What can a woman do about hairloss??? Any facts would be appreciated! Anyone know a woman who had an ht?

vincehair,

There is a lot to say about female hair loss.

See if this blog I wrote recently helps you give advice to your female friend: Female Losing Hair Needs Help.

Best wishes,

Falc

There are many woman that have had hair transplants. Many clinics including myself will provide patients with a list of patients to contact and visit in the local area. The video below is an example of one womans experience.

video: A womans perspective on her hair loss before and after

Hair transplants can be very successful in women and I previously posted a photo album of some of my female hair transplant patients.
Female Hair Transplants
The most common cause of hair loss in women is what we call Androgenetic Alopecia, also called Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL). This is an inherited condition in which you have certain genes which makes your hair susceptible to hair loss when exposed to the normal, small amount of androgens (male hormones) which all women have. Occasionally there are other causes of hair loss in women such as hormonal imbalance, medication side effects, or other dermatological conditions. A dermatologist or hair loss specialist should take a complete history and exam to determine if your hair loss is the result of FPHL, or if any testing is needed to rule the other rare causes of hair loss.

The video of Dr. Meja’s patient is very instructive and shows a good example of a successful female hair transplant. It is obvious from the video that Dr. Meja spent time educating this patient, so that she knew what results to expect. Most women with FPHL have poor donor, and a large area to cover. As the women said in the video she was told that she would have more hair, but not a full head of hair. It is important that you have realistic expectations of what can be done in one surgery if you decide to go ahead with hair transplant surgery. A lot or women are satisfied after one hair transplant, but many female patients need more then one surgery to meet their goals.

If you have FPHL, hair transplantation may be a great option for you. It is important to get several consults from surgeons who have experience with female patients. Look at as many before and after photos as you can and ask to surgeon to speak to some of his female patients. Also try to find photos with the hair styled and not styled to get an accurate idea of what the surgery accomplished.

Are you presently using Rogaine (minoxidil)? If not I find that most women with FPHL benefit from Rogaine, and it also lessens the chance of post surgery shedding (telogen effluvium) which is very common in women.

I hope you find this information helpful.

In health

Paul Shapiro, MD