• Finally Hair Loss Medication that works

    Hair medication that works

    While hair restoration surgery is now a proven treatment for restoring hair where it has been lost, Hair loss medication such as Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride), have made real contributions toward stopping and even reversing hair loss.

    During the late 70’s and early 80’s it was discovered that minoxidil, used as a heart medication, had hair growing side effects. Minoxidil was tested for use as a topical scalp treatment for hair loss and proved to inhibit hair loss in many test subjects.

    It has proven to be effective to some degree in slowing the hair loss process. For a minority of people it can even grow back lost hairs in the crown area (back of the head). However, Rogaine (minoxidil) does not slow or reverse the balding process in the frontal hairline area.

    Rogaine is typically applied topically on the scalp twice a day, morning and evening. But once usage is discontinued the hair loss which had been inhibited will resume and the hair that was saved will be lost.

    Rogaine originally required a prescription, but in 1995, it became available in 2% strength Rogaine over-the-counter. Today, men and women can buy 5% strength lotion over-the-counter as Rogaine or as generic minoxidil.

    To date Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride)are the only hair loss medications with FDA approval. Propecia’s active ingredient, finasteride, was originally used to treat enlarged prostate glands. It was discovered that, like minoxidil, it had the “side effect” of stopping male pattern baldness and for some even regrowing hair.

    Propecia is taken as a pill once daily and acts to inhibit the body’s ability to create dyhydrotestosterone or “DHT”. DHT acts as the active ingredient or catalyst in the balding process.

    Rogaine and Propecia

    The 90’s brought great advances in hair restoration, both surgical and non surgical. Now most people can realistically halt and reverse their hair loss with truly natural results.

    In 1988 minoxidil, Rogaine, became the first hair loss medication to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss.

    Rogaine or Minoxidil

    In 1998 the FDA approved Propecia for the treatment of hair loss. Propecia (finasteride) should NOT be taken by woman or children for any reason.


    Learn about all your hair loss treatment options.
     

  • Patrick Mwamba, MD

    Dr. Patrick Mwamba
    Dr. Patrick Mwamba
    Dr. Patrick Mwamba is one of the early developers of the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method and is the most experienced body hair transplant surgeon in Brussels, Belgium.
  • A Hair Transplant - How to do it right.

    A Hair Transplant - How to do it right.

    Today it is a very refined outpatient procedure that can produce full and natural looking results, even after only one hair transplant session.

    When performed correctly not even a hair stylist will detect that a person has had a hair transplant.

    However, to achieve such natural results it is critical that the hair transplant procedure be "performed correctly". To do so requires a hair restoration clinic that can perform a follicular unit hair transplant at the highest levels of skill, experience, and dedication.

    What it takes to create natural results.

    A great hair transplant is the result of using a state of the art surgical procedure and performing it with great skill and artistry. Today the acknowledged "gold standard" in hair transplant surgery is called "Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation".

    This relatively new hair transplant procedure enables a patient to achieve extremely natural results because it recreates and mimics the way a person's hair grows naturally, hair for hair.

    Recreating Nature Hair for Hair

    To understand this procedure you must first understand how hair grows naturally.

    If you look closely at naturally growing hair using magnification you will see that hair actually grows in groupings of one, two, three, and four hairs.

    These naturally occurring hair groupings grow in irregular patterns on the scalp similar to trees growing in the forest. These groupings are technically referred to as "follicular units".

    By relocating these carefully prepared and isolated follicular units, physicians doing "follicular unit hair transplantation" recreate a natural pattern of hair in the balding areas.

    Follicular Unit Hair Transplant tough on the clinic but easy on the patient.

    To do this properly is a very time consuming process. It requires a team of skilled and meticulous medical technicians working closely with the lead physician.

    All our physician members perform this hair transplant procedure with excellent results. They are granted membership in the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians strictly based on their proven high level of experience, ethics, and skill in successfully performing this patient friendly procedure.

    While the follicular unit procedure is more demanding upon the medical staff, it produces dramatic and life long advantages for the patient such as undetectable naturalness, rapid healing, and optimal use of their limited donor hair.

    The Standard Hair Transplant, easy on the clinic but not on the patient.

    Only a minority of hair transplant surgeons are committed to doing the follicular unit procedure properly. Many physicians continue to dissect grafts without regard to the integrity of the follicular units. Follicular units are often transected and damaged as donor tissue is cut to conform to the size of the recipient holes rather than to maintain the integrity of the follicular units.

    Such common standard hair transplant procedures are quicker and simpler to perform than follicular unit hair transplantation from the hair transplant surgeon's perspective. The standard hair transplant procedure is also often more profitable for the clinic since it requires less staff time, training, resources, and skill. However, the results are generally suboptimal for the patient.

    Respecting the Follicular Unit

    Respecting the Follicular Unit

    Each follicular unit is surrounded by small glands, blood vessels, nerves, and a connective tissue sac making it a tiny self contained unit.

    If these follicular units are damaged during removal or dissection, the hair may grow poorly.

    Therefore it is important to cut only in the loose tissue between the follicular units to keep each follicular unit intact and avoid damaging it.

  • Modern Hair Transplants

    Modern Hair Transplants

    In the 80's hair restoration surgery as a hair loss solution evolved dramatically, as the large punch grafts were gradually replaced with a more refined combination of mini and micrografts. This "combination mini micrografting" hair transplantation procedure no longer used the punch to extract the bald resistant grafts. Rather a strip of bald resistant hair was surgically removed from the back of the head and then trimmed into mini and micrografts.

    Typically the minigrafts (4-8 hairs) were used to create fullness and density, while the one, two, and three hair micrografts were used to create a refined and feathered hairline in front. This combination procedure also normally used more grafts, several hundred grafts per session, rather than the approximately 50 to 200 large grafts of the original punch graft procedure.

    Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation (FUT) the "Gold Standard"

    Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation - Step by Step

    The 90's saw the gradual introduction of a very refined surgical procedure hair loss solution now known as "follicular unit hair transplantation" or "FUT". This exacting and labor intensive procedure transplants hairs in their naturally occurring one, two, three, and four hair "follicular unit groupings" in which they grow naturally.

    To create such natural follicular unit grafts, which mimic the way hair grows naturally, typically requires the use of high powered magnification. Such magnification enables the surgical technicians to properly visualize the follicular units in the donor tissue. They are then able to isolate them and cut them into 1, 2, 3, and some times 4 hair follicular unit grafts.

    The Age of Natural Hair Transplant

    Critical to the ultimate success of the follicular unit hair transplant procedure was the introduction of the binocular microscope by Dr. Bobby Limmer of San Antonio Texas in the late 1980's. Dr. Limmer found that by using the microscope he and his staff were able to successfully isolate and trim the naturally occurring follicular units into individual grafts.

    For his part in pioneering the use the microscope in graft dissection and the follicular unit procedure Dr. Bobby Limmer was awarded the "Platinum Follicle Award" by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery in 1996. Many physicians now fondly refer to him as the "Godfather of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation".

    Dr Bobby Limmer
    Dr Bobby Limmer
    Dr Bernstein
    Dr Bernstein

    While Dr. Limmer pioneered the use of the microscope in trimming follicular unit grafts, it was Dr. Robert M. Bernstein, in collaboration with Dr. Bill Rassman, who pioneered and advanced the concept of large sessions of all follicular unit grafting. These large follicular unit sessions enabled patients to achieve both naturalness and density.

    Dr. Bernstein, who coined the name "follicular unit hair transplantation", tirelessly advocated for its adoption in ground breaking articles and lectures that are today recognized as benchmarks in the advancement of this procedure. Click to read these ground breaking hair restoration articles and papers.

    In recognition of his many contributions in both conceptualizing, pioneering and advocating "follicular unit hair transplantation", Dr. Bob Bernstein was awarded the "Platinum Follicle Award" by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery.

    Over time the merits of this refined but difficult to perform procedure became accepted and the follicular unit hair transplant procedure has become acknowledged by most hair restoration physicians to be the "Gold Standard" for surgical hair restoration. Click here to see video of a Follicular Unit Hair Transplant procedure.

    Some feel that hair restoration surgery has evolved to its highest degree now that it relocates hair exactly as it grows naturally. However, even the "Gold Standard" in hair transplantation has continued to evolve by becoming even more "ultra refined".

    Today some leading hair restoration surgeons, including all members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians, perform an ultra refined follicular unit hair transplant procedure using very tiny incisions that enable them to safely "dense pack" tiny grafts when appropriate. This ultra refined follicular unit procedure is a hair loss solution that enables patients to achieve cosmetic density in a given area after only one surgical session.

  • Dr. Bernard Nusbaum

    Dr. Bernard Nusbaum
    Dr. Bernard  Nusbaum
    Dr. Bernard Nusbaum performs highly artistic ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation with very natural looking results.
  • Dr. Özlem Biçer MD

    Dr. Ozlem Bicer
    Dr. Ozlem Bicer
    Dr. Biçer provides ultra-refined follicular unit extraction (FUE) at an exceptionally low-price. Dr. Biçer's practice combines quality with affordability with a patient-centered focus and attention to detail.
  • Jerry E. Cooley, MD

    Dr. Jerry Cooley
    Dr. Jerry Cooley
    Dr. Jerry Cooley and his staff were early adapters of using microscopes to do excellent all follicular unit hair transplantation.
  • Ancient Greece – The quest for a hair loss “cure” continues.

    The quest for a hair loss “cure”

    It was Hippocrates, the “Father of Modern Medicine”, who first recognized a connection between hair loss and the sexual organs. Hippocrates’ studies of eunuchs (men castrated before puberty) observed that these men did not suffer from hair loss.

    We know today that this is due to the absence of testosterone, which is normally converted into dyhydrotestosterone or DHT – the active ingredient in baldness. In March 1995, Duke University researchers came to the conclusion that " . . . while castration may be a cure, it is not commercially acceptable."

    Hippocrates had a personal interest in finding a cure for baldness as he suffered from hair loss. He developed a number of different treatments including a mixture of horseradish, cumin, pigeon droppings, and nettles to the scalp. This and other treatments failed to work and he lost the rest of his hair. The area of permanent hair on the back and sides of the head (from which donor hair is taken for hair transplants) is also known as the “Hippocratic wreath.”

    Ancient Rome and Hair Loss

    Moving from Greece to the Roman Empire, we find that Julius Caesar employed a variety of methods to hide his thinning hair. In addition to the laurel wreath that he wore, he first grew his hair long in the back, and then combed it forward over his bald spot. Yes, the “Comb Over” is ancient.
    Learn how man has treated hair loss up to modern times.
    Being a Eunuch – the sure way to stop baldness

    In the 1940’s, the studies of Hippocrates and Aristotle were continued. Both men had concluded that eunuchs always kept all their hair.

    This finding was backed up by the work of Dr. James Hamilton.

    He discovered that certain male hormones (missing in eunuchs) were critical to the development of male pattern baldness.

  • Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA)

    Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia

    What Is DUPA?

    Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA) is a form of genetic hair loss characterized by diffuse thinning over the entire scalp. Unlike Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA), DUPA lacks the stable permanent zone associated with other forms of alopecia.

    Dr. O'tar Norwood defined DUPA in his 1975 seminole publication "Male Pattern Baldness: Classification and Incidence" as:

    Diffuse, Unpatterened Alopecia (DUPA). In this type, there is a general decrease in the density of hair without any definite pattern, although it is usually more marked over the top and front. This type is common in women.

    Identifying DUPA

    Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia patients have a similar pattern of hair loss to DPA patients but the balding tends to occur more rapidly. DUPA patients are also more likely to achieve the “horseshoe” pattern commonly associated with Norwood class VII baldness. However, unlike other forms of alopecia hair loss, the DUPA “horseshoe” takes on a thin and transparent appearance.

    It is important that patients suffering from diffuse hair loss are properly diagnosed. While DPA patients are often good candidates for surgical hair restoration, DUPA patients typically make poor hair transplant patients due to the lack of a stable zone in which to harvest donor grafts.

    Treatment for Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia

    Not a lot is known about the cause and treatment of DUPA. However, about half of males who suffer from this form of balding benefit from Propecia (finasteride). Unfortunately, DUPA is about 10 times more common in females for whom Propecia is not a treatment option.

    Conclusion

    Anyone suffering from diffuse hair loss should consult with a dermatologist or hair restoration physician for a proper diagnosis. This is especially true for balding men and women considering hair transplant surgery.

  • Xandrox

    Xandrox

    This hair loss product is a 5% custom solution that combines Minoxidil with Azelaic Acid. Developed by Dr. Richard Lee, a hair loss physician, it’s available by prescription only.

    Xandrox’s two main ingredients tackle hair loss in two ways. The minoxidil stimulates hair growth, while the Azelaic Acid, which contains the 5 Alpha Reductase enzyme, blocks DHT. However, while minoxidil is a proven hair loss treatment, Azelaic Acid is only proven as an acne medication. Many patients feel that Xandrox is preferable to Rogaine because it’s less greasy.

    As of yet, Xandrox has shown few side effects, and may cause less itching and flaking than Rogaine.

    There may be some burning irritation though, due to the Azelaic Acid. But one type of Xandrox counteracts this side effect. It contains a Betamethasone Valerate, a corticosteroid.

    However, you need to know that corticosteroids may cause problems. Short-term use is pretty safe, but if used long-term, they may cause thinning of the skin or skin damage. It may also lead to brittle bones or diabetes. For this reason, it’s recommended that if you have no itching problems that you should use the Betamethasone-free Xandrox. It is available, and it works as well as regular Xandrox.

    There are other types of Xandrox, including the Day Formula, the Night Formula, and Xandrox 12.5%, a cream that’s used for more stubborn areas, such as the frontal hair line, and contains 12.5% Minoxidil. One ml of Xandrox should be applied twice per day, and a routine should be established.