Physicians recommend treatment for baldness based on the patient’s age, health, medical history, tolerance for medications, and the extent of the hair loss.
Treatments often include:
- Medications (such as minoxidil or finasteride)
- Corticosteroid injections (for certain forms of alopecia)
- Hair transplants
- Scalp reduction
- Skin grafts
HAIR REPLACEMENT SURGERY
A number of hair replacement techniques are available, although none can help those who are totally bald. The best candidate for successful hair replacement are those patients who have a healthy hair growth on the sides and back of their heads, being that these areas serve as donor areas (the spots from which grafts and/or flaps would be taken).
The four most popular types of hair replacement are hair transplants, tissue expansion, flap surgery and scalp reduction. Each is explained below.
- Hair Transplants: the doctor takes small sections of healthy scalp from the back and/or sides of the head and relocates them to bald of thinning areas.
- Tissue Expansion: A “tissue expander” is positioned underneath a healthy, hair-growing area of the scalp that is adjacent to a bald area. The tissue expander spurs the skin to grow new skin cells, which the doctor then places over the adjacent bald spot.
- Flap Surgery: A section of the bald area is removed and is replaced by a flap of hair-bearing skin, which remains attached to its original blood supply on one end.
- Scalp Reduction: Removing a portion of the bald scalp and replacing it by pulling together healthy hair-growing areas.
POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS TO HAIR REPLACEMENT SURGERY
- Patchy Hair Growth: It’s not uncommon for newly placed hair to take on a patchy look (which is usually corrected by additional surgery).
- Bleeding: Tension on the scalp from reduction techniques can lead to wide scars or bleeding.
- Failure: In some instances, grafts do not “take,” requiring a second surgery.
- Infection: Hair replacement is no different than other surgeries in its risk of infection.