Hair Restoration (=Hair Transpant)

Hair loss is very common among males older than 50 years. Not every man or woman with hair loss will respond to medication. This leaves those who will want to take advantage of surgical hair restoration techniques.

In the past the technique was confined to transplanting little discs of about 1 cm (=2/5-th of an inch) in diameter of skin from areas with dense hair growth to areas of baldness. This method has been refined by transferring microscopic skin transplants with only 2 or 3 hairs per unit.

A large number of these units are transferred in one surgical session utilizing a binocular operating microscope (Ref. 9). This leads to a very even look compared to the old technique. Here are pictures from a site that shows before and after pictures regarding hair restoration (use return key in left upper corner of your screen to return to this page).

See also another chapter: http://www.nethealthbook.com/hairloss.html

Other site re. hair restoration: http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Hair-Loss-Treatments/hair-transplantation-steps.asp

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Skin Diseases

Cosmetic Surgery

Disclaimer

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References

1. Habif: Clinical Dermatology, 3rd ed.,1996, Mosby-Year Book, Inc.

2. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 117.

3. Cotran: Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease, 6th ed.,1999, W. B. Saunders Company

4. Noble: Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, 3rd ed., 2001, Mosby, Inc.

5. Rakel: Conn's Current Therapy 2001, 53rd ed., 2001, W. B. Saunders Company

6. Goroll: Primary Care Medicine, 4th ed., 2000, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

7. Richard J. Lewis, M.D. at the 42nd Annual St. Paul's Hosp. CME Conf., Nov.1996, Vancouver/BC

8. Jerry Shapiro, Prof. Dermatol., UBC, at 45th Annual St. Paul's Hosp. CME Conf., Nov.1999, Vancouver/BC

9. D Seager Int J Cosmet Surg Vol 6, No. 1, 1998: 27-31.

10. Townsend: Sabiston Textbook of Surgery, 16th ed.,2000, W. B. Saunders Company

Last Modified: Dec. 2, 2007