Is Hair Restoration Permanent?
Many men who experience thinning hair or hair loss wish for a cure for their condition. Their hair loss can lead to feelings of depression or inadequacy. Most men (who do not shave their heads on purpose) love knowing they have a thick full head of hair. They often say they feel more powerful, youthful and energetic as a result. Women also suffer from hair loss, though this is a lesser-known fact. It may be even more devastating for a woman to suffer this condition because it is often thought of as a mostly male problem, and most of the treatments and support structures that exist are aimed at men.
What is the solution for hair loss in men and women? Does this condition have a truly permanent solution? Much of the focus in recent years has been on various forms of hair restoration. Hair restoration encompasses medical or surgical methods of treating hair loss. Hair loss can have many causes, but often the underlying mechanism is an increase in dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a metabolite of testosterone, surrounding the hair follicles. Any truly permanent hair loss treatment needs to permanently block the formation of DHT found around the hair follicles.
Medical forms of hair restoration include medications like Propecia and Minoxidil, popularly known as Rogaine. Propecia works by blocking the enzyme that turns testosterone into DHT. It is, however, only effective for as long as it is taken, so by some it may not be seen as “permanent”. It also may not restore full hair re-growth, either. It is in general not recommended for women. Minoxidil or Rogaine is a cream that can stop hair loss and regrow hair. While it’s not certain how the cream works, it is known that the medication opens up potassium channels and widens blood vessels. Perhaps as a result, the hair follicles benefit by having more blood and oxygen flow to them, enabling them to remain healthy and produce thick healthy hairs. Like Propecia, however, Minoxidil’s effects are lost after a stoppage in treatment, because neither of these drugs is capable of permanently reducing the amount of DHT affecting the hair follicles.
Surgical forms of hair restoration involve transplanting follicles from a part of the scalp that currently has hair, to a part of the scalp that does not. It is basically a form of skin grafting, only instead of moving healthy skin from one area of the body to another, the surgeon is moving hair follicles. It is a time-consuming procedure but for many it is the preferred route of hair restoration treatment.
Many people tout surgical hair restoration as a permanent solution to hair loss. For some, it may be, and for others, perhaps not. There have been reports of people experiencing thinning hair a few years after hair transplantation, though this may not be very common. This issue of thinning hair can be corrected with an additional transplant surgery. However, this occurrence illustrates that for some individuals, the hair restoration surgery is not enough to permanently counteract their genetic tendency toward hair loss.
Individuals coping with hair loss would do best to consider whether they would prefer the medical route, which requires daily maintenance, or the surgical route, which takes more time but may end up needing only occasional maintenance every few years, if any is needed at all. Perhaps hair restoration in its current state is not truly permanent, but since medical science knows the cause of the most common types of hair loss, it is possible that a permanent solution will be in sight in the years to come.
