Synthetic Hair Implants for Female Hair Loss?

Question

I would like to restore my hair's thickness again and I am considering synthetic hair implants procedure. I am 23 and female. I know it may be medical reason to my hair loss but also I want instant results without using extensions to damage my hair. Am I a candidate for synthetic hair implants? And roughly, what are the costs?

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

You need to know why you are having hair loss or anything you do may make it worse.  Synthetic hair can cause scarring, infection, and further hair loss.  While searching for an instant result, you may end up with a life long problem.

Sanusi Umar, MD · Answer

Synthetic hair implants are not FDA approved. They entail high risks of infection and other complications since they are a foreign substance that is likely to be rejected by your body.

	Synthetic hair fibers are obviously not able to grow. So if they should ever break off, not much can be done to replace these hairs.

	
	Most patients who have had these implants have not had very good long term experiences.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

30 years ago my partner and I treated 50-100 patients with infection of the scalp secondary to synthetic implants. Not only that but the fibers usually break after time.

Kevin Ende, MD · Answer

The last patient that I saw with synthetic hair implants from another country, had 100 cm squared of scalp loss. We placed a balloon expander for 3 months and were able to advance the normal hair 10 cm to cover the defect. The hair needed to be drilled from the skull as it had worked its way into the outer table of bone. As far as I know, these implants are not legal in the USA.

Bessam Farjo, MBChB · Answer

I imagine the cost is around a dollar per hair fibre. Although banned in the USA, synthetic hair fibres are available for use in the rest of the worldIm sure there are people who are very happy with them, but like other doctors in this thread I have also see many problems of infection and inflammation. Even without this, last I checked around 30% of the hairs break off every year and need replacing. If you insist on doing this, you may want to treat a small area as a test first to see how you react to it.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Synthetic hair fibers that are transplanted into the scalp were banned by the FDA in 1983. They are still available in parts of the world - and companies in Japan and Italy manufacture various types. The fibers were banned by the FDA for many reasons including high risks of infection, scarring, cyst formation, poor long term outcome and concerns over long terms risks (including cancer).

Jack Fisher, MD · Answer

Synthetic hair implants have been tried and have uniformly been failures.  The most common problem is infection and I am unaware of any currently available of any synthetic implants.

Ben Behnam, MD · Answer

I have seen numerous patients with synthetic hair fibers. My experience has not been good. The fibers are not FDA approved. These artificial fibers are synthetic polymers that become brittle and tend to break off at the skin level; Further, 15-20% of the fibers are pushed out of the scalp every year.  Infections may also develop at the site of the implants, requiring removal of the foreign material. Hair dryers causes the fibers to frizz and damages the fibers at the skin level. So, I would stick to regular hair transplant. They are more natural.

	Dr Behnam

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

There are medications that may help restore your hairs thickness. Synthetic hair transplants are not available in the USA and there are reasons for this. Rejection and infection may damage the hair you already have. This procedure carries all sorts of risks. I would suggest extensively researching the negative side effects so you are fully aware of the potential future risks in a worse care scenario.

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

I would unequivocally recommend that you do not use synthetic hair implants. After treating many problems, including infection and rejection, my partner, Dr. Toby Mayer, and I testified before our state government which passed legislation making the the placement of these synthetic fibers illegal in the State of California.

Synthetic Hair Implants for Female Hair Loss?

Answers (11)

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