You’ve read the title – it’s a question we get from time to time from potential patients who might have been told miracle stories or are just generally curious. To get straight to the point, there are very effective and scientifically-backed hair restoration products, such as Rogaine, Propecia and GroMD Shampoo and Conditioner – but these admittedly great products are mainly employed to slow hair loss and stimulate slight growth.
The short answer is no. There aren’t really any non-surgical options to grow your hair back in a comprehensive and thick way. Hair transplantation – meaning the transplantation of hair grafts from places on your scalp that grow plenty of hair to those balding or thinning spots you worry about – is the only effective way you can permanently combat hair loss.
This fact, however, doesn’t stop a lot of commercial clinics from trying to sell you on non-invasive hair growth treatments. The market has seized upon the fact that hair loss is a highly sensitive reality for both men and women. Promises of ‘hair growth’ are slapped on to everything from coconut oil to dry shampoo brands.
Patients can often spend thousands of dollars on treatments and products that do little or nothing to stimulate hair growth. Here at the Modena Hair Institute we’ve looked into many of these options and even battle tested a few of them. We are in the business of helping our patients achieve a full head of hair and are willing to try anything new that seems promising. And sometimes, new methods come along that are worth trying out.
This has been the case with using platelet rich plasma injections (PRP). We have seen incredible results in offering PRP to our hair transplant patients. Ultimately we believe nothing compares to a hair transplant performed by an experienced specialist. Most patients who try other options eventually arrive at the same conclusion. Why waste thousands of dollars trying to take what seems to be an ‘easier’ route if it results in greater hardship? It breaks our heart to hear patients tell us how they feel they were misled. How thousands of dollars that were wasted could have been spent on permanent restoration instead.
Perhaps part of the problem is that the word ‘surgery’ is not quite the right term when it comes to medical hair restoration. It’s not even close to being a surgery in the sense that most people imagine it. There are no hospital gowns, no doctors in scrubs, no scalpels or (visible) scars. Your hair restoration procedure, while lengthy, feels more like a long stay at your hair salon than a medical procedure. You recline, you watch TV, you chat with your surgeon and otherwise pass the time. Every once in a while, you change position depending on what area is being worked on. After all this, you go home and spend a few days watching some more TV, taking care not to disturb your new hair grafts. That’s it. The rest is just a bit of patience until your new hair grows in.
Your recovery takes one or two days at most, although some people take time off from work for a week to ten days so as not to invite any questions about the small red dots on their scalp. Once these miniature dots scab over and fall off, no one will see that you had anything done. Over the next few months the change will be so gradual that no one will realize what happened. Except that you will start hearing that you look great.
Save yourself the time and money and disappointment of trying to coax your hair into growing with lotions, potions, and other miracle cures. Instead of trying non-surgical hair loss treatments that don’t work, find out if you’re a candidate for hair transplantation and go straight to the solution that works. To get started, see our virtual consultation module.
Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.
Male-pattern baldness – ie. genetics – may be the most talked about and dreaded of hair loss types, but there are many other causes that lead to hair loss.
Last week a young man with a thick head of hair, aged 23, came into our hair restoration clinic in Orange County desperately seeking clinical help. The problem? Although he had a beautifully full head of hair, it was riddled with white flakes. He said he didn’t know where else to turn. That he is in extremely good physical and mental shape, minds his fruits and vegetables, and always practices good hygiene. His personal and professional life cause him no undue stress and he rarely, if ever, doesn’t get a full nights rest. At first he thought he suffered from a temporary bout of dandruff, but as the weeks turned into months turned into years, the presence of white flakes only grew larger and more numerous. Giving up on styling his hair because it would result in chunks of white flakes clumping up on the top and sides of his head, he turned to wearing baseball caps and beanies almost everyday.
