IntroductionPresentationA scalp with no signs of baldness has between 100,000 and 150,000 hairs with an aesthetic mission, but also a psychological one that can express part of our personality, offering us the possibility of changing our appearance. Between 50 and 100 hairs fall from our head everyday and many others begin to grow. It’s the natural balance of the loss-growth of hair. The problem arises when this balance is altered and we begin to lose more hair than what we grow. 40% of men feel that with the loss of hair they are also losing some of their attractiveness. On the other side, thinning hair with no body affects 20% of women, altering their confidence and self-esteem. Various alternatives exist to the problem of hair loss. The only method that is really effective, permanent, and allows the hair to be treated like other hair once it grows, is a hair transplant. In the last 30 years about 2 million patients have found the answer to hair loss with a hair transplant. Thanks to investigation and the discovery of new techniques, this procedure has evolved to the point that although it is a sophisticated procedure, it can be done with security and success by a qualified team with experience in day clinic medical installations. Institut Vila-Rovira is a scientific reference point, and a prestigiously known clinic where a complete human team develops and applies the most avant-garde techniques to be able to provide the best solution to every case. The final objective is to reach the best results by offering more personalized attention and comfort for every patient. What is baldness?Hair loss or alopecia is a natural process, not an illness, which generally begins between the ages of 20 and 25 in men and women. In the initial phases, the equilibrium between how much hair grows and how much falls changes, and more hair begins to fall than grow, which is the beginning of baldness. The scalp continues to become less covered by hair, especially in the hair line and the crown. As the years pass, hair loss can progress slowly or quickly. Intermediate baldness is when the hair is very sparse, and complete baldness is when there is no hair left on the front and top of the head. Normally, apart from in cases of illness, the sides and back of the head always remain covered by hair. What causes it?Baldness is a process caused by a combination of factors. For example:
HAIR LOSS WITH SCARRING is caused by physical, chemical, thermal, or other trauma (accidents, burns, radiotherapy, etc), infectious scalp illnesses, and some results of other surgeries. Masculine Hair LossANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA (common hair loss) is the hair deficiency most common in men as it affects 20% of them starting at age 20 and this figure increases 10% with each decade after the 20s. This means that 50% of men at age 50 are affected in some way, important or not, by hair androgenetic alopecia. It begins in the front, top part of the head and is the result of a hereditary predisposition which causes abnormal hair loss due to the action of androgens, more specifically dididrotestosterone, on the hair follicle because of a hyperactivity of 5-alpha-reductase enzyme. After adolescence an increase in masculine hormones occurs in the blood which causes people who are genetically predisposed to have hard hair (original hair) change into thinner hair which will stop growing completely with time and begin to leave signs of hair loss.
In 1951, HAMILTON established the first classification system based on the descriptions of 8 evolving studies and 3 subgroups. Since then, the hair loss classification under these guidelines has converted into the absolute reference for the professionals who are dedicated to the treatment of hair loss. This scale, shown here, allows us to classify the different types of baldness and focus on the different therapeutic guidelines:
Feminine Hair LossMore and more frequently women are asking about problems related with hair loss. Nowadays, statistics say that 30% of women are somehow affected by hair loss. Hair loss can have an androgenetic cause (not very dense on top of the head, but a lot on the sides and back) or a deficiency (clear loss on all parts of the scalp). It is important to point out that a Hair Transplant is always a good solution when the hair loss has an androgenetic cause and is not yet in an advanced phase. Feminine ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA is also the most common type of hair loss and has the same origin as in men, the follicles begin a slow shrinking process which makes the hair thinner and makes the affected area very visible. It advances more diffused than in men and although the distribution is usually at the front and top of the head, women don’t usually lose their hair line. It also progresses more slowly in women than in men, so it hardly ever gets to the more advanced stages.
Classifications have been made for feminine androgenetic alopecia in order to establish the level of hair loss and unify the medical and surgical criteria. In 1977, LUDWIG presented a scale with 3 phases of evolution, which is universally accepted today.
Hair Loss Prevention
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