Ethnic Hair Restoration

Hair restoration should be specific to one’s gender, ethnicity, facial shape, degree of hair loss, age, and aesthetic desires. Ethnicity is one of the important criteria to use to design a hairline and a strategic plan. For example, African-American or Hispanic men tend to have a straighter and squared-off hairline if they have enough donor hair to accomplish this objective. By contrast, Asian men have a much rounder hairline because of their wider head shape. African-American women can suffer from traction alopecia loss from braiding their hair, and their hair restoration requires a different approach than for Asian or Caucasian women. Furthermore, ethnic hair looks different under the microscope, thereby requiring a specific way of handling grafts during each procedure. These are only some of the many considerations that are important when working with the ethnic patient, which explains the importance of working with a surgeon who has the awareness and experience for every ethnic-specific hair-restoration procedure.

Dallas hair transplant surgeon Dr. Sam Lam specializes in performing hair restoration in all kinds of ethnicities and races including Asian, African (Black), Indo-Pakistani, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc. He designs hairlines that fit a face, gender, and ethnicity along with other considerations including donor supply, age, etc. Performing hair surgery in both genders in almost all ethnicities, Dr. Lam has an appreciation for ways to make sure that your hair transplant result naturally fits all of the above criteria to achieve the desired aesthetic outcome that is tailored to you.

FAQs

• I am African-American, what are things that I need to know about what you do differently?

  If you are an African-American, then you have very different hair compared with other ethnicities. The hair has a very tight curl above and below the skin and where it matters the most is under the skin. Dr. Lam and his team are very experienced in harvesting African-American hairs and can successfully perform both FUE and FUT techniques. Most often, Dr. Lam uses FUE for African-American men who desire to wear a faded, closely cropped hairstyle; and he uses FUT for African-American women since they rarely wear their hair as short as African-American men would. In addition, Dr. Lam designs a gender and ethnically sensitive hairline that will age well for you over time. There are also hair-loss conditions that specifically affect the African-American population that must be ruled out before surgery is contemplated. The most common condition is known as central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) which is a type of scarring hair loss that must be treated by a dermatologist and not a surgeon in most cases. If Dr. Lam suspects this condition, he will refer you to a dermatologist for a biopsy to make sure that you are an appropriate candidate for hair surgery.

• I am Asian, what are things that I need to know about what you do differently?

  Asians have very straight, black hair that is typically larger caliber and very straight compared with other ethnicities. Because Asian hair is not as dense as some other ethnicities, it is of utmost importance to create a natural outcome since this combination can look unnatural when poorly done. For example, the hair exit angles must be created in such a way that the insertion points for these hairs are not visible; otherwise, they would be a dead giveaway that a hair-transplant procedure was performed. Also, due to the thicker caliber of the hair, Dr. Lam typically uses more rows of one-hair grafts than in other ethnicities to create a softer hairline that appears more natural.

• I am Hispanic, what are things that I need to know about what you do differently?

  The term Hispanic is a collective term that is better encompassed by “Mestizo”. Mestizo describes the mixture of various subpopulations in Central and Latin America: African hair types from the prior slave trade in the Caribbean, e.g., Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haiti have a higher percentage of African hair types; “Asian” type of hair from the indigenous populations that dominated North, Central, and South Americans that predated colonial conquest; and Caucasian type of hair from the colonial Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World. When looking at Hispanic hair and how to properly transplant a person, it is important to look at the ratio of all of these subtypes to determine how best to design a hairline and pattern of hair restoration. Please see above for the African and Asian hair strategies to understand some of these subtle differences and how they may be important in working with some Hispanic individuals.

• I am Middle Eastern. What are things that I need to know about what you do differently?

  Middle Eastern describes a very broad category and may be too reductionist to be worthy of description. In many cases, the shape of the head and the style of hair transplant can be most similar to Caucasians. However, there can be some striking differences. The first is that many Middle Eastern individuals have much darker, coarser, and slightly curlier hair. The hair curl is a favorable element to improve visual density and improve the naturalness of a result. However, the darker color and coarser caliber of the hair may mean the use of more one-hair grafts along the hairline to ensure a natural outcome. By carefully evaluating the hair type and facial features, Dr. Lam can create a very natural outcome for every individual.

• I am Indian/Pakistani, what are things that I need to know about what you do differently?

  Indian/Pakistani hair has some characteristics of Middle Eastern and Asian hair. Accordingly, the shape of the head and hairline can significantly vary from person to person. The hair can be coarser, sometimes straight and sometimes curly, with dark hair color set against typically a darker skin type. However, the coarser hair combined with the lower-contrast ratio between skin and hair (both darker) can provide optimal visual density.