dihydrotestosterone (DHT)

Women’s Hair Transplant

by Y on November 7, 2007

Women's Hair TransplantDoes anyone know anything about hair transplants…I’m really considering it. I have an appointment on Nov 8… Has anyone here had a hair transplant? What do I need to qualify for one?
Thanks,
gypsy

**********************
Dear Gypsy,

It is my opinion that most women who suffer with typical female pattern hair loss are not candidates for hair transplantation. The reason being, usually women’s hair loss exhibits itself in a diffuse thinning all over the scalp leaving no stable donor hair. In order to understand what I am referring to it is important to first understand how a hair transplant is performed. Since I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here, with permission I am republishing the hair transplant information provided by The American Hair Loss Association

Understanding Hair Transplants (from the American Hair Loss Association)

At this point a hair transplant can only be performed by harvesting DHT resistant hair from the back of your own scalp, and then transplanting it into the balding areas. Typically, men experiencing male pattern baldness will remain with a permanent wreath of hair surrounding the sides and the back of their head, this is where hair is harvested from for transplantation. This hair is genetically programmed to continue to grow even in the worse cases of male pattern baldness.

The exception is men suffering with diffuse hair loss. These men suffer with a similar form of hair loss as women; the hair loss is distributed throughout the entire scalp leaving the sides and the back very sparse. If this hair were to be transplanted, there would be no guarantee that the hair would continue to grow in the recipient area due to the fact that this hair seems to be inherently unstable and just as susceptible to DHT as the hair lost on the top of the scalp. For this reason the vast majority of women suffering from hair loss should never have a hair transplant.

————–

Since hair transplantation is a good option for nearly 90 percent of the balding men in the country, women think that they will make a good hair transplant candidate as well, but this is usually not the case. Very few women have the type of hair loss that would make them good candidates, and that’s because most women have what’s called diffuse hair loss. That means that women have an overall thinning in all areas of the head, including the sides and back, these are the areas that act as donor sites in men. It is from these sites that the hair is removed for hair transplantation to other areas of the head. In men, the donor sites are called stable sites, which means that the hair and follicles in those areas are not affected by the DHT that shrinks follicles elsewhere on the head in those with androgenetic alopecia, or what’s commonly called male pattern baldness. In female pattern baldness, however, these donor areas are usually unstable. They are thinning, [click to continue…]

{ 18 comments }

Helen’s Story

by Y on September 25, 2007

After years of driving myself crazy, using all sorts of products, including polysorbate 80, on my hair, I got a wig. The woman was wonderful, she put me at my ease and came in with styles and wigs that she felt would work. I kept with my natural hair color, very dark brown. It was 1987 and I was 49. Some of my hair showed at the sides of my face and under the back of the wig. That added to the natural look. About five years later, I was fully coloring my hair, my problem was on top, and decided to try a wiglet. I had a beautician cut my hair to fit and she showed me how to use it. Wiglets are lighter than wigs and you feel better because more of your hair is uncovered. The color of my dye and the color of their dye matched perfectly.

Now I am 69 and almost a year ago decided to stop coloring, even tho I knew getting a match would be difficult. After several mistakes, one too dark, one too light, to be put away for the future, I have found something that is fairly close. When I went for a haircut today, the girl did not know I had a wiglet on until I began taking it off. She was nice enough to cut my wiglet to match my haircut. [click to continue…]

{ 6 comments }

Does Nutrition Affect Hair Loss? Is There a Hormonal Connection?

by Y on September 25, 2007

Does Nutrition Affect Hair Loss? Is There a Hormonal ConnectionI think if you ask 10 different people, you might get 10 different answers. This definitely is a subject of much debate. My opinion is that nutrition certainly does have some effect on hair loss, having said that I don’t think that genetic hair loss can be reversed or stopped simply by nutrition alone, but it makes for a good adjunct. For myself, I’ve attempted to employ strict nutritional perfection for long periods of time in an attempt to help my hair loss, but it never seemed to really help me, but it possibly could help you because we all all made up so differently and the causes of our hair loss are different as well.

You should always try to eat as nutritionally balanced as possible, good nutrition provides for a better more stable and clear mind, which is always helpful when dealing with anything traumatic or stressful, such as hair loss. Also, I see food as a drug, it can have immeasurable unpleasant damaging effects on the body or really great wonderful effects. Ever eat something that causes you to be sleepy, wired, cause an allergy attack or become nauseated? Something is taking place in our bodies when we eat different foods, and the effects are going to vary from person to person. I would never downplay the importance of good nutrition, not just for hair loss, but more importantly for your health. Later in this article I’ll point out the connection between the body’s insulin level and it’s testosterone level. [click to continue…]

{ 33 comments }