About Face

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About Face

Chapter Ten Hair Transplants Types of Male Pattern Baldness Surgery Punch Grafting Flaps Scalp Reduction Scalp Expansion

C H A P T E R T E N

Hair Transplants

THE VARIOUS NEEDS FOR FACIAL plastic surgery I’ve discussed so far in this book are shared equally by women and men, but much to their chagrin, there is one situation that applies almost exclusively to men. Male pattern baldness, as it is called, affects about two-thirds of men, to varying degrees.

Not all of them are bothered by it, but some men suffer terribly from a loss of self-esteem or the belief that baldness makes them appear prematurely aged. Happily, there has been steady progress over the past ten years in the procedures we have to treat male pattern baldness. (There are other reasons for baldness, like disease or accident, or even stress, but I will concentrate in this chapter on male pattern baldness as the most common problem.)

Research hasn’t yet revealed exactly why men go bald, though we know now that it’s a genetic tendency that often comes to males from the mother’s side of the family. Even though baldness can come from the father’s side, if a mother’s father or grandfather has shown balding, chances are good that her son will, too. Classic male pattern baldness will start to show up in some men in their early twenties, though most are afflicted in their late twenties.

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