client stories
“I can’t thank the Skinoza Clinic enough, not just for giving me the results I dreamed of.”
Ben
Treatment Type
FUT surgery
Treatment Date
Oct, 2021
Classification
Male pattern baldness
Male, 40, Black, hair loss due to male pattern baldness
Contrary to popular belief, hair loss is not just something that hits the female population hard - as a recent client found out when he was facing male pattern baldness at the age of just 40.
Having read about the condition in Facebook, our client knew what might be happening to his hair but had no idea what the best treatment options might be for him.
Here’s his story.
I first became aware of male pattern baldness when I saw it online as an article of interest, advertised by Facebook.
I remember laughing, thinking that it wasn’t going to be a problem for me – the men in my family have always had amazing hair, full of life and volume. As a black man, my hair grows upwards with the tight curls often associated with an afro style, so I always thought that if I was going to have any problem it would be too much hair rather than too little. As well as that, I always had a little bit of a beard which I thought made me look older and more sophisticated – more like a thick layer of stubble than a full beard, but certainly something that formed a part of my overall look and personality.
It wasn’t until my beard started to become patchy that I put the clues together and understood that something wasn’t quite right. I had noticed that my hair was a bit more brittle than normal and wasn’t holding its shape, but I previously thought it was because of stress.
When I did some more reading, I realised that I might be living with male pattern baldness.
hair loss
Skinoza Clinic explains
Male pattern baldness is caused by the presence of hormone receptions which exist in the hair roots across the non-permanent area.
These receptors become triggered by the presence of the male hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT – a stronger form of testosterone, which is responsible for the development of male characteristics in men) which in turn reacts to the hair follicles. In its most normal state, the lifecycle moves between a growing phase of approximately seven years and a resting phase of between three and four months. Hair loss occurs when this lifecycle goes into reverse, with the growing phase becoming shorter than the resting phase.
Gradually the hair starts to slow its growth until it stops growing completely.
Once I knew I had male pattern baldness, I was recommended the Skinoza Hair Loss and Hair Transplant clinic to seek specialist advice and treatment.
Not only did they book me in for an appointment very quickly, but they soon put me at ease and let me know that my small budget would not be a problem in matching me with the right treatment.
The lady on the phone explained to me that they offer a selection of financing and payment options to suit my budget and to enable me to cover my treatment costs in a way that suited me. This was a real weight off my mind as the stress of paying for hair transplant treatment had been making my symptoms worse.
From there, I was matched with a consultant who had worked with male clients before – specifically those of African origin with my kind of hair makeup. She talked me through the signs and symptoms of male pattern baldness, before discussing the different treatment options available to me.
Eventually we decided to proceed with an FUE hair transplant as the hair loss I was seeing was not yet widespread or severe enough to warrant full hair transplant strips. She explained that FUE takes individual hair follicles and transplants them into and around the areas of more stable hair that were still in my hair and beard. Best of all, by using my own hair and hair follicles as the donor hair, this treatment option allowed me to retain the somewhat unique structure and appearance of my hair.
hair loss
Skinoza Clinic explains
FUE stands for Follicular Unit Extraction – extraction of the hair follicles in individual grafts, to present a natural and minimally invasive transplant technique.
The process involves the extraction of healthy follicles from what we call a donor site, to those areas where the hair is thinning or falling out in chunks. By using the clients own hair, the results are incredibly natural and, when completed with precision and care, can mimic the natural growth of hair seamlessly.
Each graft will usually contain between one and four hairs, which will be sourced and obtained from those areas of the scalp where the healthy is at its healthiest and most dense. These sources are typically around the back and sides of the head, with thinning most often seen on and around the crown of the head.
Once the graft, or follicular unit, has been sourced and extracted, it can be surgically inserted to the area where the hair is thinning or has fallen out completely.
Once we had decided on the FUT surgery, I was booked in for a treatment for my scalp, and a few weeks later for the beard transplant – mainly to make recovery as easy as possible for me.
FUE requires the extraction of individual hair follicles, or units, via local anaesthesia. Each extraction uses a micro surgical extraction instrument which helps us to achieve the ultimate precision while leaving almost no trace of the procedure on or around the donor site, and so the whole thing took a long time.
Once the treatment on my scalp was complete, using follicles extracted from behind my ears and around the base of my head, I couldn’t see any difference immediately. However, when the hair started to grow, gradually my hair got its signature volume back and I was able to see exactly how instrumental the extra follicles were in bolstering my hair’s overall look.
The same process was used a few weeks later for my beard transplant – again relying on the FUE procedure but in an even more delicate manner to ensure that every transplanted hair follicle would grow at the right angle and achieve the right density to mimic my natural growth.
I am over the moon with my results, a few months down the line. Because the entire transplant was achieved using my own hair, I have never had to worry about colour or texture, or even the rate of growth – as the new hair follicles have taken to their new home perfectly.
I cannot thank the Skinoza Clinic enough, not just for giving me the results I dreamed of but for also guiding me through a process that I never thought I would have to face. Now, whenever my friends are worried about hair loss, I’m the first person they come to – and I always recommend Skinoza Clinic if they want to do something to fix it and reverse the signs of hair loss!
Ben
Say goodbye to hair loss,
and hello to a brand new, more confident, you.
To discuss the right treatment for you, and to get the best advice from one of the UK’s leading hair loss and hair transplant specialists, book a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced hair transplant surgeon today.