Hair Restoration
Drug Treatments
Hair loss medication such as Rogaine® (minoxidil) and Propecia® (finasteride)
are targeted towards stopping or slowing hair loss and in some cases even reversing
hair loss.
Understanding how these treatments work, how well they work and what the effects
are, can give you the insight to plan a course to stopping, reversing, or restoring
lost hair.
- Rogaine® (Minoxidil)
The anti-hypertensive drug minoxidil was shown in the early 1980's to stimulate new hair growth, and was eventually approved as a topical treatment for male pattern baldness, and baldness in women (specifically "androgenetic alopecia", AGA). Minoxidil is known to act as an opener of potassium channels, but the mechanism by which it is effective on hair is unclear. It appears to convert vellus hairs, which are short, fine body hair to terminal hairs - fully developed "regular" hairs; it also appears to normalize the hair follicle, and to increase the "growth phase" of hair follicles.
Minoxidil® is proven to help slow or stop hereditary hair loss in 4 out of 5 people. Some people will even grow new hair.
For a minority of people it can even grow back lost hairs in the crown area (back of the head). However, Minoxidil® does not slow or reverse the balding process in the frontal hairline area.
Multiple clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of minoxidil in AGA: in most patients treated with topical minoxidil 2% or 3% for 12 months, hair counts increased, and in some patients hair counts continued to increase for some time afterwards. Topical minoxidil 2% nevertheless has only limited success and the individual response is highly variable.
- Propecia
Propecia's claim to fame is to maintain. 83% of men studied were able to
maintain their original follicle count, and 64% experienced re-growth after 2
years. Propecia does this by inhibiting the creation of DHT in your system.
DHT is a naturally occurring hormone which assists with sexual development in
males during fetal development and puberty. When a man begins to undergo that
second "change of life", DHT becomes some hair follicles' worst enemy.
Follicles at the front, top, and upper back of the head in most men are genetically
programmed to become susceptible to DHT at some point in the man's life. Those
hairs which cover the sides and bottom back of the head typically are not, which
is why most men do not lose hair in these areas.
During hair loss, DHT begins to treat your follicles as foreign objects in your
body. Similar to an auto-immune response, it slowly begins to reject the follicles.
During this time there typically is increased Sebum production which can lead
to excessive itching and scarring. All of these things contribute greatly to
why men begin to lose hair. This is also an extremely long process, and the cycles
for hair growth are typically about 3-9 months. Without a DHT inhibitor either
systemically (in the bloodstream) or locally in the scalp, each time your hair
cycles, the follicle will become thinner, shorter, and ultimately it will not
grow back in.
Hair Restoration Techniques
Image International Institute offers two types of hair transplant replacement
procedures, one termed Follicular Isolation Technique (FIT) and the other Follicular
Unit Grafting (FUG or FUT).
- Follicular Isolation Technique
Follicular Isolation Technique, referred to as FIT, is a technique co-developed by a physician from our practice, Dr. Rose. The procedure involves removing the naturally occurring groupings of hair (follicular units) one by one. With a FIT procedure, the donor hairs are isolated and removed with a one millimeter punch device, invented in part by Dr. Rose. The punch device is often utilized with a specially constructed head positioning device.
The advantages of this technique include maintaining the donor area without any linear scar visible to the naked eye. In fact the donor area appears to heal faster than with traditional methods and the patient can wear his or her hair as short as desired without being concerned about a linear scar.
The technique is especially useful for young men who want to have a procedure and leave little or no evidence of the procedure having been performed. Even if the patient elects to not have any more grafts the patient can still shave his head without evidence of surgery.
In addition, the patients who have a limited donor area can also benefit from this procedure. Many patients who have been extensively harvested are not good candidates for strip harvesting. For these patients, grafts that would otherwise be unavailable may be obtained in significant numbers. In most cases, sessions of 600-800 grafts can be accomplished quite readily in a single day.
- Follicular Unit Grafting
The key to Follicular Unit Grafting is to transfer intact Follicular Units from the permanent donor zone in the back of the scalp to the recipient (balding) areas. In order to remove Follicular Units from the back of the scalp without damaging them, the donor tissue must be removed in one piece. This technique is called "Single Strip Harvesting." It is an essential component of Follicular Unit Grafting as it not only preserves the follicular units, but also it prevents damage (transection) to the individual hair follicles and insures maximum growth.
For more information on our Hair Restoration treatments, please visit our website at http://www.getfithairs.com