Hair Restoration and Replacement

It used to be that the only hair restoration for women possibilities were wigs. I remember the first time I saw my grandmother without her wig on. I was sure it was a new monster from Friday the 13th. Anyway, luckily for women there are now all kinds of options when it comes to re-growing hair. There are also many different levels of hair restoration cost so it is no longer a problem of not being able to afford the get rid of that bald spot or to increase your thinning hair.

For years the only opportunity for problems with hair loss was directed at men. The subject seemed to be taboo for women except for the use of wigs and other female hair pieces. This was OK but talking about any other possibility to regrow hair was absolutely not acceptable. Because of this the women could not have access to the best hair restoration methods.

Part of this was also because of the technology available. When hair implants, or hair plugs, were originally first started being used in the US the techniques utilized did not allow for dealing with the thinning problem associated with female pattern baldness. When a man suffers from male pattern baldness he usually has a section of scalp remaing that can be used as a donor area in order to harvest hair follicles to be used as implants in the bald area. The first attempts involved removing sections of scalp with hair still growing and then implanting these sections into the balding area. This resulted in little islands of hair surrounded by a sea of baldness. The result were not very nice. In fact, most people said the person looked more ridiculous with hair plugs than he did bald.

In the 1970’s the technique was improved giving a better more natural look but still required a full section of hair in order to have donors. A section of scalp that contained a lot of hair follicles still growing would be removed and then the resulting gap sutured up. An assistant then removed each of the follicles from the scalp scrap and prepared them for insertion. The cosmetic surgeon then placed the follicles into the baldness area. This method allowed for implantation in such a way that looked much more natural. Each individual follicle could be inserted in such a way as to match the surrounding hairs in the bald spot. This was a great improvement but hair restoration doctors still had not learned how to deal with the reality of needing a portion of scalp with thick hair growth.

As the method got more advanced the hair restoration costs also came down. The procedure was no within reach of the average man as hair restoration clinics sprang up all over.

Hair Restoration For women

It wasn’t until the 1990’s that procedures were really revolutionized to the point that women could expect to have a good result. FUE, or follicular unit extraction, was developed during this time and it changed how the hair implant or hair procedure was used. With this new process a cosmetic surgeon could remove individual follicle units and then transplant them were needed. The meant it was no longer necessary to have a donor are with a thick growth of hair. Instead the hairs could be removed from several portions of the scalp and then inserted where necessary. Hair from other parts of the body could also be transplanted in this way. These body hairs worked well for filler but it was still necessary to use hairs from the head at the hair line to match the rest of the line.

Now that individual units could be manipulated the hair restorer could pick and choose where to remove the hair from. This meant it did not all need to be removed from the same spot. Thus, hair restoration for women was now a reality using hair implanting techniques.

Causes Of Hair Loss In Women

New research has changed how we view female hair loss.  Thinning hair in women is now believed to not be tied to the same causes as male hair loss in most instances.  In fact, equating male pattern baldness with female pattern hair loss is usually not done anymore.  Unlike for males, the reason for hair loss in women does not tend to be tied to age nor the genetic predisposition to thinning hair and baldness that is caused by androgenic alopecia in men.  While this is the problem in a few cases, most of the time female hair thinning has one or two other possible causes.
One possible cause of baldness problems in women is a medical condition called polycystic ovary syndrome.  This is a medical condition that may be becoming more common or it may just be more diagnosed now.  That is, this may have been a contributing factor for the need for hair pieces for women all along.
Another possible cause for baldness in women comes from auto-immune disorders.  In particular alopecia areata.  This results in bald spots as hair falls out in clumps or patches that don’t seem to have any rhyme or reason.  This medical female hair loss condition can often times be treated with drug therapy and hair replacement for women will not be needed.  If you are experiencing hair fall in clumps or patches then see your doctor as over the counter hair loss products for women will probably not be able to help you.  Only your doctor can determine what the actual cause of the thinning or balding hair is.
Telogen effluvium is a problem with balding hair that often times follow child birth, crash diets, major surgery or other traumatic experiences.  The good news about female hair loss caused by this problem is that it will generally right itself within several months or a year after the cause is removed.  For example, if you are on some sort of crazy diet (my sister was on an Oreo diet one time where all she ate was Oreo cookies) then getting the proper nutrition will make a big difference.  In this case there is no need to try hair growth products for women but again you should see your doctor about this problem.
As you can see the causes of hair thinning in women are many.  This is why there is no one answer to the question of how to stop hair loss in women.  This is almost completely different for men.  Almost all their hair loss problems and balding problems are caused by androgenic alopecia.  This is why hair transplants are common in men.  Conversely, most of the time, hair replacement for women is not that simple.  Female hair transplants can be used in some cases but most of the time hair implants are not suitable.
To show how varied the causes can be, you may also be suffering from thyroid disorders, anemia, or a chronic illness.  The point is, if you are experiencing female hair loss then the first stop you should make is to your doctor.  Find out what the problem is and then you and your health care provider can decide what would be the proper hair restoration treatment for you.