Ongoing Medication after Hair Transplantation Surgery – Is it necessary?

Hair transplantation surgery as everyone knows delivers fantastic results as long as the patient is deemed a suitable candidate and that the transplant is performed by a very experienced and qualified hair transplant surgeon and an experienced team of technicians.

One thing that some patients never think about when deciding to have a transplant is the potential of losing more of their existing hair over the long term. These people come in with the mentality of, “I just want to have one really decent hair transplant and to never have to worry about hair loss again!” Let me first say that in some cases this is possible. If a patient in their 60s that has been losing hair slowly for 40 years comes in with only a small to medium sized balding area in their frontal hairline or crown, they could transplant this area at a reasonable density per cm. The Surgeon can also work an extra half inch into their existing surrounding hairs to allow for the small amount of thinning that is expected to occur over the next 20 years. In this scenario, based on the patients older age, their history of very slow hair loss and the fact that the existing regions are still very thick, such a patient could get away with just the one hair transplant procedure during their entire life. The act of preserving existing hair with ongoing medication would also not be necessary in this scenario. However this does not represent the “typical” patient…

The typical patient is usually in their 30s or 40s and has lost quite a noticeable amount of hair during the previous 5 years. They generally have the common sense to understand that the chances of having less hair on top in 5-10 years from now if they do nothing to treat their hair loss, is close to a 100% certainty. Therefore medications such as finasteride ordutasteride are discussed by the Doctor during the consultation process and expressed as an important step in maintaining long term happiness after a hair transplant.

The two questions that the surgeon will ask himself when assessing a potential hair transplant patient are:

1. Will this patient be happy with their decision to have proceeded with a hair transplant when they come in for their 12 month check-up?

2. Based on their hair loss history and the treatment plan that I can recommend, will they still be satisfied with their head of hair in 5 or 10 years from now?

Let’s examine in detail what these two questions mean:

1. The level of satisfaction and happiness the patient shows at their 12 month check-up directly relates to the variables that affect outcome. This means that if they have had a large number of grafts (such as 3500 grafts instead of 2000 grafts) placed into a moderate sized area; they have thick hair diameter that is wavy; Existing hairs still remain within the thinning region to complement the transplanted hairs and treating the thin area now gives them a complete head of hair, their satisfaction level will be at a 10/10.

However if the patient had 2000 grafts placed into the same area; Their hair diameter was naturally fine, and it was already known that they really would have needed 4000 grafts to come out looking complete, they are more likely to have an overall satisfaction level of around 6/10. The patient would certainly look better than before but when comparing themselves to the before and afters of patients that have naturally thicker hair and bigger surgeries in the vicinity of 4000-5000 grafts, they would feel a little let down. So point 1 basically indicates how many hair transplant variables work in their favour.

                                                    

Point 2: Whether or not the hair transplant patient will still be satisfied in 5 or 10 years from now comes down to their ongoing rate of hair loss. If for example the patient is 24 years old and already within the moderate to advanced stages of hair loss, they may be deemed suitable for surgery by the Doctor. The surgeon may determine that the patient requires 4500 grafts and that he can comfortably obtain this graft number in one session. Therefore based on this the Doctor can feel very confident that the patient will be happy with their result after 12 months have elapsed.  However due to the fact a large amount of hair was already lost by the age of 24, it indicates that significantly more is due to follow in the future. At this rate of shedding how much will theylose by the time they are 30, 35 or 40 years of age? How long will it be before the remaining regions thin out and they require a second transplant?

In this scenario ongoing Hair loss treatment in the form of finasteride or dutasteride is essential to maintain long term happiness. As these medications have been proven to minimize shedding in more than 90% of users, they are a great way to delay (or possibly to prevent) the need for a second hair transplant in the future.

So in conclusion, is ongoing medication recommended after hair transplant surgery? The answer is YES in most cases. This is because the amount of hair a hair loss sufferer can experience during their lifetime is way more than the amount of permanent hair they have available within their donor region to replace through repeated hair transplants.

If you are to ever have a hair transplant you need to also ask yourself whether you want to feel happy for a short time or a long time after the procedure. If you want to remain happy for many years after investing a large amount of capital into your hair transplant, then the recommendation would be to use ongoing medication to remain looking and feeling great as much as possible.

Should you wish to receive a hair loss assessment in Melbourne or Sydney feel free to call us on 03 9693 9200. 

Cosmetic Surgery and Optimising Recovery

We have known for a long time that optimising your surgical results involves maximising your physical recovery, and now there are even more ways to help yourself during the post-treatment phase of cosmetic procedures, saysCosmetic Surgeon, Dr Rhett Bosnich, Fellow of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (FFMACCS).

Dr Rhett Bosnich is the owner and Medical Director of the Newin Institute in Melbourne and Sydney, and is one of Australia's leading Hair Transplant and Cosmetic Surgeons. He is a leading Australian authority in surgical hair transplantation and is also at the forefront of cosmetic regenerative medicine for anti-ageing, hair regrowth and facial skin rejuvenation.

“It is clearly common-sense that cosmetic surgery, no matter how small or large, is a form of physical trauma and stress on our body.” Dr Bosnich says. “Recovery from physical insult due to surgery should address multiple factors including boosting the immune function to prevent adverse infections, ensuring adequate energy stores to assist with enduring surgery and the metabolic processes of tissue healing, psychological aspects and replenishing and maintain essential nutrients in the body to assist with tissue repair and regeneration.”

Dr Bosnich is a highly trained and experienced Hair Transplant Surgeon, Cosmetic Laser Surgeon and Regenerative Physician. He is one of the few Cosmetic Surgeons in Australia who is nowalso offering a holistic approach to post-surgical care by offering peptide management programs to target the changes our bodies experience during the recovery phase of cosmetic surgery. The aim is to maximise the body’s ability to heal faster, deposit stronger, more flexible tissue during wound repair, boost immune function and metabolic processes, and address psychological aspects to receiving cosmetic surgical treatment.

“In the past few years there has been a strong evolution from just the basic “no smoking, no alcohol, keep up the fluids and fibre, and increase your mobility guided by pain…”” he says. “We have even moved beyond incorporating vitamins and minerals and diet advice (pre- and post-surgery), as well as naturopathic herbal remedies and photo-therapy with LED devices to stimulate regeneration. Now we are looking at peptides to boost immune function and quality tissue repair.”

“Peptides and regenerative medicine are safe under the correct supervision, so people wanting to maximise their recovery after cosmetic surgery, cosmetic medicine and anti-ageing treatments can now look to combining PRP with peptidesfor quality options,” Dr Bosnich says.

Dr Bosnich is one of the few Cosmetic Surgeons in Australia who also has a special interest in regenerative anti-ageing through the use of peptides, PRP and Stem Cell technologies.

For more information please contact Dr Rhett Bosnich on 1300 360 764

Hair Transplants – what can they be used for?

Most people realise that hair transplant surgery is most commonly used to treat males who are suffering from Male Pattern Hair Loss (MPHL) or androgenetic alopecia. However, hair transplants are often used to treat other things like –

- Occasionally Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL)

- Brow lift scars

- Hair loss that has resulted from a face lift

- General scalp or facial scarring (traumatic or surgical)

- Eyebrow hair loss (from over plucking, trauma, scarring, loss due to medication, and genetically thin/fine eyebrows)

- Cleft lip scars in adult males

- Patchy beards in males

Dr Rhett Bosnich has been performing hair transplant surgery for 8 years and has performed over 3000 hair transplant procedures. He performs hair transplant surgery for a number of different conditions – not just hair loss. But to do this he has had to undergo specialised training in a variety of techniques so that can apply his hair transplant skills using the correct surgical technique to achieve a good patient outcome.

At Newin Institute, Dr Rhett Bosnich and his technical staff perform manual and motorized FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction), FUG (Follicular Unit Grafting), combined FUG and FUE hair transplants and BHT (Body Hair Transplant). This enable Dr Bosnich to treat many of the less common conditions that require hair transplant surgery.

Continue 2nd part...PRP for Hair Loss – What many do not know…

4. One Centrifuge is not adequate for all for all circumstances

Anyone that is familiar with PRP knows that a centrifuge is used to spin the tubes of blood at high speed to separate the components. This is what makes it possible to extract only the plasma that contains the platelets.

What many people are not aware of is that a centrifuge system along with its specialized collection tubes may be perfect for facial rejuvenation PRP, however, it is unlikely to the best to use for PRPin the scalp for hair loss. The centrifuge that best suits the person that requires a large volume of blood will be different to the one receives a small test patch. Different centrifuges work in different ways and different intensities. Some separate blood components better; Some leave a portion of red blood cells within the PRP while others remove all of them; Certain centrifuges can efficiently isolate platelet rich plasma from platelet poor plasma and some contain variable spinning speed cycles and others set speed cycles. So the question of which centrifuge is best comes down to the specificity of what the patient is having done.

PRP clinics often have a one size fits all mentality. They use one basic centrifuge for every single PRP patient. This may be satisfactory for some of their patients, but it will reduce the overall effectiveness of the PRP treatment in others. A Doctor that is specialized in PRP will be able to explain this further.

Newin Institute has 3 Medical Grade Centrifuges and uses the one specific to your exact PRP treatment and thes total amount of extracted blood volume. Every person responds differently to PRP. We want to know that you are achieving 100% of your personal PRP potential. Not 60% or 70%!

5. Anaesthetic and PRP do not mix!

Research has indicated that anaesthetic can reduce the effectiveness of the injected PRP if applied to the same spot. Whether the application is a local anaesthetic (injected) or topical (a cream which is absorbed) the effect is the same. The anaesthetic makes its way into the dermis layer of the skin and results in the platelets not delivering their full effect.

At Newin Institute we use a local anaesthetic but administer it to the scalp in a “ring block” formation.  This means through the forehead, side donor and bottom of the vertex. Therefore absolutely no anaesthetic is injected directly into the frontal, mid-scalp or crown regions that receive the PRP injections.  Doing it this way results in the bare minimum amount of local anaesthetic reaching these areas which in turn keeps the PRP environment optimized for maximum effect. So you will never see Newin Institute use topical anaesthetic cream or inject local anaesthetic directly into the recipient sites.

PRP for Hair Loss – What many do not know…

PRP (platelet rich plasma) treatment has been around in the medical world for more than 25 years. In recent times it has become a very popular and effective method of treatment for sport injuries (relating to chronic pain in the knees, ankles, shoulders and tennis elbow) as well as facial skin rejuvenation.  PRP is typically performed by extracting 10-20mls of blood, centrifuging the blood  and then extracting the plasma (which carries the platelets) and injecting the PRP into the relevant area.

In only the last few years, hair loss clinics have begun offering PRP treatment to help maintain and potentiallyincrease the thickness of a person’s existing thinning hair. The problem is that these clinics follow the same generic PRP treatment plan (as if they are treating sore joints) and end up achieving very limited (or no) results when it comes to combatting hair loss. The patient, due to their own bad experience ends up convinced that PRP does not work for hair. There are a number of things many people are not aware of when it comes to PRP for hair loss. Below are 6 key points: