How to Stop Hair Loss and Regrow it

For a man of Brad Pitt’s fame and age, his never-changing hairline remains something of a curiosity. Unlike many of his celebrity contemporaries, Pitt’s hair has remained thick and healthy without any apparent need for transplant operations. Does he have a miraculously resilient hair line, or has he managed to head off hair loss before it became noticeable?

For men approaching 50 years of age, as Pitt himself is, there is a 50-50 chance that they will have experienced some form of a hair loss, whether it be a receding hair line or thinning of the vertex. Certain health conditions or events increase the likelihood of hair being shed and in the case of Brad Pitt it is highly likely that he has experienced at least some of these.

Pitt has been photographed leaving a skin spa earlier this week showing clear signs of ageing, walking with a stick and sporting a greying beard. His hair though looks the same as always, thick, full and long.

So how has he managed to keep his hair so healthy? Or indeed at all?

Some celebrities, like Wayne Rooney, have had high profile hair transplant surgery to correct bald patches and thinning hairlines. Allowing your hair to thin to a level where a transplant is required can cost as much as £30,000 + as it did in Rooney’s case. What’s more, there is no guarantee that such surgery will be a success and preventative treatments are compulsory after having had a hair transplant to maintain the rest of the hair, so why not prevent the problem before it gets to this stage?

Men who observe hair loss early on and seek specially formulated, licensed and proven hair loss treatments can often regrow the lost locks before anyone notices and with minimal expense. If Brad Pitt has ever experienced thinning hair, then it’s most likely he has done the clever thing and undertaken the right kind of treatment to correct the loss before the paparazzi could get hold of the story.

Men who find that they have patchy hair loss or thinning hair at the temple and crown have a number of treatment options open to them with a high degree of regrowth success. Medications such as Propecia or Minoxdil are not only clinically approved by the health regulators on both sides of the Atlantic (the MHRA and FDA), but are also proven to prevent further hair loss and encourage regrowth. Using specially formulated versions of one or more of these treatments, along with the right hair growth boosters suited to the individual’s condition and pattern of hair loss, will ensure hair loss can be stopped and hair regrown in the great majority of cases.

The genius of this course of action is that hair can be regrown before the loss becomes noticeable. And if no one ever notices the initial hair loss, it is quite possible to maintain the appearance of always having had a full head of hair – just like Mr Pitt.

The Belgravia Centre has a long list of a-list celebrity patients that have never hit the tabloids for reasons of excessive hair loss because they have acted at the right time.

The Belgravia Centre takes the confidentiality of its clients extremely seriously, always ensuring anonymity and acting to protect their identities and hair loss treatments at all costs. Any client, male or female, can be completely confident of receiving the exact hair loss treatment they need without having to tell anyone about their hair health concerns. View the world’s largest collection of hair loss success stories to see what kind of results are so likely with our treatment programmes. All of the patients featured have of course consented to us using their comments and before/during treatment photos.

For clients who cannot attend our Victoria-based premises, we also offer an online diagnostic form and home treatment option. People electing to take this route are able to treat themselves in the comfort of their own home.

The Belgravia Centre is the UK’s leading hair loss clinic, but thanks to our postal prescription service we also serve clients across the world. But if you are able to visit our London centre for a free consultation, which is always advised, please call our helpline on 0800 077 6666 or message the centre.

So whether an A list celebrity or simply a concerned citizen, The Belgravia Centre have a range of treatment options available to meet their specific needs. We strongly recommend that men and women contact our hair specialists as soon as they notice increased shedding – we can then create a treatment plan to suit you. The quicker a diagnosis is provided and treatment begun, the less likely hair loss is to become noticed.

Whatever the degree of hair loss experienced, contact us today to arrange a free, no obligation appointment with one of hair loss experts to start treatment and the recovery of your hairline – before it becomes headline news.

Hair restoration surgeon Dr. Michael Beehner is recommended by the Hair Transplant Network. To view this discussion and other hair loss topics, visit our Hair Loss Social Community and Discussion Forums,

I am 29 years old and have been using Propecia (finasteride) for 3 years, Rogaine (minoxidil) for 3 years and had one hair transplant in the corners of hairline (temples?) of 1800 grafts 1 year ago. (See photo below)

Based on my photo, how many grafts do you think it might take to fully restore my crown? Who is the best crown doctor in your opinion? My donor is dense, hair is wavy, and hair diameter in thick (Spanish ancestors). No one in my family is slick bald. The only person with thinner hair is my mom’s dad but his crown is better than mine and he’s 65. My dad and his dad have Elvis hair.

I think, at the age of 29, it would be a mistake to transplant your entire crown area, especially using maximal density, which I am sure is what you probably would want.

In looking at your “top-down” photo, I can see obvious thinning in a 9-10cm diameter circular area in back. At 29, you likely have 50 years of life ahead of you in which male pattern baldness is going to progress. And unfortunately, the square area of the crown/vertex does not increase in a linear fashion, but rather in a logarithmic way.

The great majority of men at your age with your degree of hair loss do, in fact, eventually go on to the classical U-shape of a Norwood VI pattern. With such a future likely, the top of your head will always be the number one priority to save donor hair for. You mentioned that you have already had some work done in the front. I have seen at least a dozen men over the years who had the crowns filled in when they were younger, and who came to see me 10-20 years later with a 1-2 inch wide “halo” of bald skin around the dense hair in the center, giving it the appearance of a “bulls-eye”. And, unfortunately, this “halo” area couldn’t be filled in because the donor hair supply was exhausted and had shrunk dramatically with the advancing baldness.

One other word of caution is that you have been on medications, which is a good thing and I’m sure you look better now because you have been on them. My hunch is that, if you had not taken medication, you would see quite a bit more balding presently and actually have better insight into what is going to happen in the future. So these treatments, which are great for helping delay the eventual balding pattern, do in fact “mask” what would really be going on now otherwise and thus can make you a little more over-confident now that everything can be filled in densely and cover your bald area for your lifetime. I’m simply saying that, for the great majority of men who are going to eventually be Norwood VI patterns, the center of the crown/vertex is not where you want a bunch of dense hair.

Two final points: For many men your age with a thinning crown, I will fill in whatever is on the horizontal plane, which often is almost 80% of the circular crown area, as seen from that top view, but I preserve a concave curve at the rear of this transplanting (as seen from the back), so that if the “bottom drops out” with a large area of balding beneath it, I am not committed to chasing after it.

The final point is that I think, at 29, some light coverage with low density 1-hair and 2-hair follicular units is okay to do at this time in your entire crown because that will never look freakish later should you bald to a Norwood VII or advanced VI, and it doesn’t take that much donor hair to likewise transplant in a similar fashion to the area in which baldness advances.

My cutoff for transplanting the rear vertex is 35 years of age. After that, I feel it is possible to make a pretty good assessment of where a given male is heading and being able to see if there is a comfortable “cushion” of donor hair available so that the top and the vertex can both be filled in.

As always, the goal is to be as helpful as possible for the patient, but not to create short-term happiness now and misery and deformity later in life.

Dr. Mike Beehner, M.D.

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

Each year, Phoenix Magazine publishes its list of top physicians from more than 50 fields of practice. This year, hair restoration was added to the list of specialties.  We are pleased to announce Dr. Shelly Friedman was selected as Phoenix, Arizona’s #1 Hair Transplant Surgeon for 2011. Dr. Friedman is also recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

Only a select number of physicians are chosen for this honor each year. Phoenix Magazine nominates physicians for this honor through a peer-review survey.  This includes randomly surveying 5,000 physicians from around the Phoenix area, including M.D.s (medical doctors), D.O.s (osteopathic doctors) and N.D.s/N.M.Ds (naturopathic doctors). The surveys asks physicians to nominate doctors who, in their judgment, are the best in their fields and related ones. Physicians must be board-certified in their respective fields to qualify.

Dr. Friedman has been performing hair transplant surgery as the primary part of his practice for over 25 years and is the Founding President of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS), the certifying board for hair transplant surgeons.

Just as the hair transplant industry has evolved significantly since it began, so has Dr. Friedman’s technique. Dr. Friedman and his dedicated full time staff averaging 9 years of experience have the ability and experience to perform larger, densely packed sessions of high quality follicular unit hair transplantation exceeding 2500 grafts when appropriate for the patient.

Balding men and women seeking a solution to hair loss in Arizona and beyond are encouraged to consider Dr. Shelly Friedman. To join us in congratulating Dr. Friedman on his recent honor, please add your comments to the following discussion thread on our Hair Restoration Forum, Dr. Shelly Friedman is Named Phoenix’s Top Hair Restoration Surgeon of 2011,

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

Each year, Baltimore Magazine publishes a list of top physicians in the region from more than 101 specialties. We are pleased to announce that, this year, Coalition member Dr. James Vogel was named by his peers as one of the city’s top General Plastic Surgeons of 2011.

Dr. Vogel is very involved in contributing to his profession and sharing hair restoration techniques with his peers. He is the past president of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) and was the chairman of the scientific committee from 1993 to 1999. He remains actively involved in lecturing and writing with many surgical societies and professional organizations.

Adding to his list of accomplishments, Dr. Vogel has recently been asked by The Aesthetic Surgery Journal to serve as their international section editor on hair transplants. The Aesthetic Surgery Journal is the official journal of The International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Dr. James Vogel is a highly respected member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians and recommended on the Hair Transplant Network. To learn more about Dr. Vogel and his ultra-refined follicular unit hair transplant procedure, click here to view his Coalition profile on the Hair Loss Learning Center.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Vogel by clicking here and adding your comments to the discussion on our popular Hair Loss Forum.

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

This hair loss question was posted directly to Dr. Raymond Konior of Chicago, IL, who is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. See his professional answer below.

How much pain you feel during suture removal? Any tips one can use to minimize pain during/before the removal procedure?

Hair transplant patients with highly sensitive skin can purchase LMX Topical Anesthetic Cream and apply it over the suture line 30-45 minutes prior to the suture removal. I prefer that the area be cleaned prior to application so as to facilitate absorption into the local skin region. This cream will numb the superficial skin and make the suture removal process more comfortable.

Dr. Raymond Konior

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

This insightful hair loss information was posted on our Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums: by Dr. Jerry Cooley of Charlotte, NC who is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

I hair restoration doctors talk about transplanting the crown border (I am talking about sides and not the bottom of the crown) with less density than the middle of the crown. When I get my crown fixed eventually as it is not all that bad yet, I feel that the center crown would not be all that important to me but rather the outside/sides of the crown would need more density to properly frame the head when viewing from the side. I know the crown side border typically is less dense even in non-balding men so maybe this is the reason?

It is complicated because there are many factors for the hair transplant surgeon to consider including the patient’s age, hair characteristics, current baldness, rate of hair loss, whether they are on Propecia finasteride, donor supply, etc. The goal is to produce not only a look that satisfies the patient in the short term, but also one that will stand up over time. It is best to be evaluated in person to get an individualized recommendation for you.

Dr. Jerry Cooley

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

Recently, Coalition member and highly acclaimed hair restoration surgeon Dr. Bessam Farjo of Manchester, United Kingdom was interviewed by the Times of India for a lifestyle article about hair loss.  Topics discussed include advancements made in hair loss research, state of the art hair transplant surgery and hair multiplication (cloning). In the article, Dr. Farjo discusses why he chose to specialize in hair restoration and his role in shaping its future through the ongoing research and development of new techniques.

Dr. Bessam Farjo has a long history of performing state of the art, ultra-refined follicular unit hair transplantation with outstanding results. Along with his wife and colleague, Dr. Nilofer Farjo, he founded the Farjo Medical Centre in 1992. Since that time, the Farjo Clinic has become the UK’s premier center for surgical hair restoration, medical hair loss treatment and research.

Dr. Bessam and Nilofer Farjo are both highly esteemed members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians and recommended by the Hair Transplant Network. To learn about our criteria for recommending physicians, click here.

Click the image below to see the full article.

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.