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Hair Loss Myths Exposed and Busted!

Even before the contradictory information found on the internet, old wives’ tales made it difficult to determine fact from fiction. Below you will find several statements about hair loss and hair transplant surgery. Can you determine which ones are true and which ones are false? Help us expose the false statements by becoming a hair loss myth buster.

Wearing a Hat Causes Hair Loss! This is an old wives’ tale originating from the false belief that wearing a hat will prevent your hair follicles from “breathing” and thus cause you to go bald. So wear a hat as much as you’d like free from fear that your precious follicles will be suffocated.

MSN Promotes Early Transplanted Hair Growth! Nobody likes to wait for their newly transplanted hair to grow in. But unfortunately, though MSM (Methyl Sulfonyl Methane) may help your natural hair grow faster, it won’t speed up the couple month resting period transplanted hair goes through before it starts to grow.

Masturbation Causes you to go Bald! This lie is often presented to young teenage men in an attempt to keep their hormones under control. But there is no scientific evidence to suggest that a sexual release or any brief increase in testosterone that this may cause can contribute to hair loss in any way.

An Unhealthy Lifestyle Can Contribute to Hair Loss! This particular statement is general enough that we have to declare it true. A good rule of thumb for healthy living is, “if you take care of the inside of your body, the outside will take care of itself”. In extreme cases of malnutrition, drug use, and anything that causes your body to take a severe beating, non-genetic balding may result. But eating junk food, smoking, and drinking in moderation as the average American does have not been linked to causing hair loss.

Hair Transplants Only Work in Bald Areas of the Scalp!  This statement is false. In fact, qualified hair restoration physicians transplant hair in between existing natural hair all the time with great success. This plan of action is often complemented by a non-surgical hair loss treatment regime. For example, using Propecia may help you keep the natural hair you have to minimize the need for subsequent procedures. Be sure to speak to your hair transplant surgeon about hair loss drug viability and how they may complement a hair transplant.

Read more about these and many other hair loss myths on the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, and our Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Bill aka - Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Patient Hair Restoration Dreams Become a Reality in 2008

Our community was created by and for hair loss patients to share experiences, evaluate hair restoration physicians, and offer input on hair loss treatments that really work. For over 10 years, our discussion forum has enabled balding men and women to share the good, the bad and the ugly.

Today, over 350 patients have authored weblogs to share their hair restoration experiences and hair transplant photos with you. Below we introduce you to just a few of the patients whose hair restoration dreams became reality and the doctors who made it happen.

Join the ranks of these hair restoration super stars and create your own free hair loss weblog to share your experience and photos.

• Blogger “Wantego” came to us with a receding hairline looking for real ways to restore his hair. His research on our discussion forum led him to surgical hair restoration with Coalition member Dr. Rahal. Receiving 4374 follicular unit grafts, he’s been able to restore his “true” hair density and no longer shows any signs of balding. View his blog for a detailed account of his experience with photos.

• After receiving two previous hair transplants, “Phoneguy” found Coalition member Dr. Cooley by researching our community. Bothered by hair loss in the frontal half of his scalp, Dr. Cooley placed 1947 follicular unit grafts into the areas of thinning hair, eliminating signs of baldness. “Phoneguy” has quickly learned why other Dr. Cooley patients refer to themselves as “Cooleyfied”. You can read his experience and view his photos on his blog.

• Blogger “PC” started to lose his hair in the front when he was 19 years old. After extensive research a few years later, he became highly impressed with Coalition member Dr. Alexander and opted to undergo hair transplant surgery. 2500 grafts and 8 months later, he is thrilled to be getting compliments on his hair again. Take a look at his photos and offer your input on his hair loss weblog.

• “TomA” had extensive baldness from front to back. And though it never bothered him very much, he desperately tried to avoid being photographed from upper angles unless he was wearing a hat. After doing some research, he learned that a handful of surgeons were performing ultra refined densely packed hair transplants and he wanted in. His research led him to Dr. Pathomvanich of Thailand, Asia. 3300 grafts later, he is thrilled with his new head of hair and as his photos suggests, is living a very glamorous life. View his blog and photos to congratulate him on his new head of hair.

• “Pompadore” had his hair transplant of 2700 grafts with Dr. Bill Parsley and is very happy with his results. He has done an excellent job sharing his impressive transformation and detailed photos and has garnered a great deal of support from other bloggers.  View his blog to see his life changing transformation.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Why Quoting the “Average” Cost for a Hair Transplant Isn’t Easy

Asking the cost of a hair transplant is a highly popular question on our hair loss forum. But what most people new to the topic of hair transplantation don’t realize, is that it’s not as cut and dry as throwing out a number that they have to pay and be done with.

There is a lot to consider when evaluating the cost of a hair transplant including the number of grafts desired/possible for a single hair replacement procedure, the cost of a single procedure verses the potential need for subsequent ones, the hair restoration surgical technique, and finally, the hair transplant clinic’s fee structure.

View this thread to learn what hair restoration clinics usually charge per graft and learn how your own personal characteristics can impact the cost.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

My Hair Looks Thinner - Am I Going Bald?

I have noticed my hair looks thinner.  I  can notice this when I’m under a light and and when my regular hairstyle does not look the same.  Am I going bald?

This could very well be the start of a genetic hair loss known as androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness.   Hereditary alopecia is initiated when the hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone) binds to the receptor sites of hair follicles causing them to shrink and eventually, the follicles will no longer produce new hair.

 You may want to look into medical treatments like Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil) which can help slow down, stop, or even reverse hair loss.  These non-surgical solutions are typically pretty effective in early stages of loss, and are virtually non-effective in completely bald areas.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Do Higher Hair Transplant Densities Affect Hair Growth Survival?

This insightful hair loss article was written by Dr. Michael Beehner of Saratoga Springs, NY who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

I was asked to update my comments from what I said before about hair growth and follicle survival in high densities, but for the most part would pretty much say the same thing now in late 2008.

There was a nice study published in the journal, Dermatologic Surgery, by Coalition members Dr. Tom Nakatsui and Dr. Jerry Wong about a year ago or so, in which they used small lateral slits and created study boxes of between 23 and 72 slits per square cm of surface area, and obtained a 95.6% survival in the 23/cm2 box and 98.6% in the 72/cm2 box. These results are outstanding, although we have to keep in mind that the study was done on only one hair transplant patient and the same results may or may not occur with another person.  Also, as I recall, these boxes were around the periphery of the area transplanted and I don’t believe any were actually in the center, which I think would be the area most at risk for possible less-than-optimal hair regrowth. I have noticed in past studies I have conducted that, even though I did everything exactly the same, I often would see marked variation in hair follicle survival a year out. Every hair surgeon that I have spoken with acknowledges that there is an individual patient “X factor” that we can’t totally put our finger on, but does in fact exist.

There are a number of factors that I think definitely play a role in worsening the survival of densely packed grafts: Among these are: cigarette smoking; a very thin scalp with little subcutaneous tissue; a scalp that has had a lot of past surgery performed on it;

Another factor that I think makes a huge difference in a hair surgeon’s ability to create density and obtain good hair growth at the same time is the size of the recipient site. There is no question that the custom-made lateral slits allow us to place a larger number of recipient sites in a given square area than ever before. Then the limiting factor becomes the safety with which the placers can insert the follicular unit grafts without traumatizing them. With extremely dense sites, this is much more difficult with the hair left long.

I will again make the statement that I believe the biggest factor in getting good dense hair growth is not necessarily the density with which the sites are made, but rather the skill and conscientiousness of the assistants who are placing the grafts. If they do their work in a rough, slipshod manner, there is going to be terrible growth. If they are gentle and meticulous with each placement, then the growth will probably be wonderful.

I haven’t gotten around to doing any further survival studies on 1-hair follicular units (FU) but would welcome others doing so, to see how they compare. The 3-4 studies I have performed comparing 1-hair grafts with 2-hair grafts would suggest that there is 10-15% less growth with the 1-hair grafts.  This is simply a function of their slim build and inherent vulnerability to desiccation (drying) and trauma with handling.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

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Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor