What is Traction Alopecia?

Traction alopecia is a form of hair loss resulting from the repeated yet unintentional pulling, twisting or rubbing of the hair. Traction alopecia can affect both men and women, though it's more commonly seen in women. Though it can be temporary, balding from traction alopecia may become permanent if these traumatic forces are applied to the hair and scalp repeatedly and for prolonged periods, resulting in scarring.

What Causes Traction Alopecia?

Practices that may result in traction alopecia include; wearing tight braids, ponytails or cornrows and extended use of hair extensions.  Due to the popularity of these hairstyles, traction alopecia has become one of the leading causes of hair loss among African America women.

Balding from traction alopecia can also occur from repeatedly wearing tight-fitting hats, helmets or other headgear.This is likely where the popular hair loss myth about hats causing hair loss derived, but it is important to note that, under normal circumstances, wearing a properly fitted hat will not negatively impact hair growth.

Treating Traction Alopecia

The first step in treating traction alopeciais to change the habits leading to the condition. This may mean adopting a new hairstyle or altering your wardrobe. Finally, applying a vaso dilator like Rogaine(minoxidil) to the affected area can increase blood flow to the damaged follicles and effectively speed up new hair growth. Assuming the hair follicles have not been permanently damaged, new hair growth will likely occur though it may take several months.

In cases of severe and permanent tractional opecia, the only effective method of restoring hair to the bald areas is surgical hair restoration. State of the art, ultra-refined follicular unit hair transplantation allows quality surgeons to harvest DHT resistant hair from the donor region at the rear and sides of the head. These hairs are then implanted into the balding areas of the scalp, resulting in a natural and undetectable appearance. To see which physicians we recommend and for a free virtual consult, visit the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

To learn more about how surgical hair restoration can be used to treat traction alopecia hair loss, view the following results from our hair loss forum and social community:

• Dr.Robert Dorin - 1909 Grafts on a Traction Alopecia Patient
• Dr.Victor Hasson / 3560 Grafts / One Session / Traction Alopecia / One Year

One product you used to see quite often in advertising is Avacor. According to Response magazine, Avacor was the third best selling product on the Internet in April, 2002. Avacor was originally manufactured by Global Vision Products. After being taken over by new management, it is now being manufactured by Avacor Products LLC.

Like most products that advertise 'Stop Hair Loss and Regrow Hair!', Avacor contains the only FDA approved topical drug minoxidil. Avacor, like other products with similar claims, mixes FDA approved drugs in their generic form with other ingredients in a multiple regimen of products like shampoo, lotion and vitamins.

Avacor historically cost approximately $239 for a two to three month supply and over $1000 for a year’s worth.  New prices are much more reasonable which range from $180 for a 3 month supply to $400 for a year’s supply of the men’s and women’s formula. Note that the ingredients in Avacor can be bought over the counter at your local store at a fraction of the cost for which they are sold in Avacor. However, they do offer 24/7 customer service and a 90 day money back guarantee.

Marketing Practices

Avacor, like other products with similar claims, has taken a lot of slack over the years for their controversial marketing tactics. Avacor has a checkered past and has previously been the focus of lawsuits and investigative reporting by major media like ABC news. Recently however, new management has taken over and claims they are very serious about selling quality products at more reasonable prices, without the hype and controversial marketing strategies. In looking at their website, while Avacor still uses slick marketing language to promote their products, the vast majority of their claims are much more realistic.

Avacor includes 3 distinct products that claim to provide “total hair care”. This includes a 'Scalp Detoxifying Shampoo', a 'Physicians Topical Formulation' and finally a 'Nutricap'. Avacor's Nutricap ingredients consist mainly of common herbs like saw palmetto, gingko biloba, keratin, resveratrol, and bilberry. While conjectured to inhibit the production of DHT, none of these ingredients are FDA approved or proven to stop hair loss. Avacor’s Physician’s Topical Formulation however, does contain 5% of the FDA approved hair regrowth agent minoxidil.

Other than minoxidil, no other ingredient is proven to regrow hair. A number of studies have been done that suggest saw palmetto inhibits the production of DHT, like Propecia. But, unlike Propecia, it has never been proven to stop or reverse hair loss.

Avacor Products

Avacor admits on their website that the only product proven to regrow hair is the Avacor Physician’s formulation which includes the FDA approved ingredient minoxidil (5% for men and 2% for women). The other products claim to provide hair with the essential nutrients for healthy hair growth but are careful not to claim to prevent the progression of male or female pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia). Perhaps this is why the Avacor Physician’s formulation can now be purchased separately. Costs of the Physician’s Formulation are still, but only a little more expensive than Rogaine topical hair loss treatment, one of the first and most popular topical minoxidil products.

The Avacor Study

At this time, Avacor’s proof comes in the form of the FDA approved study showing that minoxidil can stop and reverse hair loss.  No other study is provided with their product.  Their website also is much more realistic as to what their product line can accomplish for hair loss suffering consumers.

Confidence in Products and Services

Before you consider spending hundreds of dollars for any product or service, do a review. Legitimate products will have legitimate studies and have been reviewed on many quality websites. Doctors with real talent and satisfied patients will be able to show you dozens of photos and allow you to talk with past patients. Proven physicians will make available their resumes along with their formal education and associations they belong to.

It is always best to review a product or doctor for information on their background before you make a decision for something as important as hair loss and hair restoration.

Conclusion

At the very least, the Avacor Physician’s formulation will be as effective as the Rogaine liquid formula or generic minoxidil. However, to date, both Rogaine and generic minoxidil are more cost effective than Avacor.  The nutricap, shampoo, conditioner and other products may promote healthy hair and provide it with volume, but make no claims of stopping hair loss or regrowing hair.

A Thicker Fuller Head of Hair in 30 Seconds?

A staggering 50% of men and 30% of women will experience some degree of thinning hair by the age of 50. Along with state of the art hair transplant surgery and credible drug treatments like Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil), many balding men (and women) have added credible concealers like Nanogen to their daily treatment regimen.

As the term implies, concealers do not actually regrow hair but rather cosmetically enhance the appearance of balding areas of the scalp by reducing the contrast between scalp and hair color and/or adding fullness to thin, wispy hair follicles.  Nanogen is no exception however, Nanogen is very popular and differs from other topical concealers in several areas.

How Nanogen Works

Nanogen is made of microscopic keratin fibers. Keratin is the same material that natural hair is composed of, giving the product a natural look and feel when applied to existing thinning hair. Unlike other fiber-based hair loss concealers, Nanogen’s “nanofibers” have a patent pending, “dipolar” electrostatic charge coating that causes them to cling to existing hairs in a fashion resembling needles on a Christmas tree rather than lying flat against the follicles. It’s this perpendicular binding that gives what some users have described as an immediate “lift” to the hair.  By increasing the diameter of each individual follicle from root to tip, Nanogen is able to enhance the appearance of hair density resulting in the illusion of a full head of hair.

Applying Nanogen

Nanogen is available in ten different shades. These colors can even be combined to invisibly blend with your natural hair. The fibers are sprinkled onto the balding scalp from an applicator reminiscent of a large pepper shakerand then blended with the fingertips. Once the desired effect is achieved, there is an optional locking mist available to help the fibers stay in place through inclement weather conditions, intense exercise and perspiration.

Users should take care when applying Nanogen near the hairline. Over application can result in accumulation and an unnatural appearance.

Conclusion

Nanogen’s keratin-based nanofibers are an excellent choice for balding men and women wishing to improve the appearance of thinning hair. Unlike some creams, sprays or make-up type concealers, Nanogen fibers are odor-free, non-itchy, wash out easily and won’t stain your clothing or pillowcase. With practice, the application is clean, quick and simple.

See what Real Patients are Saying about DermMatch on our Hair Loss Forum

For an in-depth comparison of Nanogen and similar fiber-based hair loss concealer Toppik, see the discussion topic, Product Review: Nanogen. To see what other members and Nanogen users are saying, you are encouraged to use the "search" feature of our hair restoration discussion forum.

The Ultimate in fullness and naturalness in one surgery session.

We’ve all seen the “pluggy” hair transplants of the past. But we don’t see today’s state of the art hair transplants because they go unnoticed.

Plugs Mini Micros Follicular Units

Follicular Evolution - from plugs to micro grafts to ultra refined grafts

Surgical hair restoration has dramatically evolved from the big round “plug” grafts of the 1960 ’s and 70’s, to the “mini micrografts” of the 80’s and early 90’s, to modern hair transplant procedures using entirely follicular unit grafts .

Now hair restoration surgery is going through another important evolution that is improving both the naturalness and fullness that can be achieved from any one surgical hair transplant session.

Ultra Refined Grafting - Smaller Blades, Incisions and Grafts

Today ’s micro surgical blades, like the size of hair grafts, have become ever smaller and now enable hair transplant surgeons to safely make more tiny graft incisions in a given area then ever before. Surgeons are then able to “dense pack” select areas with as many as 40 to 60 follicular unit grafts per square centimeter. This graft density is as much as twice that of the standard follicular unit hair transplant procedure.

Such high densities of transplanted hair typically produce the appearance of fullness even after only one surgical session. Patients also experience rapid healing and no visible skin distortions due to the tiny size of these incisions.

Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Grafting - Hard on the clinic but easy on the patient.

Ultra refined follicular unit grafting raises the bar for physicians and their staff. This delicate and demanding hair transplant procedure requires more skill and careful attention to be performed properly. The smaller and more tightly packed incisions require more closely dissected follicular unit grafts that are carefully trimmed under microscopes. These small and densely packed incisions are also more difficult to place the grafts into.

This procedure also requires more careful patient selection, as “dense packing” of grafts is not appropriate for all patients.

Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Transplantation – the new “Gold Standard”

In the hands of a highly skilled physician and staff the Ultra refined follicular unit hair transplant procedure can achieve excellent new hair growth that is so natural that it is undetectable even under close scrutiny.

While the standard micro “follicular unit” hair transplant does produce natural looking results, its ability to achieve high density in only one surgical session is limited. Thus patients may have to do subsequent surgical sessions in a transplanted area to achieve a full look.

The many patient benefits of this new procedure are significant and include:

• The ability to get excellent hair density in only one surgical session.
• Minimal trauma in the graft recipient area with rapid post surgical healing.
• Little or no visible pitting or distortions in the transplanted areas.
• More natural direction and angulation of the transplanted hair.

All members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physiciansare required to perform ultra refined grafting with excellent results. Learn more about the membership standards.