Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, stories of hair loss treatment that increases the quality of life

Q. What kind of medical checks do hair-loss patients receive when they visit hospital? A. Hair-loss can be divided into two types. It can be either falling-hair type or thinning-hair type. Typical hair disease for the first type is alopecia areata and the second type is an imbalance in androgen which can lead to a bald head condition.As for the hair type that falls off, various medical checks are conducted based on each symptom, such as hair pulling or zooming in on hair to check if the hair is falling off. As for the thinning hair type, hair thickness and hairline checks are conducted.  Accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatments are required because hair-loss is not a single type of disease. Q. What are the recent reviews on hair transplantation? A.  Recently, follicular transfer (follicular unit extraction) is more preferred than strip surgery. There can be many reasons as to why follicular transfer is more preferred than strip surgery, but one of the major reasons is that strip surgery can cause a wide donar scarring and a potential nerve damage which can give much pain after the surgery. Follicular transfer method has a quicker patient recovery time for donor area that it only requires one or two days and there is no need to remove suture after the surgery. However, it can be very difficult for both patients and doctors because it takes a lot of time and effort. In order to save such time and effort, some hospitals today are utilizing robots for follicular transfer treatments. Q. Hair transplantation is known to be very expansive, and it is not easy for patients to decide whether to receive the treatment or not. Are there any alternative measures? A. As for the price of hair transplantation, robot hair transplantation is the most expansive treatment followed by follicular transfer and strip surgery. If the price is the issue, there are ways to receive counseling and find the most appropriate hospitals to receive the treatment.Hair transplantation is not so expansive considering the level of difficulties throughout the surgery process and especially when compared to the price of wig that costs several thousand dollars and its inconvenience. Q. Are there any ways to prevent hair-loss other than taking the medicine or hair transplantation? A. Unfortunately, hair-loss can’t be improved by having such meals or exercise. However, there are ways to prevent such loss by correcting bad habits that worsens hair-loss. One of the typical bad habits is smoking, and even in-direct inhaling of such smoke can give negative influence on your hair condition. Other ways to help preventing hair-loss condition can include eating beans, green tea and antioxidant (tocopherol etc.).

  Q. I am putting a lot of effort on improving hair-loss condition such as receiving scalp massages. Are these helpful? A. Various activities such as receiving scalp massage or standing upside down were conducted in the past to test if they were positive in improving hair-loss condition, but nothing has been proved.Having a scalp massage by utilizing fingerprint areas of your hand can be positive for increasing blood circulation, but it can cause hair-loss if you make any skin damages with nails. Q. What kinds of treatments are required to make abundant hair and stop hair-loss for   a middle - aged women.  A. As for woman, usage of liniment is the basis for treatment and taking medicine can be required after menopausal transition.  Hair transplantation can also be conducted. Thinning hair can be expected to become thicker after such treatment. Q. Seaweed, beans etc. are known to be good food for hair. Are these actually helpful? A. Beans can be helpful because they contain a lot of antioxidants as well as components that are similar to female hormones. They don’t have to be black beans. All kinds of beans are helpful.