Hair Loss - Laser Hair Restoration in Santa Barbara

An estimated 80 million American men and women suffer from male or female pattern hair loss. If you are experiencing excessive hair loss, Evolutions’ non-surgical medical hair therapy program may be for you. Our program can help to stop hair loss and regrow your own hair. It includes Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and FDA approved prescription home care and is the most advanced non-surgical hair restoration program available anywhere!

Laser Hair Restoration Frequently Asked Questions

Every hair on your head adheres to a genetically programmed schedule that includes growth, resting and shedding.

In general, 90% of the hair on your head grows approximately one half inch per month and continues for two to six years.

When the growth phase ends, usually the hair shaft begins a ‘rest’ period and then sheds. Only 10% of your hair is resting at any one time.

On the average, 50 to 150 hairs are lost each day but most hair regrows because the follicle remains. Considering the typical adult head has about 100,000 shafts of hair, that is not a lot of loss!

Eventually a new hair shaft begins to grow from the root embedded inside the hair follicle, pushing out the old shaft as it grows. When shedding significantly exceeds growth, baldness occurs.

Normally, hair loss is caused by heredity, hormones and age. Genes dictate which hair follicles are sensitive to the hormone dihydrotestostesrone (DHT). Once male pattern baldness begins, DHT attaches to susceptible follicles and causes them to grow in smaller during the next growth phase. Hair may come in at 98% or 99% of their previous size and strength, so the change is not apparent right away. However, over time this consistent “miniaturization” process results in noticeable thinning and eventual total loss of hair in the affected areas. Other reasons for hair loss include:

✦ Autoimmune disease
✦ The use of certain drugs/medications (this is usually resolved once the use of drug/medication is stopped)
✦ High amounts of stress (this is usually temporary if the stress levels decrease)
✦ An overactive or underactive thyroid.
✦ Severe trauma to the head accompanied by scarring can cause permanent damage to hair follicles.
✦ Tight hair styles like braids can create tension and cause the hair follicles to become inflamed. The hair follicles are destroyed and hair growth is terminated.

For additional Information click here: http://www.ishrs.org/hair-loss/hair-loss-male.htm

It’s believed that there are approximately 30 million women in this country with hair loss problems.
In women as in men, the most likely cause of scalp hair loss is androgenetic alopecia—an inherited sensitivity to the effects of androgens (male hormones) on scalp hair follicles. However, women with hair loss due to this cause usually do not develop true baldness in the patterns that occur in men—for example, women rarely develop the “cue-ball” appearance often seen in male-pattern androgenetic alopecia.

Patterns of female androgenetic alopecia can vary considerably in appearance. Patterns that may occur include:

✦ Diffuse thinning of hair over the entire scalp, often with more noticeable thinning toward the back of the scalp.
✦ Diffuse thinning over the entire scalp, with more noticeable thinning toward the front of the scalp but not involving the frontal hairline.
✦ Diffuse thinning over the entire scalp, with more noticeable thinning toward the front of the scalp, involving and sometimes breaching the frontal hairline.

Unlike the case for men, thinning scalp hair in women due to androgenetic alopecia does not uniformly grow smaller in diameter (miniaturize). Women with hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia tend to have miniaturizing hairs of variable diameter over all affected areas of the scalp.

It is important to note that female pattern hair loss can begin as early as the late teens to early 20s in women who have experienced early puberty. If left untreated, this hair loss associated with early puberty can progress to more advanced hair loss if it is left untreated.

Cover-ups Hairpieces, wigs, extensions are long standing methods people have used to hide the appearance of thinning hair.  This of course does not help the underlying cause of the thinning hair.  Also, beware of attachment methods of these products that can damage existing hair permanently.

Surgical Hair Transplantation A procedure that has been well refined over the last 20 plus years, hair transplants are simply hair that is moved from one place on the head where the hair is not genetically inclined to be lost and moved to a bald or thinning area.  It is important to realize although the hair that is moved is permanent, the remaining hair in a balding area must be treated with a preventative method, such as an FDA approved drug or Laser Therapy, to prevent further hair loss. Otherwise, subsequent transplants will most likely be needed. Hair transplantation is usually the best option when hair in the affected area is completely or mostly gone (as opposed to being in a DHT-influenced miniaturization phase)

Prescription Medication (topical and oral)

Minoxidil (commonly marketed as Rogaine®) is FDA approved to regrow hair in both men and women.  Though the exact mechanism of action is unknown, it is speculated that by widening blood vessels and opening potassium channels, minoxidil allows more oxygen, blood, and nutrients to the follicle. This can also cause follicles in the telogen (resting) phase to shed, usually soon to be replaced by new, thicker hairs (in a new anagen phase). Though Rogaine® is available over the counter, Evolutions’ medical hair restoration program includes prescription-only formulations that combine minoxidil and tretinoin (for women) or minoxidil, tretinoin, and finasteride (for men) that studies show are more effective than minoxidil alone.

Finasteride (commonly marketed as Propecia®) is FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss in men.  Women are not able to use finasteride due to potential birth defects.  Finasteride works by inhibiting the formation of DHT in your scalp.  DHT is a substance in the body (related to testosterone) that causes follicle miniaturization in genetically susceptible hair.

Results from a 5 year clinical study with Propecia (finasteride):

  • ✦ 9 of 10 men who took Propecia had visible results—either regrowth of hair (48% [134 of 279]) or no further hair loss (42% [117 of 279])—vs 25% [4 of 16] who took a placebo (sugar pill), according to an assessment of photographs by an independent panel of dermatologists.
  • ✦ 2 of 3 men who took Propecia regrew hair, as measured by hair count. All of the men in the study who were not taking Propecia lost hair.
  • ✦ A majority of men who took Propecia were rated as improved by doctors—77% (210 of 271) vs 15% (2 of 13) of men who took a placebo.
  • ✦ A majority of men who took Propecia reported that their bald spot got smaller, their hair loss slowed down, and the appearance of their hair improved.
  • Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)
    Low Level Lasers stimulate cell function. These non-surgical therapeutic lasers are certified Class 3A by the FDA. The energy produced by the photons of these lasers is low and does not have a thermal component that can cause injuries to users and/or operators. This low level energy does not alter molecular structures, but STIMULATES the body’s mechanisms to REPAIR AND HEAL itself. Low level (energy) laser light photons are absorbed by the chromophores within the cells. This induces increased production of cellular energy in the form of ATP, which leads to normalization of cell function and the halting (or reversal) of the miniature process of hair due to DHT.

Various studies have confirmed these properties on the living organism. Taken together, the data points to the following effects of low level laser light on the scalp:

  • ✦ Increased scalp blood flow and microcirculation by 20-30%
  • ✦ Increases nutrient supply to enhance hair growth
  • ✦ Stimulates and accelerates hair growth
  • ✦ Stops the progression of hair loss
  • ✦ Repairs and improves hair shaft quality
  • ✦ Reduces excess levels of skin 5 alpha reductase and DHT which contribute to genetic thinning
  • ✦ Relieves scalp conditions such as psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, itchy/scaling scalp (anti-inflammatory )
  • ✦ Normalizes sebum production (can help normalize sebaceous activity—excessive dryness or oiliness)
  • ✦ Reduces tight, tender scalp

Evolutions’ Medical Hair Therapy Program combines advanced Low Level Laser Therapy Treatments with prescription home care to create the most effective non-surgical hair restoration program available anywhere!

The best candidates are women or men between 18 and 65 who are generally healthy but are noticing a thinning of hair. Non-surgical treatments can work very well in stopping or reversing the miniaturization process of hairs, but they do not work on hairs that are completely dead.

If you have no (or very little) hair in the affected area, you may be better candidate for hair transplantation.