Q: I am a 33 year old women and am just starting to thin on the top of my scalp behind my frontal hairline. What should I do? Should I have a hair transplant?

A: There are a number of things that you should consider that can be effective in early hair loss. These include minoxidil (Rogaine), laser therapy, and using cosmetics specifically made to make the hair appear fuller. Lightening or streaking the hair, as well as parting the hair off to the side, will also make the hair appear fuller.

If a surgical hair restoration is performed too early and there is still a lot of existing hair in the area, the hair transplant may actually accelerate hair loss. Surgery should not be performed prematurely.

Also, it is important that the doctor check the stability of the donor area, using densitometry, to make sure that the procedure is even possible. For those women who are good candidates, and if it is done at the appropriate time, a follicular unit hair transplant is a great procedure that can produce really natural results.

Q: Dr. Bernstein, why have you not had a hair transplant? I’m sure this question gets asked a lot. Thanks. A: Yes, all the time. My donor area is very thin (so I am not a good candidate) and I have gotten used to being bald. It has been years.

Dr. Bernstein took part in a PRWeb podcast about hair transplantation in June 2007. Stream the discussion below or view the full post to read the transcript:

Q: I recently had a follicular unit extraction procedure of 320 grafts to fix an old strip scar. The donor area where the FUE’s were taken looks very diffuse – worse than the original scar ever was, it looks horrible. My doctor said this was just shock loss. Have you seen that happen where the [...]

Q: My hair is receding in the front corners and I have a spot in the crown. I am 22 years old. I’ve been thinking of hair transplants for the past few years and I am 100% sure I want to take this step. I don’t go anywhere without my hat. I hate it. Should [...]