The mythological causes of hair loss are many.  Some cite poor circulation to the scalp and vitamin deficiencies while others suggest excessive hat-wearing as a cause.  The truth is all of these are untrue.

Hair loss is primarily caused by a combination of aging, a change in hormones, and a family history of baldness.  As a rule, the earlier hair loss begins, the more severe the baldness will become.  Hair loss can afflict both men and women and there are solutions.

Hair restoration surgery requires transplanting small pieces of hair-bearing scalp grafts from a donor site and relocating them to a bald or thinning area.  Usually several surgical sessions are needed to get the full appearance desired and in between each session, several months for healing is recommended.  As such, it might take up to two years to achieve the final look you desire.

Everyone is different and so the number of sessions you will require will be based on the amount of coverage you need and the color and texture of your hair.  Coarse, gray or light-colored hair provides better coverage than fine, dark-colored hair.

Some estimates suggest that one in five women experience some degree of hair loss usually caused by aging, illness, or hormonal changes after menopause.

The subtle thinning women experience is all over the scalp rather than the more patchy loss men experience.  To address this overall thinning some women wear a wig and others use a topical prescriptive drug.  For some the effectiveness of drugs varies and wigs do not always approximate real hair well enough.  For these women hair restoration surgery may be a strong alternative.

If you're considering a hair replacement procedure, it's important to understand that you will never have the coverage you had prior to your hair loss, but surgery may camouflage the thin areas and give you more fullness.

The majority of elective hair restoration procedure are performed under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis using micro hair transplantation.  Pre-operatively the surgeon marks the hairline design and the area on the scalp where the donor hair follicles are to be taken.

The two methods of choice for donor hair removal are FUT or follicular unit transplant, where a strip of tissue is removed from the back of your scalp and further dissected into small 1-4 hair follicular unit grafts using a stereo microscope.

The second method is FUE or follicular unit extraction, where a small mico-dissector is used to make a small, circular, incision in the skin around the follicular unit separating it from the surrounding tissue.  The unit is then extracted (pulled) directly from the scalp, leaving a small open hole.

After the grafts are harvested tiny receipient sites are made in the balding area of the scalp using a fine needle point instrument.  The follicular units are then placed into the recipient sites where they will grow into healthy hair producing follicles.

Other procedures include graft, flaps and tissue expanders however these procedures are usually reserved for reconstructive cases secondary to accidents, burns, cancer or other disfiguring trauma.

It's important to keep in mind a couple of things about the limits to hair restoration.  Candidates need healthy hair growth at the back and sides of the head to serve as donor areas.

It's also important to understand that all hair replacement techniques use your existing hair and that someone with very little hair might not be advised to undergo hair replacement surgery.

Remember the goal of surgery is to find the most efficient uses for existing hair.