Laser Hair Therapy FAQ
To help you make the right decision for treating your hair loss and obtain the best hair regrowth results, here is a list of the most common questions that are asked about Laser Hair Therapy.
- Why would someone choose Laser Hair Therapy?
- When I come in for a consultation, will I be meeting with a doctor?
- How do you know if Laser Hair Therapy will work for me?
- Does this treatment works just as well for women as men?
- Why do women lose their hair?
- I’ve already had transplants and/or I am already using something for my hair loss, will this affect the program?
- Can you just send me some literature first?
- Is this a one time permanent procedure?
- Is Laser Hair Therapy covered by insurance?
- How successful is the treatment?
- Who does Laser Hair Therapy NOT work for?
- What is normal hair loss?
- Besides Laser Hair Therapy, how is hair loss treated?
Is Laser Hair Therapy FDA cleared?
Yes, the laser was approved a few years ago for cosmetic use by the FDA.
Why would someone choose Laser Hair Therapy?
Not everyone wants painful or unnatural looking hair transplants or potentially harmful prescription medications to re-grow their lost hair. If you're looking for alternatives to surgery or drugs, Laser Hair Therapy’s program can stop hair loss and re-grow lost hair.
When I come in for a consultation, will I be meeting with a doctor?
You will be meeting with one of our consultants who is trained in the study of the scalp and hair.
How do you know if Laser Hair Therapy will work for me?
When you come in for the consultation, the consultant will look at your hair follicles through a microscopic camera lens and be able to tell if you are at a point where you can stop hair loss or re-grow what you have lost.
Does this treatment works just as well for women as men?
Yes, women experiencing hair loss, largely from nutritional, medical or genetic causes, make up a majority of clients, followed by people suffering from scalp psoriasis. Again, women appear to seek treatment for this distressing complaint more often than men. Those afflicted with the embarrassment of alopecia areata comprise the third major group.
Why do women lose their hair?
There are two main reasons why women lose their hair: low iron and hormonal inbalance.
Low Iron
Low iron levels could arguably be considered the common factor in women's hair loss. It's often the primary cause, but just as frequently found to be an underlying contributor - aggravating or exposing other problems such as genetic thinning or alopecia areata.
From 'menarche to menopause', the requirement a woman has for iron is considerable. Rapid growth into, and the activity of adolescence, an average 40 years of menstruation, childbirth, family and career pressures, can all contribute to keeping iron stores low. If the woman is then vegetarian or consumes little red meat and tends to experience heavy periods, then she's at high risk to be iron deficient or even anemic.
Women seeking treatment will relate a history of slow, decreasing hair density from their entire scalp. This may have transpired over some months or even years, and obvious hair shedding is not always apparent to the sufferer. They frequently report accompanying symptoms such as low energy, dry skin, lusterless hair, and/or sensitivity to cold temperature. They may also complain of feeling breathless, pale complexion, or heart palpitations.
Hormonal Imbalance
More women - and younger women are having hair loss from hormonal origins than ever before.
Half a century ago female androgenetic alopecia, also termed female pattern genetic thinning, was almost exclusively a problem of post-menopausal women. Following menopause the female sex hormone produced by the ovaries (& the adrenal glands to a lesser extent) diminish, but androgen (male hormone) production continues at the same level. In susceptible women this may then show as a thinning of scalp hair in a genetic pattern, with sometimes-excessive facial or body hair, termed 'hirsuitism'.
It's estimated than more than one third of all post-menopausal women will now exhibit this condition to some degree.
The exponential rise in the numbers of younger women developing genetic thinning is multi-factorial, but is thought to be in part due to the introduction of synthetic hormones used in contraceptive and hormone replacement therapies.
Additionally, modern society's continuous exposure to xenohormones, which have the potential to disrupt the hormonal and reproductive capacity of all living creatures, are also thought to be a predominant factor. Xenohormones are found in solvents and adhesives, nearly all plastics, pesticides, motor vehicle emissions, and the meat of livestock "bulked up" by hormones and antibiotics. Xenohormones exert hormonal - mainly oestrogenic effects, and are suspected to play a role in triggering a number of reproductive and autoimmune disturbances in susceptible persons.
Typically a presenting woman will be in her mid-thirties to mid-fifties, but often younger. She may be pre or post-menopausal, or undergone hysterectomy for irregular, heavy periods, uterine fibroids, or cervical/uterine cancer.
Hormonal hair loss may originate from a number of causes such as increased prolactin levels associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome, failure to ovulate in a premenopausal woman, or some other physiological disturbance causing her body to produce excessive amounts of male hormone. When a woman consistently fails to ovulate, her body does not produce the hormone progesterone in any significant amount. In a complex 'negative feedback' mechanism, the body attempts to compensate for the low progesterone levels by increasing the adrenal glands' production of a steroid hormone termed Androstenedione. Androstenedione can exert androgenetic effects such as thinning of scalp hair in a genetic pattern, excessive facial or body hair, 'T-zone' facial oiliness or acne.
Severe or prolonged emotional/physiological stress, dieting, or heavy exercise regimes are the more common reasons for ovulation failure in a premenopausal woman. Again, severe or prolonged emotional/physiological stress, post-hysterectomy, following childbirth or the use of certain contraceptive/hormone replacement therapies can, in susceptible women, trigger scalp hair thinning in an androgenetic way.
I’ve already had transplants and/or I am already using something for my hair loss, will this affect the program?
Since this program is based on a cosmetic laser light, it doesn’t interfere with any other treatments, it can only help further.
Can you just send me some literature first?
We would be happy to mail or e-mail you information, but you would still need to come in to be able to determine if you would see any success with this particular program.
Is this a one time permanent procedure?
Laser Hair Therapy is a 6-12 month program, tailored to fit your individual progress and needs. The patient will only maintain results by coming in once or twice a month for maintenance. Since there is no cure for hair loss, once they stop shedding hair and are regrowing it, even if they have regrown about as much as they can, if they stop monthly maintenance, DHT will inflame the hair follicle again and they will start to see their hair falling out and thinning once more.
Is Laser Hair Therapy covered by insurance?
It is considered a cosmetic procedure, so unfortunately most insurance companies will not agree to cover it, but we do offer a variety of payments plans.
How successful is the treatment?
The consultant would be able to give you an individual prognosis during the consultation, and she’s not going to let people into the program if she doesn’t think they will be able to see any success. The program is clinically proven to stop hair loss in more than 85% of the people who follow it. It's hard to give an exact statistic on the percentage of actual hair growth because that is based on the individual and if their hair follicle has closed over or not - if some follicles have, then the follicles are dead and can never grow hair there.
Who does Laser Hair Therapy NOT work for?
Mostly people who have been completely bald for an extended period of time, like over 20 years. If the follicles have closed off completely, it’s not possible to re-open them, but if they are only blocked or still in the process of closing up, there’s still time. It isn’t necessarily based on age, since hair loss is individual in terms of rates of loss and amount.
What is normal hair loss?
People normally lose around 100 hairs a day. Sometimes follicles synchronize, releasing their hairs all at the same time, a condition called "telogen effluvium." This is what happens when cats and dogs shed in the springtime. Synchronized shedding can happen in humans after a physically traumatic event — or two to three months after pregnancy.
Everyone is born with as many hair follicles as they will ever have. Follicles may change the type of hair they produce, but their number doesn't typically change.
Besides Laser Hair Therapy, how is hair loss treated?
Minoxidil (Rogaine), approved as a baldness treatment in 1988, was the first truly effective treatment in the long history of remedies for hair loss. It jump-starts the follicles, making them stop resting, shed the old hair, and start growing new hairs. Finasteride (Propecia), approved by the FDA in 1997, stops the formation of DHT in the scalp, blocking testosterone's hair-thinning effects. Dermatological studies show that extra-strength Rogaine (5% minoxidil) thickens hair overall and even causes some regrowth in 60% of men after one year of use. Propecia stops hair loss over a five-year period in 90% of men and leads to 14% more hairs on average.
But there are limits to how much hair both drugs can save. And for someone who already has a large bald spot, 14% more hair may not be enough.
In fact, both of the drugs are best at maintaining existing hair. For the most part, they can't reverse the miniaturization of follicles that leads to bald spots. Studies with the Laser Hair Therapy equipment show significant hair grown – overall average growth for all subjects was 37.79% and results are obvious after 2-4 months.
Laser Hair Therapy is exclusively available in San Diego by Dr. Schafer.
Laser Hair Therapy Before & After Photos
Actual Patients Shown Before And After Surgery. Your Results May Vary.Click on photo to enlarge & show description
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