Implication of the hair transplant in patient care

The hair transplant is a surgical procedure used for the correction of androgenic alopecia, scarring alopecia, and other causes of permanent alopecia. Since hair transplantation is a surgical procedure, all patients must be in good health.
Patients with alopecia present significant challenges for professionals who deal with hair restoration problems.  These patients search for ways to stop or restore the course of the hair loss process and to restore the integrity of their own image. They fight to cope with their own condition and are afraid that their condition and the physical acceptability of their own person, will deteriorate.  For women, losing their hair is more stressful than it is for men, and even distructive of their well-being, since alopecia is an unfamiliar scourge, with an uncertain development.
Physicians must realize that the effects of alopecia extend beyond the physical parametres of hair loss.
As has been observed for other conditions which alter the physical appearance, the psychological reactions of the pacient are less connected to the actual hair loss than to the patient’s own perception of this phenomenon. These reactions have to be correlated not only with hair, but also with what we call the patient’s quality of life.
 Even minimal hair loss may induce considerable emotional reactions, perceivable by the physician. Actually, the fact that the patient’s condition improved after a minoxidil treatment is subjective and doesn’t necessarily have to be correlated with objective indices of hair growth. But what is minoxidil? Minoxidil, one of the two medications that have received approval from the FDA for treating hair loss, is a liquid applied directly to areas of the scalp undergoing this problem. Minoxidil must be applied two times per day. Continued use of the medication is necessary to maintain hair regrowth; otherwise, most of the hairs strengthened by minoxidil fall out.

Table of Contents:
Implication of the hair transplant in patient care
Clinical Assessments regarding the psychological problem of hair loss
Clinical Management of Psychological Problems