Dr Leonards blog

Roma is called the caput mundi and the mother of civilization because new ideas sprouting from this beautiful city spread throughout the world and, yet, always somehow return to Roma. Roma IDI Day One Ciao a tutti! I am writing this blog from beautiful Rome, Italy, where I am co-chairing the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s “Made in Italy: Hair restoration live video surgery workshop.” The workshop is hosted by Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata and features live surgeries via video and for small groups. As program Co-Director I am working in partnership with Dr. Ciro DeSio to provide a world class, top notch educational program for doctors and surgical assistants who may be new to this field as well as those who are very experienced in hair restoration surgery. It truly is an exciting time to be co-chairing the program, as this ISHRS Live Video Surgery Workshop is the first of its kind in Europe. I’ll be performing a procedure on a

Since the beginning of my career I’ve noticed that men dominate the patient lists of many hair restoration practices, but in recent years women have become a larger part of the hair restoration patient base. I don’t believe that this shift demonstrates a growth in female hair loss sufferers, but rather a trend toward women actively and aggressively fighting the emotional devastation of losing their hair and empowering themselves to find a solution. Female hair loss (known as Female Androgenetic Alopecia) is almost impossible to predict before it becomes clinically noticeable. One in every four women experiences female pattern hair loss and it can have a detrimental effect on a woman’s self esteem. In my opinion, this is because while men feel insecure about hair loss, women feel even more insecure, as the image perpetuated of the ideal woman for centuries has included a full, beautiful head of hair. But there is a new light on the horizon… Earlier this year a

My patients are always surprised to find out that the active ingredient in Rogaine, minoxidil, was developed as a pill to reduce high blood pressure. One of its side effects was observed to be hair growth in some patients. A topical formulation was then created to treat male and female pattern hair loss, and it has become one of the most widely used and effective medical hair loss treatments out there. And it can be purchased without a doctor’s prescription. It’s exciting to watch the evolution of a medical treatment that keeps improving over the years. I have been recommending Rogaine as an effective medication for my patients since 1988. In the beginning, this treatment was only available in a solution form, which some patients found a little messy and greasy. Today it’s available in a foam version, and unlike other medical hair loss treatments, it can be used by men and women. This is one of the reasons I routinely recommend that my female patients use this formul