Hair Restoration Blog

Q:

Dear Dr. Mohebi,

Hello, I am really interested in doing hair transplant by you, as my friends in California highly recommended you. I wonder if you can please help me with this questions:

1. Which method would you recommend, FUT or FIT?
2. I have had Alopecia areata in the past in back part of my head. It happened several times, last time 3 years ago. I wonder how it will affect my chance for doing hair transplant. I really appreciate if you can please answer me in details.

Thank you so much for your attention and time.

Sincerely,
S T

A:

Thanks for you interest in our hair restoration services.  I will answer your questions in the order they were received:

1. Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) is the gold standard method in doing hair restoration. FUT is done in two methods 1. strip technique and 2. Follicular unit extraction (FUE, also called FIT).  It has to do with your goals in hair restoration and you can read more about advantages and disadvantages of FUE in my hair restoration blog.  Planning on doing one vs. the other needs to be discussed with the patient during the initial consultation.
2. Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disorder and usually a reversible condition in which a patient loses hair in a patchy fashion.  It affects transplanted hair the same as normal hair.  I generally make sure that patients don’t have active AA before proceeding with hair transplant.  A physical examination is extremely important in differentiating between male patterned baldness and diffuse alopecia areata (a rare type of alopecia areata).  In undiagnosed cases of alopecia areata, if a patient gets a transplant in the balding area that hair is lost due to AA, there is a risk that patient will lose the transplanted hair with the same mechanism.

Dear Dr. Mohebi:

Hello, my name is KT I am a chemistry student at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan.
I found your email address on the ISHRS website. I am doing research on solving hair loss, and I wonder if you might be able to help me. I noticed on your website that you are working with hair loss, so it seems you have knowledge about these issues. I know you must be very busy, but I hope you do not mind if I ask you a question.

In your research and in your opinion, do you think that the biggest cause of hair loss is inheritance?
Thank you very much for your time and attention to my question. I hope to hear from you at your convenience, and I am grateful for your assistance with my research. Thank you once again, and have a nice day.

Sincerely,

KT
Kwansei Gakuin University
Japan

A:

You are right about inheritance and hair loss as male patterned baldness is concerned.  When you are a man (have testosterone) so your body can make DHT (dihydroxy testosterone) and are genetically prone to male patterned hair loss, you have two of the three sides of the balding triangle.  You only need the third side which is time to force the other two factors to work on your hair and cause miniaturization of hair and have them fall out.  Considering that men have testosterone, genetics become the most important factor in men who experience male patterned baldness.

Q:

I have heard high estrogen in males can contribute to hair loss. Is that true? I am a 40 year old man with low sex drive and female patterned hair loss.

A:

High levels of estrogen in men could be seen in many other conditions such as estrogen-producing tumors, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, chronic alcoholism and advanced liver disorders. Elevation of estrogen in men can cause sexual dysfunction, change in body fat distribution in a female pattern and breast enlargement and secretion.

Balding is not a typical sign of excess estrogen. In fact one of the signs of estrogen deficiency could be hair loss in female patients. A common type of this kind of hair loss is seen in telogen effluvium that women lose hair due to sudden drop of estrogen and progesterone levels. Although excess estrogen is generally not the trigger for hair loss, it can affect the balance of other hormones and indirectly cause hair loss. The latter is not a common cause of hair loss in men or women though.