed
to their maximal potential.

What’s the most important thing to know about hair transplants?
For decades, hair transplant surgery has been aggressively marketed to the point from my
experience, that the expectations that people have been sold unfortunately do not match
the results actually experience. In my opinion, the most important thing to know about a hair
transplant is the actual limitations of what a hair transplant can achieve. Currently hair
transplant marketing is focused on new technologies to more effectively perform FUE or follicular
unit extraction transplants. This promotion of technologies such as robot surgery in opinion
distracts from the limitations and the outcomes of these procedures. So what are the limitations
of a hair transplant? There are 2 significant limitations you need to understand: 1) Hair
transplant does not stop hair loss. This means you will continue to lose hair and the hair
grafts can look isolated and pluggy. 2) You have a limited number of transplantable hair.
The permanent donor area is the limited band of hair you see on bald man or a man with
advanced hair loss. This combination of continuous hair thinning and the limitation of the donor
area has left many people who had multiple hair transplants until they ran out of donor
hair to look like they still have very little hair. This also has left their wallets also
thinner. Until recently, a hair transplant was the only option for someone who is losing
hair and has not responded to medical therapy such as finasteride or minoxidil. We’ve
developed an alternative solution called Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration is based on
the application of advanced stem cell wound healing technology which appears clinically
to stop hair thinning and thicken existing hair. In our practice, we’ve changed our
approach to hair loss by applying this strategy to overcome the limitations of hair transplant
surgery. This means that many people considering hair transplant surgery have been so satisfied
with their results with Hair Regeneration that they didn’t need to have a hair transplant.
Even for someone who has for example frontal balding with no hair, we still use Hair Regeneration
to stop the hair loss progression so we can be more strategic in performing a hair transplant
at a later time.

Is there a cure for hair loss?
95% of people suffering from hair loss are
affected by pattern hair loss referred to medically as “andogenetic alopecia”. This
means that your hair loss is the result of genes which trigger a progression of hair
thinning to eventual hair loss. Variations occur with age of onset and rate of progression.
Unfortunately we cannot change your genetics however we have developed a procedure called
Hair Regeneration which has become a highly successful alternative to drugs and surgery.
We have essentially applied advanced wound healing technology to stop progression of
hair loss and restore thinning hair to thicker hair again without surgery or drugs. With
3-5 years of data proving long term benefit, this one time injection has essentially become
close to a cure for hair loss.

Can a receding hairline be stopped?
Generally for men, a receding hairline is a sign of male pattern hair loss.
This means that the hair growth is being effected in a way where the hairs become miniaturized
or thinner as time goes on.
A receding hairline can also be associated with hair thinning in the crown area.
You may also notice that you see more of your scalp when your hair is wet.
The point is that male pattern hair loss really affects the whole scalp and is expressed in
different ways based on genetic patterns.
When a patient comes to us and is diagnosed with male pattern hair loss, we first focus
on stopping the progression.
Options which are typically discussed include medicines such as finasteride and minoxidil.
The challenge with finasteride is the growing concerns about long term sexual side effects
published in several medical journals.
An alternative to medications and surgery is a non surgical procedure we developed called
Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration is a customized combination of an advanced wound healing material
called extracellular matrix with prp or platelet rich plasma ( a concentration of healing factors
derived from your own blood).
The treatment involves a single session of injections followed by regular follow up to
document the progress of your improvement.
Early treatment can be an option to stop and even reverse to a certain level the receding
of your hair line.

Can hair loss be stopped before it gets worse?
95% of people with hair loss have genetic
pattern hair loss, this applies to both men and women. Medications such as finasteride
can slow down the progression of hair loss in men however there has been considerable
concern about long term sexual side effects in small but significant group of men taking
finasteride which is also sold under the brand name “Propecia”. In our practice, we’ve
developed a new approach to stopping hair loss we call “Hair Regeneration”. Hair
Regeneration is a method we’ve developed using advanced stem cell based wound healing
technology which appears to clinically stop hair thinning and restore thinning hair into
thicker hair. We have hundreds of patients who’ve come from around the world with 3
to 5 years of data supporting the long term effectiveness from one injection treatment.

Can baldness be cured?
A cure for baldness has been yet to be
achieved due to the genetic nature of male pattern hair loss. Just as your eye color,
height and skin color for example are genetically determined so is the unfortunate onset and
progression of male pattern baldness. Up to recently, treatments were limited to drugs
which were either ineffective or associated with long term sexual side effects in a small
but significant enough percentage of men. Hair transplant surgery has 2 significant
limitations: Number 1: Hair thinning continues which means that a natural look is hard to
maintain which ultimately results in a “pluggy” look. Number 2: The donor area is limited
and is not adequate to generate enough hairs to restore the balding areas to the way they
looked before. So, is there an alternative treatment? For male pattern hair loss, we’ve
developed a treatment called Hair Regeneration. With hair regeneration, we’ve developed
a formulation and method using a material called extracellular matrix originally developed
for wound healing to stop the progression of hair loss and reverse hair thinning for
existing viable hairs. The results have been significant for male pattern hair loss and
generally exceeds the results of hair transplant without surgery.