Capillus272™ low level laser therapy (LLLT) deviceThe Capillus272™ is a portable low level laser therapy (LLLT) device for home-use treatment of hair loss in men and women. The mobile, battery-powered device uses red laser light, emitted from 272 laser diodes, to stimulate the growth of terminal hairs. The total power output of the device is 1,360 milliwatts (mW). Treatment is recommended for 30 minutes every other day.
Synopsis: Running, continuous sutures and metal staples are the two most common closures used by hair restoration surgeons today. This commentary discusses the pros and cons of various suture and stapling methods and makes an argument that, with new advances in techniques, staples are possibly the best means of closing the donor wound during a hair transplant procedure.
Could a recently FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis also be a cure for a common type of hair loss called alopecia areata? The drug is called Xeljanz, and that’s what Dr. Brett King, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale, is hoping.
Researchers from the Harvard Medical School surveyed five clinical studies designed to measure the effects of low-level light laser therapy (LLLT) on androgenic alopecia in both men and women. In each case, they found that red and near-infrared LLLT was a safe and effective treatment option for both men and women with genetic balding.
Q: If my hair is just starting to thin, when should l have my first hair transplant? -- T.O., Bayonne, NJ A: It is best to wait until at least 25 before considering hair restoration surgery, although there are exceptions. The most important thing is to wait until you have hair loss that is a cosmetic problem. A hair transplant is a treatment for hair loss – it should not be used as a prevention. When hair loss is just starting, medical therapy is generally a better choice than surgery as it can both regrow hair and prevent future loss.
Q: I heard that Propecia was being used originally for shrinking the prostate, is this true? -- M.D., New Hyde Park, N.Y. A: Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is not a prostate medication that was serendipitously noted to have a side effect of re-growing hair, it is a medication that was known all along that it might be able to slow hair loss and/or to grow hair. Although finasteride was first approved for the treatment of prostate enlargement, the researchers at Merck knew, at the outset, that there were families whose members were deficient in the 5-alpha reductase Type II enzyme and that the men in these families neither developed prostate disease nor went bald. In addition they had no long-term problems from the lack of this enzyme. Merck used this natural model to develop a medication that could block the 5-alpha reductase Type II enzyme – the result was finasteride. Because the only approved treatment for symptoms related to prostate enlargement at the time was surgery, Merck developed finasteride as a medical treatment for this condition prior to developing finasteride as a potential treatment for men with male pattern hair loss. This also meant that Merck would understand the safety profile…
Q: I heard that a smaller per cent of women are candidates for hair transplants compared to men. Is this true? A: Yes, that is true. Women more commonly have diffuse hair loss where the thinning is all over the scalp. This means that the donor area (the back and sides of the scalp) are thinning as well. If the donor area is not stable, then there is no point in doing a hair transplant, since the transplanted hair will continue to fall out. Remember, the transplanted hair is no better than the area where is comes from. On the other hand, women with stable donor areas can be great candidates for surgical hair restoration. The stability of the donor area can be assessed using a procedure called densitometry and should be part of the hair loss evaluation when you see your physician.
Q: Hi! I wanted to ask if after a hair restoration surgery the transplanted hair will eventually fall out? Because the surgery is to restore hair mainly for people with genetic hair loss which results from DHT, won't the DHT make the new follicles implanted fall out as well? -- B.C., Stamford, C.T. A: Hair loss is due to the action of DHT (a byproduct of testosterone) on hair follicles that cause them to shrink and eventually disappear (the process is called miniaturization). The follicles on the back and sides of the scalp are not sensitive to DHT and therefore don't bald (miniaturize). When you transplant hair from the back and sides to the bald area on the front or top of the scalp the hair follicles maintain their original characteristics (their resistance to DHT) and therefore they will continue to grow.
Q: Why does a hair transplant grow – why doesn’t the transplanted hair fall out? -- J.F., Redding, C.T. A: Hair transplants work because hair removed from the permanent zone in the back and sides of the scalp continues to grow when transplanted to the balding area in the front or top of one’s head. The reason is that the genetic predisposition for hair to fall out resides in the hair follicle itself, rather than in the scalp. This predisposition is an inherited sensitivity to the effects of DHT, which causes affected hair to decrease in diameter and in length and eventually disappear – a process called “miniaturization.” When DHT resistant hair from the back of the scalp is transplanted to the top, it will continue to be resistant to DHT in its new location and grow normally.
Q: What are the fibers in Toppik made from? -- A.P., Toronto, Canada A: Toppik is made from an organic protein called keratin - the same protein that comprises one’s hair and nails. It works by thickening the hair and adding color to the scalp, making the hair appear fuller in those with hair loss or general thinning. Read more about Toppik and other products on our Cosmetic Camouflage Products page. Read more about Hair Loss page.