Can you imagine exchanging your plasma
television set for more hair on that thinning area of your scalp?
This is exactly what the majority of
men with hair loss said they would do when polled for the
International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).
The survey for the ISHRS, the world’s
leading medical authority on hair loss, finds that some 57 per cent
of 2,338 men with hair loss said they would be willing to give up
something in exchange for hair.
Among the material possessions cited
that men would give up were an expensive car, a plasma television
set, a lap top computer, a stereo system or even a boat.
While the internet survey, which was
conducted by global market research company, TNS Healthcare, was
conducted in the United States, the findings are relevant to
Australian men.
In the 25-plus years that I have been
specialising in hair restoration surgery, I have spoken to a lot of
men who say they’d be willing to give up anything in return for
hair.
Of course, in most cases it is not
necessary for someone to part with valued material goods.
I have seen a major shift in the
attitudes of Australian men over the past five years towards cosmetic
procedures.
Many of the men who attend the clinics
I consult to in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, tell me they see no
reason to put up with baldness and the loss of confidence and self
esteem that hair loss brings.
The bottom line is that the Australian
public is far more accepting of the look good feel good concepts
which include hair transplants and cosmetic surgery.
There is an awakening out there about
the exponential improvements that have been made in hair transplants
over the past decade.
Up until a decade ago you could spot a
person with a transplant a mile away.
But gone are the days when visible
“plugs” were the standard hair restoration treatment.
These plugs of 20 plus hairs were taken
from the back of the head and placed in corn rows at the front. A
person with a transplant was an object of derision.
Nowadays, hair transplants performed by
physicians who practice highly refined surgical techniques, are
impossible to detect to the untrained eye.
However, I still maintain that there is
a need for people with hair loss to learn to differentiate between
physicians who practice the highly refined surgical techniques now
available and those that are not qualified to.
Men who decide to seek the permanent
solution of a hair transplant should conduct thorough research.
This should include using internet
search engines to find out if a surgeon is well regarded by his or
her industry peers.
It is also a good idea to meet with
some of the surgeon’s former patients to see the results for
yourself and to learn about their experience.
Good luck.
