How Important Donor Areas for Hair Transplant?

16 June, 2020 | Hair Loss | Author : Shveta Virmani

In hair transplantation, hair follicles from a particular part of the body are removed, which is referred to as a donor site and is transplanted to the bald area called the recipient site.

How Can the Donor Area Be Defined?

The donor area's group of hair is called a graft. A graft is a body part where a good amount of hair is present and thus acts as a donor area. Thus, each graft is extracted from this donor area. These hair follicles are loosened using a micro drill and are made ready for the transplant area. In the majority of the cases, the donor area is back of the head. However, hair can also be taken from other parts of the body, for example, chest. These are considered to be a good donor region as hair present at those parts does not fall off easily.

Why is Donor Area Important for the Hair Transplant?

The donor area determines whether the person is a good candidate for hair transplantation or not. In androgenic alopecia, hair growth is not affected by the androgens. Thus, these kinds of follicles are transplanted to the body part where there is a wider prosperity and greater chances to develop.

While selecting the follicles for the transplantation, only those are selected that have a greater chance of survival after the transplantation. This is an important step for long-lasting results of hair transplantation. The person must also have enough follicular units present at the donor area to fulfill the requirements of the balding scalp.

What Donor Area is considered Good For the Hair Transplantation?

A good donor area is preferably scalp hairs from the occipital zone and adjoining temporal area. Beard is the next preference as a donor. Beard hair is thick and the biggest advantage is they grow under the influence of DHT. Beard hair gives good coverage in the crown area but not be used in the hairline zone.

Chest and abdomen hair can also be used in the advanced grade of baldness. They are thin but give a covering effect between beard and scalp hair. Women only have scalp hairs as donor areas.

FUE & FUT- Two Hair Transplantation Techniques:

Hair follicle extraction can be majorly done using two techniques- Follicular Unit Excision, which is FUE, and Follicular Unit Transplantation, which is FUT.

However, the process of implantation remains the same. The follicular grafts are implanted artistically and precisely one after another in the thinning areas. What makes FUE and FUT different is the ways of hair follicle extraction.

In the case of FUE, the extraction is done individually. Is the process does not take longer than four hours to get completed? On the other hand, all the hair is extracted in a single go in FUT hair follicle extraction. This is the reason why this process is completed quickly within 15 to 30 minutes.

When the follicular grafts are made ready using any of the two methods, then incisions are precisely made in the recipient area such that they match the natural hair of the person.

Choosing donor sites for both techniques

Donor areas in both procedures are preferably scalp. The FUT strip of hair-bearing skin is removed leaving a stripline scar. Those individuals who want to wear their hair long. It gives greater donor hair yield during the lifetime in comparison to FUE. Since FUE requires greater time, it is more expensive than FUT hair follicle extraction.

No scars are left on the donor site while extraction using the FUE technique. In case you want really very short hair, then the FUE technique will be the better option. Multiple FUE procedures can result in thinning of donor area thus the adequate supply of donor's hair must be ensured for a long term plan.

Week donor area and achieving a good density of hair

When the donor area is not strong enough then also a good density of hair can be achieved using body hair or beard hair for hair transplant. The density of hair in this area is very high and the growth rate also. The characteristics and the quality of the hair of different donor areas must be taken into consideration. The thicker quality of hair should be avoided to be transplanted in the hairline as these areas generally have a bit finer hair.

When the grafts are transplanted closer together, it can increase the density to a significant level. The suitable density of grafts can be placed by an experienced hair transplant surgeon such that hair growth is not hindered.

To increase hair density a technique known as “dense pack” involves placing between 40 to 60 hair follicles per square centimeter. When a person goes for a ‘dense pack’, that is around 60 hair follicles per square centimeter, the hair density of the recipient area is increased. In order to get a natural look after the transplantation, it is important to have an accurate and natural hair density. Dense packing can be applied in both FUT and FUE techniques.

What Care Must be Given to the Donor Site After Transplantation?

Aftercare of the donor area is essential to prevent infections and provide a steady supply for hair grafting. Hair transplant results in wounding and scarring of the donor area. Proper care must be taken.

When discharged take medicine on time. Eating before taking any medicine prevents nausea or vomiting. In case you experience any pain, medications can be taken. Sutures are usually removed from the donor area 14 days after surgery.

Smoking and drinking alcohol for at least 48 hours after transplant should be avoided. Alcohol can thin the blood and cause bleeding. Smoking hinders the healing process and can reduce graft uptake.

Prolonged direct sun exposure can damage newly transplanted follicles and even cause sunburns so wear protective headgear.

When sleeping use a pillow to avoid pressure on the suture line or donor area for hair transplants. In case of bleeding press firmly but carefully so as not to dislodge around the graft.

Avoid all increased activity over the next two weeks like jogging, driving, lifting heavy objects.

Swelling can occur usually on the forehead. Some pieces of gauze along with saline can be applied to the transplanted for a short period of time, at least twice a day. It keeps the transplant area moist and speeds up the healing process.