Thank you for your question.
You submitted your question without a photo and you're asking, is it possible to kill
a dormant follicle by using a 0.7 millimeter punch when placing a graft. Well, I think
it's fair to conclude that you're considering hair transplant surgery and you are concerned
about the viability of dormant follicles when you have your surgery.
Well, I can certainly help you understand some of the science and the rationale behind
a treatment strategy that I recommend for patients every day in my practice. A little
bit of background, I'm a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island
for over 20 years. I am also the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers, a
system that we developed using extracellular matrix and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to help
hair transplant heal better going back now about 7 or 8 years. And we've developed
a treatment that non-surgically helps people with hair loss for men and women suffering
mostly from genetic pattern hair loss. So certainly, I am no stranger to the challenges
of dealing with the consequences of hair transplant surgery. This as I said was the rationale
behind our Hair Regeneration treatment.
When you place a hair graft, you are dealing with a scalp depending on the advanced nature
of the hair loss with a certain percentage of existing hair that you can see and a certain
percentage of hair that you cannot see. When you think about the science of hair loss that
is androgenetic alopecia, there is a continuous decrease in the growth cycle or the active
growing phase while there is a prolongation of the resting phase known as the telogen
phase. What that means is that a certain significant percentage of hairs are actively not growing
at any given time.
Now what you are certainly aware of clearly by the way you asked your question is that
there is also a certain percentage of collateral damage during a hair transplant depending
on the relevant density of existing hairs. It was always a rationalization by every hair
transplant surgeon that when you are placing grafts that hairs that were thinned were going
to go away anyway.
Well, when we were doing hair transplant and using extracellular matrix and platelet-rich
plasma (PRP), we found that thinning hair actually became thicker. From this, we were
able to develop painstakingly over several years a process we call TrichoStem™ Hair
Regeneration. What I learned over time is a way to reactivate hair that was not growing,
thicken thinning hair and prolong the lifespan of existing hair.
With further time of treating a wide range of patients from young males with aggressive
pattern of hair loss to older males with minimal to moderate progressive hair loss to women
of all ages of the same age range that we developed a classification system and that
classification system factors in gender, age, age of onset of hair loss, rate of progression,
degree of progression and other variables that we have customized so that the dosing
and the strategy is optimized. But when I came down to comparing in certain patients
the question of transplant versus injection, it was clear that a significant percentage
of patients actually had results with our injection exceeded not just one but two hair
transplants. The reason for this was that the reactivation of dormant hairs, hairs that
you are concerned about being potentially traumatized or damaged permanently by a placement
of a stab incision in the scalp or the placement of a hair during a transplant.
So when I look at our results, I look at thickening of the thinning hair then I realize that it
was an optimal strategy even for patients who are still going to get a hair transplant.
So it wasn't necessarily a question of either/or but what I basically explain to my patients
every day is that every hair that is present, thick and is providing scalp coverage is a
hair that doesn't have to be transplanted which means that in my practice, when patients
come to me let's with frontal progressive hair loss and they still want to get a frontal
hairline developed, well part of the strategy is to first do Hair Regeneration treatment
and also in some patients, the addition of a DHT blocker depending on our algorithm in
which some patients or some males of higher DHT sensitivity or would still benefit from
a DHT blocker more than others, then we can see after the course of a year to 18 months
or so how much scalp coverage there is with this strategy. Like I said, every hair that
becomes thick and covers the scalp is a hair that doesn't have to be transplanted. And
it's a reminder that there is a limit of the number of grafts that can be harvested
and placed. So it actually works very well in synergy.
And it's important to understand that hair transplant is one treatment strategy but pharmaceutical
and stem cell or Hair Regeneration technology are all part of an overall treatment strategy.
There is no cure for hair loss but there is a way to optimize coverage maximally for every
individual based on the variables that we look at.
So to answer again the question of whether or not you can get a dormant follicle traumatized
by a punch, the answer is yes. Yes, you have to go straight through the skin and if there
is a hair follicle underneath that and the stab goes through, you are either going to
damage the hair follicle directly or just vascular compromise. The trauma of surgery
and inflammation can also comprise the survivability of the grafts as well as existing hairs.
We've had patients who have come who had mega session surgery where 90% of the grafts
did not survive. So we have people coming from around the world who have had transplants
and have been very challenged in getting the outcome they were hoping for. It doesn't mean
you shouldn't do a transplant but I would suggest just thinking about what is the potential
to maximize coverage before you do the transplant.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.
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