Hair Loss 2020: New Treatments and Procedures
AllHealth SmartLife Interview Podcast on PBS

w/ Derek Latta & Alan J Bauman MD ABHRS – Board Certified Hair Restoration Physician

• Hair Restoration as a Specialty
• New Powerful Compounded Prescription Minoxidil/Rogaine Alternatives
• New Turbo LaserCap Delivers More Power, More Coverage, More Convenience
• When to Seek Treatment and From Who?

00:01 Host: Hi, I’m Derek Latta. We’re here to talk about hair restoration treatments. Joining us from our South Florida PBS Studios in Palm Beach County is Dr. Alan Bauman, a board certified hair restoration physician as well as CEO and Medical Director of Bauman Medical. How are you doing, Doctor?

00:18 Dr. Alan Bauman: I’m doing great, Derek. Great to be here with you.

00:20 Host: Great. Thank you for joining us today. Doctor, I wanna talk to you about your background. Tell us a little bit about your work and why your credentials are so unique.

00:30 DB: So my background originally was in plastic surgery, but I got interested in hair by watching my dad go bald, and I was pretty scared that it was gonna happen to me. And eventually when I learned about hair transplantation and hair restoration, I followed it as my life’s work. So it’s been about 20-something years since I started in hair restoration and I’m one of only 200 board certified hair restoration physicians in the world. And to date we’ve treated over 30,000 patients in my practice, Bauman Medical, located in Boca Raton, Florida.

01:00 Host: Oh, that’s a very young age, I must say. Very nice, excellent.

01:05 DB: Well, I was born at a very young age…

[laughter]

01:06 DB: At least that’s what my grandmother said.

01:08 Host: Okay, so is it ever okay to see a dermatologist or plastic surgeon for hair restoration services?

01:15 DB: Well, you know what, today hair restoration as well as hair transplant is really a true subspecialty. So, a dermatologist, your primary doctor, even a plastic surgeon may be able to help you with a diagnosis, but they may not necessarily be able to help you with the state-of-the-art treatments and procedures. So we always recommend finding a specialist if you have a hair loss problem.

01:35 Host: Specialist like yourself, obviously. Hair loss is a big problem. Can you put into perspective how many people will experience this in their life? And you can include me if you want.

01:48 DB: Well, hair loss… Well, if it’s including you, it’s gonna happen to 100% of people…

[chuckle]

01:52 DB: But no, in the US, there are probably over 80 million Americans who are struggling with a hair loss problem and about 50% are men, 50% are women. And it can start right after puberty, so it’s a big problem. People generally like their hair, they wanna keep their hair. And especially for women, there’s no socially acceptable alternatives for hair loss. So hair restoration treatments and services are becoming more and more popular today because of the technologies and treatments that we have.

02:19 Host: You mentioned that it could start after puberty, so at what point should you look into treatment?

02:26 DB: Well, gosh, you can lose up to 50% of your hair without it being noticeable to the naked eye. So, we always suggest that as soon as you start to see or feel something happening, you should start to seek treatment, seek an evaluation. Some of the things that we do, for example, in the office in the early stages of hair loss is to measure your hair, so that we know exactly what’s happening over time. We can benchmark it, baseline it, and then track it.

02:48 Host: When you say measure, physically measure the length of the hair or measure… Can you clarify that part of it?

02:54 DB: Yeah, so it’s not really the length. What we wanna measure is the density and the caliber of the hair and we have special tools to do this today, scientific tools that enable us to really track what we call hair mass index. And that is the baseline measurement that we use to track not only a diagnosis like how much hair loss has already occurred and where, but also your response to treatment.

03:16 Host: Okay. Does getting treated earlier improve the results? And if so, how come? Why?

03:23 DB: Well, absolutely. Hair follicle isn’t something that turns on and turns off. There’s a lot of miniaturization, a lot of weakening effect that occurs before the follicle shuts down, so it’s gonna be really, really important to track the miniaturization phase of the hair follicle and then intervene as soon as possible before the hair is completely dead and gone.

03:42 Host: So early intervention is key in this case.

03:47 DB: Early intervention is a critical step, absolutely.

03:50 Host: Okay. A lot of people are familiar with some over-the-counter brands. How do those work and do they work?

03:57 DB: Yeah, so an over-the-counter product like over-the-counter minoxidil like Rogaine and such, was actually identified as one of the most disappointing hair growth treatments ever by Consumer Reports, but the good news is that minoxidil can work. We use prescription versions, compounded versions like Formula 82M which is gonna be a lot more potent, a lot less greasy and gooey than the over-the-counter version. But the downside is that you have to see a physician to get a prescription for that kind of medication. The other thing is, is that you’ve got over the counter and consumer-based laser-like devices. Some of those, unfortunately, are a little bit weaker, you’re not gonna have as much coverage. A lot of what we do is prescribe in-office treatments as well as lasers that you could go home with. So like this for example, this is a laser cap. I can turn it on for you. This is the latest and greatest laser that is helpful for hair re-growth, and this is a completely powerful, portable device that enables you to treat your hair loss at home in a very, very comfortable way without side effects or downside. And this one in particular called the Turbo LaserCap, packs completely flat. So if you travel a lot, you can do this treatment when you’re away from home.

05:08 Host: Turbo LaserCap. Does that… Does it get hot? Is it uncomfortable? It looks like it might be warm to wear. Is that…

05:17 DB: No, not at all. Actually, this is designed to dissipate any heat whatsoever and, remember, low level laser is a non-cutting, non-burning light source so you’re not gonna feel any discomfort, you’re not gonna feel any warmth, you’re not gonna feel any heat. And there’s no side effects to laser light therapy which we’ve seen amazing hair regrowth results with this for patients in the early stages of hair loss and those who wanna maintain their hair.

05:39 Host: If someone’s watching that has less hair than they’d like, what do you suggest? What can they do to maybe minimize that?

05:48 DB: Yeah, the most important thing to do if you’re seeing a receding hairline or thinning in the crown area or you’re seeing more shedding in the shower or on your pillow or on your brush or your ponytail’s thinning, you’ve gotta seek out expert help because this is not something that’s so easy to treat on your own. Seek out a physician who can really diagnose the problem and put you on a treatment plan, get you the right tools, whether it be laser light therapy, topical medication or prescription medication, or even some of the other interventions before you need something more invasive like hair transplants to get the job done.

06:00 Host: Doctor, everything you’ve mentioned is super informational and hopefully beneficial to a lot of people. We wanna thank you for joining on the show today and I hope to see you again. Well…

06:00 DB: It’s truly my pleasure.

06:00 Host: Thank you.

*Each individual's treatment and/or results may vary

If you or someone you know has hair loss, hair thinning, baldness, or eyebrow / eyelash concerns, click to start either a long-distance virtual consultation OR an in-person, in-office consultation with Dr. Bauman. You can also Ask Dr. Bauman a Question or simply call Bauman Medical Group  at +1-561-394-0024.