Hair Replacement: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Hair transplants are now the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure and most procedures are for male patients who are combating male pattern baldness. This condition affects a large portion of men around the globe, however certain ethnic groups are shown to be less likely or even immune to this genetic disposition. The condition has varying degrees of severity and much is yet to be discovered about the causes of the condition.

Recent research has shown that the condition is a genetic defect that is affected by the formation of defective androgen receptors which is the hormones that deal with pre-birth and infancy sexual development. The most common symptoms of the disorder occur around the crown of the scalp and the fore brow where a receding hairline occurs. The genetic disorder of pattern baldness occurs mainly in males however is sometimes apparent in females.

The symptoms in women are different to the male ones, as a less distinctive thinning of the hair occurs as opposed to the complete hair loss males experience in certain areas of the scalp. There is no physically debilitating symptoms however patient can experience serious self esteem issues leading to depression, anxiety and other associated psychological problems. There is no evidence that male pattern baldness affects any area of sexual potency.

This issue is why many men choose hair transplant options and the procedure is completely safe and bears very low risk. As the balding occurs only in certain parts of the scalp which possess the genetically deficient coding, other parts of the scalp will still continue to grow. Hair transplant procedures work on this basis and the donor area's genetic coding is transferred to the recipient area and continues to grow.

A small incision is made in a discreet place, usually above the back of the head, then the donor hair is removed in clumps of certain follicles, the number of follicles contained in any cluster depends on the individual surgeon's preference. These transplants are then inserted into the recipient area with the follicles intact and this procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic. The genetic information from the donor area will be transferred causing hair to grow.

After a number of weeks the transplanted hair will fall out and providing the patient continues to take medication, after a number of months the new genetic information will begin new hair growth. It has been proven that medication must be taken to maintain the new hair growth otherwise the hair will go back to the pre transplant state.