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COLUMN BY DR. LEE MOON WON H aving treated patients with symptoms of hair loss who are of different ethnicities and come from many different countries, I have noticed that the nature of hair loss varies from place to place. While the symptoms of hair loss are typical- ly the same — one’s hair becomes thin and weak before eventually falling out — a per- son’s ethnic background or country of primary residence will have a definitive impact on the age at which this occurs. In addition, one’s family background and grooming habits will also influence the scalp conditions that ac- company these symptoms. For Caucasian men with a familial history of hair loss, the condition typically presents itself after the age of 20, and at a very rapid pace after that. Patients who seek treatment at an early stage of hair loss are more likely to re- main committed and continue seeing results, while those who wait longer to pursue their options are much more likely to give up on the treatment and simply shave their head. If a pa- tient is seeing signs of seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp surface, they will need to wash their hair every day. For my patients from Russia and Central Asia, I typically find that people wash their hair one to three times a week, letting their hair dry naturally after each wash. This is often cited as the reason why some of them not only pres- ent hair loss symptoms with greater frequency but also suffer from dandruff and inflamma- tion such as seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp surface. In these cases I recommend washing one’s hair only once every two or three days, and drying one’s hair with a hair dryer after each washing. If patients are hoping to obtain more specific information regarding why they are experiencing hair loss, it is also possible to undergo diagnostic tests, such as scalp diag- nosis and blood and hormone tests. Overall, I have found that many of my West- ern patients are more interested in holistic treatments that come with fewer side effects. As a result, our clinic is happy to provide this kind of treatment, offering medicine and prod- ucts that are made of natural, organic compo- nents so they can get treatment and not have any concerns. Our clinic is well aware of the reality that people with curly hair, especially women of African descent, must maintain a different cleaning schedule than people with other types of hair. More sensitive t o either under- or over-washing, however, these patients are more prone to scalp surface issues such as dandruff or other scalp conditions. Though people of African descent have a lessened predisposition to hair loss when compared to other ethnicities, the number of African-Amer- ican clients visiting our clinic is growing. It is difficult to transplant very curly hair, so they solve the problem of hair loss by taking internal and external medicine consistently. Our Japanese, Chinese and Korean clients typically visit our clinic for preventative treat- ments — usually for scalp-related disorders. For these cases, I recommend that they un- dergo the scaling procedure in our spa facility. The procedure not only cleans the scalp, but also helps resolve any future scalp issues di- rectly at the source. Having a variety of experience with treat- ing patients from all over the world, our clin- ic is happy to accommodate a diverse array of treatment options. For those patients who visit our clinic from afar, I am happy to pro- vide more individualized treatment methods according to the specific condition at hand, a level of flexibility that has helped our clinic stand out among its peers.