Hair restoration doctors in the US are actually unregulated unlike most other surgical specialties. Most surgeons are required to be certified by a board of their peers and thus must show proficiency in both knowledge and skill in the area of their expertise. This is not the case with hair restoration surgeons. In fact, any MD or OD can put up a sign claiming to be a hair restoration doctor and start doing transplants.

Hair Restoration Doctors

With this in mind, it is very important that you actually choose a physician who is proficient in the intricacies of treating hair loss with surgical procedures. You can quickly end up with a very bad problem if you don’t make a good choice. The first place to start when considering a particular clinic is the Better Business Service. Check to see if there have been any complaints against the doctor who will be performing the procedure or the clinic where it will be performed. If the results of a hair restoration procedure were so bad that the patient complained to the BBS then you really don’t want to have anything to do with them.

Next, you can talk to your family physician but be aware they may not really have any knowledge of the procedure and the results. If a clinic is real bad your health care provider may steer you clear but you can’t be sure of that because they are often times afraid of law suits. As with any medical treatment, it is always better to start with a professional who knows your particulars first.

Once you have chosen a surgeon and clinic then go for a visit. Hair restoration is a business and the personnel at the clinic understand that. Be prepared for a sales pitch because their job is to sell as many of the surgeries as they can. Do not sign anything on this first visit. Tell the person you are meeting with that you are only looking for information. This can be a big investment and if the clinic won’t take the time to give you all the facts you need to make a good decision then you don’t need to do business with them.

Hair Restoration Photos

Ask to see before and after pictures of patients who have been treated at that particular facility. These should be both shot from the exact same angle and should show the balding area before the procedure and after. They also should be provided with dates so you have a realistic time line of what to expect for hair growth. Don’t accept a before pictures which is shot from the top of the head showing the bald spot and then a frontal shot showing the results. Nothing can be compared if the photo are not taken from the same angle. Generally you want to see about ten sets of photos. Again, if they can’t provide these then walk away.

You should also ask for a list of names and phone numbers of clients you can contact. If they don’t have any satisfied customers then this should be a red flag. When you call these prior patients be sure to ask about the procedure, the follow up care, the length of time required for good hair growth, and if they had any problems. Most people are happy to give you information if you just ask the right questions. Ask if they would use this clinic again and if they have any pointers for you.

Choosing a hair restoration doctor can be a shot in the dark if you aren’t willing to do some research. The more time you spend up front the more likely you are to have good results. This procedure will be with you for the rest of your life so getting it done right the first time is very important.

Cause Of Baldness

95% of men who are going bald have a condition known as Androgenetic Alopecia. This is a genetic condition that is passed down from your mother’s or your father’s side of the family. You may have heard it referred to by its more common name, Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). Like the name implies, when a man develops a bald head due to this condition he tends to lose his hair in a certain pattern. Most men start with a receding hair line and then lose hair back toward the crown. Others may start with hair balding at the crown and not lose it at the front.

Regardless of the pattern, what is the cause of the hair loss is a hormonal metabolite known as DHT or dihydrotestosterone. The DHT attacks the hair follicles and actually stops them from producing hair material. The hair falls out and you have a bald spot on your head. There are two keys to stopping this loss of hair. You can either slow down production of DHT or inhibit the DHT from bonding with the hair follicles.

Baldness Cure

There are two drugs that have been approved by the FDA as being effective as a baldness cure. They are Finasteride and Minoxidil. Both of these drugs need to be used early in the process to limit the amount of hair lost. Once the DHT has attacked the hair follicles and caused them to stop production it is very hard to get them energized again. In fact, most of the time the follicle is encased in fibrotic material and it is basically entombed.

If you don’t stop the balding problem early then you are forced to look at some other cure for baldness. You will probably need to have a hair implantation procedure if you want hair on your bald spot. With this baldness treatment, a surgeon removes growing hair follicles from the back of the head and implants then into the area with hair loss so they can grow like your natural hair. This method works well for someone who is going bald but it is expensive. The cheapest alternative is to treat the condition before the hair actually falls out.

Going bald is not laughing matter but you can find relief from the jokes.

1. Will there ever be a cure for baldness
2. When will there be a cure for baldness

There are actually ways to treat hair loss now that are quite effective at helping a person to keep his or her hair much longer than would have been possible in the past. The FDA approved drug Finasteride is very effective at slowing down or halting the hair loss when it is caused by Male Pattern Baldness. It actually attacks the root of the problem which is high levels of the hormonal metabolite DHT. DHT is responsible for shutting down the production of hair at the hair follicles and if it can be limited then the hair will continue to grow. There are two problems with this potential cure for balding. First, it is only to be used by men because of the possibility of birth defects, and it does not do much to help hair start to re-grow once the follicles have been attacked and are shut down.

This problem with re-energizing hair follicles that have stop production is really the crux for any cures for baldness. We can slow down the speed with which a person loses the hair, as long as the treatment starts early enough, but we can’t make the hair follicles start working again.

Another drug that is approved by the FDA is called Minoxidil. This one is applied to the scalp and actually will inhibit the DHT molecules from bonding with the hair follicles and thus stopping hair production. It is safe for women but it really is only effective about half the time and it seems to be effective when the balding is on the top and crown of the head. And again, it will not re-grow the hair once it has fallen out of the scalp.

Both of these drugs will actually get a few hairs growing again that haven’t been dormant for long but you are not going to see great results. The cure for male pattern baldness once the hair falls out does not seem to be either one of these drugs.

Once you are actually bald or have bald spots the most effective, and sometimes only effective, way to get hair growing in that spot is to transplant hair follicles from another area of the head. Usually, when a man suffers from male pattern baldness there is still good hair growth at the posterior area of the head and these hairs can be removed and implanted in the balding area. These hair follicles will then grow for years to come and give you a very nice head of hair. If you have already lost your hair then contact a Hair Implant doctor today and see what they can do.

The search for a natural cure for baldness has been going on for thousands of years. Even the ancient Egyptians had baldness cures they tried to revitalize the hair follicles. We can help keep hair from falling out with modern medicine but once it is gone the only alternative is to have new hair implanted into the bald area.