What is hair restoration? 

Thinning hair and hair loss can be distressing experiences – for both men and women. Fortunately, treatment options have come a long way, and they’re continuing to improve. With the right blend of prescription therapy and surgical approaches, we can restore full, natural hair growth that looks and feels terrific with hair restoration in Austin.

Hair restoration is any procedure done to reverse the effects of hair loss, stimulate hair follicles, and regrow the hair. When you’re experiencing hair loss, hair restoration can be achieved with a number of different treatments, depending on your particular case. This can include medications, PRP treatments or surgeries, or a combination of treatments designed especially for you.

What is hair loss?

Hair is composed of keratin, a protein produced within hair follicles in your skin. When those follicles create new hair cells, old ones are pushed out. That means the hair you see on your head, face and arms is a string of dead keratin cells. Each follicle has its own unique lifecycle that determines how fast and thick hair grows in. As you age, the rate of hair growth slows down.

The three stages of hair growth are:

  • Anagen – active hair growth period (lasts two to eight years).
  • Catagen – transitional hair growth (lasts two to three weeks).
  • Telogen – resting stage (lasts two to three months). After this stage, your follicles shed hair and new hair replaces it. 

Hair loss differences in men and women

Hair loss affects men and women differently. While men lose hair in a predictable pattern that progresses from the front of the head to the back, women experience thinning throughout the scalp. This change tends to be most prominent at the part line, and when it becomes advanced, you may be able to see the scalp through thin strands of hair. 

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Did you know?

On average, your scalp loses between 50 and 100 hairs per day. Any more than this, and you could be losing more hair than normal. 

What causes hair loss?

Hair loss happens due to a variety of factors, including:

  • Aging
  • Hormonal changes, including an abnormal level of androgens
  • Childbirth, stress and certain illnesses and medical conditions
  • A family history of baldness
  • Diet

As a general rule, male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss that begins early tends to be more severe. 

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Hair of Austin at Austin Face & Body: Providing a holistic solution for hair loss

Because the causes of hair loss are so varied, all of our hair restoration treatments at Hair of Austin are as well. The solutions we recommend will depend on the severity of your hair loss; the underlying cause; and your goals for hair restoration. During your private consultation, we will examine your scalp; talk to you about your symptoms and concerns; and help you determine which treatment approach can regrow your full and natural hair. 

What hair restoration treatments are available?

There are a number of over-the-counter treatments, prescription medications, and surgeries that can help men and women combat hair loss. Non-surgical approaches tend to be most successful in slowing down hair loss and stimulating new growth when they are started early.

Once your hair follicles have stopped producing fresh hair and become dormant for an extended period of time (usually about two years) it can be difficult, if not impossible, to reactivate them. Once follicles go dormant, surgery may be the only viable option.

Prescription medications

If over-the-counter methods have not been successful, your physician may prescribe finasteride – also known as Proscar or Propecia. This prescription medication is FDA-approved to slow hair loss and stimulate regrowth in the majority of men. 

For women, Minoxidil (Rogaine) is approved to treat female pattern baldness. Some physicians also prescribe Spironolactone to block the male hormones that can cause hair loss in women. 

Hair transplantation

Hair transplant surgery can restore hair to thinning or balding areas of the scalp. It’s done via two distinct methods: follicular unit transplant or follicular unit extraction.

With follicular unit transplant, your surgeon will remove a strip of skin with hair follicles from the back of the scalp. We will then remove hair follicles from that skin and transplant them to balding sites.

With follicular unit extraction, we will remove individual hair follicles from the back of the scalp without removing any skin. Those individual hair follicles will then be inserted into the balding areas to regrow naturally.

Flap surgery

Flap surgery involves inserting a device beneath the scalp for three to four weeks to stretch the skin, in a process called tissue expansion. From there, we will remove a portion of the balding scalp and suture together the remaining areas with good hair growth. 

PRP hair restoration

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) may boost natural hair growth by increasing blood supply to the follicles. First, we will draw blood from your arm and put it into a centrifuge to separate the PRP from the rest of your blood. We will then place the PRP in a syringe and inject it into areas of the scalp that will benefit from improved hair growth. 

Thinning vs Balding

Thinning and balding are different issues. Thinning hair refers to minor hair loss that doesn’t necessarily lead to baldness. It tends to happen gradually, and can be caused by genetics, lifestyle habits, or a combination of the two. Some lifestyle choices that are associated with thinning hair include:

  • Strong hair treatments, like dyes, perms and relaxers
  • Pulling your hair too tightly into a style
  • Nutritional deficiencies
  • Harsh hair products 
  • Severe stress

You may also notice thinning hair if you recently gave birth, stopped taking birth control pills, are experiencing hormonal changes, or have lost weight.

Hair restoration procedure at Austin Face & Body

Hair Restoration FAQ 

Can you prevent hair loss?

If you’re genetically predisposed to hair loss, you cannot prevent it. However, the earlier you treat it – the more successful you’ll be in slowing down the process. With that said, you can help to protect your hair against thinning. This is done by avoiding hot hair tools, harsh chemicals, and damaging hair products.

How is thinning hair treated?

Thinning hair may be treated with a combination of therapies. In many cases, your physician may recommend Rogaine, Spironolactone or Propecia, in conjunction with addressing the cause of the issue – such as resolving nutritional deficiencies and using gentler hair styling methods.

Schedule a consultation today

If you’re concerned about thinning hair or balding areas, please contact Hair of Austin at Austin Face & Body today to schedule a consultation and begin the process of restoring your full and healthy hair. 

Providers who perform Hair Restoration at Hair of Austin

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