Hair loss affects an estimated fifty million men and thirty million women in the United States alone. The cause is an excess of Dihydro-testosterone (DHT hormone) in certain areas of the scalp, mostly due to hereditary conditions.

Hair transplant is the only everlasting solution to all types of hair loss.

About 95 percent of all cases of hair loss are the result of androgenetic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness in men.

By the time we are forty years old, forty percent of women and nearly forty percent of men have visible symptoms of hereditary hair loss.

By age fifty, fifty percent of both genders show signs of androgenetic alopecia. Hereditary hair loss can be inherited from the mother, the father, and even from both parents in combination.

Race neither increases nor decreases a person's likelihood of experiencing hereditary hair loss. Hereditary hair loss affects all ethnicities.

In recent years researchers are finding that environmental issues may also be causing both men and women to lose hair at an earlier age.

Hair transplantation is the best known method of hair restoration and also the method of hair restoration most often used to treat hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia.

The cosmetic surgery procedure of hair transplantation begins by removing a strip of hair follicles from the donor area, which is the horseshoe shaped fringe of hair on the lower back and sides of the head, the strip of healthy hair is then dissected into hundreds and even thousands of follicular units. These units, which contain from one to four hairs each, are then transplanted into the thinning or balding areas.

The hair taken from the donor area will continue to grow and not fall out as a result of pattern baldness because this hair is not sensitive to the male hormone DHT.

It is important to note, that the hairless part of the head is not the reason of your hair loss; it is the genetic makeup of the hair. Healthy follicular units from the back of the head will continue growing as they always have independently of where they have been relocated.

When hair transplantation surgery was first introduced in the 1950's, it was a complicated and costly cosmetic surgery procedure that often resulted in unnatural results.

Through extensive research and state-of-the-art developments in technique and instrumentation, hair transplantation has become a highly sophisticated yet relatively simple procedure. Major advancements in technique nowadays offer results that are remarkably natural in appearance and relatively affordable to most of us.

The average cost of hair transplantation surgery is between three and ten dollars per graft and the number of grafts needed depends on the extent of the balding area. The number of grafts needed varies greatly from case to case but we can say that it is commonly between five hundred and two thousands, therefore the average hair transplant cost ranges from $1500 to $20,000.

The surgeon's reputation for skill and experience is definitely a factor which may greatly influence the price as also is the geographical location.

Traveling to countries like Mexico, India or Greece, combining your hair transplant with some vacation time is a growing trend. The cost of the procedure may be drastically lower due to currency exchange and a little vacation time will allow you to completely recover rendering the change in appearance less obvious at your return home.

Most hair restoration clinics perform exceptionally well but you should always do your diligence, research your options, and if it is possible try to choose a hair restoration clinic which is patient focused rather than a commercially focused. Some clinics emphasize revenue, speed and volume rather than dedicating the time and individual care needed to produce optimal results.

I conclusion, hair transplant procedures have become simple and affordable but any type of cosmetic surgery is always surgery, which means that it is a serious matter, therefore never put yourself blindly in the hands of a surgeon without having first checked his references and rate of patients satisfaction.

Mark Van Neem