Archive for July, 2010
Natural (Alopecia) Hair-loss Treatments
Board Certified Dermatologist and Hair Restoration Specialist Dr. Edmond Griffin has dedicated the bulk of his career to researching and advancing the field of hair replacement. As is detailed on his website, the causes of hair-loss in men, women, and even children are numerous and include: genetic predisposition, trauma , reaction to a medication, severe illness, stress, and reaction to hormone fluctuation. Alopecia (another name for hair-loss), regardless of its cause, can be stressful for patients.
In an effort to maintain his position at the forefront of hair-loss treatment, Dr. Griffin not only researches traditional surgical hair replacement methods such as follicular unit transplantation, but also less traditional means like botanical therapies. Popular for centuries in many Eastern hemisphere countries, herbal hair-loss applications are showing promise, and growing in popularity among Western hemisphere physicians and patients. In fact, a recently published study in the Journal of Drugs In Dermatology revealed several potential topical, plant-based treatments for Androgenetic Alopecia (Alopecia developed from genetic and environmental factors), Alopecia Areata (Hair-loss resulting from auto immune disorders), and chemotherapy-induced Alopecia.
Procyanidin B-2 (flavonoids found in the skins of young apples) proved a promising treatment for Androgenetic Alopecia patients while garlic and onion were among the study’s hopeful Alopecia Areata treatments. The extensive study also revealed that, with daily topical application, the caffeine and volatile oils in green tea helped regrow the hair of patients whose Alopecia was induced with the start of chemotherapy. While the described treatments showed a good bit of promise, the study’s coordinators were particular to note that each treatments long-term potential could not be adequately measured until larger, well-controlled scientific studies could be completed.
Recently, Dr. Griffin has developed a completely herbal topical treatment for patients with hair-loss. This combination formula, produced by reputable compounding pharmacies, has proven successful in trials of female patients who didn’t have any luck with other prescription treatments.
Dr. Griffin also stresses that these potential treatments are just that, potential, and individuals should first utilize the time-tested Propecia®-based therapies to aid in stabilizing hair-loss and promoting hair re-growth. If you are interested in pursuing a hair-replacement procedure, call Dr. Griffin’s office or visit his website today. You can also stay up-to-date on the latest advancements in the field of hair restoration by subscribing to his blog.
The Various Methods of Eyebrow Restoration
Many people tend to overlook the importance of the eyebrows to the aesthetics of the overall face. A simple shaping of the brows can open a person’s eyes, give them a more youthful arch, restore symmetry, and/or brighten up their face all together. While a person’s eyebrows may not be the first thing you notice about them, you would be hard pressed to ignore the area if a person’s eyebrows were no longer there.
As Dr. Edmond Griffin discusses in his previous blog post on eyebrow transplants, eyebrow loss can be caused by a variety of different factors such as burns, accident or trauma, various hair loss diseases, effects of chemotherapy, or a congenital inability to grow hair in the area. Another very common cause of eyebrow loss is one that is self-induced by excessive plucking. This can be for cosmetic reasons or the result of a person suffering from trichotillomania (obsessive plucking of hair) and can cause permanent damage to the hair follicles, preventing them from future growth.
Over the years, specialists in hair restoration, like Dr. Griffin of The Griffin Center of Hair Restoration and Research, have tweaked and refined traditional hair transplantation techniques to develop ways to successfully restore the eyebrows. Whether a person has insufficient eyebrow hair or is missing their entire eyebrow, various restoration techniques can successfully restore hair into the brows.
One such technique is transplantation using a graft. Here the surgeon removes an area of tissue and hair from the scalp, with properties similar to the eyebrows, and grafts the donor site into the eyebrow area. This is the most common type of eyebrow grafting and can result in natural looking brows with minimal scarring, if performed properly.
In very rare cases, some surgeons will employ a transplantation technique utilizing flaps from the temple area, just in front of the ear. In this method, a strip of hair-bearing skin and tissue is surgically removed from the temple area with a branch of the superficial temporal artery and vein still attached. This type of graft is called a pedicle flap because the blood supply is still intact and is able to nourish the grafted tissue until it develops its own bloody supply from its new location.
More commonly, as is the case with the Griffin center, micrografting is also used to create a natural brow contour. Here, donor hair that most closely matches the look and feel of the original eyebrow hair is taken from the scalp or other areas of the body. The micrografts (consisting of only one or two individual hairs) are then carefully transplanted by hand with an angular insertion into a prepared incision site. It is common that patients of this method require two or more procedures to achieve the best results.
Regardless of which method is used, transplanted hairs will most likely have to be regularly trimmed, gelled, waxed, or shaped in an attempt to “train” the hair to look and grow more like natural eyebrow hair.
For more information on eyebrow restoration or other forms of hair restoration, contact the office of Dr. Edmond Griffin in Atlanta and schedule a consultation.
Part 2 of Dr. Griffins Series on PRP Technology: Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy Used in Skin Rejuvenation of the Face and Neck
Published in the May issue of the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy has proven itself effective in face and neck rejuvenation. As we discussed in our introduction to our blog series on Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy, PRP utilizes the healing power of isolated platelets from a patient’s own blood (much like the autographs used in the effective treatment of male-pattern baldness) to aid in the rejuvenation of soft tissues and bone several body systems. Dr. Griffin is especially hopeful about the potential benefits PRP therapy may bring to hair restoration patients.
During the course of the three month study, 23 patients were given monthly injections of their own centrifuge-obtained platelets into areas of depression or small wrinkles on their faces and/or necks. The results of the PRP injections were chronicled through a series of photographs taken with a dermoscope camera: allowing study coordinators to highly magnify the treatment areas progress. The results of the study show exciting promise for future use of PRP therapy in skin rejuvenation procedures. The study’s participants (whose results were a mixture of ratings derived from self assessment and doctor observation) showed best results in the improvement in skin homogeneity and texture (a 33% increase) and reduction in priocular wrinkles (30% reduction of crow’s feet.)
The study’s results are not only of interest to Dermatologist and Hair Transplant Specialists like Dr. Griffin, but also point to potential refinement in the facial fillers (like Botox® and Dysport®) and dermal injectables (like Restylane® and Juevederm®) cosmetic surgeons use to relax wrinkles and fill-in areas that naturally lose volume with age. This emerging research field is changing daily so stay in the loop by reading Dr. Griffins blog or visiting his website regularly.
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