Medical Hair Restoration Treatment before the Surgical Hair Restoration

There are several medical hair loss treatments available for hair loss restoration. Most of the hair transplant surgeons recommend that one should always try medical hair restoration before one decides to undergo hair restoration surgery. In fact, continued medical treatment well before the surgery often results in a better growth for the hair transplants. Similarly, medical hair treatment after the surgery always provides superior benefits from the hair transplant procedures.

But when you are preparing for the hair transplant surgery there are some precautions with medical hair restoration which are to be observed so that you don’t have any adverse effect due the hair loss medications.

Medical hair restoration with Rogaine

Minoxidil sold with the brand name Rogaine, is not able to grow hair on completely bald scalp; but is able to retard hair loss and stabilize it by slowing down the miniaturization process. Medical hair loss treatment with Rogaine is a widely accepted treatment that is even recommended by the FDA both as a hair loss treatment for men and a hair loss treatment for woman. Minnoxidil acts by prolonging the growth phase of the hair. But for medical treatment with minoxidil to be fully effective requires prolonged use. It may take a long time, around 6 to 12 months, to predict a noticeable improvement in hair growth. Within 2 to 3 months of discontinuing the medication, the increase in terminal hair density and growth resulting from the use of medicine can suddenly vanish.

Another drawback of Rogaine is that while it is effective in the crown or top of the head, it is much less effective in the frontal area, so overall it is not as effective as a balding solution for men for whom the front of the scalp and the hairline are the important areas for hair loss restoration.

Rogaine, especially is the drug of choice for the female hair loss treatment where the hair loss is often characterized by diffuse thinning. The prolonged use of the drug is sometimes able to bring about the complete reversal of thinning, seen even after stopping the drug, but in men, stopping the medication results in complete reversal of the benefits.

Medical hair restoration (Rogaine) as a combination treatment

Some hair restoration surgeons highly recommend the use of Rogaine before and then immediately after the hair transplant surgery especially when the grafts have been placed in and around existing hair. The idea behind the combining the medical hair restoration and surgical hair restoration is to help prevent the temporary loss of healthy, preexisting hair due to the shock of the hair restoration surgery procedure.

The use of topical minoxidil both before and after hair restoration surgery is often recommended for patients undergoing hair transplant procedures as it has been seen that Minoxidil reduces hair shedding due to transplant trauma and shortens recovery from surgery.

Precaution before the hair transplant surgery

Most of the surgeons do feel that the medical hair restoration treatment with minoxidil should be stopped prior to the surgery to minimize skin irritation and the risk of dilation of the blood vessels, whihc might result in increased bleeding. The treatment of patients with 2% topical minoxidil is generally stopped 4 weeks before surgery.

The effectiveness of application of topical minoxidil prior to hair restoration surgery is also well documented. It was seen that hair loss due to telogen effluvium observed 2-4 weeks after surgery was more pronounced in placebo-treated patients (52%) as compared to minoxidil-treated patients (22 %).

Precaution after the hair transplant surgery It is not advised to use minoxidil on the transplanted areas immediately after surgery until the incisions have been allowed to heal. Most surgeons prefer to start the use of topical minoxidil at least a week or so after the hair transplant surgery. This allows time for the epithelium to heal and minimizes the potential for theoretical damage to the transplanted grafts from propylene glycol based minoxidil. However, the use of special glycerin based minoxidil solutions can take care this potential problem and can help to get a better growth after the surgery.

Where minoxidil is used before surgery, it is stopped until up to 3 weeks after the surgery, and then again started and continued. It has been observed that around 70% of grafts grew into hair when minoxidil was continued; otherwise most of the hair transplants are usually shed after 2-4 weeks of transplantation. There are several reports available on medical trials that suggest that topical minoxidil is a useful adjunct after hair transplantation.

The reported benefits of regular topical minoxidil administration following hair transplant surgery include: · An increase in the number of anagen hairs · Promotion of hair growth in the transplanted grafts and surrounding areas · Reduction of post-surgical shock and telogen effluvium

Medical hair treatment with Finasteride

Many hair transplant surgeons find Propecia (finasteride) to act as an excellent adjunct to the surgical hair restoration. There are several benefits to this kind of combination therapy. As the Medical hair restoration with Propecia brings about a hair re-growth in the crown area, it has a complementary action; it allows the surgeon to have more donor hair to be available for frontal hair transplant and design the hairline at his own will. Since finasteride has no effect in the frontal area of the scalp, it does not have any interference male hair loss treatment with surgical hair restoration which is generally done in the hair line and frontal area.

If you are experiencing pattern baldness, it makes the best sense to use medical treatment in conjunction with your hair transplantation surgery you are sure to have your hair transplants grow well, but keep in mind that non-transplanted hairs will continue to fall.