The Difference of African Hair Restoration From Other Races
African hair restoration is a bit trickier compared to hair restoration in white people. This is true, primarily due to the difference in the nature of the hair that is native to black people. Besides this, the procedure is the same in most respects to the hair restoration in whites and other ethnic groups.
The curly hair shaft of people with African descent makes it a bit of a challenge during the graft preparation phase. The curly hair harvested for transplant must be placed with precision to match the angles of the rest of the hair. Otherwise, a chaos of curly transplanted hair will result. For this reason, a surgeon who has had prior experience with this particular kind of hair restoration procedure is the best choice.
Hair problems, including hair loss, are relatively common among African people. They are also more prone to hair ingrown, a hair and skin problem that involves hair growing inside the skin, rather than growing upwards, out of the hair follicle. This can be due to several factors like infection or clogging.
Keloids may also do a bit of damage to a newly transplanted scalp since keloids can grow uncontrollably after an injury, mostly a break in the integrity of the skin. Statistics say that African Americans are more prone to having keloids than other ethnic groups. For this reason, a thorough health history and family history must be done prior to the transplant.
Skin discoloration may also occur after surgical African hair restoration. Like keloids, skin discoloration also occurs more often in darker skin than lighter ones. They can either present themselves as lighter or darker pigments compared to the rest of the skin. Either way, having scars that are inconsistent with the color of the rest of the body is quite unsightly.
Discoloration of the skin, keloids and hair ingrown are just some of the reasons why an extensive family history and present and past health history are required before doing the operation. This is to prevent unpleasant consequences that could easily ruin the transplant.
When an African American male sees the first sign of balding, he does something about it. But compared to other men, most African American guys would rather shave their heads than spend hundreds of dollars to restore their original hair density. As for the women’s case, this is rarely the solution of choice.
Male pattern hair loss is still the leading cause of baldness, even for African American men. While for the ladies, traction alopecia is the most common cause of their hair loss problem. This is due to the tight braiding, extensions, and use of chemical relaxers over and over, for an extended period of time.
The African hair is already brittle by nature. Subjecting it to extensive damage can cause permanent effects. Minimizing braiding and use of chemical relaxers can help with hair restoration.
If professional treatments for hair loss such as surgical African hair restoration does not give you much of an appeal, trying out minoxidil or propecia can benefit you a lot, provided that you’re not yet fully bald. These work best with people who have mild to moderate baldness.
