Hair restoration options

Hair loss, or baldness, is an alarming health issue that has caused many a problem to a person who suffers from this. The prevalence of both male and female pattern baldness has prompted the search for available hair restoration options: from the natural to the medical, from the invasive to the non-invasive. In Ireland free consultation is available, follow this link to find out more.

Hair restoration includes the natural, medical and surgical treatment of different forms of hair loss. Androgenetic alopecia or AGA, popularly known as male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness, is the most common cause of hair loss. There are quite a number of hair restoration options available to restore hair loss. Hair restoration reviews show that the most popular of such options are: laser hair restoration, topical hair restoration, medical hair restoration, and hair transplant.

Laser Hair Restoration

The use of laser is a restoration procedure designed to completely restore thinning hair and prevent the progression of genetic balding. The application of lasers to the scalp improves hair quality, stimulates hair growth, and increases the diameter of the hair shaft. It is the only non-medication treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration to improve hair growth.

Hair restoration with the use of laser has stopped the progression of hair loss in 85% of patients. Laser, which has no known side effects, stimulates the growth of hair follicles by aiding in the natural hair growing process. It is also beneficial in accelerating the healing process after laser hair replacement surgery and can be used on both women and men.
There are two types of laser hair treatments:

Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) makes use of laser rays that are applied directly to the scalp by a mechanical device: the red blood cells are then stimulated, causing metabolic changes to occur, including the introduction of more nutrients and oxygen to the scalp. Nutrients and oxygen are important for hair production. Blood circulation is eventually improved in the area where the laser has come into contact with. This type of treatment involves a dome-shaped instrument that fits loosely over the head, allowing the laser beams to freely rotate about the area. This type of hair restoration does not result in broken skin.

Home Laser Hair Therapy involves the use of a hand-held device called a “laser comb.” The patient is instructed to run the comb through the hair and over the scalp. The device is supposed to complement the work done by a doctor. This type of laser treatment is also often recommended to hasten the healing process after a laser hair restoration surgery.

While some medical experts have doubted the actual effectiveness of laser therapy (the direct correlation of laser therapy to hair growth has not been established), laser hair restoration has remained to be among the most popular hair restoration options.

Topical Options

The topical way is definitely the oldest of hair restoration options known to man. For hundreds of years, men and women have been rubbing hair loss products on their hair and scalp in the hope of stimulating hair growth. These products include various solutions, ointments, treatments and concoctions that range from the normal to the weird.

Topical hair restoration options trace their roots back to ancient Egypt, where it was popular to rub the fats of various animals (including lions, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, ibex, serpents and geese) onto the scalp as a hair loss cure.

Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, had a personal interest in finding a treatment for baldness as he suffered from hair loss himself. He concocted a number of strange treatments, including a mixture of horseradish, cumin, pigeon droppings, and nettles. It would be interesting to know that these concoctions failed miserably and Hippocrates became prominently bald.

At present, topical hair restoration options such as special hair restoration shampoo Nano, conditioners, Rogaine, various scalp treatments, and cover-up products that mask a person’s bald appearance.

Medical Options

In addition to a multitude of topical hair loss treatments available, there is an abundance of oral supplements that aim to treat baldness. Most oral solutions prescribed by medical practitioners include ingredients that attempt to stop hair loss. These ingredients stop the production of DHT, the hormone responsible for male pattern baldness.

There are two popular hair restoration medications:

Minoxidil (Rogaine) is rubbed topically on the scalp in 2% or 5% solution. Minoxidil is available over-the-counter in 2% solution, but is most effectively used in a treatment program planned and supervised by a physician and hair restoration specialist. Minoxidil tends to be more effective in women than in men.

Finasteride (Propecia) is an orally administered medication that influences the response of scalp hair follicles to androgenic hormones. Finasteride is available only by prescription to men.

Hair Restoration Transplant Options

Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that involves moving individual hair follicles from one part of the body (the donor site) to bald or balding parts (the recipient site). It is primarily used to treat male pattern baldness. However, hair transplantation is also used to restore eyebrows, eyelashes, beard hair, chest hair, and pubic hair.

Hair restoration through transplantation is performed on an outpatient basis, with mild sedation and injected local anesthesia, which typically last about six hours. The scalp is shampooed and then treated with an antibacterial agent prior to the donor scalp being harvested.

In the usual follicular unit procedure, the hair transplant surgeons harvest a strip of skin from the posterior scalp (an area of good hair growth). While closing the resulting wound, assistants begin to dissect individual follicular unit grafts from the strip. The surgeons then carefully remove excess fibrous and fatty tissue while trying to avoid damage to the follicular cells that will be used for grafting. The latest method of closure results in much finer scars at the donor area.

The surgeons utilize very small micro blades or fine needles to puncture the sites for receiving the grafts, placing them in a predetermined density and pattern, and angling the wounds in a consistent fashion to promote a realistic hair pattern. The assistants generally do the final part of the procedure by inserting the individual grafts in place.

Hair restoration options are actually a dime a dozen, and it really helps to research on the different alternatives first before deciding on which option to spend your money on. Should you want to learn more about these rates, we encourage you to read our article on factors influencing hair restoration cost.