Bernstein Medical - Center for Hair Restoration - Hair Loss in Women Taboo

Hair Loss in Women Taboo

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New York PostAs the taboo of women’s hair loss gradually dissipates, more women than ever are seeking treatment for hair loss caused by stress, pregnancy, genetics, and a variety of other medical conditions and behavioral causes. Dr. Bernstein is quoted in an article in the New York Post identifying the upward trend of women seeking hair loss treatments.

“Approximately 40 percent of women experience some form of hair loss in their lives, and stress is the second biggest cause after genetics,” says Dr. Robert Bernstein, a professor of dermatology at Columbia University and a hair restoration specialist with a Midtown practice. “Over the last five years there had been a 50 percent increase in the number of women coming to our office to seek help.”

The article discussed four women of varying ages who sought treatment for different hair loss conditions. Among the treatments discussed are Rogaine for Women and Laser Therapy.

Read about Women’s Hair Loss
See before and after photos of Female Hair Transplant patients

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Thinning Hair Nightmare - Cosmopolitan Magazine - January 2014

A patient who visited Dr. Bernstein to learn about her hair loss authored an article on her experiences which appeared in the January 2014 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. In an article titled, “Thinning Hair Nightmare,” the patient wrote about her struggle in coping with thinning hair, the taboo of talking about women’s hair loss, and ways in which she attempted to overcome these physical and emotional difficulties.

On visiting Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration:

I dialed up New York dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon Robert Bernstein, MD — I’d just seen him on Oprah talking about hair loss, so he had to be good — and booked an appointment.

Dr. Bernstein ordered a blood test to rule out common hair loss causes, like thyroid disorders and hormone abnormalities, and he made sure my diet and any medications weren’t to blame. Everything came back normal.

On the diagnosis of hair loss in women:

During a follow-up visit, the doc broke out a densitometer — a crazy flashlight-looking tool that measures the changes in diameter between hair — dove into my mane, resurfacing moments later with a diagnosis: mild androgenetic alopecia, aka female pattern hair loss (FPHL). “It’s the most common type of hair loss in women, affecting perhaps one-third of the adult female population,” he explained. It occurs when a woman’s hair follicles shrink in response to her body’s own hormones.

On the taboo of female hair loss:

In search of solutions, I turned to the blogosphere… While the topic of female hair loss feels taboo, here were thousands of women talking openly — not just about the physicality of the issue but also its psychological toll. […] Whenever any conversation turns to hair, I push myself to talk openly about my issue. I’m determined not to let this condition make me feel ashamed. With more than 30 million U.S. women affected by FPHL, we should find strength in our numbers.

Dr. Bernstein was the featured guest on the Doctor Oz Show, where they discussed women’s hair loss and how the subject is often, unfortunately, considered taboo.

Consultations for female hair loss patients

Video: watch Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Mehmet Oz discuss the taboo of female hair loss

View before & after hair transplant photos of some of our female patients

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Hair Restoration in Women, Dr. Bernstein Featured in 'New You' Magazine

Dr. Bernstein and Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration were featured in New You magazine’s article “My Hair Lady.” The main topic of the article is hair transplantation in women, however it also touches on hair loss in women, Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), medication and other products.

On Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration:

The Manhattan office of Bob Bernstein, just steps from Park Avenue, is the kind of space that makes successful men feel at home — a good thing for one of the country’s foremost specialists in hair restoration (and the co-author of Hair Loss for Dummies). The layout is part design statement, part science lab, slick with granite, slate, and glass and full of microscopes and high tech gizmos. Among the space’s most noteworthy gadgets is one of only twelve robots in the world programmed to help perform hair transplants, which has a home in Dr. Bernstein’s office.

A female patient of ours discussing the “taboo” of hair transplantation in women:

Sara Lyles, 62, whose hair loss was caused by a styling technique, said that when Dr. Bernstein performed her hair transplant 12 years ago, the subject was taboo. “Women never talked about it, and I was so embarrassed that I avoided all social functions,” she recalls. “I’m African American and I slept in large tight rollers to keep frizzing under control. The traction destroyed my frontal hairline.”

At the time, she would have been mortified if someone found out she had undergone a transplant. “Even my hairdresser had no clue,” she says. “Dr. Bernstein not only gave me my hair back, he gave me my life back.”

Dr. Bernstein on the amazing progress of the hair restoration industry:

As Dr. Bernstein emerges from his operating room, sporting green scrubs and green Nikes that match the room’s tiles, he shakes his head and sighs. “When I went into practice back in the eighties, transplantation was almost barbaric and Rogaine was the only alternative,” he remembers. He marvels at the advances and choices he and others now have to over. “I never would have thought I would be working with robots, lasers, and cloning.”

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