Current Hair Restoration Options
Premature gray hair and hair loss are some of the most common known genetic conditions. Restoring lost hair remains to most of us a distant dream. However, there are some existing options for replacing lost hair and several of them may seem surprisingly effective even to the most skeptical hair loss sufferer. The three main methods of hair restoration known today include surgical hair restoration, non-surgical hair replacement and therapies for regrowing hair using pills and topical applications. The main technique of surgical hair restoration today is hair transplantation, whereas wigs, hair system, hair loss concealers and hair thickeners are the most popular aids used to replace the lost hair by non-surgical means. The non-surgical camouflage is obviously the quickest and the least expensive method of replacing lost hair, though not tremendously popular, as many people believe that hairpieces and concealers cannot withstand rain and wind and do not look natural. In spite of this common belief, some of them are extremely resistant to external influences and can appear very authentic. Hair systems and concealers are often the only options of restoring lost hair for people suffering from non-hereditary forms of hair loss such as unpredictable alopecia areata.
Surgical hair restoration happens to be clearly the most expensive method of restoring lost hair but also the most elegant solution. It can only be used in people suffering from hereditary baldness and burn patients. Hair transplant candidates are required to have sufficient hair density at the back of their scalp and many women suffering from female form of hair loss with its typical diffuse balding pattern do not meet this condition. Hair restoration surgery has made great strides in the past twenty years or so with the introduction of the two main techniques used today - follicular unit transplantation and, more recently, follicular unit extraction. These advances in hair transplantation enable the grouping of hairs very close together, which gives modern hair transplants a completely natural look. The main weakness of hair transplant surgery, besides the cost and the pain involved, is the limited supply of donor hair and the need for multiple surgeries to achieve the final change. Furthermore, patients have to commit themselves to the use of finasteride or any other adequate medicinal hair loss therapy for the rest of their lives to prevent further loss of their existing hair.
Hair loss pills and topical applications do not, despite great scientific advances and the discoveries of recent years, provide satisfactory hair restoration results yet. The two most commonly prescribed hair loss drugs, finasteride and topical minoxidil, can be effectively used to reduce hair loss but their ability to regrow lost hair is relatively limited. Their effectiveness generally declines sharply in the later stages of the balding process. There is no existing medicinal or natural hair loss remedy that can deliver adequate visual results comparable to either hair transplant surgery or non-surgical hair replacements such as hair systems and hair loss concealers. Although there are some promising medicinal hair loss drugs currently under development, especially in the area of genetic research, the ultimate pill for baldness is not expected to become commercially available within the next fifteen years or so. Other advances in hair science, such as hair multiplication or the generation of new hair follicles in wounds, also hold out some promise but it seems that hair transplant surgery will in the next ten to fifteen years remain the most complete method of hair restoration.
