I recently attended the 23rd annual ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) Scientific Meeting in Chicago, which is held in the U.S. every other year. The ISHRS has about 1,300 members, 500 of whom are physicians in the U.S.
I am a member of this society, which has as its mission to maintain high ethical standards, educate its members on the latest scientific developments in hair restoration, and to create an atmosphere of collegiality and information-sharing.
The society does an excellent job at all of these. Physicians from numerous specialties who have become trained in hair restoration are members of the ISHRS, and they bring a multitude of ideas and expertise.
The meeting was excellent in many ways, and I came home with new and updated scientific information to incorporate into my practice. In the area of FPHL (female pattern hair loss) there was updated information about the role of genetics, androgens, and treatments. For those of you who suffer from FPHL, you know firsthand of the heartache that it causes. With the new recommendations on treatments, I look forward to working with you to help you in this fight to maintain your hair.
I also attended workshops about eyebrow transplants, as well as beard-hair harvesting. Historically, we have harvested hair from the “safe zone” on the back and sides of the scalp, but if this area is exhausted beard hair can be another good donor source.
Other presentation centered on cicatricial alopecias, or scarring alopecias. This category of alopecia is difficult to treat, and previous recommendations were to wait 5-6 years after treatment before attempting a transplant in the affected area. Recently however, there have been transplant successes after only a two-year delay.
Capillus laser cap has introduced a new model with 82 diodes instead of the 272 in its original design. This has dramatically cut the cost of these caps. Since there are even more studies documenting the effectiveness of the low-level laser therapy to treat hair loss, this new cap will make it even more affordable to my patients.
I look forward to working with each of you in treating and dealing with your hair loss needs.
-Dr. Arthur Gray
