Hair Transplantation for Wome... Video Transcript

Participants

Robert V. Cattani MD, David R. Marks MD, Michael L. Reed MD

Summary

Just as hair loss is usually thought of as a man's problem, hair transplant surgery exists in the popular imagination as an option for men. But more and more women suffering from hair loss are turning to hair transplants as a solution. What kinds of hair thinning and hair loss in women can a hair transplant treat? Who is a good candidate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the procedure? Join our panel of experts as they discuss the issues to consider if you're a woman interested in hair transplant surgery.

Webcast Transcript

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: What you're seeing on the video here is a woman regaining a head of hair. Hair transplants are very popular among men, but they're becoming increasingly popular among women. To find out who should get a hair transplant, we have two guests. The first is Dr. Michael Reed. He's Assistant Professor of Clinical Dermatology at NYU Medical Center and he direct their hair transplant program.Next to him is Dr. Robert Cattani, one of the founding members of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and he practices in New York. Welcome.

Dr. Reed, how common is hair loss in women because most people think of it in men.

MICHAEL L. REED, MD: As many women carry the genetic trait for common loss as men, it just comes out later, it goes slower and it's a different pattern. Women don't have a receding hairline and a bald spot like men do. They instead end up with see-through hair as they get older. Anywhere from 20-40% of women at some time in their life will experience enough thinning of their hair, or hair loss, to have it be noticeable and a potential problem.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Which women should consider hair transplantation?

ROBERT V. CATTANI, MD: David, exactly the same criteria subjectively we would use in men and women, except that I've found that, as men are devastated by hair loss, women are even more so. Especially the fact that they feel singled out. They don't feel this is a common thing. They feel that this is highly unusual and the reaction to it is very profound. There are basically, if I could give you categories, there are two categories of women with hair loss. There is the woman as first described by Dr. Reed, that have a hair loss on top of the head alone, with a persistent frontal fringe. Let us call that type one. That type is very correctable surgically.

The second type are those who have diffuse thinning throughout their whole scalp. Those you cannot. Now, of the type one there are three categories and here they are.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Go ahead and show us.

ROBERT V. CATTANI, MD: In medicine we have a way of putting labels and names on things. It's just our way of doing things. So about 25 years ago a physician by the name of Ludwig classified baldness as grade one here, two and three, and it's nothing more than extension from a minimal loss to a maximal one. But you know here, in deference to men, that no matter how bald they get, they persist with a frontal line of hair, and that's very advantageous cosmetically when you restore them. So I think the question that you'd want to know are, are women excellent candidates for hair restoration? Yes, they are. Is it very popular? Yes, and I'm sure Dr. Reed wants to talk about that more.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Tell me what would make a woman really decide to go ahead and do it as opposed to a woman who's kind of on the fence in your experience?

MICHAEL L. REED, MD: Fortunately, mother nature has a greater imagination than Dr. Ludwig or myself or any other doctors. I see a lot of women who have an area right behind their hair line which is a round or oval shaped area, maybe three by three inches, which is really quite thin and they've got a pretty good amount of hair around that. A little thin, but nothing horrible. They have a nice, dense donor site and they're great candidates. Not all of them thin out diffusely. The alopecia diffusa, which is this diffuse thinning, is real and it may happen in all women if they live to be 100 years old, but it doesn't happen early in a lot of women.