SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A world-renowned hair restoration surgeon in California is the first in the nation to perform what is promising to become a game changing treatment in the hair loss industry. Dr. Sara Wasserbauer is part of a revolutionary procedure known as HairClone Follicle Preservation that allows patients who anticipate they might lose their hair in the future to bank hair cells so they can be used for treatments down the road.
"Discoveries in hair biology and preservation have slowly been progressing in the background in our field for years," says Dr. Sara Wasserbauer, Past-President of the American Board of Hair Restoration surgery. "But now it is all coming together and essentially a whole third branch of hair medicine is opening up before our eyes. 2021 is the year everyone is going to be talking about this new groundbreaking treatment. HairClone Follicle Preservation is going to allow doctors to help more hair loss patients than ever before."
The first step for this breakthrough concept begins with hair banking, a method to preserve hair follicles when cells are the most active or vibrant. Dr. Wasserbauer can surgically remove enough follicles needed for treatment later in life during one procedure and the entire operation takes less than two hours.
"We performed this surgery on patients in Northern California for the first time in 2020," says Dr. Wasserbauer. "The hair follicles we removed are then cryogenically frozen which stops the aging process of the hair. The follicles are stored in the United Kingdom where tissue banking has been approved by the government. We are hoping the FDA will grant approval to store tissue at United States storage facilities sometime this year."
WHY CRYOPRESERVATION?
- Cryopreservation methods reach very low temperatures so any chemical activity in cells is stopped.
- If thawed correctly, the cells are then able to function normally.
- Cryopreserving hair is like an "insurance plan" for hair, the hair follicles are essentially frozen in time. The tissue stays viable for at least 20 to 30 years.
- It is important to preserve hair follicles when the patient is young, so if and when the patient needs a treatment, the hair follicles will act as 20-year-old hair instead of 50-year-old hair.
One of Dr. Wasserbauer's first patients was only 18 years old. "He has a family history of serious hair loss which made him a perfect candidate," explains Wasserbauer. "For the procedure, we only numb an area that is about the length of a finger, then I remove up to 50 grafts for the sample, document the exact number of hairs, what they look like, put the sample in a refrigerated box, then it is shipped to the U.K. where the samples are cryopreserved and banked until needed."
According to Dr. Wasserbauer once the cloning procedure is developed the patient then gets to a point to use the stored follicular units, the hair would need to be tested. "This process must occur at a licensed laboratory where scientists can isolate specific cells in order to examine the hair shaft to see how hair would grow," she says. "The cells then grow at the lab where they would divide and multiply rapidly over two to four weeks; this is known as hair multiplication. At that point, the sample is sent back to a surgeon's clinic where a physician can micro-inject them into a patient's scalp to produce thicker, more youthful looking hair that will continue to grow."
Dr. Wasserbauer consults patients at multiple locations in Northern California. In addition to HairClone Follicle Preservation, she conducts a variety of other hair restoration procedures and treatments including follicular unit excision (FUE) follicular unit hair transplantation (FUT), eyebrow hair transplantation, scalp micropigmentation and laser hair Therapy. She is available for phone and virtual interviews to discuss any or all treatments.
About Dr. Wasserbauer, M.D., A.B.H.R.S., F.I.S.H.R.S.
Dr. Sara Wasserbauer is one of our nation's leading hair restoration experts. In addition to her practice at three San Francisco offices, she served as the 2020 President on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgeons. She also writes a monthly feature articles for the ISHRS Hair Transplant Forum International and is a frequent media source on hair loss and related treatments. For more information, visit http://www.californiahairsurgeon.com.
Media Contact
Nancy Bostrom, California Hair Surgeon, (919) 459 - 8163, [email protected]
SOURCE California Hair Surgeon
Share this article