A woman is defined by the way she looks, she should embrace herself be it her skin, hair or her body frame. An important part of a woman’s appearance is her tresses, smooth and silky hair enhance a woman’s overall personality. A woman’s hair reflects her disposition, a change in a woman’s coiffure changes her look.
Everyone loves their hair, hair is considered as a woman’s identity. How would a person respond if his /her identity or worth is at stake? A woman can have such an issue of self-esteem in case she experiences hair fall. It is a misconception that hair fall is more common amongst men, every one out of two women experiences hair fall. One should not worry as every problem has a solution, the answer to hair fall is hair transplant.
1) Androgenetic alopecia : It refers to the receding hairline, it is prevalent amongst both men and women, it results in permanent baldness. It is a genetic condition.
2) Hormonal fluctuations: Hair fall may come as a side effect of certain medications which cause hormonal imbalance. Treatment of Thyroid using pharmaceutical drugs can result in temporary hair loss.
3) Chemotherapy : The strong medications which fight against cancer cells also attack hair roots, thus weakens hair follicles and undermine hair growth.
4) Iron insufficiency : When hair follicles don’t receive required levels of oxygen, they become dormant, this condition results in hair thinning, wherein hair doesn’t regrow unless the patient is recovered from anemia.
5) Pregnancy : A woman may experience temporary and harmless hair fall in the post-pregnancy period. Hair loss after delivery is not usually severe. Hormonal changes during pregnancy or post -delivery may cause hair to fall. When the hormones fall back in the normal range of hormones in a woman’s body after delivery, the hormonal fluctuations may result in hair fall. This situation is very common and is experienced by most of the new moms.
6) Menopause : The levels of sex hormones fall in the female body during menopause, the hormone levels are disturbed during this period, which affects hair growth. Some women experience severe hair thinning during this period. These reproductive hormones influence hair growth, the reduced hormonal level results in hair fall.
7) Depression : This cause of hair loss is common to both men and women, stress or restlessness may temporarily result in hair thinning, the hair may regrow to normal levels after a few months when the magnitude of stress is restored to normal.
8) Weight loss : With the obsession to look thin, fair and beautiful in accordance with the beauty standards as dictated by the societal norms. People are missing out on important vitamins, nutrients, and carbohydrates. Women starve to maintain their figure. All parts of the body require sufficient intake of essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients for their growth. Be it heart, kidneys or one’s tresses, all bodily parts need care. One must consume a balanced diet to rule out the risk of hair loss.
Why should only men take advantage of hair transplant, even women have the rights to enhance their beauty. The hair restoration procedure is almost the same for men and women. The hair implant treatment involves the transfer of hair follicles from the donor region to the recipient region. The donor region or the stable site usually have adequate hair follicles, and the recipient area lacks hair follicles, hair follicles are imported from the donor area and are placed at the recipient area. The donor area consists of the back and the sides of the head, whereas the recipient region is mostly on or around the hairline.
Women also inherit genetic baldness. Less than 5% of women who are suffering from hair thinning are eligible for hair restoration treatment.
1) Hair thinning due to an accident
2) Hair fall around incision cuts for those who have undergone plastic surgery
3) Hair loss due to non- hormonal reasons
4) Women who experience Marginal hair loss
5) Women who follow the pattern of male baldness
There are two major hair restoration treatments.
1) The FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) hair treatment : This technique is also known as The FUSE treatment (Follicular Unit Separation Extraction). In this procedure, the hair follicles are taken from the donor and the recipient areas. No incision is made in this case. Implantation pen is used to treat hair thinning.
2) The FUT (Strip Harvesting) hair transplant procedure : In this type of hair implantation procedure, a layer of hair is taken from the stable region with sufficient hair follicles and is placed at the recipient site and sutured
Out of the two hair restoration procedures, FUT is recommended for women. FUT is considered more suitable because its alternative: The Fox procedure requires the patient to shave his/her head.
1) Cosmetics : One may use cosmetics to hide baldness. Colouring hair close to the skin color can help to reduce the appearance of baldness.
2) Laser Hair treatment : It is suitable for those who cannot be treated by hair restoration methods, it is useful during the initial stages of hair loss.
3) Scalp Mirco-Pigmentation (SMP) : It is a surgical procedure, which darkens the scalp to disguise people about the existence of hair.
A woman should consider Hair Transplant for treating the following two conditions:
1) Treatment of receding hairline
2) Treatment of Androgenic Alopecia
Treatment of receding hairline
It involves the transfer of hair from the safe site to the unsafe site. It is done using one of the two implantation procedures namely, FUT or FUE.
Treatment of Androgenic Alopecia
The pattern of baldness must be analyzed before selecting the transplant procedure. Women may lack stable donor regions, which makes hair implantation not too useful for them.
Cost
The cost of hair transplant may vary from INR 1,00,000 to 2,35,000 approximately. The cost of the treatment may depend on the extent of hair loss, and the place where the customer resides. It also depends on the type of hair restoration procedure, its complexity, and associated risks.
Conclusion
A woman’s hair is the first noticeable part of her personality. A woman may have straight, curly or wavy hair, her hair reflects about her identity. It is very dishearting for a woman when realizes that she is suffering from hair loss, hair thinning may be temporary or permanent. Even women can undergo hair implantation procedures, but such techniques are not feasible for all women. A number of alternatives are available for hair treatment, at relatively reasonable rates. The prices may vary from about INR 1,00,000 to 2,35,000. A woman should follow necessary precautions and consume a balanced diet to avoid hair fall.
Hair transplant surgery aims to achieve a result that is as natural as possible. In order to do this, however, we need more than the most up to date techniques.