Sideburn Hair Loss and Sideburn Hair Transplant Surgery- What You Need To Know
Interestingly, androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness that mostly occurs on the scalp is not the only type of hair loss. Generally, hair loss can occur in different parts of the body. While the one that occurs on the scalp tends to get most of the attention, others that occur in front of the face like the sideburns can be equally troublesome. Many patients can suffer from hair loss affecting the sideburns, beards, and even eyebrows. If this seems like you, let’s see what causes this kind of hair loss, and how you can effectively treat it using a hair transplant.
What is a sideburn hair loss?
Hair loss in the sideburn are affects the hair just in front of your ears. Men in particular are more concerned about this kind of hair loss, because it limits the beard connection to the scalp hair.
There are numerous possible causes of thinning hair in your sideburns. Some of them include:
- Medications
Certain medications can cause hair loss all over the body. There is evidence to suggest that drugs, especially the ones used to treat conditions like cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, gout, and heart conditions, can cause hair thinning which can also affect sideburn hair.
- Traction alopecia
Traction alopecia is a hair loss condition that occurs as a result of repeated tension or force that pulls the roots of the hair. When hair gets repeated pulled, it may begin to break off at the front edges and sideburns. This kind of hair loss mostly affects women or men who tie their hair tight into a bun. Other hairstyles like the braids and weaves can also cause traction alopecia.
- Frontal Fibrosing alopecia (FFA)
Frontal fibrosing alopecia or FFA causes hair loss to the eyebrows, sideburns, and frontal hairlines of women. It normally affects post-menopausal women. However, FFA has also been reported in literature to affect men, where hair loss in the beards and sideburn areas are a prominent feature.
Can sideburn hair loss be treated?
There are many different ways to treat hair loss, depending on the cause. Some people only need to change their lifestyle habits for their hair to start growing again, others may have to look into changing their nutritional intake, or even starting hair loss medications. While medications are effective and can restore hair growth in your sideburns, the most reliable way to make hair grow once again at the sides of your face is through a sideburn hair transplant.
Sideburn hair transplant
There are a few indications for why someone may consider a sideburn hair transplant. If you have noticed your existing sideburn hair has thinned and fallen out over time then it may be a good time to get a transplant. Also, if you don’t have a sideburn hair at all, hair transplants can also restore hair in the region. People also go for sideburn hair restoration to conceal scarring or cosmetic surgery scars from a previous procedure.
Irrespective of where hair loss occurs and why you want a sideburn hair restoration, transplants are usually carried out using two major techniques- Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) and Follicular Unit Excision (FUE).
Follicular Unit Transplant
- In a follicular unit transplant, a surgeon removes a strip of scalp skin with a scalpel, typically from the back of the head where hair grows healthiest. The incision, which is normally several inches long, is removed, and the area is then stitched up by the surgeon. This will leave a long linear scar at the back of the head that patients will need to conceal by growing their hair long
- Once the scalp or incision is removed, the next step is dividing it into several individual grafts from which individual hair follicles are also extracted. A single follicular unit is referred to as a “hair graft.” And there are multiple hair follicles in each hair graft.
- The next step after prepping individual hair follicles is to transplant them into the area that is experiencing hair loss — the sideburn in this case. This is done by making small incisions in the skin of a sideburn and inserting the ready-made hair follicles. As it is done with great care and caution, the process can take many hours.
- The surgery is completed once the follicular transplant is finished. Hair will eventually start to grow back on the affected area with time.
Follicular Unit Excision
- Rather than through a linear scalp incision, in follicular unit excision, individual hair follicles are extracted from the donor region of the scalp, which is typically the back of the head.
- The surgeon then delicately inserts the follicles into the holes they have made at the recipient area where hair loss has occurred (the sideburn in this case)
- The surgeon can harvest and implant hundreds or even thousands of hair follicles during a single transplant procedure.
- Follicular unit excision is a procedure that allows patients to sport shorter hair cuts without exposing scarring and also has a quicker recovery time
Sideburn hair transplant recovery
A few weeks after your sideburn hair surgery, you will likely shed all the hairs that were transplanted. This hair loss is a normal phenomenon following a hair transplant.
Your hair will initially start growing slowly. In most cases, it can take up to three months before you start to see any noticeable hair growth. By the time you reach 12 months post-op, you should have a full and thick sideburn again.
That being said, there are many post-op tips and instructions that can accelerate your hair growth, reduce pain, and enhance the success rate of your sideburn hair transplant. Some of them include:
- Taking medications
After a surgery, doctors often recommend taking certain medications that can aid wound healing, lower inflammation, and prevent bacterial infection. There are also several drugs that can aid hair growth and prevent hair loss. Minoxidil is a popular and effective drug that can promote sideburn hair growth.
- Taking vitamins/supplements
Apart from drugs, doctors also do recommend intake of certain vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin D, and the B-group vitamins, especially biotin. These vitamins play numerous roles in the restoration and growth of your hair, ranging from accelerating wound or scalp healing, to fostering hair growth and mechanical strength of hair strands.
- Looking after your sideburn hair
After having a sideburn transplant, it is important that you avoid any form of practice that can directly cause harm to your new and delicate hair follicles. Such practices may include exposing your hair to heat or sunlight, engaging in vigorous exercises, and exposing your hair to harsh chemicals.
Summary
Sideburn hair loss can affect many patients. A thinning or patchy sideburn can impact how thick a beard looks. Sideburn hair can be restored with a hair transplant. If you are interested in undergoing the procedure feel free to send an enquiry with our hair transplant surgeons today by filling out a contact form.
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