Dr Kashmal Kalan is helping people get their ‘mojo’ back
HAIR loss might not be physically painful, but it can have a serious psychosocial impact on some individuals.
From toupées to comb-overs, we’ve all seen men going out of their way to cover up bald patches.
However, with modern advancements in hair treatment methodology, it has become easier for those suffering from hair loss to restore their crowning glory with hair transplant surgery.
We spoke to Dr Kashmal Kalan, a hair restoration expert and medical director of the Alvi Armani hair transplant clinic.
What made you decide to go into hair restoration?
I could express myself both surgically and artistically and combine these to enhance patients’ lives.
Being a part of one of the world's greatest and largest follicular unit extraction (FUE) clinics, Alvi Armani, is also a truly humbling experience. We get to bring the latest tools and technologies from around the world to our patients here in South Africa.
What do you love most about your job?
Giving people back their confidence and allowing them to gain back their “mojo”.
How long have you been doing hair restoration?
Alvi Armani has been around since 1999 and our founder Dr Antonio Alvi Armani has been a pioneer in the hair restoration field since its inception.
Do you treat women?
Women also suffer from hair loss and a large proportion of our patients are females. The FUE hair transplant is a more common procedure in men whereas our preventive care treatments such as platelet-rich plasma therapy
are slightly more common in women. Having said that, in the last year or two, we have seen an increase in women also wanting hair transplants.
What advice do you have for those wanting hair transplants?
Do your homework before selecting a clinic. Ensure they have the correct accreditations and it’s a clinic with a strong history and has a large backing of before and after pictures.
How does it work?
A hair transplant requires us to extract (harvest) follicles (seeds) from one area of the scalp and implant them into areas that have balded or thinned away.
Once these follicles are implanted, they develop a blood supply and start getting nourishment from the body to grow. Generally, by month six, patients are one-third of the way to their final result, with the full result expected by month 12. There is minimal care required after a hair transplant procedure. We stay away from using a hoard of products.
How long does it last?
The implanted hair lasts a lifetime. Obviously, we recommend a healthy diet and lifestyle to complement the results.