stop hair loss

Halting and reversing hair loss is to many of us a distant dream. However, there are existing options for replacing lost hair and some of them may seem surprisingly effective even to the most sceptical hair loss sufferer. The three main methods of hair restoration include surgical hair restoration, non-surgical hair replacement and therapies for regrowing hair using pills and topicals. The core technique of surgical hair restoration today is hair transplant surgery, whereas wigs, hairpieces, hair thickeners and hair loss concealers are the popular aids used to replace the lost hair by non-surgical means. The non-surgical camouflage is obviously the fastest and the least expensive method of replacing lost hair, though not too popular, as many people believe that wigs and concealers cannot withstand rain and wind and do not look natural enough. In spite of this common prejudice, some of them are extremely resistant to external influences and can appear very authentic. Hairpieces and concealers are often the only option of restoring lost hair for people suffering from non-hereditary forms of hair loss such as unpredictable alopecia areata.

Hair transplantation is the most expensive method of restoring lost hair but also the most satisfactory solution that brings back your youthful appearance quickly and naturaly. It can only be used in people suffering from hereditary baldness and burn patients. Candidates are required to have sufficient hair density at the back of their scalp and many women suffering from female form of hair loss with its typical diffuse balding pattern do not meet this condition. Hair restoration surgery has made great strides in the past twenty years or so with the introduction of the two main techniques used today - follicular unit transplantation and, more recently, follicular unit extraction. These advances in hair transplantation techniques enable the grouping of hairs very close together, which gives today’s hair transplants a completely natural look. The main weakness of hair transplant surgery, besides the cost and the pain involved, is the limited supply of donor hair and the need for multiple surgery sessions to achieve the final change. Furthermore, patients have to commit themselves to the use of finasteride or any other adequate hair loss therapy for the rest of their lives to prevent further loss of hair in areas adjacent to the transplanted area.

Topicals and pills do not, despite significant scientific advances and the discoveries of recent years, provide satisfactory hair restoration results yet. The two most frequently prescribed hair loss drugs, finasteride and topical minoxidil, can be effectively used to reduce hair loss in many patients but their ability to regrow lost hair is insufficient. Their effectiveness generally declines sharply in the later stages of the balding process. There is no existing medicinal or natural hair loss remedy that can deliver adequate visual results comparable to either hair transplant surgery or non-surgical hair replacements such as wigs and concealers. Although there are some promising medicinal hair loss drugs currently under development, mainly in the area of genetic research, the ultimate pill for baldness is not expected to become commercially available within the next fifteen years. Other advances in hair science, such as hair multiplication, often called hair cloning or the generation of new hair follicles in wounds, also hold out some promise but it appears that hair transplant surgery will in the next ten to fifteen years remain the most popular method of hair restoration.

The first hair transplants were performed in Japan back in the 1930s. In the old days of hair transplant surgery relatively large pieces of skin of four millimetres in diameter, the so called punch grafts, were transplanted from the back of the scalp to the frontal balding area. Hair transplantation technology has evolved tremendously since then and today’s hair transplants can give you a completely natural look. This is largely due to the miniaturisation of hair transplants, which now contain only one hair follicle (holding between one and four hairs) and are less than one millimetre in diameter. These tiny, single follicle grafts are then implanted into the needle-made incisions in the bald area. Today’s technology enables dense packing of hair follicles, which gives you a completely natural-looking frontal hairline. Gone are the days of “pluggy” grafts that made you look like a toothbrush.

The two main technologies that are used today are called Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). The main difference between them is in harvesting hair follicles. The FUT is the older method, using strip harvesting, when a linear strip of skin of up to 20 centimetres long and 1.5 centimetres wide is removed from the back of the scalp and the opening is then sewn closed. This strip is then placed under special dissecting microscopes and cut into small grafts, containing just one follicular unit each. Such follicular grafts are then implanted into the bald area. The advantage of this method is its high yield, measured as a percentage of the follicles that are successfully transplanted into the balding area. This yield is around 98%. The greatest weakness is that it leaves the patient with a linear scar at the back of the head. The FUT is less expensive than the FUE and is used when a large area needs to be filled with transplanted hair in one single session.

The FUE technique uses a micro-extraction technology to harvest individual hair follicles that can be directly implanted into the small needle-made poke holes in the bald area. The FUE technique is the latest technology, introduced in 2002. Its greatest benefit is the fact that it leaves the patient with only tiny scars at the back of the head, which are barely visible with naked eye, and the healing time is significantly shorter than with the FUT, due to the small size of the wounds. However, this method cannot be used to cover large areas in one session and it is more expensive. Additionally, its yield is much lower, due to the transaction of many follicles, and since the supply of donor hair is limited, it cannot be used in patients whose hair loss has progressed above NW4 level.

Potential future surgical hair restoration techniques, such as hair multiplication and the generation of new hairs in wounds of hair-free skin, should help solve the problem with the limited amount of donor hair. It seems that hair transplantation will in the long future only be used for frontal hairlines and, therefore, the follicular harvesting should manage to provide a sufficient supply of hair implants. However, none of the aforementioned potential future techniques is expected to become commercially available before 2012. Therefore, the immediate future probably lies in improving the harvesting methods of the FUE in order to improve its yields and make it financially more affordable. The FUT with its strip harvesting, which started a revolution in the hair transplant industry less than two decades ago, may become history in the not too distant future.

Lead is one of mankind’s oldest used metals. Lead and its compounds have been employed for thousands of yeas in all walks of life, from construction to gastronomy. It was not so long ago that sewage pipes were made from lead. Anyone who has renovated an old house might have seen old leaded pipes as they were replaced. They are easy to recognise by their unusual weight. However, lead and most of its compounds are today known to be highly toxic. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that over time accumulates in soft tissues and bone. Nonetheless, because of its low reactivity and water solubility, lead poisoning usually only occurs in cases when the lead is dispersed and after long term exposure.

Lead acetate is used as a precursor to lead sulphate which acts as a synthetic pigment in progressive hair colorants such as Grecian formula, Youthair and GreyBan. It is valued due to its ability to change the colour of your white hair gradually and discretely. Like lead, it is toxic, although it has been used for centuries as a wine sweetener. Since the beginning of the 1980s, lead has been withdrawn from many products, such as gasoline, paints, pipes, etc., and in the last decade lead compounds such as lead acetate have become the target of increased attention of health authorities. Lead acetate has been banned from hair dyes in some counties of the European Union and in Canada but there is no universal ban within the EU, let alone on a larger scale. However, lead-based hair dyes continue to be available in shops in most countries in the world.

In one study, conducted in the US, people using lead acetate-containing hair colorant were monitored but no absorption of lead into their blood stream was registered. Therefore, it was determined that lead acetate-based hair dyes can remain in use but the concentration of lead acetate may not exceed 0.6%. Most of the currently available hair colorants contain a maximum of 0.4% of lead acetate. In spite of that, these lotions may not be applied on facial hair or cut scalp and if redness or inflammation appear their use must be discontinued. It is obvious that you should wash your hands with soap after applying them.

As the toxicity of lead has become more apparent in recent years and it is even suspected of being carcinogenic, bismuth has become its increasingly popular supplement. Following a ban on sales of lead-containing hair dyes in some countries, the affected products have been reformulated to include bismuth citrate. Bismuth, like lead, is also a heavy metal but it is thought to be less toxic and is not suspected to be carcinogenic. Nonetheless, the same careful handling is required when applying bismuth-based hair colorants as with lead-based products.