What causes hair loss?

The main cause of generalised hair loss is called androgenetic alopecia in both men and women. In this condition, hormones combined with hereditary predisposition produce thinning and pattern baldness. Less common causes are high fever, severe infection, diet, certain medications, birth control pills, thyroid disease, childbirth and cancer treatment.

Male pattern baldness usually begins with a receding hairline and thinning at the crown and continues to progress over a lifetime. Female pattern baldness usually consists of thinning across the top of the scalp with preservation of the frontal hairline. Although the ultimate degree of baldness cannot be accurately predicted, the age of onset and thee family history are important factors. Localised hair loss occurs due to scars and localised infections.

What should I be doing?

A proper consultation with a well trained and qualified aesthetic plastic surgeon and cosmetologist at Aesthetics will help you to reach a diagnosis for the cause of your hair loss. They may recommend either medical or surgical treatment for your condition. They will also guide you to the risks and complications involved. They will also be able to tell you about the likely outcome from the treatment.

What are the options for hair restoration?

Topical or oral medications may benefit some people with early to moderate hair loss and may also be combined with our advanced surgical techniques. We provide the latest and most popular technique of micro follicular hair grafting, which provides the most natural looking, permanent solution for those who have baldness and thinning hair

What are the areas that are amenable for hair transplantation?

This technique can be applied to the scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, moustache and sideburns.

What will happen in the first consultation?

You will be asked detailed questions about your lifestyle, personal health, fitness, past medical conditions and surgeries. Previous photos and family photos will help ascertain pattern baldness. Your quality of hair will be assessed. Digital photos will be taken to document the areas of baldness. Medical tests might be recommended to aid the diagnosis. A treatment plan will be recommended. Its pros and cons will be discussed.

What is micro-hair transplant( micro follicular transplant)?

The traditional technique of hair transplantation results in crop or plug appearance of hair, which is unnatural. The technique of micro follicular grafting which we use literally consists of transplanting single hair buds ( follicles) to the recipient site. This avoids the crop or plug appearance and enables creation of a natural hairline and density.

What is involved in the surgery?

Usually under general or local anaesthetic, a strip of hair bearing skin is harvested from that area of the scalp that never becomes bald in pattern baldness. Micro or mini follicles of hair are dissected out gently and meticulously. These hair follicles are then transplanted in receipient stab incisions at the proposed site for grafting. Great precaution is taken to ensure that the angle of transplantation is the same as the required angle of growth. The whole process may involve transplanting up to 1500- 2000 hair follicles

What should I expect after surgery?

After the surgery is complete a dressing is placed on the grafted area to keep the grafted area protected. Most people do not have significant pain after surgery and is mostly controlled by simple pain killers taken orally. Some itching and swelling occurs but is generally mild.

The dressing is removed after seven days. The transplanted hair falls out in about two weeks and generally begins to grow in about three months. You are requested to be patient and it is quite disappointing to see the transplanted hair fall off. Once the hair has grown, a next session may be performed to improve the density of the hair. For most people this means two or three sessions.

What are the complications?

There are no serious complications. Very rarely bleeding might continue from the receipient donor site. This would happen if you have a clotting problem. A detailed history and investigations will try to eliminate this possibility. Infections are rare but can be controlled by antibiotics. Sometimes the donor site healing may be delayed.

Will a hair transplant work for me?

While age is not a barrier to having hair transplantation, a conservative approach is indicated to produce results, which appear natural for the rest of ones life. You don’t need to wait till you are bald to begin hair tranplantation. The ideal candidate will have dense growing hair at the donor site and realistic expectations of what the result will be.

How can Aesthetics help me?

Aesthetics can help you by approaching your problem in a holistic manner. Its team of professional experts from the field of aesthetic surgery, cosmetology aestheticians and psychologists can jointly give you advice to suit your needs. They can jointly monitor your progress and help you reach your desired goal of looking good and feeling better.