Approximately two-thirds of men in the U.S. will experience some degree of hair loss by the age of 35. This number increases to 85% by the age of 50. And for 25% of these sufferers, hair will start to thin before the age of 21. Male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia, is the cause of 95% of hair loss. The genetic origin of this condition means there’s not much one can do to change his fate. And once hair loss sets in, most will go to great lengths to cover it up, stop it from progressing, and (hopefully) reverse it.

Social Psychology Of Hair Loss

Bountiful hair has been a social, cultural, and sexual sign of likeability, success, and virility for a long time. Many men associate hair loss with the end of their youth and go through a range of emotional responses, including denial, loss of confidence, low self-esteem, and shame. It is common to experience stress and anxiety, which, in extreme cases, can lead to depression and mood disorders. Some men may develop a social phobia that causes them to avoid parties and social gatherings.

Hair Loss In The Work Place

The range of adverse emotions one may feel when suffering with male pattern baldness can easily bleed into the work place. One may skip out of meetings and dodge interactions with co-workers. It is even possible for productivity to go down because of this added stress. Studies show that it is not uncommon for a man to alter his career path due to loss of hair.

Hair Loss Help

If you are suffering with hair loss, you’re not alone. It may be helpful to remember that baldness has also been a historical, social, and cultural sign of intelligence and stability. However, if you are suffering from hair loss due to an accident, disease, or severely botched hair restoration surgery, Hair Peace Foundation is an excellent resource to help you during such a traumatic time.

Those who are experiencing androgenic alopecia and are after a cure have many treatment options, but the only permanent solution is hair transplantation. Contact Dr. Umar through his free online consultation for more info.

FUE is defined as a hair transplant technique in which a small round punch is used to extract follicular units (meaning groupings of 1, 2, 3, and 4 hairs) from a patient’s bald resistant areas. These grafts are then transplanted into a patient’s balding areas. In the state of California for example, the punch cutting of each hair graft by the FUE technique is considered surgery and must only be performed by a licensed doctor. The success of the procedure lies in respecting the integrity of each and every graft from the point of extraction to the point of implantation.  Any rough handling of the grafts or air drying of the graft would compromise the integrity of the graft and the success of the procedure.

Neograft is a device currently being marketed as an FUE tool. The premise on which such machines work is based on speeding up the delicate process of FUE. The principle is based on a 3 step process:

1. A electromechanically rotated punch cuts around the follicle to separate it from surrounding attachments
2. Next, a suction mechanism sucks out the separated graft to a receptacle were it is stored.
3. Next, using a pneumatic (air) system the graft is pushed into premade slits in the balding area.

In the opinion of Dr Sanusi Umar who is a pioneer and world renowned leader in the field of FUE hair transplantation; these principles upon which the neograft and similar machines are based upon could constitute a problem to the integrity of the graft hence the success of the procedure. He states that points of concern for him include:

1. The use of air suction to transport the grafts from the cutting end to the receptacle poses a potential threat to the survival of the graft. He states that the most common cause of graft death is air drying. For that reason, the use of a method that literally air dries the graft even for a few seconds is potentially deleterious to the graft “we are suppose to baby in the FUE method”.
2. The air suction method would potentially strip the graft of some of the tissue surrounding it. This tissue serves as a protective buffer from inclement elements like air, dryness and trauma. Removing this buffer is potentially deleterious to the survival of the graft
3. As the graft is forced by suction forces through a tube that leads to the receptacle, it will be exposed to further trauma
4. Any process that is based on air used in pushing grafts into the balding area again introduces the potential for deleterious drying forces and may harm the survival of the FUE process

The net result is a graft that has been through the ringer. It has been subjected to deleterious drying forces, stripped of some of its protective tissue coating and banged and knocked about tube walls. Time would tell if the survival of grafts that are extracted using devices like the neograft would compare favorably to FUE grafts that were treated more delicately.

Dr Umar’s views regarding the neograft have been voiced by Dr William Rassman and Dr Robert Bernstein who were the first to coin the term Follicular Unit Extraction – FUE.

Dr Umar advices that all patients seeking FUE must ask the clinic or Dr to provide ample pictorial and / or video evidence of patient results that they have done using the FUE device in their arsenal. Very that  you are not shown at HT results performed by the strip method that is being passed off as FUE.

Dr Umar, mentions that the claim made by the proponents of neograft in that it is good for performing body hair transplantation aka BHT needs to be proven. Dr Umar who is perhaps the world’s leader of body hair transplantation with a very impressive portfolio of BHT based results states that the grafts derived from the beard and other body locations are more delicate when compared to head derived grafts, and would be less resistant to the destructive forces of air drying to which that grafts produced by neografts and similar devices could be subject. Dr Umar again advices patients to ask for proof of BHT results before committing to surgery by any clinic or individual. If they claim to be capable of performing BHT, ask them to show you results on patients they have performed BHT on using the neograft machine. In the case of BHT; ask to see these patients. Examine the beard and body areas from which the grafts were extracted.

Finally Dr Umar states that there are reports of the vendors of some of these touted FUE machines  supplying novice clinics with a retinue of non physician trainers that in some instances end up performing the FUE procedure in the clinic on an as- needed basis. However, in many states of the United States, that would be illegal. Unlike the traditional strip method of transplantation, each FUE graft must be punched out individually, one at a time directly from the scalp of a living breathing patient. This is considered surgery. Hence the removal of even a single FUE graft by person (s) not licensed to perform surgery in the state or country of jurisdiction would be illegal and must be reported to the controlling medical board for the offense of the practice of medicine by unlicensed persons. The clinics and / or doctors condoning such a practice would be liable to sanctions by their governing medical boards which in some instances might include license suspension or revocation. It is thus in the interest of the public that such practice are not condoned. Potential patients must ask the clinic or doctor before booking for the surgery for a written assurance that all surgical aspects of the procedure would be performed by a person who is licensed to perform surgery in the location of the clinic. Ask the doctor at consultation who would be performing your surgery.  Obtain the names of the persons performing your surgery for future reference.  This concern for the marketing hype heralding the neograft and its potential for its use in performing poor quality transplants by novice clinics and doctors or worse non-doctors is supported by the observations of Dr William Rassman.

Dr Umar opines that neograft as an FUE tool has lot of room for improvement and at this time is not the FUE answer. A device that avoids the use of air and avoids the banging of the grafts against narrow tubes and stripping it of its protective coating would be a step in the right direction and right now, neograft is not it. “The best way to perform FUE is to train with some of us that have been performing the procedure for years with a track record of consistent results.” It is a skill dependent procedure that has a mandatory doctor input that cannot be abdicated wholesale to vacuum device or non physicians.

Sanusi Umar, MD is a board certified dermatologist and the owner of the DermHair Clinic in Redondo Beach California. He is a faculty at the Harbor UCLA dermatology Division in Los Angeles.

You’ve probably heard about a relatively new hair restoration method called Follicular Unit Extraction – FUE for short. It’s an innovative approach in hair transplant technology that surgically restores hair without leaving the linear kind of scarring common with the “strip harvesting” approach. Instead of taking strips of scalp from one part of the head for insertion into another, the FUE approach relocates the units one group of hairs at a time. It’s a delicate, demanding procedure, but the results are worth it.

Recently, the Neograft device, a vacuum-based machine, has exploded on the scene due to heavy marketing. Consumers should make informed choices based on diligent research, rather than TV shows endorsements. Some HT experts have cautioned about potential problem areas with neograft or devices using suction as part of their technology in FUE. There are reports that some of these machines are being marketed to novice clinics and doctors with no formal training in either basic hair transplantation, let alone FUE techniques.

Dr. Umar is troubled by the reports he’s received of failed FUE procedures done by persons in no way qualified to perform them who are using the Neograft machine. Instead of physicians conducting the FUE, Neograft technicians are sent to clinics to perform the actual procedure while the doctor looks on. A patient shows up for surgery expecting his doctor’s hands-on expertise ends up getting operated upon by someone who may not be licensed to perform surgery in the region the clinic is located.

Remember, FUE is a surgical procedure. Every single graft extraction involves cutting the skin. Because it is surgery, it is critical that a FUE hair transplant be done by an experienced, licensed medical doctor. Because it is surgery, it is illegal in many states in America for an unlicensed person to perform FUE transplant. This author opines that when a mass-production device like the Neograft is used by unlicensed personnel to perform a delicate procedure demanding a high level of skill, the potential for disaster is exponential.

Yet, thanks to an aggressive media and marketing campaign, the Neograft machine is hailed as the best solution to FUE procedures, despite the alarm raised by experts such as Dr. Umar. Other pioneers in the field of FUE, such as Dr. William R. Rassman and Dr. Robert M. Bernstein, share Dr. Umar’s concerns about the increasing use of this machine by unqualified, unlicensed persons as well as the flaws inherent to the device even in the hands of experienced FUE doctors.

The precision required for a FUE procedure leaves little room for novice errors. Although specialized technicians do play an important role in hair transplant procedures, their function is non-surgical. Remember, FUE is a surgical procedure; it involves penetration of the tissues of the body in order to directly insert the grafts into your head. Throughout the United States, as here in California, a license from the state medical board is required before a person is allowed to legally severe or penetrate the tissues of a human being in the course of treating diseases, injuries, deformities, and other physical and mental conditions.

In other words, FUE procedures must be restricted to those licensed to practice medicine. Clinics and doctors who support FUE procedures conducted by unlicensed persons could be liable to sanctions by their governing medical boards. This is not something often pointed out in the aggressive marketing campaigns.

It can be very difficult for a consumer to cut through the noise of an advertising campaign to find the truth. But there are steps you can take to help ensure that you have a safe procedure with the best possible end result.

• Learn a little bit about the FUE procedure and what it involves. By reading this post, you have already taken a necessary step to becoming informed!
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the person who will perform your surgery. When you go in for your consultation, ask about – and write down — the names, qualifications and license information of everyone to be involved in your surgery. Find out exactly what each person’s role will be. You are the patient. You have a right to ask.
• Ask the doctor if the device uses vacuum/air suction. A yes answer to this question is a problem in this author’s opinion.

For medical professionals, the answer is also simple. Physicians looking to incorporate FUE into their practice should take time to learn from their colleagues who have the experience and proven track record in the procedure. There is no substitute for this.

Although the causes are undetermined, alopecia totalis is believed to be an autoimmune disorder in which the white blood cells attack the hair follicles. This means that the body reacts to the hair follicles as intruders, like a sickness, and must get rid of them. Stress, another autoimmune compromiser, may exacerbate hair loss for someone suffering with alopecia totalis.

Alopecia totalis can affect people at any age, but generally targets both men and women less than 40 years of age. Children and young adults are most often victims of this traumatic hair loss. Research has found that, in Western society, approximately one in 250,000 women and one in 125,000 men will suffer with alopecia totalis or alopecia universalis.

For those with alopecia areata, hair loss may correct itself within about one year. However, those suffering complete hair loss from alopecia totalis may not be so fortunate. While there have been instances of total hair restoration, the chance of hair recovery is slight in the majority of alopecia totalis cases.

There is good news, yet. There are several hair loss treatment options for alopecia totalis, universalis, and especially areata. This includes:

1.     Topical steroids (creams, lotions, etc).

2.     Injectable steroids or intra-lesional steroid injections where the doctor injects low concentrations of steroids directly into the bald patches.

3.     Oral steroids. This is often used briefly in patients with hair loss from alopecia totalis or universalis.

4.     Contact allergy inducers or irritants: akin to inducing poison IVY in the hair loss areas, chemicals are applied to the area and the changes in immunity may resolve the condition.

The white cells that attack the native hair causing alopecia totalis would also attack grafted hair; hence hair transplantation is not advised as a treatment for this condition. The Hair Peace Foundation and other hair loss organizations can be a valuable resource for more information on alopecia totalis, alopecia areata, and alopecia universalis.

If a medical professional does confirm you are experiencing significant hair loss, the Follicular Unit Extraction procedure may be able to help restore your hair and confidence. This minimally invasive procedure harvests individual hair follicles from donor areas on your head or body and transplants them via tiny, precise incisions to the scalp at just the right angle where they begin to take root. The best thing about this treatment is that it allows for an even distribution of grafts, giving your restored hair a more realistic and natural appearance.

Have more questions about your hair loss pattern? Contact Dr. Umar for a free online consultation today.

Dr. Umar used a combination of hair from the patient’s head, body and beard (called body hair transplant) to transfer over 15,000 grafts to the damaged area. Nine months later the improvement was obvious, with fuller hair along the back and sides of his head, and no scars caused by the outdated method of strip harvesting. There’s even plenty of head and body hair left in donor areas should touch-ups be needed down the road.

The patient was also pleased with the style options available to him due to Follicular Unit Extraction; he was able to sport a crew cut without the fear of exposing a linear scar!

Curious about options to fix your severe baldness? Contact Dr. Umar for a free online consultation today.

This patient’s hair loss became catastrophic after a failed transplant procedure at another clinic that used the outdated “strip harvesting” technique. He was left with a huge scar, pluggy implants and an unnaturally straight hairline. He came to us hoping to have his strip scar hidden, his empty crown filled and his hairline made to resemble that of a celebrity.

Dr. Umar used body hair transplant to relocate hair from his beard, leg and nape of neck during the restoration effort. As you can see, the patient was quite pleased with the result of his hair restoration.

Have more questions about your hair loss options? Contact Dr. Umar for a free online consultation today.

In the interview he described the wide range of services offered at the clinic, including the Follicular Unit Extraction procedure. Dr. Umar also explained how body hair transplant are done, how to determine if someone is a good candidate for that procedure, and answered questions about how long the procedures typically take as well as pain management issues.

It’s a good interview! Take a look.

Curious about your options to fight baldness? Contact Dr. Umar for a free online consultation today.

Using body hair transplant, Dr. Umar used the patient’s chest, stomach, and beard hair to accomplish a superior and natural looking repair. He was yet another patient who had given up hope before discovering Dr. Umar’s expertise with body hair transplants.

Need options for your severe hair loss issue? Contact Dr. Umar for a free online consultation today.