Are Hair Transplants Worth the Cost?
I think one of the areas where there is the highest amount of misinformation is the area of hair loss and balding and the tactics that can be used to fight this problem.
New claims are made, it seems, almost every day about this new remedy or that new product that will supposedly give a man a full head of hair even after near complete baldness has taken hold of the top of his head.
The reason these claims are accepted are because most people do not understand what causes hair loss and what must really be done to limit or reverse it.
If you look in the medical records you will find that about 95% of the men who suffer hair loss do so because of a condition known as Androgenic Alopecia.
This is a genetically based problem which can be passed down from either the mother's side of the family or the father's.
It is also called Male Pattern Baldness because of the propensity of hair loss in two main areas.
The front of the scalp, known as a receding hair line, and the top or vertex of the head which is usually called a bald spot.
The mechanism which causes this hair loss is based on the attack of these particular hair follicles by a hormonal metabolite known as DHT.
DHT is naturally occurring in the human body and it seems when people have the genes which manifest as hair loss the follicles in this affected area are predetermined to be target by free DHT in the blood stream.
This substance will bond with receptors on the hair roots and slowly cause a decrease in the production of the hair shaft material keratin.
Eventually the hair will get thin and wispy and break off.
At this point the follicle is no longer capable of producing the needed hair material.
The follicle is then encased in fibrotic material.
This process can be slowed down with certain drugs such as Finasteride and Minoxidil which have been approved by the FDA but once the follicle is rendered useless the only option is to transplant growing hair follicles from another part of the head.
These hair transplants will take root and begin to grow shortly after the hair transplant procedure is completed.
Hair transplants can cost a lot but they are basically the only method that works at this point.
New claims are made, it seems, almost every day about this new remedy or that new product that will supposedly give a man a full head of hair even after near complete baldness has taken hold of the top of his head.
The reason these claims are accepted are because most people do not understand what causes hair loss and what must really be done to limit or reverse it.
If you look in the medical records you will find that about 95% of the men who suffer hair loss do so because of a condition known as Androgenic Alopecia.
This is a genetically based problem which can be passed down from either the mother's side of the family or the father's.
It is also called Male Pattern Baldness because of the propensity of hair loss in two main areas.
The front of the scalp, known as a receding hair line, and the top or vertex of the head which is usually called a bald spot.
The mechanism which causes this hair loss is based on the attack of these particular hair follicles by a hormonal metabolite known as DHT.
DHT is naturally occurring in the human body and it seems when people have the genes which manifest as hair loss the follicles in this affected area are predetermined to be target by free DHT in the blood stream.
This substance will bond with receptors on the hair roots and slowly cause a decrease in the production of the hair shaft material keratin.
Eventually the hair will get thin and wispy and break off.
At this point the follicle is no longer capable of producing the needed hair material.
The follicle is then encased in fibrotic material.
This process can be slowed down with certain drugs such as Finasteride and Minoxidil which have been approved by the FDA but once the follicle is rendered useless the only option is to transplant growing hair follicles from another part of the head.
These hair transplants will take root and begin to grow shortly after the hair transplant procedure is completed.
Hair transplants can cost a lot but they are basically the only method that works at this point.
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