Survey shows hair restoration treatment on the rise
A recent international survey, conducted by the International
Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) reports that an estimated
168,155 hair transplant procedures were performed worldwide last
year – 87,987 in the U.S.
“This survey has resulted in a better understanding of
this relatively new medical discipline of Hair Restoration Surgery,” said
E. Antonio Mangubat, MD, the immediate past-president of the ISHRS.
The ISHRS is a non-profit voluntary medical association of hair
restoration physicians and surgical assistants. Founded in 1993,
it is the first and largest international society to promote continuing
quality improvement and medical education for physicians in the
field of hair restoration surgery and hair loss treatment.
In analyzing this data, some of the findings of the ISHRS 2005
Practice Census, member physicians identify an increase in the
sophistication and expectations of patients with hair loss.
“Patients and physicians realize that effective hair restoration
is a process that may combine a variety of treatments and surgical
procedures,” said Paul T. Rose, MD, JD and current president
of the ISHRS. “The ISHRS is committed to educating patients
and bringing the highest levels of medical standards to this discipline.”
Growing public acceptance of hair restoration surgery as a medical
discipline is also evident in the increasing media coverage. Alan
J. Bauman, MD in Boca Raton, FL was recently profiled on NBC’s
Dateline, which compared and documented the effectiveness of several
modern physician-directed hair restoration treatments. Other ISHRS
members, Craig L. Ziering, DO of Beverly Hills, CA and William
R. Rassman, MD of Los Angeles, CA were recently featured as surgeons
on ABC’s Extreme Makeover.
Other points of interest from the survey include: significant
interest exists in eyebrow and eyelash transplants; the average
age for men and women seeking hair restoration treatments is forty;
and 97% of ISHRS member-physicians prescribe Propecia (finasteride),
which indicates broad acceptance of a multi-disciplinary approach
to hair restoration that can include both invasive and non-invasive
hair loss treatments.
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