Hair Loss Treatments for African-American Women

Beautiful woman walking outside

Hair loss is surprisingly common among African-American women. Almost half of all Black women suffer from some form of hair loss due to hairstyling processes, hormone changes, and genetic factors. This can leave you feeling unattractive, less feminine, and unhappy with your appearance. At Southeastern Plastic Surgery, P.A. in Tallahassee, Florida, our board-certified plastic surgeons offer hair transplant options to restore the appearance of lost hair and renew your confidence.

What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

There are many natural causes of hair loss. For many women, hair loss is genetic, resulting in female pattern baldness. Little can be done to prevent this, but restoring hair via a hair transplant can improve your appearance. Other factors contributing to general hair loss include hormone imbalances from the onset of menopause, stress, or poor diet. Certain hairstyles and hair treatments can also cause hair loss.

As many as 2 out of 3 women experience hair loss after menopause, resulting in thin areas and even bald spots. This can cause a woman to feel less feminine and attractive, which can affect her quality of life.

In women, hair loss does not follow the same pattern as that in men. Hair is often lost near the part of the hair, a few centimeters behind the hairline, or along the sides of the hairline, resulting in an overall appearance of thinness.

What Causes Hair Loss in Black Women?

African-American women are prone to experiencing hair loss due to hairstyles and treatments that pull or damage the follicle, such as heat styling, chemical treatments, tight braids, extensions, weaves, and dreadlocks. These hair treatments can damage hair over time, leading to hair loss.

These hairstyles and styling treatments cause damage to the hair shaft as well as the hair follicle, causing hair to become brittle and break, leaving the scalp exposed. Continued damage to the hair follicle often results in the hair no longer growing back.

Since Black hair is curly, it does not retain moisture as well as straight hair, which makes hair more fragile and prone to breakage.  Wearing tight braids or using harsh chemicals to treat and straighten hair can lead to long-term damage, so it’s important to be careful about how you care for your hair.

There are some things you can do to reduce or prevent hair loss from styling products and hairstyles.

  • Ask your hair stylist to create looser braids to reduce stress on the hair follicle.
  • Ask your hair stylist to avoid creating excessive tension on your hair when sewing in a weave or extensions.
  • Only wear braids for up to 3 months.
  • Limit the number of chemical straightening treatments you have each year.
  • Be careful when heat styling to reduce the amount of heat damage.

For more tips on dealing with hair loss, read this article from Johns Hopkins.

What Treatments Are Available To Treat Hair Loss?

At Southeastern Plastic Surgery, P.A., our board-certified plastic surgeons offer two options for hair restoration:

Micro-follicle hair transplantation is a standard strip hair transplant procedure. It involved removing a section of hair from areas resistant to hair loss then grafting it onto areas where hair has been lost. Up to 5,000 hairs can be transplanted per session, resulting in an improved appearance and fuller hair where hair was thinning.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is the most advanced hair transplantation treatment available. Instead of taking a strip of hair from the donor site, the FUE device extracts individual follicles and transplants them to the areas where hair has been lost. This results in minimal scarring and improved results.

Micro-follicle hair transplantation and FUE hair transplants effectively restore hair’s appearance with minimal downtime. Most patients require 1-2 treatment sessions to achieve their desired results.

Why Choose a Plastic Surgeon To Restore Hair?

While many hair salons and treatment centers offer solutions to treat and prevent hair loss, these treatments do not restore hair once it’s been lost. Topical hair and scalp solutions can help reduce or slow hair loss, but once the follicle has been damaged and the hair has been lost, a surgical approach to hair restoration is required.

A hair transplant performed by trained technicians under the supervision of our board-certified plastic surgeons ensures that the procedure is performed in a safe, efficient manner that allows the maximum number of follicles to survive and restart the hair growth process. The specialized training for our technicians enables them to achieve the best possible results within a safe, sterile environment under the care of trained medical professionals.

If you would like to learn more about your options for hair restoration and hair transplantation at our Tallahassee plastic surgery practice, please request a consultation or call (850) 219-2000.

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