This question, asked by a member of the Hair Loss Discussion Forums, was answered by Coalition physician Dr. Bernardino Arocha
I am sure all hair colors are suitable for hair transplantation but would you say darker hair would get a potentially better result? This raises another question: The lighter the skin color the more noticeable the recipient area would be right after the procedure and a couple days after than for a person who has darker skin?
Hair color does have a significant impact on hair restoration outcomes. It is the amount of contrast between the skin color or complexion and the hair color that is important. That is, on a balding scalp, dark hair with pale complexion will appear thinner, while dark hair with a dark complexion will camouflage better hence appear thicker. For more information on hair characteristics and their impact on hair transplant results, please see: How Hair Characteristics Impact Hair Transplant Results | Hair Loss Q & A
Dr. Bernard Arocha, M.D., ABHRS
—-
David – aka TakingThePlunge
Assistant Publisher and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum
Follow our community on Twitter
Watch hair transplant videos on YouTube
Technorati Tags: hair transplantation, hair restoration, balding, hair transplant, Hair Loss
I have heard that a few new companies are coming out with stronger lasers for treating hair loss. We will have to wait to see if this really happens. I still tell patients that lasers probably help more patients with quality of hair rather than quantity of hair. However, I have had many patients over the years who are very happy and feel they have more healthy hair than before the treatments. I have also had patients who did not see any real, noticeable improvement in the appearance of their balding areas. Like many other medical treatments the success varies from patient to patient.
You should absolutely bring up a discrepancy in planning to your hair restoration doctor pre-op! To not discuss this may result in you being less satisfied, feeling swindled (even if no swindling occurred) and possibly with the wrong treatment plan to deal with your hair loss. On occasion, patients ask for something that is not right for them but most can be educated (not brainwashed) with a fairly simple conversation.
Well, it varies from patient need to patient need, and from physician to physician. For example, a young African-American man came to my office today for a consultation. He’d been to 3 other hair transplant surgeons and had a list of questions.
Yes, you can measure a hair loss patient‘s DHT (the hormone directly responsible for genetic balding) levels. The two most common methods of measuring DHT , as well as many other hormone levels, is through a blood draw or a saliva panal. In my experience, saliva panals are more accurate in determining a patient’s available hormone levels (including DHT and Testosterone).
Although minimizing friction and tension on the sutured donor area is a wise decision, you can probably do this with limited time and money spent shopping for a new pillow. According to hair transplantation experts, it’s ideal to keep your head elevated around 15 – 20 degrees to avoid excessive contact with the sutured region and minimize potential post-operative swelling in the forehead. Certain hair transplant patients report success using travel-like, “neck” pillows filled with air, beans (like in a bean bag), or foam. These types of pillows should be reasonably inexpensive and available just about anywhere. Additionally, other hair loss experts, such as Coalition surgeon Dr. Glenn Charles, say that simply putting a towel over a regular pillow should be sufficient if the patient doesn’t want to buy or utilize a neck pillow. Regardless, it’s probably best to ask your hair transplant surgeon for a list of post-operative instructions and follow the suggestions for sleeping post-hair transplant operation.
As you are just 25 years old, you could develop a full Norwood VI pattern later and could even go on to develop a Norwood VII pattern. If you are not already using medical stabilization, you should consider using Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil). Whether you choose follicular unit transplantation (FUT) or follicular unit extraction (FUE) there is a limit to how much scalp hair you will be able to transplant. You may not have enough scalp donor hair to cover your whole eventual balding area well.