What is laser hair restoration?
Laser hair restoration is as unlike hair transplanting as you can get. Hair transplants involve the surgical process of grafting hair-growing skin and inserting it in bald areas. Laser hair restoration is non-surgical. It’s a procedure that seems like the opposite of anything surgical in another way: Rather than being an invasive procedure that cuts into the flesh, laser hair restoration is like a low-level laser show that is all on the outside the surface of your scalp.
Laser hair restoration focuses low levels of infrared light energy directly onto the scalp in a process called photo-biostimulation. The heat from the infrared energy massages the scalp, expands the skin’s pores, increases cell metabolism, and increases the capacity for capillaries to carry blood (increasing blood flow to the scalp). All these factors – the results of exposure to the laser’s infrared light – contribute to a situation on the scalp that is conducive to healthy hair growth.
This treatment is designed in this way because it produces an environment on the head that no longer exists (because of baldness).
Here’s one way to think about the whole process. In the summer, you may notice that your hair – or your friends’ hair – grows extra strong, extra thick, extra beautiful, extra vibrant, and extra full. This is attributed to the prolonged exposure to the sun’s pure red light that many of us experience during the summer months. We’re outside more often, and the sun’s rays are generally stronger.
So laser hair restoration seeks to reproduce that kind of environment for the scalp, in an effort to restart hair growth.
The classification low-level laser therapy (LLLT) describes any kind of laser treatment that is non-surgical, and only topical (on top of the surface of the skin).
Who is it for?
If you want to regain that thick healthy head of hair that you associate with youthful rigor, with life, and with endless possibility, then you may want to look into laser hair restoration treatments.
Some people don’t really mind hair loss. They see it as a natural – and even handsome – side effect of the aging process. But others don’t want to accept it because they think it takes away from their look. Or, they want to feel the same vivacious energy that at one time they derived from the youthfulness of a lush, full head of hair.
Benefits and Risks
Remember, laser hair restoration is non-surgical. No bleeding, no cutting, no anesthesia: just flashing lights.
It’s the only FDA-approved hair-growth remedy that is not a drug, medicine, or surgical procedure.
There are no known side effects. Perhaps this is because laser hair restoration treatments use less energy than a 40-watt light bulb. The only precaution the patient must take is to make sure never to look directly into the laser beams.
But it’s not all so positive: You’ll need to consider a list of drawbacks.
Let’s start with the number of treatments necessary and their cost – it’s steep. It takes 25 to 50 sessions.
Laser hair restoration is still heavily debated among medical specialists. While some physicians reject it entirely, others use it regularly. On top of that, the physicians who offer laser hair restoration often do so only in combination with hair restoration drugs like Rogaine or Propecia.
The Bottom Line
Laser hair restoration could be an excellent alternative to surgical hair transplants. But it can be expensive, and physicians aren’t yet unanimous on the procedure’s effectiveness.
