Good hair loss control can be achieved with permanent hair transplants

Hair biology and hair loss Why do hair transplants work

Permanent Hair Transplants

Permanent hair transplants have been done by expert hair restoration surgeons for a long time now using hair transplant procedures that have had many years to develop. As the hair transplant procedure has become more sophisticated and refined, so the results of hair restoration have improved and today a very natural looking result can be obtain by an expereinced hair restoration surgeon.

The basic idea behind the hair loss control though permanent hair transplants is that hair is removed from the back and sides of your scalp to be used as hair transplants on the area of the head were the hair loss is most severe. The maximum hair loss is usually seen on the top of the head or at a receding hair line. Since the hair on the back of the head is usually not affected by male pattern baldness, it can be used for hair loss control in male balding.

By making correct use of hair restoration procedures a hair restoration surgeon first creates a design for the hairline on the recipient area, then harvests the hair transplants, and then while making a judicious use of hair transplants, performs permanent hair transplant surgery so as to result in maximum coverage and a natural looking result.

The following article tells you more about why it is possible to achieve a high degree of hair loss control with permanent hair transplants.

Why do hair transplants work

Hair transplants are currently the only effective “cure” for androgenetic alopecia. Put simply, the procedure redistributes the remaining hair on a person’s scalp to cover any bald regions. We know that the hair follicles at the back of the head between the ears are (usually) not affected by androgenetic alopecia whereas the hair on the top of our heads is affected and can be lost to varying degrees. With hair transplantation the hair not affected by androgenetic alopecia is taken from the back of the scalp and placed on the top.

It is a simple enough principle and it can provide superb, undetectable results when done well. Hair transplantation has had a lot of bad publicity because, until recently, the techniques involved were rather crude and results did not look natural. When hair transplantation was first developed, surgeons would use a punch biopsy to take large clumps of hair follicles from the back and then place then on the top in rows. The problem was that the clumps of hair follicles looked very artificial and were difficult to style and manage because the hair follicles were not oriented properly. Today however, the surgical procedure has been refined to the degree that a good dermatological surgeon will leave the patient with an undetectable result. Improvements have come from the way the hair follicles are obtained from the donor area and how they are placed in the bald regions.

The pattern of baldness in men is very distinctive and usually limited to the top and front of the scalp. These hair follicles have miniaturized and changed from terminal follicles into vellus hair follicles under the influence of androgens such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. As described elsewhere, not all hair follicles are the same. Some hair follicles are sensitive to androgens but others are not. It so happens that hair follicles on the top of the scalp are made from cells that have androgen receptors on the cell surface. When these receptors are bound by androgen hormone molecules it triggers the cells to change their activity. In scalp hair follicles the cells are told to slow down and stop proliferating and this results in the hair follicle becoming smaller, producing a finer hair at a slower rate of growth. The hair cycle of these follicles also becomes shorter.

However, other hair follicles on the scalp at the sides and back of the head are not androgen sensitive. The cells that make up the hair follicles have far fewer androgen receptors. They are much less androgen sensitive and effectively take no notice of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. These hair follicles continue to grow at a normal rate for a healthy terminal hair follicle regardless of the androgen concentration in the body.

This means that the hair follicles that are androgen insensitive can be moved from the back of the scalp and transplanted on to the top of the scalp to replace androgen sensitive vellus hair follicles. The transplanted hair follicles from the back of the scalp will keep their androgen insensitivity property in their new position as they are still composed of the same cells that have few or no androgen receptors. These cells will not change even in their new position. The result is that these transplanted hair follicles will continue to grow as healthy terminal hair follicles for the rest of your life.

Both men and women can be suitable for hair transplantation. Most frequently hair transplants are conducted on people with androgenetic alopecia, but hair transplantation can also be an option for people who have lost hair through a congenital defect or alopecia after burn injury. The transplant procedure need not be limited to the scalp. For example, some people have eyebrow transplantations.