Porsthetic hair injection a novel treatment for androgenetic alopecia in female patients: A retrospective case series analysis
Objectives: A retrospective analysis of the efficacy and safety of new generation of prosthetic hair implants as a treatment for androgenetic alopecia in 25 woman.
Introduction: Androgenetic alopecia is one of the most common conditions and is a stressful experience for both sexes, but substantially more distressing for women. Women with androgenetic alopecia possess a more negative body image and a pattern of less adaptive functioning. Although this is a verry common condition we still lack a non surgical effective treatment and surgical restoration remains the only reliable method to restore hair in women with sever alopecia. Therefore there is a need for an additional non-surgical treatment option to to restore hair.
Materials / method: 25 patients (ages 41-68) underwent prosthetic hair injection between 2020-2024. Patients underwent a test procedure in which 48 hairs were implanted to make sure there is no adverse reaction and 6-10 weeks later patients underwent full treatment (768-1152 hairs). Patients underwent between 1-3 treatment sessions with prosthetic hair fibers (by Hairstetics LTD)which are made of two biocompatible materials: nitinol and nylon and are preloaded on sterile disposable cartridges 12 hair fibers on each. Side effects and patient satisfaction rate were monotored 6-18 months post procedure.
Results: All patients that were chosen to undergo this treatment had good clinical improvement and over 80% mentioned that it improved their self confidence and body image. Side effects were mostly mild and included focal erythema and papular lesions (in 5 patients overall). No patients needed an extraction of the implants.
Conclusion: The new generation of prosthetic hair implants is a safe and effective procedure mainly for woman with stable and severe androgenetic alopecia- since there is a need for a reliable minimally invasive procedure .It can serve as an additional tool for patients which are looking for an office procedure rather a surgical one. Patient selection is crucial for positive outcome. More studies are needed to establish the long term outcome.