1. “The aesthetic value of hair” by Dr Mario Marzola
2. News from the Italian Society of Hair Restoration Conference. Body Hair Transplants and Low Level Laser Light Therapy
3. No visible scars, cloning, hair transplanted from one to another, Body Hair Transplants.

We all know that hair protects our scalp from sunburn and may also act as an early warning device when we are about to hit our head on something hard.  Even more than that we value hair for its aesthetic qualities and benefits.

It is widely understood that having hair helps to create a balanced appearance or composition of a human face.  We are all aware that hairdressers are able to change a person’s appearance dramatically merely by changing a hairstyle.  In this way we utilise their expertise to help us emphasise or soften our features offering us an individual look.

Beauty, balance, harmony and artistic taste are impossible to accurately define as everybody’s taste is different.  However, most people with an eye for harmony would more than likely agree with the general principle of what follows.

Wondering what would happen to my face if my hair line was moved around I came up with some images to help explain why hair loss surgery is a popular choice for many men and women.

In Figure 1, my hairline is placed where it was in my teenage years but on my current face. As you can see it looks totally out of place.  In fact it looks like a bad hair piece!! This is a common mistake made by the companies supplying people with hair pieces and the reason why others can detect them easily as they tend to look very much out of keeping with the face of the person wearing it. And its not even your own hair!!

1. Hairline of a teenager.

Figure 2 could pass for a reasonable hairline for a face with a "lived-in” appearance, which represents how I look now. For my features this would be my choice of hairline as it is congruent with my age and a mature male hairline. I often have conversations with my patients to help them understand the difference between a male and female hairline. All mature males should have a hairline which recedes a little towards the temples. This is normal. Females have a hairline which grows in a straighter line. For a male to have this, it would look awkward. This is another area where hair pieces fail.

2. Dr Marzola's actual hairline.

Figure 3 shows just how much of my head lies above the eyebrows.  In other cases where the forehead is not as large as mine, a receding hair line may suit one's facial features, leaving the face still in balance.  The receding shown here has gone too far for this face and I have lost a degree of harmony.

3. Receding hairline accentuates the size of the forehead.

Figure 4 is the classic example of something is missing. We have heard people say that hair frames the face, well here the top part of the frame is missing.  Many of my patients report that they feel people no longer look at them and hear their conversation but rather tend to be distracted by their bald scalp.

4. The top part of the frame is missing.

In this situation we look at options to rebuild a natural hairline which will frame the face in the right way. It is important to note that the earlier we see a patient the better it is for their appearance as through medical or surgical intervention we are able to manage and maintain hairlines.

In Figure 5 you can see that Alopecia Totalis does not suit me as it did Telly Savalas. Looking at my face in this image you can see that all my facial features are in the bottom half of my head making my "dome" look too high and prominent. Today, many males opt to shave their heads and some look great as their features remain in balance and their overall appearance is not affected. For others who cannot acheive this harmony we look to other alternatives.

5. Alopecia Totalis

Creating new hairlines and restoring others is a craft and as a surgeon who appreciates this point I take into consideration the balance of a person's face. In fact I take immense pride and satisfaction in assisting my patients to achieve a natural look which is pleasing to the eye (and their partners).

I love my work, I was a patient myself.

Dr Marzola.

Contact Restoration Clinics of Australia by phone on (08) 8333 0333 or by email at info@marzola.net to find out how Dr Marzola can assist you.

I have always made it a priority and commitment to ensure I am well informed of the latest techniques in hair restoration from around the world to or three times a year I am overseas meeting with the top surgeons in Hair Restoration. At the last Italian Society for Hair Restoration conference in June, there were two topics offering innovative information, which I would like to share with you. These topics are Body Hair Transplants (BHS) and Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT).

Body Hair Transplants have come along way in the last twelve months, with an increasing number of practices offering this to their patients. Dr John Cole and Jim Harris of the USA has been extracting one follicular unit at a time in the scalp for transplantation (FUE) so it was a natural progression to use this technique in extracting body hairs. For further information on how FUEs have developed to what we are doing now see Dr Cole’s website www.forhair.com/body-hair-growth--14-month-progress.html

Dr Cole has monitored the growth of body hair moved to the scalp and compared it to the growth rate on the body and here are his comments.

"We know that the length increases to about twice its original length when moved to the scalp, if the hair grows. The question proposed from this is whether the rate of growth increases or whether the duration of the growth increases. I cannot yet comment about the latter, but our studies to date show that leg hair has a growth rate of 0.3mm per day, while on the leg, while leg hair on the scalp increases to 0.35mm per day. According to Olsen (another doctor studying this area) body and beard grow at 0.27 mm per day, while scalp hair grows at 0.37 to 0.44 mm per day."

Dr Marzola says, "In my own practise, I have used BHTs on ten patients thus far. Each patient has been in a desperate situation, whereby they have very little donor hair on their heads. In the past these patients wanting coverage could have only considered wearing a wig or having synthetic hair implants. Options, they did not wish to consider. Therefore, BHT was the answer in their cases".

"Body Hair is taken from areas such as the chest or shoulders and transplanted in the form of Follicular Units, which might contain 1, 2 or 3 hair follicles. The process is very similar to the traditional hair transplant, only difference is we harvest the Follicular Units one by one instead of removing them in a strip, which we do from the scalp. It does take a little longer but it is still a comfortable procedure for the patient".

"With monitoring my ten patients, I can see that everyone has experienced some growth, not as much as scalp hair and it appears that the phases of growth and dormancy of the hair follicles may vary from scalp hair but overall patients have more hair than before. Therefore, I will continue to watch and learn from this procedure and offer it to patients who find themselves in need of this kind of solution."

"For a visual reference please see the video clip located on my website under 'Solutions - Body Hair Transplants'".

The other topic I want to report on is Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT). I have been a sceptic from way back and have heard, seen and read of many lotions, potions and equipment offering minor miracles for hair loss. It’s now hard to convince me of positive outcomes unless there is some scientific evidence and support from respectable sources (who do not hold financial interests in the products!). In the case of the Laser Hair Brush, I am now willing to accept the evidence and reports from my medical colleagues that the use of laser technology can assist in the regrowth and maintenance of hair.

The Laser Hair Brush is very simple to use and has no side effects at all. It is believed that the 655 nanometer wave length stimulates the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cells, and the extra energy is somehow transferred to a lengthening of the anagen growth phase of the follicle. Net effect being hair grows for a longer time and shed less often. It is recommended that patients use this for fifteen minutes three times a week on a clean scalp after washing.

My research on these products has brought me to the Sunetics Laser Hair Brush, which I will be offering to my patients from now on. These products will be available for purchase at the surgery. Any enquires please ask my staff on 08 8333 0333.

Should you want to talk to me about this product or the Body Hair Transplants, then feel free to book in for a consultation or email me on info@marzola.net

Regards

Dr Mario Marzola

Dr Marzola receiving the "Ceasar Award" from Dr Vincenzo Gambino, President of the Italian Society of Hair Restoration.

3. No visible scars, cloning, hair transplanted from one to another, Body Hair Transplants.

What a conference this was! Even the delights of Las Vegas could not deter the delegates from attending all the sessions. I have been to every conference of ISHRS since its inception 15 years ago and this was the best. The ISHRS is the society, which helps to educate its members working within the field of hair restoration, on what is the current world’s best practice. As a patient or prospective patient you need to ensure that your doctor is part of this society and regularly attends these conferences so you will be offered the latest in medical technology.

No visible Scars

One of my areas of specialty is ensuring patients have an "invisible scar" in the place where we remove the donor hair before it is transplanted. Over the years, I have worked hard to find a procedure, which gives a good result and I am happy to say I have found it and at every opportunity I share this with other doctors in the field. At the conference I was invited to speak to the other 500 delegates on "Donor Harvesting and Trichophytic Closure".

As part of this topic, a Live Surgery Workshop was beamed via satellite to the conference centre from the theatre facilities of Medical Hair Restoration in Las Vegas. I was asked by Dr Matt Leavitt (http://www.medicalhairrestoration.com/), to demonstrate on a very nice patient who’d had previous surgery, the techniques of donor harvesting and trichophytic closure.

There is now a large body of evidence to support the efficacy of taking the donor strip and closing it in the manner I was demonstrating. Sometimes there is not a trace of a scar. Other times it’s barely discernable, but surgical technique is everything. We can’t make surgery perfect all of the time but our challenge now is to produce invisible scars in just about every case.

During this session, I also had the opportunity to work with Dr John Gillespie (http://www.gillespieclinic.com/) and Dr Bill Parsley (http://www.hairsurgery.com/), both respected hair transplant specialists. From all reports the demonstration went over really well.

Transplant scalp from one person to another.

The possibility of transplanting entire scalps from one person to another was mind blowing! Dr Maria Siemionow, a leader in facial transplant research gave us a look into the future when a full head of hair will be transplantable from another person. Her research shows that if some bone marrow from the donor person is given at the same time as the organ (be it kidney, heart, liver or in our case hair), the recipient person will not reject it. At least that is what is happening in her mouse laboratory. This is called Chimerisation ( Chimera = 2 animals in one as depicted in the image below)

Can you imagine how welcome this discovery will be to all the organ transplant recipients who currently must rely on dangerous anti – immune medication for life? The reality of this could be some time away and I will follow this with interest and bring your updates as they happen.

Cloning

Dr Jeffrey Teumer showed us where cloning of hair follicles is at. He is Director of Research in USA for Intercytex, a company heavily involved in this field with many great minds at work. I saw my very first cloned hair growing out of the skin, maybe 3cms long! Dr Teumer has seen 7 so far. It’s really exciting but…but… for those of us wanting this to be freely available, we still need to wait a few years I would say. I will post any developments.

Body Hair Transplants

The results produced from Body Hair Transplants (BHT) was a highlight for me. Dr Sanusi Umar (http://www.dermhairclinic.com/) showed the best body hair transplant results I’ve ever seen. Have a look at his website and photo gallery and see what you think. Just being able to compare notes with this doctor and to have confirmation, that we approach the Body Hair Transplant in the same way gives me confidence to continue to offer this procedure to patients who are not suitable for standard transplantations.

Answering the hard questions

I am always keen to mentor others within our industry and being part of a panel at the conference, I was able to help answer their questions about difficult cases the doctors had experienced. Most of them wanted information on topics like, “what do you do if a patient does not have enough hair”, "options for patients who are not happy with their scars", "how to deal with patients who have had bad experiences elsewhere" and "approaches to patients who have had chemo, accidents or burns". By sharing our expertise the doctors could take back new ideas to their own patients.

So there it is. I am now back in Adelaide, still glowing and enthused that Hair Restoration continues to take exciting steps forward.

If you are concerned about hair loss, the message is to start early as in all fields of medicine.

Cheers

Mario Marzola