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  • Hair Transplant for Males and Females
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Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick: Hair loss is something that bothers women tremendously, and also, some men. Some men accept it and don’t care about it, but there are a lot that do. Losing your hair gives you a much more aged look. You know, we are right on the verge of developing new treatments that will stimulate stem cells in hair and result in growth without transplantation, but we are years away from that, but close. But we can take hair from the back of the scalp and move those hair follicles to the front, and they will grow and not be subject to the same genetic effects that cause hair loss.

I started working with hair transplantation in 1975. So, a long time ago. Things have changed dramatically. We can now transplant hair in very small units and simulate natural hair growth, but it’s a very artistic process. And choosing someone, who not only knows how to do the surgical procedure, but has the artistic capability of arranging the hair, of the appropriate density and the appropriate pattern, is really critical.

And we also, now, have some growth factor proteins that may stimulate hair growth and may decrease the risk of scarring. There are many different methods of taking the grafts. Some result in a scar across the back, but some make just little tiny holes that you can’t really see. So, we have a lot of options for hair transplantation now.

And hair loss occurs not only from genetic reasons, but commonly from cosmetic surgical procedures. Facelifts pull the hairline back, brow lifts pull it back, and they also thin out the hair along the frontal hairline. But we can rebuild the hairline and we can restore the hair, and it will always stay. So, when we do hair transplantation, we get permanent results, and it’s a very exciting procedure. It’s something, that as I mentioned earlier, is very artistic too. So, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I love doing hair. I can take it off too. So, if you got too little, I can give you more. If you got too much, I can take it off. Take it off on the face. Take it off anywhere on the body.

Have to be careful taking off hair, because the pigment of the skin is the same pigment that is in the hair, and that is actually the target for the laser. So, we don’t want the skin to react. So, if you have brown skin and black hair, it can be tricky, but it is still possible. You need to see and expert, who knows what they are doing with lasers. The ideal candidate, of course, has very light skin and dark hair, then there isn’t so much competition with the hair follicle from the skin, and you can treat much more aggressively.

Hair Transplant for Males and Females

Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick speaks about the options for hair loss treatment for both men and women. Dr. Fitzpatrick moves hair to the front of the head front the back, without subjecting the hair to the same genetic effects that caused the hair loss.