Hair Restoration is the Key to a Golden Future - By: Tim Vincent

Hair loss affects people in many ways however the dominant thing that it does is destroy confidence. Without confidence you have difficulty going about everyday life. Life is ultimately a competition and without all your natural attributes, such as a full head of hair, it is difficult to see how the competition is fair. It can be a problem for relationships or potential relationships, job prospects, standing in friendship groups and perhaps more importantly how we see the rest of the planet. It is no wonder that people with hair loss are increasingly looking for ways to restore their hair so that they can look forward to a bold future and not a bald one.

Hair restoration is any technique used that allows you to replace hairs in an area that is bald or balding. There are 2 main strategies that are used. The first uses the stimulation of existing hair follicles to liven them up and start making hair once again. The second involves transplanting hair from areas of the scalp where it continues to grow to regions that are thinning or bald. There are a number of methods used for both strategies. Absolutely the stimulation of hair follicles is a great technique in the early stages of baldness, where as the transplant method is better for older people with more extensive hair loss.

There are a number of techniques that can be used to stimulate the hair follicles that you still have. There are medicines such as Minoxidil which despite first being used to help with the problems of high blood pressure have since been found to promote hair growth in the scalp as a side effect.

There are yet other drugs and herbal remedies that help by blocking the results of testosterone male hormones on the functioning of hair follicles. These prevent a problematic hormone called DHT forming in the hair follicles. Persons with genetic forms of baldness appear to have follicles that are very sensitive to this DHT chemical. They respond by producing far weaker hair and finally shrinking away to nothing. These drugs and herbs reawaken the hair follicles allowing them to go on to manufacture healthy hair once again.

Another treatment involves the use of low power laser light. This laser light in the infra red band of the electro magnetic spectrum has been found to stimulate respiration and blood flow in scalp tissue. This keeps the hair follicles healthy so that they go one to make hair. The general methodology for these treatments is to first enliven the scalp cells, get them to make good hair and then maintain them in this growth phase so that they don't shrink away and die off.

The alternative for people with bigger bald areas is to use some kind of hair transplant. This always involves a level of hair transplant surgery. treatments in this area have improved a lot over the past few years. They all rely on the fact that hair from the back of the head always continue to produce good hair no matter where located. For some reason the hair follicles remain resistant to the DHT hormone even if they are transplanted.

Early techniques used to employ strips of scalp skin complete with follicles. This has the problem of causing a lot of pain, scarring at the back of the head and the problem in getting a natural look in the new position. New methods use microscopes to find and extract small groups of hair follicles and transplant them to the new area. In this way the level of disruption to the donor site is very small, which reduces scarring in this area. During the transplant of these follicle groups it is possible to make sure that they look natural in their new position by putting them at the correct angle and direction to lie evenly in comparison to the remaining hair.

In terms of hair transplant cost the older techniques are the cheapest because they are less labor intensive. However, as can be seen there are larger benefits in the newer follicular unit treatment. It is a problem that some clinics are still using the old methods purely because of the extra profits that can be made.

These hair restoration treatments that have been detailed can be seen as a life long process with people starting with regrowing and keeping hair follicles and then progressing to hair transplants later in life. Costs can be high as visits to clinics have to be continued over many years. However, the results can be very good and potentially life changing making a bold future a reality.

About the Author

There are a number of different ways to achieve hair restoration. Only with all of the facts at hand can people be expected to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages without having to just accept sales hype. Further information on the alternatives for people looking into hair replacement and hair treatment can be found on T J Vincent’s web site Hair Restoration

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