About Us
We are your partners on the journey to hair restoration
Biography of
Cesar A. Aristeiguieta, MD, FACEP
Dr. Aristeiguieta is the founder of ILEA Hair Restoration. “Dr. Cesar,” as his patients call him, is Board Certified Emergency Physician and Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He has practiced for over 23 years at facilities in Texas, Louisiana, and California.
Dr. Cesar has been passionate about understanding and treating hair loss since medical school. He trained in general surgery with one of the leading hair restoration experts in the nation. Over the years Dr. Cesar has continued expanding his understanding of hair loss, and has developed a unique approach to helping patients affected by alopecia. He is a member of the prestigious International Society for Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), which focuses on promoting the highest ethical and surgical standards in the industry.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Dr. Aristeiguieta to the Medical Board of California on August 19, 2004. The California State Senate subsequently confirmed his nomination on August 18, 2005. Dr. Aristeiguieta served as the Vice-President of the Board, President of the Division on Medical Quality, and as a member of the Board’s Physician Diversion Committee, the International Medical Schools Committee, the Medical Errors Taskforce and the Executive Committee.
On June 21, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also appointed Dr. Aristeiguieta as Director of the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA). The EMS Authority is a department of the state government responsible for administering an effective statewide system of coordinated emergency medical care and disaster medical response. As Director of EMSA, Dr. Aristeiguieta was responsible for a $45 million budget and 73 employees. During his tenure EMSA, Dr. Aristeiguieta oversaw the acquisition of three 200-bed mobile field hospitals, the development of state-wide ambulance strike teams, the creation of the California Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, increased funding for the state trauma system, and improved funding support for the poison control system. Dr. Aristeiguieta served as the eighth Director of EMSA until December 31, 2007.
Dr. Aristeiguieta is an award-winning nature photographer, whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including the prestigious National Geographic Magazine. His images focus on capturing the beauty and drama of the wild, thereby exposing viewers to complexities of the natural world. In recent years he has translated this approach to human subjects, thus producing creative character-based lifestyle images for advertising campaigns.
In his free time Dr. Aristeiguieta likes to be active and outdoors. He has competed in numerous triathlons, marathons and fun runs. Over the past 14 years, he has also backpacked over 1300 miles in the California Sierra Nevada. Dr. Aristeiguieta enjoys shooting sports and regularly participates in sporting clays, IDPA and three-gun competitions. He is a Master Class sporting clays competitor and was named to the Texas All State Team in 2018.
Dr. Cesar's Hair Journey
I started losing hair in 2003. You can see the front corner of my hairline disappearing. I decided to buzz cut my hair and be like Vin Diesel, who was a popular actor at the time. Yes, those are two cheetahs that I was petting. 🙂
The problem is that 2 years later, I had lost a significant amount of hair. I went from a Norwood 3 to a Norwood 3V in just 2 years. I was at Norwood 4 by the time I had my first hair transplant.
I had an FUT hair transplant of about 2,300 grafts in 2006. My results were good, but I felt that I needed a little more hair. FUE hair transplants were not widely available at the time, so I had an unsightly scar after the procedure. I have also been using minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia) since 2005. The goal of such medications is to maintain the natural hair I still have. I switched from finasteride to dutasteride (Avodart) earlier this year as dutasteride tends to work better than finasteride.
In January of this year, I decided to undergo a 2,500 graft FUE procedure to address my hairline again and add a little density to my crown. I had a little additional hair loss at the hairline (my own hair, not the transplanted hair). I looked good, so frankly, I only did the transplant because I am in this line of work now.
Prior to the surgery, you can see the scar from my old FUT procedure. We removed the scar during my FUE hair transplant so I can wear my hair short again. You can also see my temporal recession and the small bald spot in the crown.
The final picture is my result 6 months after the transplant. The results continue to improve over the first year, so I expect full results by January 2023.