Aside from those who shave their heads bald, all Americans have hair on their heads, and many of them care a great deal about the quality and appearance of their head hair. This is reflected in the current size and popularity of hair care products, ranging from curling irons to expensive shampoos and gels to hair dyes and even hair weft extensions. However, hair is also a natural part of the body, and over time, it will start falling out. This may not be any fault of the adult; hair often falls out and leaves thin patches or bald spots, and men in particular may face this change as they grow older. And while there isn’t a “magic potion” to restore all of a person’s missing hair, today’s hair replacement services can go a long way toward restoring the person’s hair in other ways. A hair loss doctor may be found at a nearby hair replacement clinic, and hair transplants can be done with the help of skilled surgeons. When is it time for hair replacement services? What can these hair replacement services offer?
When Americans Lose Their Hair
A number of statistics have been complied on the topic of hair loss and interest in hair replacement services, and they show that hair loss is a mundane and commonplace occurrence. In fact, around 95% of men will experience common male pattern baldness at some point in their lives, and a man should not be too surprised by his receding hair line. Overall, some 35 million American men and 21 million women are experiencing hair loss, and once this process starts, it may last for around 20 years or so. It has been determined that by age 35, two in three men will experience noticeable hair loss on their heads, and by age 50, some 85% of men will have significantly thinning hair on their heads. This is not as prevalent among women, but it does happen, and a person will lose about 50% of all hairs on their head by the time hair thinning becomes visible to the naked eye. There is also a scale, the Norwood Scale, that measures rates of hair loss, and hair replacement services may use it as a reference. Type I hair loss is the minimal kind, and Type VII is the most advanced sort of hair loss.
Surveys have been done to see what Americans think about their thinning hair, and the results make it clear that this process, while perfectly natural, is very unpopular. No one likes having their hair fall out, and many people will go to great lengths to restore their hair. Nearly 47% of all surveyed people going through hair loss said that they would spend their entire life savings to restore a full head of hair, and around 60% said that they would choose a full head of hair over money or friends. As mentioned above, lost hair cannot simply be restored out of nothing, but then again, today’s hair replacement services can have a similar effect, and many customers and patients report satisfaction with the results. How might hair loss be reversed, at least on a cosmetic level?
Filling Out Hair
Wigs are certainly one option, but there are others, too. Women often choose to have hair wefts put in their hair, and this may be done to fill out a head of thinning hair.
Meanwhile, surface-level surgery may be done to fill out thin patches or bald spots on a customer’s head, and an interested client may look online to find a hair loss specialist in their area. That, or they may ask their doctor. When a patient visits a hair loss clinic, they may undergo an FUE transplant, or “follicular unit extraction.” Hair follicles naturally grow in small units from one to six or so, and these units can be rearranged for cosmetic purposes. Surgeons carefully remove thin layers of skin with small hair clusters, and transplant them into the desired area. The hairs may be oriented for a natural look, and this can be repeated any number of times as needed. This doesn’t add hair to the head, but it can fill out bald or thin patches with real hair, and patients are often happy with the results.
