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Natural – appearing
hair growth
The goal of hair
transplantation is
to give you, the
patient, completely
natural-appearing
hair growth that
expresses your
unique
individuality.
Advances in hair
transplantation
techniques,
procedures and
technology make this
goal achievable for
most patients today.
When hair
transplantation was
first developed in
mid-Twentieth
Century, the goal
was "coverage" using
plug-graft
technology and
techniques of the
day. Patients were
pleased with the
restoration of hair
to balding areas of
the scalp; most
understood that a "pluggy"
look was an
unavoidable side
effect of
transplanting large,
multi-hair plug
grafts from donor
site to recipient
site. Sometimes a
skilled and
experienced
transplant surgeon
was able to mask the
plugginess.
Fast-forward to the
Twenty-first Century
and you find the
physician hair
restoration
specialist able to
approach hair
transplantation with
a choice of elegant
techniques and
refined technology
developed especially
to allow the
physician to create
"naturalness" in
restored hair.
"Coverage" of
hair-loss areas is
still a basic
principle of hair
transplantation, but
"naturalness" is the
guiding philosophy.
You, the patient,
should have an
understanding of
what "naturalness"
means. A good place
to start is to
understand what it
does not mean:
"Naturalness" does
not mean
hair-for-hair
replacement of every
hair lost in the
balding process. The
changing ratio
between hair
remaining at the
donor site and hair
lost at the
recipient site would
make it impossible
to replace every
lost hair, and keep
replacing lost hair
as hair loss
progresses over the
years. Hair-for-hair
replacement is not
likely to be
possible until-at
some date still in
the future-hair
cloning and genetic
engineering enable
the growth of hair
on demand in the
laboratory.
Hair-for-hair
replacement is not,
in fact, really
necessary; the human
eye cannot easily
detect a difference
between 50% and 100%
hair density at any
part of the scalp
other than the
hairline.
What naturalness
does mean is that
the physician hair
restoration
specialist works
with you to restore
a "look" that
provides the
aesthetic balance
that expresses your
individuality. Even
though this "look"
is not a
hair-for-hair
replacement of lost
hair, it restores
the natural pattern
of your hair growth,
frames your face,
and makes your hair
once again a part of
your overall
appearance rather
than a distraction
the makes your hair
loss your most
noticeable feature.
Naturalness also
means that the
physician hair
restoration
specialist will plan
your hair
restoration around
your pattern of
natural hair growth
and your natural
hair-loss patterns.
(See
About hair loss
for information
about hair-loss
patterns.) There is
no "one size fits
all" approach to
aesthetically
successful hair
restoration-every
person is an
individual whose
hair restoration
must be
individualized to
that person's needs
and wishes. The goal
of naturalness must
be achieved with
uniquely
individualized use
of technique and
technology. Creative
use of technology
can, in properly
selected patients,
include combining
oral finasteride (Propecia®)
and topical
minoxidil (Rogaine®)
hair restoration
drugs with hair
transplantation.
(See
Nonsurgical Hair
Loss Treatment
for more information
on hair restoration
drugs). In selected
patients, hair
restoration drugs
can (1) delay the
need for hair
transplantation in
younger patients,
and (2) in older
patients, stimulate
hair growth to fill
in areas between
hair grafts.
Naturalness can also
mean incorporating a
natural hair-loss
pattern into an
overall hair
restoration that is
pleasing to you, the
patient. Not only is
hair-for-hair
replacement not a
viable goal of hair
transplantation,
sometimes the hair
restoration goal
must be modified to
accept some degree
of hair thinning.
This might be a
successful solution,
for example, to the
problem created by a
limited supply of
donor hair, moderate
to extensive hair
loss, and
progressive balding.
Not all baldness
patterns could be
incorporated into a
natural pattern of
hair restoration
because only some
baldness patterns
have any degree of
aesthetic
attractiveness.
However, if the face
is properly framed,
a middle-aged man
with a limited
supply of donor hair
and progressive hair
loss may be very
pleased with hair
restoration that
provides selective
coverage of hair
loss areas with
limited hair
density. Newer
techniques of mini-,
micro-, and
follicular-unit
grafting can be used
to make "less" look
like "more".
If naturalness is to
be a successfully
achieved goal it
must be one that
remains successful
over time. If your
hair restoration has
the appearance of
natural hair growth
when you are 20, 30
or 40 years old, it
should still have
that appearance when
you are 50, 60 or 70
years old. The
skilled and
experienced
physician hair
restoration
specialist takes
into account how
well hair
restoration will
hold up with the
passage of time.
Included in the
physician's
assessment is the
likelihood of need
for future
transplantation
sessions to keep
pace with
progressive hair
loss. Good planning
of the initial round
of hair restoration
should create the
desired natural
appearance; any
future
transplantation
sessions should be
needed only to
maintain the natural
appearance.
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