Dubai Cosmetic

Surgery has noticed a rise in demand for hair transplant in its clinic. Between 2009 and 2011 there has been an increase of 78 per cent in hair transplant surgeries

Dhanusha Gokulan

New trends in transplants are what you could call ‘hair-raising’. Long thick tresses can give you a complete look,

but what if you don’t have much of it, or are losing most of it? Many are going under the surgeon’s scalpel to ! x the problem. Not just the hair on the head, but eyebrows, eyelash-es and facial hair as well.

“I used to have very thin eyelash-es and a lopsided eyebrow. I got it surgically ! xed. I mean, let’s face it, not all of us are genetically born beautiful and the industry I work for requires me to look convention-ally perfect,” said Natalia (name changed at request). Cosmetic sur-geons and clinics here have noted a drastic increase in people coming in for treatments.

Dubai Cosmetic Surgery has no-ticed a rise in demand for hair transplant in its clinic. Between 2009 and 2011 there has been an increase of 78 per cent in hair trans-plant surgeries.

Additionally, since 2009, the clinic has witnessed a 40 per cent rise in people " ying in from various parts of the world.

The clinic has noted a 90 per cent increase in people belonging to the age group between 20 and 30 coming into the clinic for treat-ment. Ideally, the age for going in for treatment is after 34 years, but now since the younger generation is more proactive with their looks, they start early.

It is the introduction of minimal invasive procedures like the Follic-ular Unit Extraction (FUE) method, which requires no tissue removal from the scalp that has probably made hair transplant treatments increasingly popular, informed Anisa Vrabac, Operations Manager of the Dubai Cosmetic Surgery Clinic.

Dr Riad Roomi, MD Specialist in Plastic Surgery and Hair Restora-tion Surgery at the You New Plastic Surgery Clinic Dubai stated that since 2009, there has been a 20 per cent increase in patients in the age group of 20 to 30 coming into the clinic. With over 18 years of experi-ence in hair restoration, Dr Roomi said there is increased awareness

Hair transplant is becoming popular with people going under the surgeon’s scalpel to !ix eyebrows, eyelashes and facial hair

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about hair treatments.“People are more educated and

the expectations from hair restora-tion and plastic surgery is a lot more realistic. Everyone wants to look natural and a lot depends on the surgeon the patient goes to. Pa-tients have come to me with disas-trous results that I have had to cor-rect because they have gone to inexperienced surgeons,” said Dr Roomi.

“One particular case changed my philosophy on hair transplants because I used to think that people went in for treatments only for themselves. A few months ago, a blind gentleman came to me. He said, ‘I wanted to feel the hair on my head.’ After the treatment, he called me to tell me that his family thinks that he looks 20 years young-er,” said Dr Roomi.

Meanwhile, Dr Melike Kulahci, MD, Founder and Medical Director of Transmed Hair and Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey said, “In terms of ! gures, the in-crease in the number of our pa-tients is approximately 15 per cent per year.”

In demandThe trend in treatments is not

just in hair transplants, but also in eyebrows, eyelashes and a fuller beard. Correction of tattooed eye-brows is also hugely popular. Leslie (name changed at request), a 37-year-old who had tattooed eye-brows said, “I wanted to have arched fuller eyebrows. I got it tat-tooed four years back. But now, my face is changing shape. I would have to surgically correct my eye-brows because I am going to be looking funny as I grow older.”

Dr Roomi said that with regard to eyebrow transplant it can only look close to natural and it takes about six to nine months for the eyebrow to grow back after the transplant. “I personally weigh sev-eral pros and cons before I decide to begin the treatment for an eye-brow transplant because hairs tak-en from donor areas are not ! ne enough for eyebrow hair.”

“Demand for eyebrow transplant is particularly huge in the region because the Middle East culture de! nes eyes as a symbol of beauty. A lot of women have tattoo on arched eyebrows. Though it might

look good when they are younger, as they grow older the shape of the face begins to change and the colour pigment changes as well and it ends up in the women looking strange. FUE can correct the tat-tooed look, as well,” said Vrabac. Women with short, thin, sporadic eyelashes also go in for treat-ments.

She explained that the old meth-od removed strips of skin and hair from the donor leaving behind a scar on the donor area — the lower area of the head.

“In rare cases for men, when there is not enough hair on the do-nor area we have to use hair on the patient’s chest and use it on his head,” said Vrabac. More recently, men with patchy beards have been undergoing the FUE for a fuller thicker, even looking beard as well.

Other hair loss treatments in-clude spray-on hair cans, which can cover up bald spots and make the hair appear thicker. Twenty-four-year old Pakistani national Ibrahim Hussain said, “I am already start-ing to develop a bald patch and if it gets worse in the next couple of years, I will consider going in for a transplant.”

— dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

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Hair accentuates looks and fea-tures of the face. While thin and dull hair takes away the sheen from the face, strong and healthy hair adds more oomph to the personal-ity and style, especially of women. However, a lot of women su# er from excessive hair loss, which eventually results in loss of self-esteem and con! dence.

Hair loss in womenLosing a few strands while

combing or washing of hair is ! ne. But if you shed more than hundred strands of hair in a day, then it is cause for concern. Hair loss is quite common in the UAE because of a number of reasons including hard water, weather and stressful lifestyle. A survey conducted by pollster YouGov in 2009 found out that more than one third of UAE’s residents complain about hair loss. Of this, almost 47 per cent are women.

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There are many causes of scalp hair loss, and they do di# er in men and women. Studies show that losing up to 100 to 150 hairs per day is normal. Human hair natu-rally grows in three phases: ana-gen, catagen, and telogen.

Anagen is the active or growing phase. Catagen is a fairly short phase of the natural hair cycle during which hairs begin to break down. Telogen is the resting phase. The hairs that are shed daily are often in the resting or late phase in the hair cycle. Nor-mally, about 10 per cent of the scalp hairs are in the resting or te-logen phase at any time. These hairs are not growing and are get-ting prepared for cyclic shedding.

In general, most hair loss is not associated with systemic or inter-nal disease, nor is poor diet a fre-quent factor. Frequently, hair may simply thin as a result of predeter-mined genetic factors, family his-tory, and the overall ageing pro-cess. Many men and women may

notice a mild and often normal physiologic thinning of hair start-ing in their thirties and forties. Other times, normal life varia-tions including temporary severe stress, nutritional changes, and hormonal changes like those in pregnancy, puberty, and meno-pause may cause a reversible hair loss.

Notably, several health condi-tions, including thyroid disease and iron de! ciency anaemia, can cause hair loss. While thyroid blood tests and other lab tests, in-cluding a complete blood count (CBC), on people who have ordi-nary hair loss are usually normal, it is important to exclude underly-ing causes in sudden or severe hair loss.

If you are concerned about some other underlying health is-sues, you may start by seeing your family physician, internist, or gy-naecologist for basic health screening. Dermatologists are doctors who specialise in prob-

lems of skin, hair, and nails and may provide more advanced diag-nosis and treatment of hair thin-ning and loss. Sometimes a scalp biopsy may be taken to help in di-agnosis of severe or unexplained hair loss.

Although many medications list “hair loss” among their potential side e# ects, drugs are also not overall common causes of thin-ning or lost hair. On the other hand, with cancer treatments and immune suppression medications including chemotherapy, hair loss is a very common side effect. Complete hair loss often occurs after a course of major chemo-therapy for cancer. Usually, hair re-grows after six to 12 months

Hair loss classi!iedThere are numerous ways to

classify hair loss. One useful way has been to classify hair loss by whether the loss is localised (small area) and patchy or whether it af-fects large areas or the whole scalp (di# use). Other medical classi! ca-tions for hair loss include scarring versus non-scarring hair loss.

Patchy hair lossSome conditions produce small

areas of hair loss, while others af-fect large areas of the scalp. Com-mon causes of patchy hair loss are:

Alopecia areata (small circu-• lar or coin size patches of scalp baldness that usually grow back within months)Traction alopecia (thinning • from tight braids or pony-tails)Trichotillomania (the habit • of twisting or pulling hair out)Tinea capitis (fungal infec-• tion).

Keeping an eye on health and nutrition, while taking genetics into consideration, can relieve you from losing it all

Identifying ways to tame hair loss

Hair loss at a glance

Hair loss is a very common condition and a! ects most people at • some time in their lives.Androgenetic hair loss is seen in both men and women but is • worse in men.Health issues like thyroid disease, anaemia, and low vitamin levels • may cause hair loss.Alopecia areata is a very common, coin-shaped temporary hair • loss patch that usually resolves on its own.Medications for hair re-growth include minoxidil (Rogaine), "inas-• teride (Propecia), and dutasteride (Avodart).Prevention includes good hair hygiene, regular shampooing and • good nutrition.Medical health screening for hair loss may include tests like com-• plete blood count (CBC), iron level, vitamin B, and thyroid function tests (TFT).The outlook for hair loss is improving and research is ongoing.•