I’m 24 years old and have been considering having a hair transplant for the past three years. I have made a few appointments to meet with doctors but I’m not sure who to believe. My first consultation was with Medical Hair Restoration. They told me that I was in fact a very good candidate for a hair transplant and that I would need 1200 grafts placed in my frontal hair line. Then I went to see Dr. Sword and he told me that I would need 800 grafts.

After doing a lot of research on the internet it seems that 800 to 1200 grafts won’t make much of an impact. Just to give you some information about myself, I was assessed as a Norwood II with above average donor hair. I have no thinning anywhere else but my hair line, and I have been taking Propecia since I was 21 with very good results. I just want to tighten up my hair line. I’ve also read that a person with my minimal amount of hair loss should not have a hair transplant since it could make me lose some of the hair that I have. If this is true why would Dr. Sword and the other person recommend that I have surgery. I guess I’m just a bit confused. Thank you for your help in this matter. Read the Story

Due to a recent illness, my hair has thinned dramatically, particularly in the front/crown. I am considering my alternatives and wish to know the approximate costs of a hair transplant. Does insurance ever cover the costs because of hair loss from an illness?
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Illnesses can cause a form of hair loss called a Telogen Effluvium. This is when the hair follicle’s cycle synchronizes and you experience excessive shedding (similar to how a cat or dog sheds). The fortunate thing about Telogen Effluvium is this is temporary and that hair will come back. Sometimes a Telogen Effluvium uncovers a progressive form of hair loss, androgenetic alopecia, which was slowly getting worse over the last few years. Insurances will not cover either form of hair loss. Read the Story

I had a brow lift that left me with a high hairline and some bald spots. I would like to have my hairline lowered about 1/4 inch. I am thinking of a hair transplant. Would this work and would it cause any more bald spots? I am wondering since they would have to take donor hairs there would be bald spots there where the hair was removed. I don’t know of any doctors in Alabama that can give me what I am looking for.
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Hair transplantation is an effective way for lowering an overly high hairline, whether due to genetics or prior plastic surgery. At the same time, hair grafts can be placed to fill in patchiness and areas of thinning. With the donor hairs obtained from the flexible back of the scalp, stitches are placed to close the donor site, leaving a fine line barely if at all perceptible linear scar that even your hair dresser should have difficulty locating. Read the Story

Is it possible to have a hair transplant and wear a hard hat after a one week vacation? I’m a builder and need to wear protective head gear when I’m on the job.
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You can wear the hard hat after one week. The hat will not hurt the grafts but can be irritating to the donor area. The donor area should be watched closely to prevent any inflammatory response and a generous amount of antibiotic ointment should be applied to the area. The staples or sutures are usually left in for at least 10 days. If staples are used for closing it is possible to start removing the staples that are causing discomfort in 7 days. Good hygiene is important and on the fifth day baby oil can be applied to the transplants prior to shampooing to help remove the dried epithelium and scabs. Read the Story

I would like to know, if it is possible to have a partial eyebrow reconstruction with artificial hair or from an transplant from a different person, in those cases were there is no available donor hair from the person.
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The answer in a word is “no.” Since it is almost unheard of not to have enough donor hair to do an eyebrow, I almost have to assume that your problem is one of severe alopecia areata termed “alopecia totalis,” a condition in which there is no scalp OR eyebrow hair. That is about the only condition I can think of that would prompt the need you mention. I sympathize with your situation, because I do realize how important the eyebrows are to completing the framing appearance of the normal facial structures.

The only other person you could get hair from and have it be accepted by your body would be an identical twin, which I’m assuming you don’t have. Artificial hair implants have been used in Italy, Japan, and Australia but are illegal in the U.S. I doubt they would be useful in constructing eyebrows, as they cause a lot of “fibrosis,” which is a hardening and slight swelling of the skin tissues around the hairs, and also causes a fair amount of redness and inflammation much of the time, all of which would look very unsightly in such a visible spot as the eyebrow location. A very artistic tattooing by a professional would be one way of approaching this problem, but it’s important they do it in such a way that the eyebrow looks like it has a little “texture” to it and doesn’t simply appear painted on.
Read the Story

In the mid nineties I had two scalp reductions and a total of 900 micrografts from Bosley in Beverly Hills. The scalp reductions never really worked out too well leaving me with very visible scaring and a weird scar that runs to the very back of my head. I have been forced to wear a hair piece for the past 11 years just to hide the bad cosmetic appearance of the hair transplant. I was reading on your site that these types of issues can now be fixed with modern hair transplantation. How common is my situation and will I ever be able to get out from under this hair piece if I have a modern day hair transplant?
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Your situation is more common than you would think. Whether or not you will be able to take off the hair piece and go without really depends on many factors. Most importantly is how much viable donor hair you have and will it provide enough coverage in the areas of thinning or loss to satisfy you. It would be very helpful if you could forward a few photographs. Your situation could then be evaluated and your options will be given to you. Many hair transplant physicians are now starting to see patients coming to their clinics with this same scenario or something very similar. Often a significant improvement can be made and the patient is at some point able to stop wearing the hair piece. Read the Story

I am a 59 year old female with female pattern thinning, confined to the top, temples and areas of the crown that need comb overs. Mother has the same problem, so did maternal grandmother.

I had reactions to Minoxidil so I do not use it. My question concerns the use of the lasercomb. It appears to be endorsed by many hair replacement centers, however I never see any endorsements by hair transplant surgeons themselves.

I would like someone to comment on the use of laser hair combs. Thank You.
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I would LIKE to tell you that the reason you haven’t found any hair transplant doctors offering laser comb services is because such serious clinicians are averse to offering quack remedies and therefore shun “miracle machines”.

I would also like to tell you that all HT doctors are driven by reason and result, rather than misdirection and money.

But I can’t.

The truth is, there are plenty of HT docs offering magical laser treatments- and they really aren’t hard to find at all. Read the Story

I am 22 years old and I have a receding hairline. My father started thinning in the front in his early 50′s and has a pretty decent head of hear. My mom’s father and brothers only experience a receding hairline and never had any hair loss in the crown area. I have very thick hair but the front has receded, am I a candidate for hair restoration?
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This is an excellent question. Whether to perform a hair transplant on a young man is a very controversial area among hair transplant specialists. My approach to this situation is based on the following considerations:

1. Hair loss when you are young (e.g. early 20′s) can be especially difficult because this is the time of life when you are typically entering the job world and actively dating. Hair loss can have a significant effect on self confidence and self esteem.

2. Hair loss due to male pattern baldness is a life long progressive condition. Any treatment plan has to be based on this fact. Having a strong family history of extensive baldness in one or both sides of the family makes it more likely you will experience the same fate. This makes a hair transplant more risky. Read the Story

I am a 52 year old female. A little over 1 month ago I had a forehead lift which left me with a bald spot around the front forehead incision line. The area is approx. the size of a quarter which is mostly in front of the incision line but extends slightly behind as well. The surgeon states she is unsure why this area lost hair. She says she has not had this happen with any other patients. I also have lost hair volume throughout my head. Is this a normal hair loss issue after a forehead lift and do I have any options that might help regrow the hair.
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Hair loss is a potential complication of surgical brow lifting and forehead lifting. Fortunately, this problem is uncommon for most patients who undergo surgical rejuvenation of the brow and forehead regions. There are several factors that can influence ones predisposition to losing hair following surgery and two primary patterns in which hair can be lost.

Technical issues related to the performance of the surgery can contribute to postoperative hair loss. Factors which compromise blood flow to the hair-bearing scalp set the stage for unexpected hair loss. Inadvertent disruption of the scalp’s blood supply, aggressive surgical cautery at the wound edge and excessive tension along the incision line are three of the most common causes of post-surgical hair loss. Read the Story

I’m 41 years old and have been losing my hair since around the age of 24. I’ve been on propecia since it came on the market which has really slowed my hair loss down. I’m around a Norwood class 4 but I have a lot of hair in the hair line. Do you think it’s ok to have a hair transplant performed to fill in my crown now that I am above the age of 40 and have maintained a lot of hair for all of these years?
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Without seeing your scalp, I will have to speak in generalities. I am very pleased you have been on Propecia. As I am sure you are probably aware, Propecia is able to stabilize male pattern balding in up to 90% of men as long as they continue to use it. Before talking about transplanting your crown, I would like to focus on the last part of that statement. Propecia controls hair loss, but it does not cure it. If you were to stop taking Propecia, your balding would resume. However, worse than that, it is possible that your balding could actually catch back up to where it would have been at age 40 had you not been using Propecia at all. If you have been using Propecia since age 24, that suggests that you could lose a tremendous amount of hair over a year or two period if you stopped taking Propecia. So before considering whether you want to have your crown transplanted, you need to be certain that you are willing to continue taking Propecia indefinitely. Even if you are committed to long-term use of Propecia, please keep in mind that it is possible that you could develop side effects down the road that would necessitate its discontinuance. That would be quite unusual after having used it for such a long period, but we very rarely see men who develop enlarging breasts (gynecomastia) after many years of taking Propecia. Read the Story