How Many Days After Hair Transplant Can I Sleep Normally?
/in Hair Loss 101 /by BenNowadays, with all the new techniques and technologies, hair restoration procedures are more and more successful than ever before. Hair transplant procedures are generally a painless and safe cosmetic procedure that can last a lifetime. With hair transplant surgery, you can look more youthful, feel more confident, and change your life for the better.
How Should You Sleep After a Hair Transplant?
A hair transplant is a minimally-invasive medical procedure, so it’s generally easy to recover from it. There isn’t much to heal because it isn’t exactly like a regular surgery where large incisions are made or muscle tissues are cut through.
Still, it is important to know what to do and what to avoid in the first days, and sometimes weeks, after your hair restoration surgery to make sure you achieve optimal results.
Sleeping positions are something you should take into consideration because, at first, the hair grafts are fresh, and this makes the operated area a little more delicate than usual.
Proper sleeping positions can help support the recovery process while also keeping all of the hair grafts intact.
Sleep on Clean Pillows and Sheets
Sleeping on clean and freshly-washed sheets and pillowcases will help keep potential infections at bay, and will also lead to a more comfortable and restful sleep. You should make sure that your detergent doesn’t contain allergens because these compounds might irritate the scalp, which is in the healing process for the first few weeks.
Keep Your Head Elevated
Although this procedure is minimally-invasive, some swelling can occur in the first couple of days. Mild swelling is usually no cause for alarm, but sleeping in a reclining position is one of the best things you can do to keep the swelling to a minimum. Neck pillows can help, too!
Use a Towel over Your Pillowcases
Many patients could experience a little leakage from their scalp both from the donor area or recipient area after hair transplantation. So, placing a towel over the pillow is wise if you want to avoid staining the pillowcases. Choose a dark-colored towel that’s made of a soft fabric. You will rest easy without worrying about staining your bed.
Don’t Sleep on Your Stomach
Another thing the doctor will probably say to you is to avoid sleeping on your stomach because it can lead to increased swelling. Those of you who normally like to sleep on their stomach should probably change your sleeping position until the scalp heals to ensure undisturbed hair transplant results.
Avoid Hitting the Headboard with Your Scalp
During recovery, protect your scalp as much as possible, and this includes not accidentally hitting it on the bed’s headboard. This could be an issue, especially if your bed structure is made of wood or metal. As a precautionary measure, you could always place a small pillow right between the headboard and your scalp. This can seem like a small thing, but it will definitely make a huge difference.
Develop a Healthy Sleep Pattern
After any kind of surgery, getting plenty of rest is always beneficial. During sleep, the body recovers quicker, and it recharges with the energy it needs to heal. Go to sleep early for at least one week after the surgery and prepare everything that will help you achieve a good rest.
Additional Aftercare Tips
Besides the way you sleep, how you wash your scalp and hair is also extremely important. The first thing to do is to avoid washing your head in the next days following your procedure, then, after you’ve healed a bit, you can start following our recommendation for washing your hair.
Your doctor will usually provide post-operative instructions and guidelines about your specific timeline for resuming normal activity.
The Proper Way to Wash Your Hair
Here’s what you must do:
- On the third day after the surgery, you can wash your hair for the first time since the procedure
- Only make gentle moves with your hands and avoid scrubbing the scalp because you might dislodge the grafts. This must be strictly followed during the first 5 days after the surgery to keep the transplanted grafts intact.
- Don’t place your head right under the shower to avoid a possible powerful water punch that comes out of the showerhead. If you have a rainfall showerhead, that would be perfect for the job!
- Put a little shampoo on your head and gently apply it all over your scalp. If you feel a little itchiness after you wash your head, that’s generally normal for the first few days after the hair transplant. A small amount of conditioner could help solve that issue because it usually helps to relieve the itching.
- If, after one week, you still have some scabs left on your scalp, you should apply some more conditioner, but only on the recipient site, which is the area in which the surgeon implanted the new hairs.
Another important thing you must do is drink a lot of water to keep your body well-hydrated. This helps to speed up your scalp’s recovery. Drink only water and refrain from consuming alcohol for at least a couple of days after the procedure. Alcohol might interfere with the blood circulation that occurs around your scalp and head area.
Avoiding direct sunlight and working out are also some other essential aftercare tips. Don’t worry, though, because the recovery process is generally short and painless. As long as you apply the guidelines provided by your surgeon, you will return to your normal activities in no time.
So, How Many Days After Hair Transplant Can I Sleep Normally?
Typically, in just 10 days, you will be able to go back to your normal daily activities, moderate workouts, regular hair washing routine, and the sleeping habits and positions that you’re used to. After those 10 days, both the scalp and the grafts should have healed enough to allow you to return to your normal lifestyle.
On the other hand, this period may vary from one patient to another, based on each individual’s lifestyle and the way the body reacts to the procedure. So, make sure to follow all the guidelines that your surgeon provides, and be patient.
What To Do After Hair Restoration
Ask a friend or a family member to go with you to the doctor or to wait for you after the surgery and drive you home. Although hair transplants don’t require strong sedation, it is generally best to avoid driving under the influence of any kind of sedative.
If it helps you to keep your head elevated for the first 3 days, consider sleeping with a neck pillow. You can even relax in a recliner and binge-watch movies on Netflix!
Talk to your doctor to find out which meds are safe to take after the procedure. The surgeon may prescribe you with some anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent swelling.
If you want to, you can apply an ice pack right above your eyebrows. This method also helps to prevent swelling, which, in most cases, occurs only within the first 3 to 4 days after the surgery.
As mentioned previously, wash your hair gently at first and avoid placing your head directly under the shower water stream. You can even use a cup to pour water all over your scalp when you rinse. Applying a mild conditioner can help alleviate itching as well.
If you feel like it, you can dye your hair prior to the operation because it typically won’t affect the hair transplant. After the surgery, you must wait for a full month before being able to dye your hair again.
Hydration is important, and you should drink a lot of water both before and after the procedure (and all the time anyway).
Finally, expect some hair fallout after the surgery. This could last between 2 to 4 weeks post-op. It is a natural step in the hair growth cycle. Don’t worry, none of the newly-transplanted hair follicles are damaged by the hair falling out. New hairs will appear within approximately three months.
What Not Do After Hair Restoration
Avoid sleeping on your stomach or your sides. Use pillowcases that are made of soft materials and don’t rub your hairline against them. You might notice some swelling, but that is normal as long as after a couple of days, the scalp’s skin goes back to normal.
Don’t touch the transplanted area with anything, not even ice. You can apply ice, but only to your forehead, next to your hairline, not on the scalp.
After hair transplants, many patients will notice scab formations, but you should do your best to avoid touching or picking at these as much as possible. Scabs are a part of the healing process. So, if they appear on your head, you should leave them alone until they fall off on their own, with the exception of a shower where shampooing may nudge them off.
Don’t wash your head for the first two days after the surgery. You can use a shower cap to protect your scalp. Also, avoid scratching your scalp even though you may feel some itchy sensations at first.
Don’t wear any hats or caps for the first couple of days. Wearing these items may disturb the scabs and the healing process. At the same time, don’t expose your head to direct sunlight during the first couple of weeks. Generally after about three days post-operation, you can start wearing a hat.
Don’t engage in intense workouts in the days following the operation because that might impact your blood pressure and heart rate, which need to remain well-balanced until the swelling subsides.
Finally, don’t drink alcohol for about a week and avoid smoking for a month if you can.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, like with any other surgery, you will have to follow certain rules after a hair transplant procedure. One of those guidelines is the proper sleeping position that you must consider during the first week since the surgery. In only 10 days, you should be able to go back to the way you were normally sleeping, and you might even sleep a little better now that you don’t have to worry about hair loss!
Sources:
- https://www.hairlossdoctors.com/blog/2019/06/06/how-to-sleep-after-fue-198893
- https://nashvillehairdoctor.com/recovery-after-hair-transplant/tips-on-how-to-sleep-after-a-hair-transplant/
- https://depts.washington.edu/skinsurg/documents/HairTransplantPostOp.pdf
- https://www.clinicana.com/blog/sleep-after-fue-hair-transplant/
How Long Does a Hair Transplant Last?
/in Hair Loss 101 /by BenFor those with balding, a hair transplant could be the perfect solution that helps them achieve permanent and natural-looking hair. Due to today’s practices and technology, hair transplants are much more effective and painless than before. Improvements in recreating the natural hairline have also been made, making a hair transplant is a lifetime investment most find very, very worth it.
Who Needs a Hair Transplant?
Let’s first talk about who would be the ideal candidates for hair transplants.
Both men and women can get hair transplantation. Here are the two main things you must consider to know whether or not a hair transplant procedure would be a good fit for you:
- You must have the right amount of healthy hair, which is called the donor hair, from which the doctor will remove hair follicles and transplant them to the recipient site (the area with the pattern baldness)
- Your scalp must have the ability to regrow hairs where the bald patches are or where the previous hair became too thin.
These two factors will be established by the surgeon at your consultation, prior to starting to plan any operation. You could also find out if you meet these requirements after seeing a dermatologist. The doctor will thoroughly examine your scalp before even discussing any surgical procedures.
Some patients might also need blood tests to find out the exact reason for their hair loss issues. This can detect a possible internal cause that may lead to your hair problems. Possible causes could be hormonal imbalance and other health conditions that make rashes appear on your skin or scalp.
In some cases, the surgeon might even have to do a scalp biopsy. After all these examinations, you will discover whether or not you’re a viable candidate for a successful hair transplant.
Aside from that, in general, people who deal with baldness, especially premature alopecia, have bald patches, and/or thinning hair are all great candidates for this type of surgery.
How Long Does a Hair Transplant Last?
One of the questions that patients ask frequently is “how long does a hair transplant last?” In theory, everyone sees this procedure as being a lifetime solution. Still, the patient’s lifestyle, age, and his or her hair type can all impact the lifespan of the surgery’s results.
Once in a while, there could be a patient who needs a second procedure for maintenance purposes, but those cases are rare because the transplanted follicles will generally keep growing new hairs for many, many years after surgery with proper scalp and hair care.
Both Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) Surgery and Follicular Unit Extraction/Excision (FUE) are made to last forever, and they are seen as permanent surgeries. That’s due to the fact that the hair follicles from the donor area are healthy to begin with relative to the shrunken and nonfunctional hair follicles in the balding areas, so there’s generally no issues around how long hair transplants last as long as the transplanted follicles are healthy and didn’t have issues with hair growth prior to the FUT or FUE procedure.
In other words, as long as you go to an experienced surgeon who knows exactly what they’re doing, and if the procedure is done correctly, you’re looking at an excellent outcome that lasts your entire life.
Doctors, like the professionals at the NHI Medical are well aware of the fact that hair loss is a progressive process in many situations. Despite that, they do what they know best: helping their patients achieve amazing results using their own existing hair, and helping them to feel better about the way they look.
On another note, whether or not you will need to do a second procedure depends on many things. In the end, it’s your personal choice. For instance, you may want increased hair density to an area that has already been transplanted, which is generally no problem. Or after 10-15 years, your natural hairs may have thinned and you may want an additional surgery to fill in the non-transplanted areas.
Sometimes, doctors could prescribe follow-up meds to minimize the need for a second operation.
Are Hair Transplants Effective?
Yes, in most cases, hair transplants are effective in natural hair restoration–restoration in the sense that the appearance of normal hairline and thickness are restored, not the actual hair follicles themselves.
Not only are these procedures safe nowadays, but they are also generally painless and less invasive than in the past. However, every patient is different, and his or her scalp and hair needs and issues are unique, which is why the most important thing is to take the time to find a qualified, experienced doctor.
Things That Could Affect the Outcome of a Hair Transplant
A variety of elements could affect or influence the result of hair transplantation:
- Your hair’s characteristics – Do you have curly or coarse hair? Curly hair naturally looks thicker than straight hair.
- How severe is your hair loss? – Based on this, the number of hairs taken from the back or sides of the scalp will be affected.
- How dense is your donor area? – If your hair density is high in the donor site, the doctor will be able to transplant more follicular units into the recipient site.
- Donor follicular unit groupings – If your hair supply is rich in thicker follicular units that contain 3-4 different hairs, the result will generally be better.
- The size of your head – Based on your head circumference, the doctor will harvest more or fewer hair grafts.
- Skin laxity – This characteristic of your scalp skin can impact the amount of tissue that the surgeon is able to extract during the FUT procedure.
What Does a Hair Transplant Cost Look Like?
The cost of hair transplant surgery varies from one clinic to another and is also based on different factors. Also, the final cost includes more than just the surgery itself. It involves some additional aspects:
- The extent of your transplant procedure
- How experienced and reputable your surgeon is
- The number of clinics or surgeons available where you live
- The surgical technique and technology that the doctor uses
Hair transplantation is considered a cosmetic procedure. Therefore, it might not be covered by your health insurance. You should also think about the extra cost of potential aftercare medications that the surgeon might prescribe you.
One thing’s for sure: although this operation isn’t very cheap, it is definitely worth it for most if you want to regain a youthful appearance and restore your self-confidence.
What to Do After a Hair Transplant Surgery?
Your doctor should talk to you about specific important aftercare tips and guidelines that you should follow, but these generally include:
- You must wait a couple of days before washing your hair
- The first two weeks, it is best to use mild shampoos and avoid other hair styling products
- In just about 2 to 5 days, you should be ready to go back to work
- Carefully comb your hair without pressing the brush too deep into the newly-transplanted hair grafts; wait approximately two to three weeks before brushing like you used to do
- Avoid wearing pullover shirts and hats until you receive the green light from your surgeon
- Wait at least one week before working out again
When Will You See Results After the Surgery?
Most of those who went through hair transplantation will achieve their expected results between 9 to 12 months after the operation. Occasionally, patients start seeing results as early as 6 months after their procedure, but this is very rare.
You must be reminded that right after the surgery, for a couple of weeks, your new hair will fall out, but this is totally normal, and all patients must go through it. By the third month, the hair could appear thinner than before the surgery but, once again, this is normal–just be patient.
How Long Must You Wait Until the New Hair Grafts Become Permanent?
Normally, grafts become permanent within 9 days after the procedure. This is the case with all follicular unit transplants. After that, you will be able to shampoo the flakes off. In cases where larger grafts were transplanted, the grafts could become permanent after a longer period of time.
Hair Transplants and Their Success Rate
Hair transplants are generally a much more successful and effective option compared to over-the-counter products that may or may not restore your hair follicle health. Also, this type of medical procedure represents a permanent solution.
Things to Consider after the Hair Transplant Surgery
All doctors give post-operational recommendations to their patients. The following ones that are listed below are just some general guidelines so, for each patient, some of these suggestions might be different, based on each person’s unique needs and the way the body responds after the surgery:
- You must wait several days before washing your scalp or hair. Before washing it, you should first apply a hydrating lotion or mild moisturizer and leave it on for around 20 minutes. This way, all the post-op scabs will soften, and dried blood can be washed away.
- After 20 minutes, wash the lotion off with lukewarm water. The ideal thing to do is to use a special medical shampoo. Apply a small amount of shampoo all over your head, but don’t rub it on your scalp. You should make soft moves with your palms the entire time while also avoiding any pressure.
- Rinse your head and dry your hair by using paper towels. Instead of rubbing the hair, just pat it slowly.
- Repeat this process until all dried blood and scabs are removed from your scalp, which shouldn’t last longer than 7-10 days. Within a couple of weeks after the surgery, you should be able to wash your hair normally.
Conclusion
Hair transplants are safe and effective options to address hair loss issues. These procedures, if done by experienced and reputable doctors, can last you a lifetime. In a few cases, some patients might need a second maintenance medical intervention, but those situations don’t happen very often. Good luck!
Sources:
- https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/hair-loss/treatment/transplant
- https://www.healthline.com/health/does-hair-transplant-work
- https://www.forhims.com/blog/true-cost-hair-transplants-time-money-side-effects
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825128/
How Do Hair Transplants Work?
/in Hair Loss 101 /by BenHair transplants are effective and long term solutions for those who deal with hair loss. These medical procedures should always be performed by experienced doctors who are trained to restore normal hair growth by inserting new follicles into scalp areas that have been affected by alopecia. (Although the word alopecia has long been associated with a hair disease, is simply means the loss of hair.)
Hair transplants can last a lifetime. Although thin hair or hair loss are both normal aging processes, some younger patients have hair transplant procedures done because of certain scalp traumas or medical conditions.
What Is Hair Transplant?
Surgical hair transplantation is a popular and, nowadays, almost painless surgical technique during which the doctor removes existing hair follicles from a healthy part of the patient’s scalp (referred to as donor hair) and then inserts those follicles into those areas that have been affected by alopecia.
The area where the donor hairs are taken from is called the donor site, while the surface in which the follicles are inserted is called the recipient site. This procedure is mostly used to treat male pattern baldness, but has been used for female pattern hair loss as well.
Usually, this operation is done by a surgeon specializing in surgical hair restoration. Most of the time, grafts that contain multiple hair follicles are extracted from the back of the head, where normally, individual hairs tend to be thicker. The majority of patients deal with baldness in the front area of the head.
How Does Hair Transplant Work?
Before the procedure, you will have an initial appointment with your surgeon and discuss everything that needs clarification. Also, you will be locally sedated so you won’t feel any pain. A small needle is used to anesthetize and numb your scalp. However, all surgeons will also thoroughly clean the area before beginning the operation, as is typical with most surgeries.
Based on the type of hair transplant that you and your doctor opt for, the procedure is slightly different. One requires a scalpel to remove a narrow strip of skin. The other relies on thousands of small punch incisions.
One session of hair restoration surgery might last around 6 hours or, sometimes, even longer. After 10 days post-surgery for FUT hair transplant patients, the doctor will remove your staples. Many patients will need to have more than one procedure to obtain their desired results. These procedures are scheduled months to years apart, depending on the amount of hair loss the individual is experience and the amount of hair density the patient is trying to achieve. This pause is necessary for the scalp to fully heal.
Note that even though it’s called hair restoration surgery, hair transplants work by moving healthy hair follicles to areas where hair follicles are no longer functioning, thus restoring the presence of healthy hair follicles versus restoring function to the nonfunctional hair follicles.
Main Types of Hair Transplant
There are two main types of hair transplants:
- FUT surgery or FUSS which stands for follicular unit transplant or follicular unit strip surgery;
- FUE procedure which stands for follicular unit excision.
Let’s discuss them in more detail.
FUT/Follicular Unit Transplantation
During this procedure, the doctor uses a scalpel to cut a small part of your scalp skin. Usually, surgeons make this incision around the back of your head. The length of the incision is approximately 6 inches. Before going on to the next step of the process, the doctor stitches or staples and closes the incision.
Then, the surgeon will remove and separate small sections from the removed strip using a sharp surgical knife and a microscope/magnifying lens. This way, when inserted into the recipient site, these tiny parts of follicles will help you achieve a natural look, once the hair grows back.
FUE/Follicular Unit Extraction
During this type of hair transplant, the surgeon cuts the hair follicles out directly from the back part of the patient’s head by doing thousands of very small punch incisions that are the size of dots.
The doctor uses either a needle or a tiny blade to create holes all over the recipient site. Then, he or she fills those areas with the hairs taken from the donor site. In one single session, an expert could transplant hundreds, if not thousands, of different hairs.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Both FUT and FUE?
Nowadays, most clinics such as NHI Medical are amazingly equipped, using top-notch technology. So, both hair transplants procedure types are safe and generally painless during the procedure. Some soreness is normal right after the surgery, but that will pass in just a couple of days. The recovery time is quick after hair transplantation. You can return to work after only 2 to 5 days post-operation, with little visible signs that a procedure was performed.
In a couple of weeks after surgery, all the newly-transplanted hair will fall out just to make room for new growth, but you must have a little patience because this entire process will take a 9-12 months to show the full results of your procedure.
FUT Pros
- Has a better growth rate compared to the one of FUE
- The stereo-microscopic dissection is so precise that the follicle damage is minimal
- Patients don’t have to shave their heads before the surgery
- Usually, a FUT procedure is less expensive than FUE surgery.
FUT Cons
- After the operation, patients will be left with a linear scar, but it generally won’t be visible because it will fade away after a while and it will be hidden within the hairline
- If you want to cut your hair very short, the scar will become visible, so you should avoid using the #1 guard of your razor – this generally isn’t a problem because once you enjoy hair regrowth, you won’t want to have very short hair ever again.
- In some cases, FUT can be a little more painful right after the surgery than FUE – both procedures are safe, and they aren’t that painful, but pain is a highly subjective concept, each patient experiences it in a different way.
FUE Pros
- With the FUE hair transplant, patients will avoid linear scars.
- FUE generally has lower postoperative pain than FUT.
- You can wear your hair any way you want, even cut it very short because there won’t be a linear scar showing.
- In some cases, with FUE, the donor site heals a bit quicker than with the FUT procedure.
FUE Cons
- There will be numerous tiny dot scars at the back of your scalp but once your hair grows back, no one, not even you, will typically notice them.
- FUE comes with more transection compared to FUT.
- Because of the transection, the growth rate might be a little slower.
- You will need to shave your head or at least the areas where the doctor will work on before the surgery.
Hair Transplants: FUE vs. FUT
Both types of surgeries are effective for restoring the appearance of a normal hairline and a full head of hair. However, they can have slightly different outcomes, in some cases.
Some say that FUE requires a more experienced and skilled surgeon, and it also takes longer compared to FUT. Most of the time, doctors take hairs from either the sides or the back of the scalp. These areas are considered donor areas.
When the situation requires it, a hair transplant surgeon could even remove hairs from other body parts such as the back, chin, or chest. After a successful procedure, you will enjoy having much thicker-looking hair, so most don’t mind where the donor hair actually comes from.
Your surgeon will certainly offer some advice regarding the things you should do or avoid after the operation. If you follow those instructions as well as avoid intense workouts for a couple of weeks, you shouldn’t generally encounter any problems.
What Happens After the Procedure?
At first, your scalp could be sore, which is why your doctor could prescribe you some medication that you should take after the hair transplant surgery:
- At minimum, anti-inflammatory drugs to help reduce the swelling
- Pain medication for pain relief
- Antibiotics to help prevent the risk of infection
Most patients are able to start working again after several days, post-procedure. In the first two or three weeks, the transplanted hairs will fall out, but this is totally normal. It’s the body’s way of making room for new hair growth. You will see a head full of “new” hair after at least eight months after the surgery but typically no longer than one year.
The way your new hairs will look varies from one person to the other, based on each patient’s scalp laxity, follicle density, hair quality, hair curl, and hair caliber. It is always important to clarify all these details with your surgeon before the operation to set realistic expectations.
What Can Cause Pattern Baldness?
There are several different scenarios that can lead to pattern baldness or premature alopecia.
The first reason, that is also the most common one, is genetics. If your family members have dealt with the same problem, it is likely you will also experience hair loss.
The hair strands on a person’s head have growth cycles. Once the hair follicles shrink, these cycles get weaker. This further leads to thinner hair and, as soon the cycle ends, the follicle dies and there won’t be any new hair growing in that affected area.
Besides genetics, another reason that explains alopecia is given by a number of health conditions; those kinds of issues also translate into symptoms such as scalp redness, rashes, and hair breakage.
Stress could also be another factor that causes baldness or hair loss.
Finally, hormonal imbalance and inappropriate hair treatments paired with aging and poor nutrition are extra possible reasons as well.
Reasons don’t have to be exclusive either–you could have a combination of these reasons and even other reasons for hair loss.
How Do Hair Transplants Work? The Bottom Line
The first thing you must do is try to prevent hair loss is by being gentle with your hair, combing it slowly, avoiding harsh treatments, protecting the hair from too much direct sunlight, and trying to keep your hair and scalp as healthy as possible. Then, if all these precautionary measures still don’t work, you may need to make an appointment for a hair transplant consult.
Nowadays, hair transplants are safe and effective. All you have to do is find the right doctor and follow all the guidelines the expert provides.
P.S. All the aforementioned activities, such as combing your hair right and avoiding too many styling products, are recommended post-surgery as well to support healthy hair and a healthy scalp. This way, you can enjoy your operation outcome as long as possible!
Sources:
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327229
- https://www.healthline.com/health/hair-transplant
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20372926
- https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/men-hair-loss-17/hair-transplants
What is a Mature Hairline and How is it Measured?
/in Hair Loss 101 /by BenWe all know the importance of first impressions. In our personal and professional lives, we want to present as well as possible, and healthy hair makes a major impact. .
Unfortunately for many folks, that hairline from high school is going in the wrong direction, and to find a solution, we first need to assess the problem accurately.
While most people jump to conclusions and say that they’re “losing their hair” or “going bald,” there’s a bit more nuance to the receding hairline conversation.
Let’s talk about the concept of a maturing hairline, and see how it factors into the broader discussion on hair loss treatment, prevention, and care.
Call it what it is
Terminology is very important in the medical field since lives are at risk based on what specific words are used to describe symptoms. While hair loss terminology isn’t quite as life or death intense, we need to be precise with our terms to make the right fix.
When it comes to determining a mature hairline, we need a clear definition.
According to the high-traffic blog Hair Loss Daily, a mature hairline is defined by roughly a half-inch to one inch of movement away from the brow.
Hairline maturation is a totally normal process that typically begins subtly in a man’s late teens and may increase gradually throughout his twenties.
Here are a few things to remember that differentiate a mature hairline vs. a receding hairline vs. male-pattern baldness:
- The transition to a mature hairline is even and not patchy. The pattern maintains the general shape of the youthful hairline–the new hairline is just moved back about an inch from the original normal hairline.
- To find out if you have a mature hairline, hold your index finger just above your highest wrinkle/top wrinkle, i.e. your highest forehead wrinkle. If it touches your hair, you are in the clear.
- According to most hair loss specialists, a mature hairline is NOT considered to be a form or sign of male pattern baldness, just a natural effect of the aging process.
You can also check out a few image galleries online to see how your hair compares, and help that guide your own personal assessment.
Mature hairline and male pattern baldness may not be the exact same thing, but they are both caused by increases in a powerful hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is like a cousin to testosterone.
After guys go through puberty in their teenage years, their testosterone increases and then breaks down into DHT, which signals that it’s time for hair follicles to stop growing as robustly on the top of the head.
Those hormones signal hair growth in other areas of the body, instead, as the body assumesa full head of hair has been accomplished and the next region of hair is ready for some attention.
DHT is why that youthful hairline recedes an inch or so in our twenties, while we notice a bit less hair growth around our temples and a major increase in our density of facial hair.
How bad is it really?
A lot of folks have trouble dealing with any change to their hairline, simply because they don’t want to feel like they’re seeing early signs of losing their youth.
But, the truth is that a mature hairline is the norm for most men, and there are very few people on the planet who retain the exact “juvenile hairline” they had since childhood.
We want to reinforce the truth about the mature hairline, which is that you have nothing to fear! In fact, you should embrace the style as a badge of honor.
Here are a few facts about the mature hairline to keep in mind.
- Only around 5% of Caucasian men retain the hairline of their youth, so don’t be discouraged by a mature hairline.
- Most modern Hollywood icons and TV personalities have mature hairlines.
- Guys like John Hamm, Brad Pitt, Leo DiCaprio, and Johnny Depp are all good examples of famous guys who pull off the look with plenty of flair.
- A mature hairline does not have to mean hair thinning. You can still grow out those locks; however you do want to try different styles, long hair means a little more effort into hair care, as well .
You may have to change your approach a little bit once you start experiencing a mature hairline, but take it as an opportunity to further develop your style into something bigger and better.
Simply put, the mature hairline is just the normal final stage of a man’s development from boyhood. It doesn’t matter whether it happens at 18, 29, or 45–there is nothing to be concerned about when your hairline matures.
What can be done?
While some men may feel that they need to aggressively try to reverse the mature hairline, it is particularly difficult to reverse this process, since it is essentially a natural occurrence.
Most folks in the field do not recommend introducing medication or other serious treatment options unless we detect true signs of male pattern balding or male pattern hair loss.
In other words, a mature hairline does not mean you should immediately go seek methods of reversal.
Only consider taking action if you notice these signs of hair loss as well:
- You start to notice an M-shape hairline with thinning along the sides of the head (this is easy to confuse with a V-shaped hairline or widow’s peak, so be mindful!)
- You experience excessive hair shedding in the shower or on the pillow. Looking at the shower drain is usually the best indicator of loss of hair.
- You begin to have trouble styling your hair like you used to.
- You detect hair loss in the middle-back part of your head (bald spot).
- Increased levels of scratching or itching that result in lost clumps of hair.
- More brittleness and weakness in the hair, with poor roots.
As the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons points out, the likelihood of male pattern baldness increases at a rate of around 1% every year for men, so it’s better to know what to look for and be ready to battle back.
As the Men’s Hairstyle World website says, there are tons of excellent styles you can choose from that fit the mature hairline perfectly.
You can still rock the swept-back vertical look, do a classy combover, or even go for an edgy shaved-sides haircut. Some guys will want to shave it all down to a buzz cut, which is also totally acceptable, and looks great for men with the right head shape.
With that said, you should know what options are at your fingertips if you do eventually see signs of male pattern baldness.
Follicular Unit Extension (FUE) is one of the most popular new techniques we utilize here at the NHI Medical, and clients have been thrilled with the results so far.
Instead of harvesting from a small donor spot at the back of the head as is the case with the Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) process, we expand the area of the harvest zone and scatter the donor sites around.
This means that clients can wear their hair short and not reveal the thin horizontal scar that is often associated with FUT.
FUE is quickly becoming a favorite in the industry for its versatility, whether it be hairline lowering, eyebrow transplants, or beard transplants.
Another big development in the industry is the Scalp MicroPigmentation procedure (SMP). This is a process by which the surgeon administers a precise “tattoo” across the designated area of thinning hair and creates the appearance of fuller, natural stubble.
This is a great option for guys who feel that their mature hairline has receded too far and want to lower it by an inch or two.
One drawback is the fact that gentlemen are restricted to the close-shaved stubble look, and will need to do some extra maintenance to ensure a consistent appearance.
We also recommend that folks be very careful about where they go to have this procedure done, because while it demands surgical precision and oversight, some regions have looser regulations .they must adhere to.
Conclusion
Now that you have a clear idea of what a mature hairline is, you will be better equipped to make the right assessment of your own hair and determine a course of action.
Just remember that a mature hairline is really nothing major to be concerned with. It is something that more than 95% of men experience, and many consider it to be a healthy sign of vitality. Of course, if you think the mature hairline is on its way out and authentic MPB (Male Pattern Baldness) is taking place, then it’s up to you to take that preventive or restorative next step.
Never hesitate to consult a hair loss professional if you think you are going beyond a mature hairline. There have been numerous promising advancements in hair loss science and surgery in the past few years, and we’re confident we can find a solution that fits your needs!
With so much fantastic tech and talented surgeons at our disposal, there’s no reason why you should have to resign yourself to a receding hairline.
We are happy to consult, email, or speak on the phone to determine your current situation and develop a personalized plan of attack moving forward.
Be sure to bookmark the NHI Medical blog page and stay informed on the latest developments in the industry. The more you know, the better you can combat hair loss if and when it strikes.
We post new articles, galleries, and testimonials all the time, so get in the loop!
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