What is Hair Transplantation?
Hair transplantation also called hair restoration or hair implantation is a surgical procedure which involves removing hair follicles from a donor site and implanting them at a recipient site, which is the bald area of the scalp. Usually, the surgeon takes hair from the back side and moves to the front or top portion of the head. Unlike other transplant procedure, in this treatment no external donor is needed, your own hair will be transplanted to fill the bald areas. The number of grafts needed depends on the patient and the size of the area being treated.
What are the different types of Hair Transplantation and the procedure?
Hair transplant surgery is a one-day out-patient procedure done under local anaesthesia. Patients experience little or minimum discomfort during and after the surgery. There are two methods of hair transplantation that are performed and they give excellent results. The procedure of implantation remains the same in both methods, the only difference remains in the technique followed to harvest the graft. The complete procedure takes about 4 to 8 hours.
• Follicular Unit Transfer: In this hair transplantation technique a thin strip of hair will be removed from the donor region.
• Follicular Unit Extraction: In this transplant each hair graft is removed from donor region one by one, using a punch tool.
What makes you a good candidate for hair transplant?
Good candidates for a hair transplant include:
• men with male-pattern baldness
• women with thinning hair
• anyone who has lost some hair from a burn or scalp injury
Who are not the right candidates for this procedure?
• Whose hair loss is due to medication or chemotherapy
• Who don't have enough donor hair sites
• People who form keloid scars after surgery
women with a wide-spread pattern of hair loss throughout the scalp
What will happen post procedure?
The scalp may be very tender after the surgery so pain medications may be needed for several days.
The surgeon may make you wear bandages over your scalp for a day or more.
He will also prescribe an antibiotic or an anti-inflammatory drug.
Most people are able to return to work 2 to 5 days after the surgery.
Approximately 10 days after the procedure, the sutures at the donor area are removed.
Generally, after 2 to 3 weeks of the surgery, the transplanted hair falls out and you will notice new hair.
Most people observe 60% of new hairs growth after 6 to 9 months.
What side-effects can be expected?
Temporary hair shedding
Bleeding
Infection rare
Itching
Pain
Swelling
Numbness
Scarring
Cysts
When can the results be seen?
The transplanted hair can be seen immediately after the surgery, however, it takes nearly 9-12 months to grow to your hair’s normal length. That is when the actual results are appreciated.
Is it difficult to maintain transplanted hairs?
No special maintenance is needed for the transplanted hair. They can be washed, combed, oiled, cut and styled normally.
