Follicular Unit Transplantation and Restoration, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia

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Why We Lose Hair

Hair loss is caused by a combination of hormones and "balding" genes.

The good news is that even people who are balding have a supply of non-balding hair that can be successfully transplanted to the balding or thinning areas.

It is quite normal to lose some hair every day. A person's head has tens of thousands of hairs, and the average person loses about 100 hairs a day. This is known as "hair fall".

However, hair loss is quite a different thing. It is often called “male pattern baldness”, as it generally affects men, and it is caused by the male hormone, testosterone. When testosterone is changed chemically, by an enzyme in the skin (5-alpha reductase), it becomes a more potent hormone, known as dihydro-testosterone (or DHT).

Now we come to an important distinction: DHT acting alone does not cause hair loss. Hair loss occurs only when DHT comes into contact with hairs that are genetically programmed to suffer under its influence.

This means that hair loss arises from a combination of two factors: the hormone DHT, plus the fact that you have inherited genes that cause your hair to be sensitive to DHT.

The good news is that this genetic disposition to hair loss generally affects only certain parts of the scalp, typically the top of the head and the crown.

This is why balding people usually have the horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair surrounding the bald area.

These hairs in the fringe, and notably at the back of the head, are not genetically sensitive to DHT. This explains why hair transplantation which transfers non-balding hairs (ie. those that are not genetically sensitive to DHT) to bald areas, is so successful. Even in the new areas of the scalp, which were previously bald, these hairs retain their non-balding qualities.

This all means that hair transplantation provides a lasting solution.