null

Happy Holidays! Next Dispatch Date: 27 December

HOW TO DEAL WITH HAIR LOSS CAUSED BY SCARS

Posted by Manny Y on 7th Apr 2015

Men will do everything to have their hair back. They will spend big money on hair loss treatment products or thousands over a hair loss transplant, in order to keep those bald areas full of hair.

Image by roger_mommaerts via Flickr

But what if a patient suffered from burns or somehow wounded the scalp and now has a sizable scar over it? Scar tissues are fibrous tissues that replace skin after injury. Sadly, there’s no hair follicle regeneration on the scarred areas so there is absolutely no hair growth if a scar is present on the scalp or anywhere on the skin.

Obviously, hair loss products will not work on scar tissue since these products are focused at stimulating the hair follicles to regrow hair. Since there are no hair follicles on scar tissue, there is nothing to stimulate, so there is no hair growth.

An encouraging hair loss modality for this condition is a hair transplant. It is possible to transplant hair on scar tissue. Unfortunately, scar tissue is not very elastic and the hair graft can easily get dislodged, so special care on this area must be done for the hair follicle to survive.

Another factor to consider is that scar tissue has lesser blood supply compared to normal skin, implants are less dense, and multiple sessions are needed. Lastly, if the scar is too thick, hair transplant is not advised. Steroid injections can be done to thin out the scar before transplant.

If a patient is not a good candidate for hair transplant or if financial concerns are a problem, then scalp micropigmentation can be an alternative solution. It is fast, permanent, more affordable, and works great for scar tissue. The process of scalp micropigmentation is essentially similar to tattooing. However, special care, training, and artistry are needed to make the scalp look natural.

It is important to mention that this procedure does not promote hair growth. It only hides the bald areas or in this case, the scar tissue.