Hair transplants are a life-changing procedure. They can significantly improve the enjoyment of life and have helped patients to regain a positive self-perception.  If you have been considering a hair transplant the first step is to find out if you are a candidate.  Hair transplants can be performed on almost anyone in good health, regardless of age or gender.  The only way to know 100% is by booking a consultation.

At the consultation the doctor will want to get to know you on a more personal level to understand your reasons for wanting a hair transplant, and to discover any details that will aid the success of the treatment.  Some of the common questions that may be included in an assessment would be: personal and family history of hair loss, expectations and any prior scalp surgeries or medical conditions.  These questions are common but important and potential patients should find a doctor that they trust, so that they can discuss their answers, and any questions that they may have.

At the clinic the doctor will also consider factors such as:

• Number of grafts required to meet your expectations
• Colour of hair
• Density of donor hair
• Texture of hair
• Skin complexion
• Future hair loss projections

In general there are patients that are better candidates than others.  Doctors will look for these characteristics in their potential patients to determine if they are well suited toward the treatment:

• Men who have been losing their hair due to genetic hair loss for more than five years.
• Men and women who have lost hair due to trauma or burns.
• Patients that have realistic expectations and understand that their hair loss might continue to progress even if they are taking prescription medication to prevent this from occurring.
• Men and women who have lost hair or their hairlines have been raised, as a direct result of a cosmetic procedure, such as face and brow lifts.
• Men who have been balding for many years and the patterns of loss have stabilized.
• Women with stable donor hair who exhibit more of a male pattern, rather than the commonly female, un-patterned hair loss.

The consultation is the best time to develop a positive rapport with the doctor and to become comfortable with the environment of the clinic.  Discovering the doctor’s personal history with hair loss; his or her training and success in the field can help patient’s become more comfortable and confident with their decision. These questions are encouraged.  An assessment is a no-obligation first step to a hair transplant procedure and if the potential patient is a good candidate, it’s a treatment that can truly enhance lives both physically and psychologically.

Hair Transplant Surgery Benefits

Hair loss can be caused by many different factors in both men and women. One of the most common causes is also the most uncontrollable: genetics. In the case of many men, their hair loss begins to occur in their twenties and thirties, and sometimes as early as their teenage years. For women, thinning hair is a common sign of aging and at any age, hair loss can be devastating. When men and women reach their golden years they may feel younger than they look, and wonder if they are too old to consider hair transplant surgery.

Fortunately, age is not a concern, as long as the patient is in good medical condition. Hair transplants have been performed on patients in their eighties. Genetics and age may be factors out of our control but losing hair does not have to be. There are permanent solutions with hair transplant surgery.

What you should know About Hair Transplants Later in Life:

1. Hair Transplant Surgery will make you Look Younger

A hair transplant will soften the features and create a “frame” around the face, which minimizes the appearance of wrinkles, coarse features and other signs of aging. Baldness is sometimes associated with being old, and having hair can take years off of an individual’s perceived age.

2. You can Feel Great at Any Age

Nobody has to accept that they are getting old if they feel young at heart. I their golden years, men and women should finally be able to enjoy the well-earned fruits of their labour, and feel great in the process. If it’s having hair for that dream cruise, Saturday night social or just to feel more self-confident, then a hair transplant can certainly be the right choice.

3. It’s not as Expensive as you might think

It’s reasonable that patients might be concerned about the cost of hair transplant surgery but in fact, when compared to other methods of hair replacement, hair transplants are surprisingly economical. After the procedure, hair will naturally re-grow on its own. There is no need to purchase chemicals afterward, or have a hairpiece that has to be repaired, tinted and replaced on a regular basis. Overall, a hair transplant offers the most natural and cost-effective solution for hair loss.

Patients considering hair replacement surgery should schedule a consultation to meet with the surgeon, have the process explained fully, and have the opportunity to ask questions. Hair transplants are safe and routinely performed on men and women of all ages. The decision to have hair transplant surgery provides patients with the self-esteem, confidence and restored self-image that they’ve desired for years.

Rudy Perrin’s reason for getting a hair transplant is short and sweet: “I’m nearly 60 years old and when I was 19 I lost all my hair, and I said before I die I want to have my hair back!” In February of 2009, prompted by the reputation of the Seager Hair Transplant Centre, he visited for a consultation and it was determined that he was a good candidate for the procedure. One year and two procedures later, Perrin has come from being “pretty well completely bal except for the lower part of my head” to turning back the clock several decades thanks to a fuller, natural-looking head of hair.

Perrin’s story is just one of thousands the centre has been part of since it began performing hair transplantation in 1995. Much of the advancement of the industry as a whole was based upon research and techniques first pioneered by Dr David Seager himself. “Hair Transplantation techniques have advanced significantly in the last 10 -15 years so it is gaining in popularity,” says Dr Mark McKenzie, who oversees all transplants at the clinic as Medical Director. “Getting away from what we call the old ‘plug transplant,’ we now do the procedure completely differently.” These advancements now allow Dr McKenzie to consistently achieve excellent results.

Hair Transplants are based on the premise that hair from the back and sides of the scalp is genetically different from the hair that falls out from other areas of the head. In Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation, donor hair is removed from the back and/or sides of the scalp and is dissected meticulously under operating microscopes. Because hair naturally grows in clusters of one, two or three, the donor hair is dissected into “slivers” that are one follicular unit wide, which are further dissected into individual grafts of one to three hairs, leaving natures building blocks intact.

The hair is them precisely transplanted back into a bald area of the scalp, one follicular unit at a time. The hair is transplanted as it once grew, with the same angles and directions as the original hair would have had. “We’re able to create results that look so natural that when somebody meets a friend or somebody they haven’t seen for awhile, they don’t even realize it’s a hair transplant they have,” says Dr McKenzie.

There are a variety of reasons why someone may lose their hair, but the most common by far is androgenic alopecia - in simple terms, genetics. Most of the patients at the Seager Centre are between the ages of 30 -50, though Dr McKenzie has performed the procedure on patients in their late 20s and others in their 70s. About 80% of his patients are male, as hair loss affects men commonly.

Still, hair transplantation is often not a one-time procedure. “We transplant the hair and that hair will grow and it’ll keep growing, but the ongoing balding of other areas continue because balding is a genetic problem,” says Dr McKenzie. Therefore, the Seager Centre will often use medication in conjunction with the hair transplants to maximize the results. “If we’re able to get those patients onto medication to prevent further hair loss then often they may not need a further procedure, or they may need less in the way of further procedures.”

Taking this long-term view, says Dr McKenzie, is an important part of the Seager approach, he says “We spend a great deal of time during the consultation talking to patients about their hair loss, finding out how they feel about it, assessing their expectations, educating them about the reason their losing their hair, and also getting them to think long-term about their hair loss situation and creating a long-term plan. It’s important they keep in mind that we want their hair to look good not just for the next few years, but life-long.”

When it comes to getting the best experience, the Seager Centre believes that technical skills, artistry and experience go hand-in-hand. “Clinics like ourselves that exclusively practice hair transplantation are rare, and because we do so much of it as our only concern, we consistently achieve excellent results” says Dr McKenzie, “We always strive to achieve for our patients results so natural that even they will forget what’s been done, and just enjoy their hair”. The centre’s mantra seems to be, if it looks like a transplant, even a great transplant, then it’s been a failure. Everything is based around the principle that the results must look natural and undetectable.

A hair transplant can do more than change a person’s physical appearance. Dr McKenzie recalls his secretary telling him about a patient in his 30s who visited the clinic several times before the procedure. “Anytime she talked to him, his head was always down; he wouldn’t smile or even look her in the eye when he was talking to her.” When the patient returned for a follow up nine months later, it was a completely different story. “She said it wasn’t just the fact that his hair looked great but the fact that he smiled when he came in, he looked you in the eye when he spoke - his whole persona had changed… It’s amazing how much hair can mean to someone and it’s often that psychological aspect that really makes the biggest difference to the patients. It makes a huge difference to the way someone feels about themselves.”

Rudy Perrin counts himself among the happy clients, he loves his new look - and he’s not the only one that’s noticed. “My friends are looking at me and they’re saying, ‘you look good, Rudy,’ but they can’t pinpoint why it is I look so good - but it’s obviously the hair,” he says, “I feel really great about it”.

Hair loss has always been about much more than vanity for both the men and women who suffer with Male or Female Pattern Hair Loss. Wanting to look and feel our best is natural, and with hair loss, the way we feel about ourselves doesn’t necessarily gel with what we see in the mirror. Fortunately today a real option exists to help to combat hair loss, hair transplantation offers people the chance to cheat nature and genetics and give you back your own, naturally growing hair.

A hair transplant replaces the hair loss to Male or Female Pattern hair loss with your own hair. It offers a permanent solution to sufferers by transplanting hair that is not susceptible to the hair loss process that affected the original hair.

A few clinics have this down to an art, producing results that look so natural that even your nearest and dearest won’t be able to tell, and most importantly results that will allow you to look in the mirror and forget it’s a transplant, allowing you to just enjoy the hair!

In a field that offers more options and clinics than ever - and now one of the top 5 male cosmetic procedures - the choice in clinic you make is as important as whether or not to undergo the procedure. With more and more practitioners offering hair transplantation, the main things to consider when choosing the clinic is Reputation and Results, as with everything in life there are many Doctors performing the procedure, but with few doing it well and the results vary widely from clinic to clinic.

A few pointers… Choose a clinic that exclusively performs hair transplants and has an established history, one that is recognized by both the ISHRS and ABHRS. The Doctor you are choosing should be the clinics primary Doctor and should be well established within the field. Always meet with your Doctor prior to booking the procedure and ensure that long term planning is his or her main concern, you want something that looks great now, but also in the future. And ask to see results, and make sure they are of similar hair loss stage and hair characteristics as your own. Don’t expect that a photo of someone with a different hair loss patterns and hair type is going to be a representation of how you will look.

ABOUT MARK

Dr Mark McKenzie is a 15 year veteran in the field of Hair Transplantation, performing surgeries exclusively for the world renown Seager Hair Transplant Centre for the last 5 years. Dr McKenzie has been a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery since 1995 and is currently a Board Member and Examiner for the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgeons.

Lotions, Potions & Snake Oil – Hair-Raising or Heart-Breaking?

At the Seager Medical Group, clients often bring with them bottles of hair growth products, herbal remedies and special shampoos that they are using, with the question “Do they really work?”Ever since the times of the Pharaohs, people have been seeking cure for hair loss. It has been said that one Pharaoh drank a concoction of asses hoof, dates and dog paw to try to restore his hair and in the 19th century a mixture of coconut oil, borax powder, and the burning of Indian incense was believed to promote hair growth.

Wonder Drugs for Your Hair?

A simple Google search will yield countless pages of pills and lotions designed to cure baldness. Many offer “money-back guarantees”, but the dissatisfied customer usually sheepishly chalks up his failed wonder cure to experience & is too embarrassed to ask for a refund (minus shipping charges!” While there is no “Wonder Drug” that will give a bald person a full head of hair, there are 2 medications used in medical hair restoration which have shown effectiveness in treating hair loss.

(1) Propecia (Finasteride) is a pill which prevents the conversion of the male hormone, Testosterone, to DHT; it is the DHT which is thought to be responsible for triggering hair loss in people who are genetically predisposed to male pattern hair loss. In large scientific studies over 5 years showed that 9 out of 10 men had visible results; either no further hair loss or re-growth of hair. That’s the good news. Now if there is good news, this implies that there must be bad news!Propecia has to be taken every day; if Propecia is stopped for a period of time, the hair loss will “catch up” to where it would have been had the person never been on Propecia. It has not been tested on women, therefore it cannot be recommended for female pattern hair loss. There is also a 1-2% risk of erectile dysfunction with Propecia; which is reversible once Propecia is stopped.

(2) The other drug which is approved by the FDA for male and female pattern hair loss is Minoxidil (Rogaine / Regaine). Like so many “discoveries” in medicine, the hair-restorative properties of Rogaine were stumbled upon accidently. Some hair loss sufferers who were taking Minoxidil pills for high blood pressure found that they were re-growing hair, so the manufacturers of Minoxidil devised a liquid version of the drug (Rogaine) that could be applied to the scalp and, lo and behold, it worked!! Around 80 % of men using 2% Rogaine found that hair loss decreased, whereas only 5% of men showed moderate re-growth. A 5% strength of Rogaine shows improved results compared to 2% Rogaine. Occasionally Rogaine liquid can cause scalp irritation. This is due to the effects of the propylene glycol and alcohol in which the drug is dissolved. In order to combat this problem, the company has developed 5% Rogaine Foam which is less irritating; unfortunately Rogaine Foam is not yet available in Canada.

I hear you asking “But what about all the other products that are out there in the herbalist shops and salons that say they will unclog my pores and make my hair grow?” Male or female pattern hair loss is a genetic condition and is not caused by blocked pores, and scientific studies do not substantiate the claims of these manufacturers. This does not mean that we should neglect good hair care. Washing hair with a good quality, pH-balance, high protein shampoo will not only keep hair clean, but it will also give the hair more body causing it to appear thicker and healthier. It is essential to use conditioner in order to provide a protective lubricating coating to the hair shafts. This will stop the hairs from becoming brittle and will protect them from breaking.

So as we can see, there is no “Wonder-Cure” for hair loss, but these 2 products are very useful in our armamentarium of hair loss treatments in order to slow down or prevent hair loss, especially in the early stages. For those people for whom there is established hair loss, hair transplantation will grow hair back in those areas from where it has been lost. The science behind this technique is fairly simple; male or female pattern hair loss is genetic. The permanent hair on the sides and back of the head does not fall out because it is genetically programmed to grow for life.

In those people who are suffer from male or female pattern hair loss, the hair on the front and top of the head will fall out because it is genetically predisposed to do so. Hair transplantation simply involves moving the genetically-permanent hair from the back and sides of the head to the place from which it has been lost. The hair’s genetics “tell the hairs to keep on growing” so they do and we are able to restore hair from where it was lost.Although the scientific principles are simple, the hair replacement procedure relies not purely on science, but to a large extent on artistry. At the Seager Hair Transplant Centre we believe that “A hair transplant should not look like a hair transplant!”, and we pride ourselves on performing surgical hair restoration procedures that look so incredibly natural that, in many cases, even your own hairstylist can not tell that it is not your original hair.

Female hair loss gives a new meaning to the phrase “bad hair day”.  As women our hair is one of the most important accessories we use everyday to make us look our best.  Our hair has been defining us as girls, and then women, from the time we had enough hair for our mothers to put a bow in it.  So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when a woman suffers from hair loss, it can have a devastating effect on her sense of confidence and self image.  When you see a man who is balding it is considered nothing out of the ordinary however, if you see a woman who is suffering from thinning hair she looks out of place and you think “I wonder what is wrong with her?”

We spend hundreds of dollars a year at the hair salon having our hair styled, coloured, and highlighted; not to mention the amount of money spent on hair care products.  So the first place we would look for a hair loss product would be at the salon.  Unfortunately there isn’t a shampoo or hair styling product that will cure hair loss.

The first place you should look for answers is at your family physician’s office.  The goal is to investigate the cause of your hair loss and make a diagnosis.  He or she may treat you themselves or refer you to a dermatologist.  Either way it will involve providing a medical history, a scalp examination, some blood work and perhaps a scalp biopsy.  The causes for hair loss in women can include low iron, thyroid disease, recent stress or illness, pregnancy, hormonal disorders and scalp disease. One of the most common causes is genetic female pattern hair loss or androgenetic alopecia which is characterized by hair loss which usually starts a few centimeters behind the hairline and progresses through the middle of the scalp.  A thorough investigation is required before any treatment is started because the causes of hair loss in women can be so varied.

There are a variety of non-surgical and surgical treatments available.  One non-surgical option is Rogaine, a topical solution that is applied twice a day to the affected scalp that can help slow down the progression of hair loss.  Topical cosmetics such as DermMatch can be used to camouflage the thinning areas.  Hair extensions can also be used to augment thinning hair.  For women who have extensive hair loss and are not suitable candidates for other treatments choosing a wig may be an option.

Hair transplantation is a very effective treatment for female pattern hair loss.  Hair is taken from the sides and back of the scalp and transplanted into the thinning areas.  Using modern techniques of “follicular unit grafting”, grafts are transplanted one at a time creating incredibly natural results.  Hair transplants can also be used to restore hair in the temples and hairline after a facelift or brow lift to camouflage the scars.  Eyebrows that are sparse due to over plucking can be transplanted and so can eyelashes.

At the Seager Medical Group we are experienced in these techniques and have helped pioneer the advances in the field of hair restoration surgery.  We pride ourselves in being able to not only restore your hair but your self confidence as well.

Dr. McKenzie appears as a guest on CFRB 1010’s Guy Talk Radio Show on Sunday August 10. The topic of this live phone-in radio show was “Are bald men more sexy?”
Dr. McKenzie is pictured in the studio with hosts Dale Curd and Owen Williams.

At a recent Gala Reception, attended by business leaders, the media and civic dignitaries, Dr. Mark McKenzie was pleased to accept the Consumers Choice Award 2008 for the Best Hair Restoration Clinic in the Greater Toronto Area on behalf of the Seager Hair Transplant Centre.

The Consumers Choice Award is a mark of excellence and the winners are chosen based on the results of a survey which is performed among two major groups of consumers; the general public and the business community.

This award is a great honour & The Seager Hair Transplant Centre has shown that it continues to live up to its standards of excellence by winning this award for the second year in a row.

The Seager Hair Transplant Centre was privileged to be a Gold Sponsor in the recent Toronto Police Association Charity Golf Day at Angus Glen Golf Course.. Money raised was donated to the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness http://www.ccfaa.com/, which is a non-profit, non-government, charitable organization dedicated to eliminating child abuse.

Pictured are the “Intrepid Seager Foursome”: Staff Sergeant Kevin Murrell, Jaan Vaikla, Dr. McKenzie & Kevin Hurford.

Over 500 golfers participated in the day which was a great success.