Blog – Hair Loss, Hair Transplants, Hair Replacement, Hair Restoration – Hair Sciences Center, Denver Colorado, Dr. James Harris, MD, FACS

Archive for the 'Advances' Category

The Power of the Practical

Just back from St. Louis and the second annual Hair Restoration Surgery Workshop. As professional learning experiences go, this one is pretty remarkable. In its first year, it was at waiting-list status weeks ahead of the event…and this year’s curriculum quadrupled the course offerings of 2009.

As to what makes it valuable…

First, it is a collaborative effort of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) and the Practical Anatomy section of the St. Louis University School of Medicine Department of Surgery (website). Suffice it to say, the courses they present are real time and real world, whether the audience is Emergency Medical physicians, Brain and Spine specialists or groups like ours.

Second, this workshop focuses on enhancing the skills of both restoration specialists and the assistants so essential to a best-practices setting. It addresses the core components of restoration surgery from the team members’ professional perspective, and dialog on process improvement flows freely.

I was honored to be one of seven specialists serving as faculty for the 2010 workshop. We each worked alongside participants during “live” morning labs and manned “Ask the Expert” stations to address transplantation questions. During afternoon sessions, we spoke on general topics — medical management, anesthesia considerations, graft calculation, pre- and post-op care — then shared our specific areas of expertise.

Mine, as you may have guessed, were heavily FUE-related. Following an overview on follicular unit extraction, I led a “Critical Thinking” session on FUE vs. strip harvesting. Each has its place…but what’s the “tipping point” for selecting one over the other? As you’ve probably heard me say before, the answer is as individual as the patient before me.

All in all, I feel very good that we achieved the goal Workshop program director Dr. Sam Lam set from the start: to demonstrate practice standards that contribute to “more ethical, artistic, technically precise, safer and more compassionate hair restoration.”

Not a bad return on a three-day weekend.

My “Expectation Exercise”

We deal a lot with “expectations” in the course of hair restoration. Given the individual’s donor specifics, what can he or she realistically expect in terms of immediate results and long-term appearance?

Just prior to my recent International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) workshop in Orlando, I found myself conducting an “expectation exercise” of my own. I had agreed to a work session in which my follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure using our powered SAFE™ Scribe technology would be compared, side by side, with another surgeon’s proprietary system.

Same surgical suite.

Same patient.

Same results?

I’m pleased to say the outcome was right in line with what I’d envisioned.

Microscopic examination of harvested follicles showed we achieved an average of 2.9 hairs per graft. Moreover, our transection rate was just 1.9 percent. Considering it’s not uncommon for transection rates to be 10 times that or more in some processes, it confirmed what we’ve been saying about the SAFE Scribe’s exceptional precision and efficacy.

I think it’s important to point out that not all surgeons share my view on keeping transection rates at an absolute minimum. I made it part of my clinical criteria when developing this new collection technology for two reasons. First, I believed it was attainable. Second, I considered it key to the value proposition I offer my patients. For the more viable grafts we can obtain in each session, the faster these individuals will reach their appearance objectives.

Evidently, a number of my colleagues agreed. Several have asked to come to Denver for additional SAFE Scribe training. We’re hoping to host that late summer or early fall—but prior to the ISHRS national conference in Boston this October. I’ve also been asked by my international peers to provide on-site training in their countries.

I fully expect to say yes.

Going to Guadalajara

I’m writing this from Denver International Airport, having navigated the check-in lines and security lines and the 20-person line at the coffee kiosk. That “journey” took a little more than an hour…just a couple less than it will take me to fly to Guadalajara, Mexico.

I’ve been invited by two respected colleagues—Drs. Arturo and Hector Sandoval. I met them in Amsterdam last year at the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) sessions where I presented clinical research on the success of FUE (follicular unit extraction) using the PowerScribe. They’re not only eager to learn more on behalf of their own clients, but to share their experience with other specialists in Latin America.

It looks like 2010 will be a busy year for presentations like these. In April, we’ll be in Orlando with the ISHRS for a five-day conference. I’ll be part of the 40-member faculty lecturing mornings and conducting surgical clinics each afternoon. In August, I’ll head to Brazil for the Brazilian Association of Hair Restoration sessions in Rio Janeiro.

While such destinations are certainly inviting, it’s the progression of hair transplantation procedures that’s the real draw for me. Even two decades ago, dealing with hair loss was a personal challenge with a limited range of solutions. We’ve all seen the “plug pictures.” So to see international experts collaborating on advances to assure better and safer outcomes is powerful.

Now, I’m off to catch some sunshine.

The Gold Standard

There’s nothing like the Olympics to reinforce the importance of a split-second and a quarter-inch in achieving optimal results. Watching the games in Vancouver provided us example after example of the absolute precision necessary to be the best. For ski racer Bode Miller, 1:54:40 meant the bronze, while 1:54:31 got his Swiss competitor Didier Defago the gold. In women’s speed skating, South Korea’s gold was just 0.05 seconds faster than Canada’s silver.

We recently set a new world record at the Hair Sciences Center. In a one-hour procedure using our proprietary Powered SAFE Scribe, I was able to extract 787 grafts. By the 2.75-hour mark, we had more than 2,100 grafts to transplant. And our total transection rate was just 7.8 percent.

What’s great about this is direct relationship between the speed of the FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedure and the results this client is realizing. The less time the grafts are out of the body, the greater their potential to survive and thrive. It also means that we achieved a very complete dissection—which is to say, the grafts came out of the skin with minimal effort, and that minimizes the trauma.

Having developed the Powered SAFE Scribe, I must admit it’s very exciting—and humbling—to know that it’s now at work internationally. For whether I’m achieving optimal outcomes for my patients here in Colorado or a colleague I’ve trained is doing so in Guadalajara, we’re setting the “gold standard” in client satisfaction.

And that’s a world of difference.

Tix to the laser show

My office in Colorado is just a few miles from Red Rocks. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, this natural rock amphitheater has hosted a regular concert season every year since 1947.  The Beatles were here in 1964.  U2’s performance here in 1983 ranks among Rolling Stone’s “50 Moments that Changed Rock and Roll.”  And this past season, Flaming Lips lit up the venue with a pretty amazing laser show.

The theory behind the laser (an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) was actually introduced by Albert Einstein in 1917.  Some 90 years later, we see it at work in bar code scanners at the supermarket, CD players, laser printers, welding, national defense and a wide range of medical procedures. In the field of hair restoration, we’re using FDA-approved, lower-level laser therapy both to facilitate hair growth for those choosing transplantation and as an independent treatment option for those who are not good candidates for surgery.

How well does it work? A double-blind research study of one of the non-clinical laser “combs” indicated a positive effect for men with hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia (the most common form of genetic hair loss). In my practice, I regularly employ clinical-grade low-level laser units in therapeutic regimens for both male and female clients. In many cases—particularly for post-menopausal women—the results can be significant.

As you explore treatment options, it’s definitely worth discussing with your doctor.