Hair transplant

Overview

Hair transplant is a viable solution to control hair loss and eliminate baldness. The sheer purpose is to gain an attractive mane in both men and women by surgically removing a graft of hair from any other part of the body and transplanting the same in the bald area.

There are specifically two types of grafts used in hair transplantation:

• Slit grafts that comprise of 4-10 hairs per graft
• Micro grafts that contain 1-2 hairs per graft

The best candidates for hair transplant procedure involve men with male-pattern baldness, women with thinning hair and those who lost their hairs due to scalp injury or burning. However, hair transplant is not a suitable option for people suffering from a wide-spread pattern of hair loss throughout the scalp, having lack of ‘’donor’’ hair sites from where to remove hair, and having hair loss due to strong medications like chemotherapy.

You will continue to have hair in the transplanted area more or less dense depending upon your hair quality and calibre, hair curl, scalp laxity (whether your scalp skin is loose or not) and density of the hair follicles in the transplanted area. Along with hair transplant treatment, you should undergo a laser therapy, else you may continue experiencing hair loss in the non-treated scalp areas.

There are certain risks and complications associated with hair transplant surgery that you should be aware of. They include infections, bleeding, itching, swelling of the scalp, bruising around the eyes, lack of sensation or numbness in the scalp area, inflammation of the hair follicles, sudden hair loss in the transplanted area and so on.

A hair transplant procedure has various stages. The preparation for hair transplant phase is most important and it should be taken care of by following the below tips.

Before the treatment

There are different types of hair transplant procedures – follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS), follicular unit transplantation (FUT), follicular unit extraction (FUE), etc. Whichever procedure is followed, you need to adhere to the following guidelines.

• You have to put smoking on hold for at least 24 hours before the surgery.
• You should preferably stop having alcohol at least a week before the surgery.
• It is necessary to keep the donor’s scalp area full of hair growth in order to keep sufficient follicles for replacement.
• It is important that you massage your scalp before a couple of weeks before the surgery. You should follow this for about 10-30 minutes every day. This will help soften the skin and improve blood flowing in the area.
• You are advised to take antibiotics before the surgery to prevent any kind of risk. For those above 45 years of age may have to undergo an ECG test and other blood tests.
• Stop taking minerals or multivitamin supplements or any kind of herbal supplements two weeks before the surgery.

How it is performed

• The surgeon first cleanses your scalp and then numbs the area with local anaesthesia.
• A scalpel is used to remove a round portion of your scalp which is covered with hair. The open wound is stitched close.
• The surgeon will separately remove the section of the scalp into small sections by a sharp surgical knife under a microscope.
• These small sections are implanted in the bald area to achieve natural-looking hair. Before transplanting, the surgeon makes tiny holes with a needle in the bald scalp area. During one session, the surgeon may implant hundreds or thousands of hair. You may require 3-4 sessions to achieve full hair growth.
• After the hair transplant procedure, your scalpel is covered with gauze, graft or bandages.
• After 10 days, the stitches are removed. The sessions take place several months apart to help each transplant heal completely.
• Each session takes four hours or more to complete.

Recovery

After the surgery, your scalp is swollen and sore and you may experience pain. You may need to take medications after the hair transplant surgery like painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications for some time. The recovery of hair transplant surgery may take several days’ time.

After a few weeks, you may see the transplanted hair fall out. This is good since it makes way for new hairs to grow. It is possible to experience about 60 percent hair growth 6-9 months after the surgery. Along with this, you are prescribed certain medications that help to slow or prevent future hair loss.