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Hair Cloning- Are We There Yet?

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Greetings,

Today I will discuss hair cloning as it seems everyone is talking about it these days. It is one of the most common questions that I receive on a daily basis as a hair transplant surgeon.

There is no question that hair cloning will forever change the course of hair transplant procedures and hair loss in general. The obvious questions is, we can clone a sheep? Why can’t we clone a single hair follicle?

The answer unfortunately is much more complicated. The ability to clone individual hair follicles at all is a very challenging prospect, and then try to create the ability to clone numbers of follicles that would be needed in practical use with economics that would make it cost effective, and we’re a long way away. Whether that means 10 years, 15 years or even 20 years, who knows. What is does mean is that we as hair transplant surgeons need to plan our patients treatment  plans based on the fact that we will not have hair cloning for the foreseeable future.

There are certainly many entities working on hair cloning. The entity to figure it out first will make billions from it. It will allow us to create skin so we will no longer need to harvest skin grafts from the body. It will completely change the course of medicine and will probably lead to other organ cloning abilities.

What I find interesting is the question of will we be injecting cloned stem cells from other hair follicles that just grow into new permanent hair? Or will be still place individual hair follicles like we do now that are just created via genetic engineering in the lab? Either way, the closer we get to hair cloning the more exciting things will become in the field of hair transplant surgery.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

New Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial

Greetings,

Below please find a new hair transplant patient testimonial. The video was taken 9 months after the patient’s first procedure. The patient describes his thought process in choosing his doctor, and then his subsequent procedure experience and the recovery afterward.

I hope you enjoy watching.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Informational Video

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Greetings,

Here is a new hair transplant informational video I have just edited and posted. The video was taken 2 weeks after the patient’s procedure.

I hope you enjoy.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial

Greetings,

Here is another Hair Transplant Patient testimonial describing his experience leading up to the procedure and the day of the procedure.

The video was taken immediately after the procedure was completed.

I hope enjoy.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial 2 Weeks After Procedure

Greetings,

Here is a new testimonial of a patient of mine, filmed 2 weeks after his second hair transplant procedure. The patient describes his experience from his first to second procedure and how his hair transplant procedure has changed his life. Enjoy watching.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Optimal Cosmetic Density

Greetings,

Today I will discuss the Hair Transplant Optimal Cosmetic Density procedure. To begin with, I utilize specific elements in my procedures which allow me to create the maximum amount of cosmetic density in a safe manner. To this end I fabricate custom cut blades that I use to create my recipient sites for the new follicles. This allows me to use the smallest blade possible that still accommodates the patient’s follicles, but not too large or too small. The analogy I use is fitting a foot into a perfectly sized shoe. One size does not fit all when it comes to hair follicles. I also inject fluid into the scalp called “tumescence” which expands the skin and allows for more grafts placed per cm, and protects the blood vessels below. The fluid is absorbed overnight and the scalp returns to normal size the next day. These modifications in my technique allow me to create densities of between 30-60 follicles per cm squared. I have included a video of me combing through my patient’s hair to show an example of excellent density achieved.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Hairline Design

Greetings,

Today I will discuss hairline design in hair transplant procedures. The hairline is one of the most important aspects of the hair transplant procedure as is it the most visible aspect to both everyone looking at the individual from the front, and the individual looking at themselves in the mirror. An unnatural hairline is a giveaway for a bad hair transplant procedure. The goal in a proper hair transplant hairline design is to create a new hairline that looks completely natural and undetectable to the human eye. It cannot look like a good hair transplant. It must look as if nothing has been done and the hair has been there forever. This is the artistic component of the hair transplant procedure. The most important factor in achieving the objective of a natural hairline, is the placement of only single hair grafts in the hairline. Additionally, the hairline must be created in an irregular pattern in order to not to draw any attention to straight lines which do not appear in natural hairlines. Also, the hairline must be created in the proper location (not too low, which can look unnatural as well) and taking into account future hair loss so that enough donor hair is present for future procedures. I always prefer to create a more mature hairline with greater density than a lower hairline that has lower density.

Hairline design is probably the most important aspect of creating a completely natural looking hair transplant. It is a very artistic process and one in which every physician will envision differently. It is of the utmost importance that you choose a physician who is skilled in the art of creating natural hairlines and that you have seen the results to confirm the point.

I will show a few examples of my hairline creations below in order to illustrate the point.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

What Age To Start Hair Transplants? How Young Is Too Young

Greetings,

Today I will discuss my approach to younger patients that seek out hair transplant procedures. It is very important that he hair transplant surgeon proceeds slowly and carefully in younger patients. It is not uncommon for young men in their early 20’s to approach me seeking hair transplantation. The issue is that in individuals this young it is very hard to accurately determine how severe their hair loss will ultimately be. Thus it is difficult to assess an accurate treatment plan over the long term, which is an essential component of our jobs as hair transplant surgeons. Since every individual only has a finite amount of donor follicles to donate to the areas of balding, we need to have a course of action for not only the amount of hair loss that the patient has at the moment, but the eventual end point of the patients hair loss in the future. This is so we can conserve donor hair for the future for the affected areas that will need it later. Sometimes young men in their early 20s wish to have their hairline restored to the way it was only a few years prior. This is not a good approach as is can result in an unnaturally low hairline later with not enough donor hair to fill in all the areas of baldness behind it.

I prefer to start my younger patients on Propecia and Rogaine which can help restore some hair, and in many cases greatly slow the progression of hair loss, especially in younger individuals. I have these patients follow up with me periodically so that I can assess their continuing degree of loss. In some cases I will perform a procedure in a patient as young as 25, but I will insist on a regimen of Propecia and Rogaine. Also, I create a very conservative hairline in these patients and don’t use too much donor hair, thus conserving donor hair for future procedures.

Hair loss can be psychologically debilitating for many and especially young individuals. As hair transpant surgeons it is our job to approach these patients in the proper manner, so that the right decision can be made as to when and how to proceed with the hair transplant procedure.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Shock Loss In Hair Transplants- An Overview

Greetings,
Today I will discuss shock loss in hair transplant procedures. Shock loss is the loss of native hair that can occur in hair transplant procedures. It varies greatly from one practitioner to another and from one individual to another. The exact etiology of shock loss is not know, but it is thought that it is related to a temporary injury or minimization of vascular perfusion to the scalp. Individuals with a large amount of miniaturized hairs are more susceptible to shock loss. This is because miniaturized hair is hair that has already shrunken and is in its last phase before it is lost forever. The act of the hair transplant may hasten the departure of this unhealthy hair that is destined to fall out in the near future regardless. Women can also more susceptible to shock loss than male patients. Patients with a large degree of transplanted hair are less susceptible to shock loss as it is thought that the transplanted hair is more durable and less susceptible to temporary vascular insufficiency.
In my hair transplant procedures I take certain precautions to minimize shock loss. By using smaller custom cut blades I am creating a smaller opening in the scalp and thus less injury to the vascular bed. I also use tumescence, which is the injection of saline into the scalp, which elevates the skin and expands it, thus widening the playing field for  transplanting, and it pushes the vascular bed lower, thus protecting it from the small incisions. In most patients I use a small amount of epinephrine in the tumescence fluid which helps to minimize bleeding throughout the procedure. In women and men with a large degree of miniaturization I withhold the epinephrine in an attempt to minimize shock loss in these individuals.
Shock loss is a part of hair transplant procedures. I always tell my patients to expect to look about 5-10% thinner for about 3 months after the procedure until the hair begins to grow in. The healthy hair lost as a result of shock loss will come back with the new transplanted hair, and the unhealthy miniaturized hair lost is on its way out regardless. With the proper precautions and techniques we can minimize shock loss in our hair transplant patients.
All the best,
Marc Dauer, M.D.
/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Or Hair Transfer?

Greetings,

Today I wold like to discuss the term Hair Transplant Or Hair Transfer. This term has become synonymous with the process of moving hair follicles from the donor zone on the scalp to areas of thinning or balding. The term Hair Transplant has always bothered me, as the term transplant is typically used to describe the donation of an organ from one individual to another. The hair taken from one individual will not grow if placed on another person unless both individuals are identical twins. Therefore, in actuality the term hair transplant is a misnomer as we are never taking hair from one person to transplant onto another. What we are actually performing is a hair transfer. We move hair follicles from the permanent donor zone on the back and sides (this is the hair that is immune to the process of genetic balding) to the areas of thinning. I would like to encourage others to begin to use the term hair transfer when discussing the process we perform as I believe it will help more people to understand what is involved in the process we routinely call hair transplant procedures.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist