Diversity and Representation in Hair Loss Treatment and Education
One of the finest hair restoration doctors in the industry, Dr. Meena Singh is dedicated to treating patients of all ethnicities. Dr. Singh is one of the few hair restoration physicians in the nation who routinely addresses hair loss in African American, Asian, and patients with all types of curly, kinky, and coily hair textures.
Dr. Singh is a tireless advocate for diverse representation in medical training of hair loss. As a hair loss expert and Board Certified Dermatologist, she travels globally working with doctors and speaking about diversity and representation in medical training. Dr. Singh also works with local hair salons, barbers, and braiding locations in the Kansas City metro in order to educate the community on best hair practices and styling methods. Dr. Singh relies on stylists to recognize and refer patients with conditions such as central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) condition that plagues black women. It can manifest as diffuse breakage or patchy areas of thinning. The key to treatment is early diagnosis.
Hair Transplant in African Americans
Dr. Singh performs hair transplantation in African Americans routinely. Black dermatologists only comprise about 3% of all dermatologists nationally. It is important to seek a dermatologist and hair restoration expert who is comfortable with skin of color to decrease misdiagnosis and mismanagement.
African American Men:
When surgically restoring hair in African American males, there are special technical considerations that need to be made. When performing the strip excision, special care needs to be taken to not only prevent keloids or hypertrophic scars but also when dissecting the follicular units to account for the curled hairs.
Alternatively, many African American men may wear their hair very short in the back; thus, strip excision to harvest the hairs would leave a noticeable scar. Therefore, follicular unit extraction (FUE) is the best technique for harvesting the hairs. Dr. Singh has published an article in the Dermatology Surgery journal detailing a specific technique of FUE in African Americans.
African American Women:
Many African American women seek consultation for traction alopecia, which is hair loss along the hairline due to tight hairstyling practices. Hair is part of the way we present ourselves to the world, hair loss can be particularly devastating. Dr. Singh will develop a specialized plan to reinforce, rethicken, and re-establish the hairline.
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Skin of Color Skincare and Hair Loss
Dr. Meena Singh has a special interest in treating skin and hair disorders in patients of color. With skin of color or darker skin types, many skin diseases can present differently than in lighter skin types. In addition, darker skin is more likely to experience post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and scarring. An example, is the dark, blotchy marks that can be seen with acne. Therefore, typical treatments take special consideration to account for these differences.
Dr. Meena Singh is a member of the Skin of Color Society and has completed specialized training at the Skin of Color Center in New York City. She has conducted research on skin cancer in individuals of color and presented at the Skin of Color Society Research Symposium. In addition, she has performed research on scarring hair loss in African Americans and hair transplant techniques in African American hair. She has presented this research at the Skin of Color Seminar Series.
