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Things to Know About Female Hair Restoration

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

What is the difference between female and male hair loss? Female hair loss is not as common as male hair loss. Male hair loss is known as male patterned baldness. Female hair loss usually doesn’t lead to complete baldness like male hair loss. Female hair loss could be known more as thinning.

Female Patterned Baldness (FPB) touches the entire scalp, unlike Male Patterned Baldness (MPB). For female hair loss the donor hair in the back is not protected like it is for males. After the age of 50, most men have some degree of hair loss.

Women can benefit from hair restoration, so they can restore their hair in the balding areas. For women, the most important factor in receiving a hair transplant is the amount of hair they have in the donor area. If a women’s hair loss is similar to a male’s hair loss, the woman will be a better candidate for a hair restoration procedure.

Female Hair Restoration by Doctor Parsa Mohebi

Women’s expectations will not be the same as men’s expectations. A good hair transplant surgeon should be aware of that and set realistic expectations. If a man is bald, having 50% of his original density might seem like a dream come true. For a woman however, having 50% density will most likely not be enough.

If a woman goes to see a hair transplant surgeon wanting 100% of her hair density back, the surgeon should be honest with her and tell her that she might not receive the 100% density back in just one surgery. In order for a woman to be a candidate for hair restoration, the hair transplant surgeon should look at the different factors that will determine the candidacy for the woman.

The different factors that need to be determined for women regarding hair restoration surgery is the limited balding area, the donor/recipient mismatch, and realistic expectations.

  • The Limited Balding Area means that the area that the woman’s head is balding shouldn’t be all over the head, it should just be in a certain area.
  • The donor/recipient mismatch means that the donor hair on the back of the woman’s head should be in a much better quality than the area’s that are balding.
  • Realistic expectations mean that the hair transplant surgeon should make sure the woman understands the reality of a hair transplant surgery. The hair transplant surgery only moves hair from one area to another area that needs to be covered.

Overall, the final factor that a women needs to consider before having a hair restoration procedure is making sure the hair restoration surgeon is experienced in handling hair restoration procedures in women. A well knowledgeable and experienced surgeon will do the best job possible to help the woman reach the goal that they want to reach.

About Hair Loss

Friday, October 21st, 2011

Hair loss and hair thinning is a result of testosterone formed in different areas like the prostate gland or hair follicles, which is converted to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the scalp area.  Hair follicles prone to genetic male patterned baldness contain DHT receptors, thus thinning hair and loss of hair can result.  Over time men produce an abundance of DHT and the molecules affect their hair follicles and cause a decrease in size and eventually see their natural hair fall out permanently. Because of this common occurrence, hair loss in men is frequent.

DHT and hair loss from having the gene for male pattern baldness are the most common factors for male pattern baldness. Women suffering from female-pattern baldness, unlike their counterparts with male-pattern baldness, are not usually characterized by higher production rates of DHT from lower levels of testosterone. On the other hand, if for a number of possible reasons, a woman has increased testosterone, she can develop female patterned baldness like a man does through the same mechanism.

Hair in the prone areas to male patterned baldness: Corners, top, and crown are filled with DHT receptors in men who suffer Androgenic Alopecia The hair on donor areas such as back and sides, however, have fewer DHT receptors.  This is precisely why hair is more permanent on the sides and back and not the top and front.

A man looking at the hair he had lost from his head

The distinction in the hair quality of different areas, such as the donor and recipient areas, allows for hair loss surgeons to remove the hair from one area and transplant it to the bald portions of the scalp.  These newly transplanted hairs are permanent and immune to DHT. Finasteride (Propecia) is a drug which blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT as a result of it blocking the enzyme alpha reductase.  The amount of DHT in hair loss patients decrease when they are on Propecia and this helps to maintain healthy hair, and also helps some of the miniaturized hair become stronger.

We at US Hair Restoration often recommend medical treatment with DHT blockers in many of our patients who undergo a hair transplantation procedure in order to help maintain their own hair in addition to the newly restored, formerly balding areas because of a hair restoration surgery.