Hair Restoration at the Beginning of the 21 Century
Restoring lost hair is to many of us a distant dream. However, there are existing options for replacing lost hair and some of them may seem surprisingly effective even to the most sceptical hair loss sufferer. The three main techniques of hair restoration today are hair transplant surgery, camouflage using wigs, hair loss concealers and hair thickeners and medical therapies to regrow hair. Camouflage is obviously the quickest and the least expensive method of replacing lost hair, though not tremendously popular, as many people believe that wigs and concealers cannot withstand rain and wind and do not look natural. In spite of this common belief some of them are extremely resistant and authentic. Camouflage is often the only option of restoring lost hair for people suffering from non-hereditary forms of hair loss.
Hair transplant surgery is the most expensive method of restoring lost hair but also the most elegant solution. Its application is limited to people suffering from hereditary baldness and burn patients. Recent advances in hair transplantation techniques enable 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 of 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 hair.
Medicinal therapies are, despite great scientific advances and discoveries of recent years, not providing satisfactory hair restoration results yet. The two most frequently prescribed hair loss drugs, finasteride and minoxidil, can be effectively used to reduce hair loss but their ability to regrow lost hair is relatively weak. There is no existing medicinal or natural hair loss remedy that could deliver adequate visual results comparable with either hair transplant surgery or wigs and hair loss concealers.