Miracle Grow

New hair restoration treatments offer hope beyond the bottle

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

Hair is so small and we have so many hairs on our head, that it has been essentially impossible to attach a realistic, helpful number to hair loss. Traditionally, doctors have shaved a small area of the head, counted the hairs, treated the area with Rogaine, waited and then counted any new visible hairs in the area. But this process doesn't take into account the diameter of the hair follicle, and thus can't predict exactly how well the Rogaine is or isn't working.

Bernard Cohen, MD, a certified dermatologist and hair restoration surgeon, Coral Gables, Fla., recently developed an electronic, hand-held device called a cross-section trichometer, which is able to measure hair loss, treatment response and even breakage on a scale of one to 100, by determining the density of a cross-section of hair. The device is able to detect the earliest reductions in hair diameter, even 10 to 15 years before balding is actually visible and 50-percent of your hair is lost for good - no speculative shaving necessary. Quick and relatively inexpensive, this system allows for early treatment, thus stopping shrinkage before it becomes obvious.

But if much of your hair has already gone the way of the wind and you have some cash to spare, consider a hair transplant. Greatly advanced since its inception over 35 years ago, modern hair transplants no longer make you look like a mangy porcupine. In a transplant, doctors take skin grafts from the back and sides of the head and put them on the top; the hair then continues to grow naturally in its new location. An expert can move 2,000 hairs in a single four to five hour session.

"Like any cosmetic surgery, it's 90-percent art and 10-percent science," says Cohen, who has performed over 6,000 hair transplant procedures in the past 25 years. "The trick is to make it look like naturally occurring hair - it has to be done with small grafts and the hair has to exit the scalp at the appropriate angle, point in the right direction and cover the right amount of area."

Just make sure you do your research and only use an accredited, respected professional.

If you'd like to work toward preventing hair loss in the first place, first keep your diet in mind. "Healthy hair is a sign of a healthy body," Scott says. "Go to the hospital and look at the patients' hair - sick people have sick hair."

Keep your hair hydrated by drinking your eight glasses of water a day, and give your hair strength and luster with essential fatty acids found in oily fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel, as well as seeds, nuts, olives and avocados. Also make sure that you're getting enough protein. Like all cells in the body, proteins are the building blocks of hair, and hair growth and repair can slow if there's not enough protein to go around for all the tissues that need it, explains Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. However, lack of protein doesn't actually make you lose your hair; it just makes it more difficult for you to replace what you naturally lose, so that you may perceive that you are losing too much hair.

"This is sometimes seen in strict vegans, people with anorexia or bulimia, or the elderly who may just not be eating enough," says Sandon.

The best protein sources include lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, low-fat dairy, beans/legumes, nuts and seeds.

Other things that may affect hair loss include too much vitamin A or selenium from supplements, a lack of B vitamins including folate, B6, B12 and biotin, or too little zinc. In fact, zinc deficiency can actually cause hair loss because it is specifically needed for tissue growth and repair, and helps oil glands around hair follicles work correctly. Good sources for zinc include oysters, red meat, poultry, dairy, beans, and whole grains. And try to snack on oranges or strawberries, because vitamin C helps keep the scalp healthy through the growth of collagen tissue; this in turn helps keep roots and follicles intact.

"Bottom line: eat a balanced diet with plenty of variety to get all the nutrients you need for healthy, shiny hair," Sandon says.

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