Hair transplant for Alopecia areata – Will It Improve Your Life?
Want a fuller head of hair to help with your alopecia areata? Many people receive hair transplants when they lose their hair, but are they the best option for this condition?
This article delves into detail about hair transplants for alopecia areata, including their possible issues as well as other available treatments to help you make the right decision about how to improve your life with hair loss.
What is alopecia areata?
Patchy hair loss results from the autoimmune condition alopecia areata. It causes sudden and unexpected bald patches by mistakenly targeting your hair follicles, therefore disturbing the regular cycle of hair growth.
Autoimmune Disease — Normally, your immune system protects against germs and bacteria. In alopecia areata, it mistakenly attacks the hair cells as a result, which stops them from developing new hairs.
Patchy Hair Loss — The most common symptom is the development of circular, smooth bald patches, usually on the scalp but also affecting the beard, eyebrows, or even eyelashes—anywhere that hair grows.
Unpredictable — Alopecia areata is known for its unpredictability. Hair loss can come on suddenly and affect varying degrees of your scalp. Sometimes, the hair might grow back on its own, only to fall out again later. In some rare cases, it can lead to complete hair loss (alopecia universalis).
Also Read:
Top 9 Strong Causes of Alopecia Areata: You Need to Know
What is hair transplant?
In a hair transplant, hair follicles are moved from one part of the scalp to another by surgery. It’s mostly used to treat male pattern baldness, but it can also be used for other types of hair loss if it is effective and the cause is known. Here’s how hair transplants work:
The Basic Process:
1. Donor area: A surgeon removes healthy hair follicles from a specific “donor area” on the scalp during the transplant. Typically, the reason the area is selected is because it fights the hormones that cause hair loss. There are mainly two methods of harvesting:
- Follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS): A thin strip of scalp with healthy hair follicles is carefully removed into individual follicular units, which are groups of 1 to 4 hairs.
- Follicular unit extraction (FUE): A small punch tool is used to take individual follicular units directly from the donor area, leaving a small scar.
2. Recipient area: In the bald or thinning area of the scalp, the surgeon creates tiny recipient sites where the hair follicles will be transplanted.
3. Transplantation: One by one, the taken-out follicular units are carefully placed into the target sites.
Also Read:
How to Stop Alopecia areata from Spreading: You Need To Know
Hair transplant for alopecia areata – Why is this not good for it?
A hair transplant is not generally believed to be an effective treatment to treat alopecia areata for some reasons:
Immune system attack: Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system attacks hair follicles. In a hair transplant, healthy follicles are moved from another area of the scalp.
Sadly, alopecia areata can lead to the immune system attacking even the transplanted follicles, causing them to fall out just like the original ones.
Also Read:
3 Alopecia Areata Regrowth Signs: According to Alopecian
Unpredictable hair loss: The unpredictable nature of alopecia areata raises another challenge. Bald spots can appear and disappear for no apparent reason.
This unpredictability makes it an unsuitable treatment for hair transplants since the transplanted hair takes time to grow, and new bald patches can occur during this waiting time.
Limited donor area: Healthy donor follicles are necessary for hair transplants. These are typically on the sides and back of the scalp. The immune system can affect any part of the scalp in alopecia areata, even the donor area [1].
This means there may not be enough healthy follicles for the transplant to succeed, especially if so much hair has been lost.
Young patient: People who want hair transplants should be older than twenty years when their hair loss has stopped changing. Because alopecia areata is unpredictable, a young person can take a long time to wait for their hair loss to stop [1].
Also, young patients with alopecia areata may lose their hair again in the future, which could affect hair that has been transplanted.
Also Read:
Best 9 Tips by Doctors: How to Alopecia Areata Self-Care
Alopecia areata hair transplant success rate
When compared to other types of hair loss, alopecia areata hair transplants have a slightly lower success rate. What you need to know is down here:
Reported success rates:
According to studies, hair transplants for people with stable alopecia areata have success rates of 75% to 80%. This means that a significant portion of the hair follicles that were transplanted will survive and grow new hair [2].
If you’re still thinking about undergoing a hair transplant, you need to have stable hair loss for at least 2 to 3 years. This helps doctors examine the risk of more hair loss in the future and decide if a transplant is a useful option [2].
Also Read:
The Best Diet for Alopecia Areata: What to Eat and Avoid
Find Your Solution: 11 Best Hair Vitamins for Alopecia areata
Other solutions for alopecia areata
Hair transplants might not be the best option for everyone with alopecia areata. Here are some other proven treatments you can discuss with your dermatologist:
- Minoxidil (Rogaine)
- Corticosteroids
- Immunosuppressants
- Low-level laser therapy (LLLT)
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
- Contact immunotherapy
- Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors
- Anthralin
- Wigs and hairpieces (These can offer a temporary or long-term solution for concealing hair loss)
Also Read:
Best 12 Natural Home Remedies for Alopecia Areata – SWH
Summary
Many people who are experiencing hair loss find hair transplants as a possibility to gain it back, but they aren’t perfect for people with alopecia areata. Because the condition is unpredictable and there is a chance that the immune system will reject the transplant, there is a risk of disappointing side effects.
There is good news, however! There are several successful solutions to treat alopecia areata. To improve the health of your hair and your confidence, consult a dermatologist about different treatments and medicines, such as light therapy, alternative therapies, and medications.
Sources:
2. Is it Possible to Cure Alopecia Areata by Hair Transplant?
