Male pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, is the most common type of hair loss for men, affecting up to 70% of men at some point in their lifetime. Male pattern baldness is related to genes and male sex hormones and most typically follows a pattern of progressive hair loss at the temples and at the crown. This occurs due to a hereditary susceptibility of hair follicles to shrinkage due to the influence of androgenic hormones. 
Whilst this form of hair loss is extremely common, male pattern baldness can still be distressing for men for a number of reasons: 
 
Dissatisfaction with their appearance – men may be left with low self-esteem, feeling vulnerable and fearing that they are unattractive to others. This can cause men to lose their confidence and feel shy or embarrassed. 
Worries about getting older – for most people, hair is linked to youth, so men feel that losing their hair signals the end of their youth and desirability 
Inability to style the hair – for many hair loss sufferers, it becomes very difficult to style hair in a way that disguises hair loss. In more extreme cases, men can feel frustrated and embarrassed that they don’t have enough hair to style it properly. 
 
For men that are highly affected by male pattern hair loss, surgical hair transplants can provide the ideal treatment to help them regain their self-esteem. As the name suggests, a hair transplant is a surgery in which hair follicles from an area of the scalp that is less likely to be affected by hormonal loss are transferred to the area of the head affected by hair loss. Highly skilled and experienced surgeons can achieve extremely natural looking and high density effects with only minimal temporary scarring. 
Hair transplantation procedures have advanced considerably over the years – whilst hair transplants used to use larger grafts that produced an unnatural look, the most advanced techniques now use much smaller grafts, varying from 1-4 individual hairs from patient to patient: 
 
Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) 
Follicular unit transplantation, commonly referred to as FUT, is a common procedure where hair is transplanted from an area in the back or side of the scalp, where hair is resistant to balding, to the bald or balding areas of the scalp. To accomplish natural looking results, follicular units of between 1 and 4 hairs are used. 
To achieve this, a strip of tissue from the donor area is removed and cut into many individual units using a microscopic dissection technique. The surgeon then makes tiny holes in the recipient area of the scalp, where the follicular units are placed. This technique minimises trauma to the scalp, allows for the ability to perform large hair transplant sessions and ensures the naturalness of the transplant. 
 
Follicular unit extraction (FUE) 
Follicular unit extraction or FUE differs from FUT in that follicular units of between 1 and 4 hairs are extracted directly from the donor area one at a time, rather than removing a strip. Whereas FUT transplants must use tissue from the scalp as a donor area, FUE can harvest follicles from areas outside of the head, including the chest, arms, abdomen, back, legs and face. This technique can provide an ideal alternative treatment to FUT for patients who have a scalp that is too tight for a strip to be excised. 
 
At Birmingham Dermatology Clinic, we always keep up to date with the most advanced hair restoration techniques and use ground-breaking technologies to achieve the best and most natural looking results possible. We always keep the welfare of our patients at the heart of our treatments and offer a long term guarantee. 
If you would like to found out more about undergoing a hair transplant and would like to learn which technique may be best suited to you, please contact our clinic today by calling 0800 044 3917 to organise a confidential consultation. 
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