Hair Restoration Surgery vs. Hair Loss Medications

Tremendous advancements have been made in the field of hair restoration from hair transplant surgeries to FDA approved medications that stimulate hair growth and reduce hair loss. Many people are under the misinformation that these treatments are mutually exclusive of one another; when in fact the opposite is true. Medications are often prescribed by hair restoration surgeons before and after surgery. In this article we will clarify misconceptions on hair treatments that have not been proven and provide the facts on approved medications for hair loss.

Medicine has made tremendous strides in the treatment of men's hair loss. The advent of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors such as the medicine sold under the brand name Propecia and the evolution of surgical hair restoration, for many, living with noticeable hair loss is no longer inevitable. For the first time in the human story, we can stop or slow the progression of hair loss. Through advance hair restoration surgical procedures we can replace lost hair with completely attractive natural results.

It is important to recognize and understand that the majority of hair loss treatments being marketed today are still nothing but "snake oils." Or products that only have anecdotal support in regards to their effectiveness. Ads in the back of men's magazines, radio commercials and infomercials promoting miraculous hair loss treatments.. The untold truth (now told) is that the vast majority of these advertised "treatments" do not effect the prevention and treatment of hair loss.

Bona-fide hair loss treatments are either approved by the FDA or recommended by The American Hair Loss Association while approval is being sought. Hair loss is most successfully treated through early intervention. It is important to undergo a professional medical evaluation and to begin treatment under professional recommendation. The remainder of this article will review the two treatments clinically proven to successfully treat hair loss varying degrees.

Finasteride, Proscar/Propecia

Finasteride is the generic name for the brand name drugs Proscar and Propecia. Finasteride was originally developed by Merck as a drug to treat enlarged prostate glands (Proscar). During the trials on men with prostate problems an intriguing side effect of hair growth was observed. Since finasteride had already been approved by the FDA to treat enlarged prostates in men, Merck and Company decided to pursue the possibility of developing finasteride as the first pill to treat male pattern baldness. On December 22, 1997 the FDA approved a 1mg dose of finasteride for the treatment of androgenic alopecia in men (male pattern baldness). Propecia is the first drug in history to effectively treat male pattern baldness in the vast majority of men who use it.

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Understanding How Propecia/Finasteride Effects Hair Loss

In a 5-year study of men with mild to moderate hair loss, 2 out of 3 of the men who took 1 mg of finasteride daily regrew some hair, as measured by hair counts. In contrast, all of the men in the study who were not taking finasteride lost hair.[1] Finasteride's hair-raising success is due to its ability to specifically inhibit Type II 5-alpha-reductace, the enzyme that converts testosterone into a more potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Propecia's 1 mg dose of finasteride can effectively lower DHT levels by as much as 60% when taken daily. It is DHT that shrinks or miniaturizes the hair follicle, which eventually leads to baldness. This 60% reduction in DHT has

proven to stop the progression of hair loss in 86% of men taking the drug during clinical trials. 65% of trial participants experienced what was considered a substantial increase in hair growth.

The only truly proven effective medically proven way to arrest the hair loss process is to lower DHT levels. The American Hair Loss Association recommends finasteride as the first line of attack for all men interested in treating their male pattern baldness.

Minoxidil (loniten)

Minoxidill, in pill form, was widely used to treat high blood pressure. People taking the medication were surprised to find that they were growing hair in unexpected places like on their cheeks and the back of their hands, some even grew hair on their foreheads. As happens in science in medicine we learn through an unintended consequence. Thus, Minoxidil (loniten) was the first drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of male pattern baldness.

As in finasteride researchers discovered a very interesting side effect of the drug. Some enterprising researchers had the notion that applying minoxidil topically, directly on the head, might grow hair on balding areas. Well it did this to varying degrees depending on the extent of the hair loss. For it's time, this treatment was revolutionary.

Minoxidil proved clinically to slow the progression of hair loss and regrow some hair. Today, most hair restoration doctors consider it a marginally effective drug in the cessation of hair loss. Minoxidil has no effect on the hormonal process of hair loss so its positive effects are at best temporary. Long term results are often unsatisfactory to the patient.

The American Hair Loss Association still recommends the drug for those who have not responded favorably to finasteride treatment or for those who would like to add another product to their regimen. The AHLA does not recommend minoxidil as the first line of attack for men suffering with male pattern baldness, but does recognize it as an effective treatment for a small percentage of its users.

Beverly Hills and Los Angeles top hair restoration centers and surgeons effectively combine use of medications in providing their patients with highly successful naturally appealing results through hair restoration. Hair restoration as a medical specialty has seen rapid advancement over the past several years with more anticipated in the near future. The newest technological developments hair restoration in instrumentation and procedure combined with the passion and skill of hair restoration surgeons’ bolds well for hair loss sufferers.

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[1] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hair Transplant San Diego Hair Restoration San Francisco Hair Loss Treatment Expert

Hair Transplant San Diego Hair Restoration San Francisco Hair Loss Treatment Expert

We are now having active hiar transplant offices in San Diego Hair Loss Center and also a hair restoration consultation office in San Francisco area for residents of Northern California and Bay Area of California.

How to find a good Hair Transplant Surgeon

How to find a good Hair Transplant Surgeon might be a question for many people who suffer from hair loss and need hair restoration services. There are many resources to find a good hair restoration surgeon. One is the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) that you can find a doctor in your area, but you still need to research the doctor to find out more about his practice and whether or not he is a good choice for you.

Dr. Parsa Mohebi profile in ISHRS is an example of the hair transplant surgeon profiles that you can see and contact them. There are several other websites like American Board of Hair Restoration surgery that could be used as a resource to find a board certified hair transplant doctors like Dr. Mohebi.

Los Angeles is known as the Mecca of cosmetic surgery. Hair restoration is not an exception to this rule and the demand for high quality hair transplant surgeries attracted the best hair transplant surgeons to Los Angeles and Beverly Hills in particular.

Location by itself is not a good way to find a good hair transplant surgeon. Are all Beverly Hills hair transplant surgeons capable of providing high quality hair restoration procedures? I guess we all know the answer to this question. In fact, Beverly Hills, like any other high end cities, attracts a mixed crowd of both “good and bad” specialists. Truth is some mediocre hair transplant surgeons only established their hair restoration clinics in Beverly Hills for financial gain from the patients who don’t have time to do their homework before choosing their hair transplant surgeon.

Hair transplant is considered a permanent procedure and, good or bad, the results stay with you for the rest of your life. As much as a good hair transplant can remove years from your face and restore the beauty of it, a bad hair transplant looks unnatural and stands out as unreal. Dr. Parsa Mohebi performs a few hair transplant repairs every month for hair transplants that are done with the old techniques that were once considered the standard of care.

What’s more disappointing is some of those hair transplants are done only recently and by hair transplant surgeons that could not adapt to the new techniques of hair transplant surgery. Many micro-graft hair transplants is seen done only one or two years ago which means there are some doctors out there that resist or are unable to learn the new techniques of hair restoration. Those procedures leave patients with unnatural looking hair and forces them to get another surgery to correct the pluggy appearance.

The good news is that having a bad hair transplant is not the end of the world and if your donor area was not violated badly, your transplanted hair can almost always be repaired with a follicular unit transplant that is artistically done by a good hair transplant surgeon whether in Beverly Hills or elsewhere.

Los Angeles California Hair Transplant Surgeon Dr. Parsa Mohebi

Hair Transplant Surgeon and medical director of US hair Restoration, Dr. Parsa Mohebi of Los Angeles, California was just approved for recommendation on well known site, the Hair Transplant Network, one of the most popular sites that support hair loss patients. Dr. Parsa Mohebi maintains hair transplant offices in LA, Beverly Hills, Orange County with hair restoration offices in San Diego and San Francisco. Below, you can find a link to Dr. Mohebi's recommendation in Hair Transplant Network Community.

The site, Hair Transplant Network has truly improved the hair restoration industry because of its viewer participation and their high demands from its members who participate on the Hair Transplant Network along with the participating physicians. All participating members of this site have such high expectations and constantly demand superior quality results, only physicians with a solid reputation and proven results are approved for recommendation through their lengthy and meticulous evaluation and assessment of the hair transplant surgeons.
The hair transplant forum and participating community on HairTransplantNetwork.com have had the chance to review Dr. Mohebi, his technique, and corresponding results from his patients to determine his recommendations in the last few years. Following the lengthy and worthwhile examination process, we are now happy to say that Dr. Mohebi is among the few qualified hair transplant doctors to be recommended by the renowned Hair Transplant Network.
The idea is for US Hair Restoration and its medical director Dr. Parsa Mohebi to be able to continue educating hair loss patients about hair loss treatment and hair restoration surgeries that are available to them. It made it easier for a larger group of hair loss patients to be able to see Dr. Mohebi’s outstanding hair transplant results. Please feel free to check out some of our patient results and physician comments on this site at anytime and do not hesitate to ask questions on the hair transplant forum if you have any.
Thank you all for your support and recognition!!

Tough Job Market and Hair Transplants

Once again I am answering a question a patient of one of our California hair transplant centers. The writer of the question has visited a hair transplant open house and was amazed to see a huge turnout considering that we are in recession. There has bee reports of slowing down according to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in different fields. The waiting room was found to be full of guys who were willing to spend a large amount of money a piece to restore what genetics has taken.

He mentions that men may have other incentives for getting a hair transplant done these days. And that is due to the more competitive job market. The article quotes Dr. Rassman as: “Society discriminates against bald people. If you have two people coming in for a job, and one of them is partly bald, you’ll think that the one with hair has more youth and vitality.” He continues as “Many full-headed people have a hard time understanding the problems of balding people.” The author talks to several balding men requiring hair restoration information at his hair transplant clinic. One of the patients said, a more youthful appearance would definitely improve his chances if one had to start looking for work, which he hopes won’t happen any time soon, but you never know with the way things are.

He continues, with hair-transplant surgery, healthy hair is removed from the back of the head where the hair is considered permanent and replanted up top. Sometimes it grows in nice and evenly. Other times, you have to grow it long where it takes root and settle for a comb over. And other times, judging from some websites out there, things can go very wrong and you’re worse off than when you began. Potential patients will want to shop around carefully. Rahul Gupta, 28, works as a mechanical engineer for a company he’d rather not name. (”We do a lot of defense work,” he explained.) Like David, he’s mindful of how a hirsute appearance can influence one’s career prospects.

After reading the article, I thought I personally had many patients whom had visited our Orange County hair restoration office as soon as they heard that they are being laid off from their job. The job market is tight now, but there are plenty of opportunities in getting what you want at discounted rates. For example, the standby program can give plenty of discount on the cost of hair transplant to help people who can be flexible with their schedules and fill the openings. If you are competing with a lot of qualified candidates that just lost their job, you need to use any help you can possibly get to become more competitive.

Patchy Hair Loss Causes

As we see patients in our Orange County, California office, we also receive emails from patients across the United States and overseas but this one is worth bringing on here: “I am 36 years old … I have had Alopecia Areata (AA) since12” and have been using prescribed topical and even tried hormonal injections to correct my condition. “Hairs goes in patches from all over the body …” and “I feel itching on the place from where hairs are going to fall with pain on the itching area.”

The condition of this patient is represented by patchy hair loss which is very similar to Alopecia Areata (AA) but AA is normally painless and does not cause skin discoloration. His condition may be more closely linked to Alopecia Cicatricial. Alopecia Cicatricial can cause skin inflammation and then cause hair in the affected area to fall out. His hair loss can be diagnosed through a skin and scalp biopsy that can be conducted by a good dermatologist. Once the results are in we can then review and evaluate to situation and further make a plan of attack to prevent or stop future hair loss.
Parsa Mohebi, M.D. Hair Transplant surgeon

What did we do at US Hair Restoration

Last year for US Hair Restoration was something to behold and to attest and accredit for what is to come this year. US Hair Restoration has grown immensely and continues to play an important role in the continued research for hair loss and hair restoration as well as a continued and active role at an international level.
Dr. Parsa Mohebi is an educator and an inventor and has had the opportunity to present his lecture on Psycho-social impacts of hair restoration surgery on men at an annual meeting for the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS). This event is highly regarded as one of the most important events in the hair restoration field.
Dr. Mohebi has had two of his personal articles, Psychology of Hair Transplants and How to Assess Scalp Laxity, published on this journal as their cover article within the last year. We appreciate the helps from Dr. Rassman, Medical Director of New Hair Institute and coauthor of the articles, and Dr. Jae pack for his help with the technical aspect of our invention, the Laxometer.
I was given the chance to present a lecture on Psycho-social impacts of hair restoration surgery on men at an annual meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), an important event within the hair restoration society. A medical equipment company is also working on producing the Laxometer which was invented and perfected last year. The Laxometer was invented to help hair transplant surgeons safely and precisely harvest hair and to make hair transplant procedures safer for patients.

There have had many achievements through last year and we are proud to be able to offer our patients a variety of cosmetic treatments all under one roof. Our hair restoration clinics in Encino, Beverly Hills and most recently Orange County hair transplant office have made it easy for any of our Southern California residents to receive the procedures they want conveniently and affordably. We’ve even made it easy for outside of California and outside the United States patients to get high quality hair transplants with our convenient travel packages.
With all the financial struggles and challenges met last year in America and many other countries, we are proud to still be able to offer competitive and affordable hair transplants while maintaining our high standards. We also offer a variety of financing options with 0% financing for hair transplants for qualified patients.
I should thank my staff and surgical team for all the work and effort put into making this entire process as smooth and pleasant as possible. I am also glad to have made so many new friends throughout the year. I thank all my colleagues for all their referrals to me and all my patients for continually bragging about the service we’ve given them in the process of their hair restoration.