A recent episode of online chat show, MyFaceMyBody, reveals men’s top concerns about their appearance, whether they would consider cosmetic surgery and who most influences their looks.
According to this survey, men are most afraid of losing their hair, with four out of five saying it’s a concern of theirs. Furthermore, over a quarter of respondents (27%) reported that they would consider having surgical treatment for hair loss, such as a hair transplant. A third of respondents said they would shave off all of their hair if they developed bald patches.
During the program, English television star, Warren ‘Ace’ Furman speaks about his recent hair restoration surgery. Of the experience, he says: “I had a hair transplant and am thrilled with the results, I look ten years younger. Initially I wasn’t that bothered about my hair, but I was only 35 when I looked in the mirror and saw Phil Collins staring back at me.”
Men are reportedly more concerned with their appearance than we tend to assume, with almost three quarters of men (72%) saying their appearance is important to them. As far as who influences their appearance, 46% of men sighted their wives and girlfriends as having the most influence, 19% admitted that they tried to copy celebrities (top style role models included Johnny Depp and President Obama), and 34% reported they want to look good for their own satisfaction.
The top five surgical procedures men say they would consider are: nose surgery, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), liposuction, breast reduction and hair transplantation.
I am a 25 year old male who is a NW class 3. I like to keep his hair short so i am afraid of the strip procedure because i knows it will leave a scar. I prefers FUE, but i know it’s more expensive. I save the extra money, however to avoid the strip scar. My concern is that i have been told by strip physicians that FUE does not produce as good a yield as a strip procedure. Is this true?
Dr. Cole responded to the misinformation he’s heard from strip physicians regarding hair growth yield from FUE, and to a number of other myths that strip physicians promulgate regarding FUE.
There are two videos (Part I and Part II):
incorrect idea about FUE hair transplant part I: Play Now incorrect idea about FUE hair transplant part II: Play Now
Dr. Christian Jessen is a 33-year old English television presenter, recognized for his work on the shows Supersize vs. Superskinny and Embarrassing Bodies. Dr. Jessen recently admitted that he underwent a hair transplant procedure a year ago and is very happy with his results.
Wanting to restore his hair line and bring down his high temples, Dr. Jessen elected to have a strip hair transplant procedure at a UK clinic. He described the strip procedure as “not painful but it is uncomfortable”, and went on to say “you also have an incision at the back of your head, which is very hard to sleep with immediately after the procedure.” During a strip hair transplant surgery, the doctor removes a strip of scalp tissue from the back of the patient’s head; the wound is later closed using sutures. The excised strip is dissected into follicular units (small, naturally-occurring groupings of hair). These follicular units are then implanted into thinning or balding areas.
A less invasive alternative to the strip procedure is a transplant via the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique. This method involves the individual removal of follicular units, which are then transplanted directly into balding areas. Unlike with strip, the FUE method does not leave the tell-tale linear scar, and requires less healing time. Without the large excision and need for sutures, there is also much less general discomfort involved in a FUE procedure.
Dr. Jessen explained that he decided to have a HT procedure after meeting a man who’d had a hair transplant on one of his shows. Of his transplant, Dr. Jessen explains “it’s nothing to be ashamed about. These days lots of men are doing things to improve their appearance…I’ve done this for myself and I’m really pleased with the results.” Perhaps Dr. Jessen’s openness about his procedure, and his satisfaction as a result, will encourage other public figures to come forward and speak openly about their own hair loss and/or hair restoration surgery.
The Daily Mail, a popular British periodical, recently did a feature on the use of extracellular matrix (ECM) products on soldiers injured in Afghanistan. ECM is derived from the porcine membrane of bladder and can be used as a regenerative medicine. The Daily Mail article claims that it has even been used to save soldiers who were so badly injured at war that they risked amputation. In one example, the ECM product was used to repair a massive leg wound; it was able to grow nerves, muscles and ordinary tissue where there had been none.
ACell is just one variety of ECM recently FDA-approved for use in humans. When applied to injured tissue, ACell can stimulate the regeneration of normal tissue. Several pioneering hair transplant surgeons took an early interest in ACell and have been studying possible uses for the product as it relates to hair restoration. Doctors Jerry Cooley and Gary Hitzig released some of the first reports about their findings on whether ACell might be beneficial for strip surgery patients. Unfortunately, at this time, their reports are inconclusive.
Dr. Cole has been following news of ACell since 2007. Now that it is indicated for safe use in humans, he is researching ACell as it relates to his Cole Isolation Technique (CIT) patients. He is currently exploring whether the use of ACell may reduce the appearance of hypopigmentation, the tiny white spotting that some FUE and CIT patients develop when grafts are removed from the donor region. Dr. Cole is hopeful that ACell may help to improve melanocyte stimulation, and to improve the overall appearance of the donor area.
A secondary interest Dr. Cole has in ACell is whether it will stimulate cells left behind when grafts are extracted, and possibly induce the development of new hair growth. The hope is that, through the delivery of ACell to our extraction sites, he will be able to attract and induce hair follicle stem cells to reproduce a re-growth of the extracted follicles. At this time, Dr. Cole has not yet seen any evidence that ACell promotes any new hair growth. The objective going forward is to unlock the specific methods necessary to regenerate hair. Given that ACell has already successfully regenerated muscle, skin, nerves, specific organ tissue, etc., it is reasonable to suspect that it should be able to regenerate hair. The challenge lies in engineering a specific means of delivering the product to the appropriate stem cells.
To read the complete Daily Mail article, click here: Magic ‘Pixie Dust’ made from pig bladders helps ‘regrow’ limbs of wounded soldiers If you have any questions about ACell or treatments available through the Cole Hair Restoration Group, feel free to call us at 1-800-368-4247.
Research, by Leif Carlsson and his research team at Umea University in Sweden, indicates that activation of the gene Lhx2 leads to increased hair growth.
In their recent study, Leif Carlsson and his research team identified the transcription factor Lhx2 as an important regulator of hair formation. It was found that the Lhx2 gene is active during the anagen (growth) phase and dormant during the resting period. It has been shown that Lhx2 is involved in the formation of hair because hair follicles in which Lhx2 is inactive are not able to produce hair growth. In fact, activation of the Lhx2 gene in hair follicles appears to activate the growth phase and thus the formation of hair. Lhx2 is therefore considered to be a gene that is important for the regulation of hair growth.
Hair serves a number of commonly overlooked purposes: it is important for temperature regulation, physical protection, sensory activity, seasonal camouflage, and social interactions. Hair is formed in hair follicles, which are formed during fetal development. New hair is generated in a cycle whereby the hair follicle undergoes recession, rest and growth. Hair length is determined by the duration of the anagen phase.
