Question:
Why are the results of hair transplantation permanent? Why isn’t the transplanted hair prone to thinning or balding as it is you own hair?

Answer:
The reason why hair transplantation is for the most part permanent is that in the patient who is genetically susceptible to male pattern baldness and/or genetic alopecia the hair follicles in the thinning or hair loss areas have what we call a receptor.

This receptor is something that can connect to a DHT molecule, which is the molecule inside the body that is a form of testosterone and stands for dihydrotesterone. The DHT can directly attach to this receptor. When it does this, it actually kills the hair follicles.

For men who have the chain or are genetically predisposed to male pattern baldness and/or androgenetic alopecia, as they age they have a higher conversion of regular testosterone to DHT. This in turn will increase the likelihood of the DHT molecules binding to the receptors on the hair follicles in the thinning or balding areas and eventually kill the hair in those areas.

The hair follicles in the donor area, which is the area in what we call the occipital region of the scalp (located in the back of the head between the ears), do not have the DHT receptors.

When you take those hair follicles and you move them to the areas that are thinning or balding, the DHT molecules cannot bind to these hair follicles and kill them. They are resistant to this. They grow as if they were still in the donor area. They have just been moved so they cannot change their structure and cannot bind to the DHT molecules.

This is the reason why the hair transplantation is, for the most part, permanent.

Posted by: Dr. Charles