Is Hair Transplant Suitable for my Case?
I'm 32, having hair loss problem and it is quite serious at the top of my head.
I've never been pregnant before and planning to get married & get pregnant next year.
Am I a good candidate for hair transplant?
Thank you for your question.
You submitted a photo that shows something called the whitening of the part and you're
asking about whether or not you a candidate for hair transplant.
And you shared that you're never been pregnant and you're planning to be married and get
pregnant in the upcoming year or so.
And so the question is then it doesn't make sense to get a transplant.
Well let's begin by answering the question by diagnosing the problem.
When a woman submits a photo and comes to our office and complain of hair loss, the
most common cause called female pattern hair loss.
Now there are 2 different scales we refer to when we talk about hair loss.
One is the Norwood-Hamilton scale for men and the other is Ludwig scale for women.
When women have hair loss, there is a defused thinning of the entire scalp and the front
hairline tends to stay intact.
Now that's a contrast in male pattern hair loss where there is recession in the temples
and thinning of the crown.
So with female pattern hair loss, that widening of the part is a reflection of diminishing
overall density of the hair and sometimes very often we refer to it as a Christmas tree
pattern because the part gets wider and it looks like a Christmas tree from the top view.
So something to learn about hair transplant versus other options, well, for women until
recently, the only option hair loss treatment was minoxidil and then a lot of dermatologist
who treat female pattern hair loss with corticosteroid steroid injections.
Now that is based on a belief that female pattern hair loss has an inflammatory component.
Many of our female patients come to us that they have itching and that's a sign not seen
typically in men.
And you will notice that there is some type of tingling and we believe that there some
inflammatory component in female pattern hair loss.
The problem is this time we don't know what the cause is.
Now if you were to come into my practice in New York and I can tell you that we had an
amazing opportunity to develop a non-surgical injection treatment that we have been very
successful with for both male and female pattern hair loss and it's based on the concept of
wound healing such that the hair follicles are being protected.
The background of this is based on studies coming in the University of Pennsylvania which
determine that there are cells called progenitor cells that are like adult stem cells that
protect the hair follicles, almost like a shield effect.
And so when they stop being functional that the hair thins.
And what that means, as the hair grows cycle continues, new hair growth comes back thinner
than previous growth.
That's what they call it thinning hair.
It goes from being thick like an oak tree and gets smaller and smaller becoming sapling
and eventually just shutting off.
So we have been able to use a material called extracellular matrix that I use as a surgeon
in some other areas for advanced would healing such as face lifting surgeries and other areas
that I do cosmetic surgery as well as reconstruction surgery.
We use that combined with platelet-rich plasma and inject it in the scalp and do a certain
specific protocol that I develop and we have been able to help a lot of women with hair
loss.
And when we talk about the percentage of success at this time, 99% males have success measured
by a clear improvement and hair quality and density thickness and 70% of our female patients
notice a similar level of improvement.
And it just usually takes a little bit longer, usually most of our female patients notice
improvement at about 9 months.
Now in terms of hair loss that women experience, there is a phenomenon called telogen effluvium
and that it is referred to stress hair loss and the hair growth stage there is a percent
of hairs.
About 8% to 10% of hairs for about 3-4 months are in sleeping stage called telogen stage.
Well when there is stress called telogen effluvium and a lot of women will say I have severe
stress and my hair kept on falling out and it comes in a panic and try to figure out
what's happening.
Now pregnancy sometimes help thicken hair and a lot of times women will lose a lot of
hair whether during their pregnancy or after.
So I'm actually discouraging from doing hair transplant prior to your plans for your pregnancy.
And in addition, because there are limited options for treating female pattern hair loss
from a surgical perspective, I try to discourage women from getting transplants because their
progression can still go on and since they don't have the option of using like a drug
called finasteride that men can do to prevent further loss, the choices are limited.
And that's really why I am very excited about our injection in so many ways.
The injection is both a vaccination in other words it prevents progression and can turn
around and re-thicken hair so it's a very exciting time to be in.
This is what I feel is an emerging field of regenerative medicine and in our practice
specifically hair regenerative medicine.
And so if you're going to do something at all, I would consider that as an option as
a way to prevent the progression of your hair loss because you can't predict what actually
is going to happen related to your pregnancy.
Now if you're nervous about that, so just hold off on anything or everything all together
because I don't think a transplant will do to you what you want and if you were to lose
more hair, then the benefit of a transplant will be too limited to appreciate.
And the time and energy put in to do it may not be worth the investments.
So consider learning some more regarding this hair regenerative technology and figure that
in the context of the information I provided about hair transplant.
So I wish you the best of luck and I hope that was helpful and thank you for your question.