Hair Restoration Blog

Q:

Hello. I am considering getting a hair transplant and had some questions for you. I am 27 years old and began losing hair around age 21 immediately after using the drug accutane. I was on a very high dose and took more than the recommended amount during those couple weeks because I thought I would get better results. Within 3-4 weeks of starting the medication I lost an incredible amount hair. After losing the hair I read online that hair loss is a possible side effect of accutane and stopped taking it immediately . My hair went from being as thick as possible (my barber would using special thinning scissors because it was so thick) to being able to see my scalp within a month. The hair loss started in a diffuse pattern about 1-2 inches above my hairline and initially the affected area was about the size of my hand. Over the next 6-12 months I lost a ton of hair and was probably shedding a couple hundred hairs a day. I also had a burning sensation on my head for several weeks after I stopped using the medication. The shedding gradually slowed down over time but the hair I lost did not regrow.

A:

Many medications like Accutane may have hair loss as one of their side effects.  If your hair loss was only because of the use of this medication, it should have been improved after stopping it.  You  started losing your hair at the time that most people show early signs of Male Patterned Baldness (MPB).  Being on Accutane may have accelerated the pattern that you were supposed to develop, but probably was not the only reason for your hair loss.

Q:

I was told that a spot has opened up for my hair transplant surgery. I told them to slot me in, but now that I’ve jumped into the deep end I’m a bit nervous. My nerves don’t have to do with what it will look like six months or a year from now, but for the weeks following the surgery.
I need to take the next day to really meditate on this. Although my hair loss does bother me, it’s not as if I’m noticeably bald. So I’m deciding if this is something that makes sense for me.

A:

It is completely normal to have a touch of nervousness prior to this elective surgery. Since it is an elective procedure, it is common to have questions and/or
reservations. We need to remember that it is simply hair and not some life threatening procedure! Many patients have this reluctance and there is never a clear or definitive answer aside from your intuitive feelings.

Your particular situation is for the enhancement and detailing in order to complement what you already currently have. Your hair loss is probably going to progress in the future but again, it depends on when you want to address the issue.

Having experienced seeing many other patients who had similar feelings before their hair restoration procedure, I think you will very happy you did it!! Either way, I support whatever decision you make. US Hair Restoration is always going to be a resource for you with whatever questions or concerns you have regarding hair loss and the treatment options available.

Meditate  on that assurance and clarity will present itself!

Hair Care Beverly Hills

Here is the content of the interview with US Hair Restoration’s Medical Director, Dr. Mohebi done by BuziMoms which is published in hair care Beverly Hills.  The interviewer asked several hair loss and hair restoration questions from Dr. Mohebi based on the requirements of the visitors and readers of the site.  Here are the questions and Dr. Mohebi’s answers:

An Interview With Dr. Prasa Mohebi, M.D. , A Qualified Hair Restoration Surgeon For Moms In Beverly Hills

BuzyMoms: If a hair loss patient has already had a transplant with another doctor and is disappointed with the results, can the procedure be redone or is repair possible?

Dr. Mohebi: Yes, hair restoration surgery repairs are a good portion of our operations performed in our Southern California offices (located in Beverly Hills, Encino and Orange County).  Many people may have unnatural results from previous hair transplants due to the older techniques, but some even have problems with recent hair restoration due to technical issues or lack of proper judgment on the part of the hair transplant surgeon. In most cases, the repair is easy and can be done in one or two sessions.

BuzyMoms: Is there a minimum age for hair loss surgery?

Dr. Mohebi: Hair transplant surgeons used to say that 24 was the minimum age to perform a hair restoration procedure.  However, nowadays microscopic techniques being used to evaluate the miniaturization of hair can assist surgeons in predicting the final pattern of hair loss. By being able to predict each patient’ s  final stages of hair loss, we are able to see where the pattern of baldness is heading and recommend hair transplant surgery at an earlier age.

BuzyMoms: Won’ t my bare scalp be showing in the back of my head once the donor hair is taken?

Dr. Mohebi: If you do not plan on shaving your hair, your donor wound will never be visible.  However, if you plan on shaving your head for any reason, you may need to have a FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction procedure done rather than the general FUT procedure.  This method eliminates the visibility of a linear scar on the back of your head and is the best option for patients who plan on shaving their head or keeping their hair very short in the future.

BuzyMoms: Do you provide free consultations?

Dr. Mohebi: Yes, the initial consultation with us is always free in any of our three hair transplant offices in Beverly Hills, Encino and Orange County.

BuzyMoms: What type of information should be brought to the consultation?

Dr. Mohebi: Anything related to your hair loss and hair restoration, including medical, surgical or even cosmetic changes that you like and may help you have a better result after a hair restoration procedure.

BuzyMoms: Are lab tests required prior to surgery?

Dr. Mohebi: We may need lab work for men or women who have hair loss without showing a typical pattern that we see in most male or female patterned hair loss or in people who have lost hair due to any other medical conditions such as thyroid problems, hormonal imbalances or lack of certain elements such as Iron.  We also need certain lab works from patients who have medical risk factors for surgery like diabetes to make sure those medical conditions are under control before we can pursue with the hair transplant surgery.

It is about 8:00 Pm and we just finished performing a big FUE procedure and I thought I write this post on “who is a candidate for FUE procedure” before going home.

Recipient and donor area right after a FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) procedure.

Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE hair transplants is one of the methods of hair transplantation with Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) technique. The biggest advantage of FUE is that, the linear scar in the donor area on the back is eliminated.

FUE has been around for a few years now. Many people ask about the advantages and disadvantages of FUE when they are considering doing a hair transplant surgery. People always ask; whether or not FUE hair transplant is the right procedure for them. There are many articles on hair transplant techniques including FUE and its different methods that compared FUE with regular techniques of strip hair transplant. Hair transplant surgeon has to consider patient‚Äôs needs when planning for a hair restoration procedure. Many surgeons don‚Äôt do FUE on a regular basis. This needs to be explained to the patient. Unfortunately some doctors talk patients out of this procedure simply due to their inability to perform one. That is the same for mega session surgeries that many people are told that grafts won’t survive if place too densely only because they can not perform one. This might be due to not having enough skilled personnel or any other limitations.

Donor area with small wounds of FUE punches right after FUE procedure

The most important factor that people consider when they consider doing a FUE is elimination of linear scar on the back with FUE hair transplant surgery. It might be because they want to wear their hair short on the back or shave it at some point. FUE by far is the only method that can completely eliminate the linear scar on the donor area. Have more comfortable post-op period is the other reason for choosing FUE.

All patients need to be tested before performing an FUE procedure for their candidacy. At the Los Angeles office of US Hair Restoration, Dr. Mohebi tests all patients who are considering this method for their hair restoration. FUE test (FOX) is easily done in the office with to extra charge to the patients. We perform a mini FUE procedure under local ansthesia to test feasibility of removing intact follicular unit grafts with different FUE technique and see which method is the right one for each patient. If patients are FOX negative then other options should be discussed with them. Even if patient’s are FOX positive, they have to understand that they may have a much better yield and superior final outcome with regular strip technique. For some patients, not having scar on the donor area is more important than having higher density in recipient area and they can live with thinner hair in the recipient area, but they don’t want any line of scar at all. These patients are the best candidates for FUE if they are tested positive for that.

Los Angeles hair transplant surgeons and hair transplant centers; how do they compare with hair restorations surgeons of the other cities or countries? Los Angeles is the mecca of cosmetic surgery. Is this also true in the field of hair transplant?