Hair Transplantation – What Are Your Options?

What is hair transplantation?

In simple words, hair transplant refers to a technique through which hair follicles are moved from one part of the body (called the ‘donor site’) to another part of the body that is balding (known as the ‘recipient site’). Though it was primarily used to treat male pattern baldness, the application has moved to restore eyelashes, eyebrows, beard hair, chest hair, pubic hair, etc., and to also fill in scars caused by accidents or surgeries, or to correct previously done hair transplant.

During hair transplant, hair follicles that are genetically resistant to balding (mostly from the back of the head) are transplanted to the balding pate.

What are the various harvesting methods?

The hair transplant technique is largely performed on outpatient patients. The patient is injected with local anesthesia for mild sedation. His/her scalp is then shampooed and treated with an antibacterial agent, before the donor scalp being harvested.

Although with the advent of technology, there are several different techniques available for harvesting hair follicles, each one of them comes with their own advantages and disadvantages. The two topmost choices for a doctor today are between Follicular Unit Transplant and Follicular Unit Extraction.

Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

FUT is a hair restoration procedure wherein the patient’s hair is transplanted in naturally occurring groups of 1-4 hair (called follicular units) that allow the surgeon to safely transplant thousands of grafts in a single session. This maximizes the procedure’s cosmetic impact as well. When properly done with, follicular unit transplant results mimic the way hair grows naturally and it is difficult to detect it as a hair transplant.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)

During FUE, follicular units are extracted individually from the patient’s donor area for hair restoration, ideally one at a time. This procedure can also be used to transplant body hair to the scalp. FUE has significantly lower post-operative discomfort and quicker patient recovery time.

Who can go for a hair transplantation?

Ideal candidates for a hair transplant procedure include:

• Men suffering from male-pattern baldness
• Women who have thinning hair
• People who lost hair due to a burn or scalp injury

What happens post hair transplantation?

Post hair transplantation, the scalp may feel sore and the doctor may also prescribe medicines, such as:

• Pain killers
• Antibiotics that reduce the risk of infection
• Anti-inflammatory medicines that keep the swelling down

Along with, a patient may also observe a few side effects are usually minor and clear up within a few weeks. These complications can include:

• Bleeding at the donor and recipient site
• Inflammation or infection of the skin and/or hair follicles (folliculitis)
• Swelling and/or itching in and around the donor and recipient site
• Numbness/lack of sensation on the treated areas
• Bruising around the eyes
• Crust on areas where hair was removed or implanted
• Sudden but temporary loss of the transplanted hair, also known as shock loss
• Unnatural-looking tufts of hair

How does the new hair appear in the long term?

Patients who have undergone a hair transplant procedure continue to grow hair in the transplanted areas of the scalp, which may appear more or less dense depending on:

• Scalp laxity, which means how loose the scalp skin is
• Density of the follicles in the transplanted zone
• Hair quality
• Hair curls

To ensure the viability of the transplanted hair, regardless of the harvesting technique used, proper extraction of the hair follicle is very important.

A few essential facts to remember about hair transplant:

• Albeit the transplanted hair behave like natural hair, they shed between two to four weeks. Thereafter, the roots start sprouting hair naturally and continue to do so for a lifetime.
• Local anesthesia administered during the procedure makes it a painless journey and allows the patient to go home the same day.
• Nonsurgical hair restoration is different from a hair transplant, as in that a pre-chosen base is fixed on the scalp with dexterity.
• Hair transplant does not guarantee a beautiful crop of hair. The results vary from person to person.
• Hair transplantation cannot treat every case of baldness. A thorough examination will determine whether the treatment will work for a patient or not.

However simple and cost-effective the procedure looks, it is crucial to consult only an expert. For if not done properly, it can have adverse effects on one’s personality and mental well-being.