Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarring is not usually present. Hair loss in some people causes psychological distress.
Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include various bony and soft tissue procedures such as brow lift, rhinoplasty, cheek implantation, and lip augmentation.
An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, communication through facial expression, and second, prevention of sweat, water, and other debris from falling down into the eye socket. It is common for people to modify their eyebrows by means of hair removal and makeup.
The hair follicle is an organ found in mammalian skin. It resides in the dermal layer of the skin and is made up of 20 different cell types, each with distinct functions. The hair follicle regulates hair growth via a complex interaction between hormones, neuropeptides, and immune cells. This complex interaction induces the hair follicle to produce different types of hair as seen on different parts of the body. For example, terminal hairs grow on the scalp and lanugo hairs are seen covering the bodies of fetuses in the uterus and in some newborn babies. The process of hair growth occurs in distinct sequential stages. The first stage is called anagen and is the active growth phase, telogen is the resting stage, catagen is the regression of the hair follicle phase, exogen is the active shedding of hair phase and lastly kenogen is the phase between the empty hair follicle and the growth of new hair.
The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the human face at the front, and by the neck at the sides and back.
An eyelash is one of the hairs that grows at the edge of the eyelids. It grows in one layer on the edge of the upper and lower eyelids. Eyelashes protect the eye from debris, dust and small particles and perform some of the same functions as whiskers do on a cat or a mouse in the sense that they are sensitive to being touched, thus providing a warning that an object is near the eye.
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy, is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are multiple surgical techniques and exercise routines. Surgery usually involves the removal of excess facial skin, with or without the tightening of underlying tissues, and the redraping of the skin on the patient's face and neck. Exercise routines tone underlying facial muscles without surgery. Surgical facelifts are effectively combined with eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and other facial procedures and are typically performed under general anesthesia or deep twilight sleep.
The management of hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, may include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), medications, alternative medicine, low-level laser therapy, and surgery.
Blepharoplasty is the plastic surgery operation for correcting defects, deformities, and disfigurations of the eyelids; and for aesthetically modifying the eye region of the face. With the excision and the removal, or the repositioning of excess tissues, such as skin and adipocyte fat, and the reinforcement of the corresponding muscle and tendon tissues, the blepharoplasty procedure resolves functional and cosmetic problems of the periorbita, which is the area from the eyebrow to the upper portion of the cheek. The procedure is more common among women, who accounted for approximately 85% of blepharoplasty procedures in 2014 in the US and 88% of such procedures in the UK.
Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that removes hair follicles from one part of the body, called the 'donor site', to a bald or balding part of the body known as the 'recipient site'. The technique is primarily used to treat male pattern baldness. In this minimally invasive procedure, grafts containing hair follicles that are genetically resistant to balding are transplanted to the bald scalp. Hair transplantation can also be used to restore eyelashes, eyebrows, beard hair, chest hair, pubic hair and to fill in scars caused by accidents or surgery such as face-lifts and previous hair transplants. Hair transplantation differs from skin grafting in that grafts contain almost all of the epidermis and dermis surrounding the hair follicle, and many tiny grafts are transplanted rather than a single strip of skin.
Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) is a hair restoration technique, also known as the strip procedure, where a patient's hair is transplanted in naturally occurring groups of 1 to 4 hairs, called follicular units. Follicular units also contain sebaceous (oil) glands, nerves, a small muscle, and occasional fine vellus hairs. In follicular unit transplantation, these small units allow the surgeon to safely transplant thousands of grafts in a single session, which maximizes the cosmetic impact of the procedure.
Follicular unit extraction (FUE), also known as follicular transfer (FT), is one of two primary methods of obtaining hair follicles, naturally occurring groups of one to four hairs, for hair transplantation. The other method is called strip harvesting.
A forehead lift, also known as a browlift or browplasty, is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to elevate a drooping eyebrow that may obstruct vision and/or to remove the deep “worry” lines that run across the forehead.
Madarosis is a condition that results in the loss of eyelashes, and sometimes eyebrows. The term "madarosis" is derived from the ancient Greek "madaros", meaning "bald". It originally was a disease of only losing eyelashes but it currently is the loss of both eyelashes and eyebrows. Eyebrows and eyelashes are both important in the prevention of bacteria and other foreign objects from entering the eye. A majority of patients with madarosis have leprosy, and it was reported that 76% of patients with varying types of leprosy had madarosis.
Scarring hair loss, also known as cicatricial alopecia, is the loss of hair which is accompanied with scarring. This is in contrast to non scarring hair loss.
Eyelash implants are a form of cosmetic surgery involving transplanting additional eyelashes around the eye. The process typically involves removing a section of hair from the patient, typically from the back of the head, and grafting the hair to the eyelids, replacing the existing eyelashes. The procedure typically involves 60 to 70 hairs per eye, and after removal and a thorough cleaning of the oil on the hair, they are reattached to patient by delicately sewing the lashes back on. Maintenance of the eyelashes is needed thereafter, as the hair continues to grow at the same rate as on other parts of the body.
Multiple follicular unit grafts is a hair transplant technique that has been developed to complement and enhance current micro grafting and follicular unit procedures by increasing density without sacrificing naturalness. A follicular unit (FU) is a naturally occurring bundle of hairs. This bundle contains anywhere from 1 to 4 hairs. A "multiple follicular unit" is a graft that contains more than one follicular unit. When combined these follicular units can total 5 to 8 hairs creating more significant results. These grafts are not to be mistaken with old style hair plugs harvested with a punch biopsy instrument, but instead are modern day slit grafts harvested from a thin donor strip in the back of the head and separated under magnification.
Hairline lowering is a surgical technique that allows an individual to have their frontal hairline advanced certain distances depending on variables such as pre-operative hairline height, scalp laxity, and patient preference. It can be used to address a congenitally high hairline or sometimes a hairline that has recessed from hair loss. It is performed mostly on women.
Hair multiplication or hair cloning is a proposed technique to counter hair loss. The technology to clone hair is in its early stages. Experts previously assumed that in the case of complete baldness, follicles are completely absent from the scalp, so they cannot be regenerated. However it was discovered that the follicles are not entirely absent, as there are stem cells in the bald scalp from which the follicles naturally arise. Abnormal behavior of these follicles is suggested to be the result of progenitor cell deficiency in these areas.
Scalp reduction is a surgical procedure in which the hairless region of the scalp of a bald man is reduced. This procedure can reduce the area of the scalp in which hair transplantation is needed, or even eliminate the need for hair transplantation.
