A patient who visited Dr. Bernstein to learn about her hair loss authored an article on her experiences which appeared in the January 2014 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. In an article titled, “Thinning Hair Nightmare,” the patient wrote about her struggle in coping with thinning hair, the taboo of talking about women’s hair loss, and ways in which she attempted to overcome these physical and emotional difficulties.
On visiting Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration:
I dialed up New York dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon Robert Bernstein, MD — I’d just seen him on Oprah talking about hair loss, so he had to be good — and booked an appointment.
Dr. Bernstein ordered a blood test to rule out common hair loss causes, like thyroid disorders and hormone abnormalities, and he made sure my diet and any medications weren’t to blame. Everything came back normal.
On the diagnosis of hair loss in women:
During a follow-up visit, the doc broke out a densitometer — a crazy flashlight-looking tool that measures the changes in diameter between hair — dove into my mane, resurfacing moments later with a diagnosis: mild androgenetic alopecia, aka female pattern hair loss (FPHL). “It’s the most common type of hair loss in women, affecting perhaps one-third of the adult female population,” he explained. It occurs when a woman’s hair follicles shrink in response to her body’s own hormones.
On the taboo of female hair loss:
In search of solutions, I turned to the blogosphere… While the topic of female hair loss feels taboo, here were thousands of women talking openly — not just about the physicality of the issue but also its psychological toll. […] Whenever any conversation turns to hair, I push myself to talk openly about my issue. I’m determined not to let this condition make me feel ashamed. With more than 30 million U.S. women affected by FPHL, we should find strength in our numbers.
Dr. Bernstein was the featured guest on the Doctor Oz Show, where they discussed women’s hair loss and how the subject is often, unfortunately, considered taboo.
Consultations for female hair loss patients
Video: watch Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Mehmet Oz discuss the taboo of female hair loss
View before & after hair transplant photos of some of our female patients
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To give hair restoration surgeons more precise diagnostic information in their evaluation for patients considering hair transplants, Dr. Bernstein uses the techniques of densitometry and video-microscopy to analyze the scalp under high-powered magnification.
