It is every smooth headed person’s silver lining and the closest the medical field has come to magic. Infamous for turning the life of the bald around and restoring the confidence of thousands of fur-less scalp bearers. Thousands have traveled overseas to have the opportunity at lower prices and the most sought after procedure in medical tourism; hair transplants.
Hair transplants are very popular that the odds you yourself or someone you know has had the procedure are high. However, not many people know how they work.
How does hair loss happen
In order to fully understand how the technique works one has to understand first how hair loss happens. The most prevalent category of hair loss is androgenic alopecia. Androgenic alopecia is the type of hair loss that happens due to androgens (male hormones).
Androgenic alopecia is the cause of the notorious pattern of baldness. The condition attacks the hairs in the crown causing the are to thin leaving the hairs in the back unchanged. How this pattern forms is genetically predetermined and depends mostly on the follicular units’ resistance to androgens.
The hairs in the crown area not immune to androgens and hence are susceptible to falling out. Over repeated exposure, the follicles eventually close. On the other hand, the hairs in the back of the scalp tend to be immune to androgens and tend to withstand the attacks.
What are hair transplants
Hair transplants are the only permanent solution to hair loss. The procedure consists of two main techniques FUE and FUT. The former being a cutting-edge minimally invasive procedure whereas the latter is a more aggressive version of the procedure. FUE being the convenient option happens to be the treatment most prone to development and enhancements to yield more efficient variants such as Sapphire FUE. By reading the Vera Clinic Blog, you can learn more about these different techniques.
How do hair transplants work
Now that we understand how hair loss, we can begin explaining how hair transplants work. The procedure relies on the immune hairs in the back to treat the crown area. Since the hairs in the back are resistant to androgens, the procedure works by relocating those hairs from the back of the scalp to areas of hair loss.
Upon relocation, the follicular units do not lose their androgen resistant properties and continue to grow in their new location.
Are hair transplants permanent
HAir transplants are permanent in certain alopecia conditions only. Androgenic alopecia, traumatic alopecia (hair loss from accidents), and traction hair loss (hair loss from styling) are all treatable by hair transplants. However, unfortunately, hair transplants cannot reverse alopecia areata.
Since alopecia areata stems from an autoimmune disorder and does not discriminate against follicular units, it makes hair transplant and impossible option. In order for hair transplants to succeed, there need to be resisting or healthy follicular units to relocate to problem areas, other wise the procedure is doomed to fail. An autoimmune disorder does not take on a pattern and neither are there resisting follicular units making the procedure impossible.
In closing
Hair transplants are successful procedures that can reverse hair loss in conditions like andorgenic alopecia, traction alopecia, and traumatic alopecia. The procedure is permanent as it relocates healthy and viable follicular units from areas of hair growth to areas of hair loss.
