Hair Restoration

SmartGraft With Dr. Hasen

Dr. Hasen is a hair restoration specialist who is committed to offering his patients the latest innovations for optimal results. He was the first in South Florida to offer many breakthrough cosmetic treatments, including CoolSculpting® and Thermage®. His choice to offer the SmartGraft hair transplant system in Naples-Fort Myers is based on research and experience that shows this approach to be extremely advantageous compared to similar devices such as NeoGraft. Dr. Hasen’s clients achieve lasting hair restoration without products, pills, or scars, and the treatment process is quick and comfortable.

Discover the numerous benefits of SmartGraft, and learn about hair replacement for women in the Naples-Fort Myers area:

The Results of Smartgraft Hair Restoration

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*Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.

Why Am I Losing My Hair?

The most common causes of hair loss differ between men and women. Most men who lose their hair have a genetic condition called androgenic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness. This condition is inherited from one or both parents and typically affects hair follicles on the front and top of the head. It causes the follicles to produce shorter, finer hair over each growth cycle until hair production completely stops. Hair follicles on the sides and back of the head often are unaffected and remain viable. For women, hair loss is often linked to heredity, a hormone imbalance, or a medical condition.

Before starting any hair restoration procedure, Dr. Hasen reviews your medical history and asks you about hair loss in your family to diagnose the cause of your hair loss. In very few cases, other causes may be the source of hair loss, including:

• Medication
• Stress
• Illness

If you have male pattern hair loss, as do more than 95% of men who lose their hair, there is little that can be done to stop its progression. This is why hair restoration surgery is an ideal treatment for many.

Other Hair Transplant Methods

The most common hair transplant methods include the strip method and follicular unit extraction (FUE).

The Strip Method

The strip method involves removing a strip of the scalp from the back of the head and suturing the area closed under considerable tension. This can lead to post-operative pain and tenderness. Additionally, the sutures or staples need to be removed after a period of healing.

Hair technicians then separate the scalp strip into segments of skin grafts containing one to several hair follicles, each considered a follicular unit. The surgeon uses a needle or scalpel to create recipient sites in the areas of thinning hair and transplant the skin and hair grafts into the recipient sites. This is considered individual follicular unit transplantation (FUT). FUT appears much more natural than the older technique of implanting larger clumps of hair (commonly called hair plugs).

The strip method is more efficient than some previous approaches, but it’s very invasive, requires longer recovery, and results in a linear scar along the back of the head that can be noticeable when the hair is short. There is also more risk of damage to the hair follicles with this method, since the grafts are handled more with forceps and cut under a microscope.

Follicular Unit Extraction

The traditional FUE method uses a surgical punch to remove the follicular units. The units are transplanted to the recipient site using FUT, like the strip procedure. The procedure is less invasive, with an improved recovery, fewer complications, less bleeding, and no scars. The downside: it is tedious, long, and, therefore, more expensive.

The SmartGraft system automates the FUE process, using pneumatic pressure to extract the individual hair follicles. This improves the treatment’s efficiency, comfort, and viability of the follicles. After FUE with the SmartGraft system, the hair follicles are transplanted into the recipient site using FUT to ensure natural results and excellent graft take.

Other Options

Men and women also have the option of topical products, such as minoxidil (Rogaine®), to maintain hair and possibly grow new hair. Depending on the individual, these offer varying degrees of hair restoration and require daily application to maintain results. For many individuals, the mess, the ongoing expense, and the temporary nature of the results are significant drawbacks.

For men who experience male pattern hair loss (androgenic alopecia), the drug finasteride (Propecia®) can be prescribed. Like minoxidil, it does not work for everyone, and sustained results are dependent on a daily dose of the medication. Some drawbacks of finasteride pills include expense, side effects, health risks, and the temporary nature of the results.

Low-level light therapy (LLLT) for hair growth uses the principle of low-powered light to target cells of the hair follicle. There are several new at-home and in-office devices that use LLLT. These claim to reverse hair loss and start hair growth, but very few of the available devices have been studied in peer-reviewed journals or tested properly to ensure their effectiveness. Additionally, in one study, nearly 20 hours of treatment a day were required to achieve hair growth with one of the LLLT devices, making it a very time-intensive procedure. Furthermore, the researchers did not consider the hair growth to be very noticeable.

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