Hair Restoration and Replacement

Generally when a man starts to lose hair it starts with a receding hair line. This is the hair line that is formed between the forehead and the scalp. There are two normal patterns of hair loss at this spot. The first is known as the widow’s peak. With this pattern of hair loss there is a bald spot that forms on both sides of the front of the skull with hair still growing between these spots. For a visual representation of this receding hair line think of Dracula. His hair line is a classic widow peak.

The second type of receding hair lines is one that retreats from the forehead along it entirety. This is usually referred to as a high forehead but in reality it is hair loss from the beginning of the scalp area. Men who are trying to stop receding hair line conditions may or may not also have hair loss in other areas. It is not uncommon to lose hair at the hair line, have an area of hair growth, and then have hair loss at the crown area again. All of these conditions are known as male pattern baldness or male pattern hair loss.

Receding Hair Line Treatment

One of the most common treatments for hair loss is the FDA approved drug Minoxidil. It is usually found in the trade product Rogaine but it is also now available in generic solutions also. This drug is applied topically to the scalp in order to stop further hair loss and it will help to re-grow some of the lost hair in some of the patients. This is not a good treatment for receding hair line, though, as it does not seem to have an effect on the hair loss at this area. This may be because by the time a man decides to treat the hair loss at the hair line the hair follicles have already stopped functioning and become encased in fibrotic material. Once this happens, there is not hope of reactivating these follicles.

The best use of this hair loss treatment is as a means to keep more hair from being lost. At the first signs of unnatural hair loss this should be applied to the scalp in order to keep the hair as healthy as possible.

Receding Hair Line Surgery

One method that does seem to work well for repairing a hair line that is receding is to have a hair restoration procedure performed by a cosmetic surgeon. With this method the doctor removes healthy, growing hair follicles from an area of the scalp that still has good hair growth and implants them into the area that is balding. The skill of the surgeon is very important for this procedure as the hair line is usually the first thing people notice when they look you in the face. An uneven hair implantation procedure is very noticeable.

The reason this method works so well is because of the nature of the nature of the hair loss when a man has male pattern baldness. The affected areas of the scalp are first the hairline at the forehead and then the vertex and crown of the head. Very rarely do men end up having hair loss at the back of the head. This offers a great area to remove hair follicles from in order to implant into the balding area.

Treating a receding hair line is one of the hardest aspects of hair loss treatments. Usually, a man will be in denial about the hair loss until it is too late to save the hair follicles in this area. At that point, the only option is to transplant hair follicles from other areas of the scalp.