Hair Transplantation
Hair Transplantation is the one of the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery procedures worldwide.
Hair Transplantation is an surgical operation to restore hair in the regions of body where there is permanent loss of hair. The most common area where hair transplantation is performed is the Head/Scalp region. Less commonly, it is also done for beard and other body parts.
The surgery is performed under Local Anesthesia, i.e only the head region is numbed so that you do not feel pain during the surgery. We try our best to ensure to make the procedure entirely pain free.
Reasons for Hair loss ?
The most common reason for hair loss needing Hair Transplantation surgery is Male pattern baldness.
Male pattern baldness is due to many causes, of which genetics and familial are the most common.
Reasons for male pattern baldness apart from genetics and familial are countless, hence we are seeing increasing number of patients with baldness. Interestingly, with time, average patient age undergoing hair transplantation is also decreasing by decades, with increasing number of patients in their 20s now opting for hair transplantation
The Surgery
In Hair Transplantation, the hair from the backside of the head (occipital region) is ‘plucked’ out individually (FUE) or in a strip (FUT) – ‘refining’/dissected – and then it is implanted onto the region of the body where there is hair loos and the area is prepared for Hair transplantation. The implanted hair then grows as the new natural hair just like your earlier hair did.
Most commonly, hair is taken from the back side of the head, however when there is insufficient hair or in extreme cases of baldness, hairs can also be taken from other body regions and beard areas.
Hair transplantation surgery is commonly done by two methods –
FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction)
FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation)
Combined FUE & FUT method
FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction)
This methods involves removal/extraction of single Follicular Unit individually by punch devices. Punches devises vary from 0.8 to 2mm in diameter and are decided depending upon the patients hair diameter.
The donor hair is implanted back on the recipient site on the head.
FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation)
A single strip of about 0.5cm – 2 cm width x 10-30 cm in length is harvested from the back of the head (Occipital & parietal region) depending upon the hair density and total hair requirement. After which, each row of hair follicular unit is separated (aka Slivering procedure) and further then, each follicular unit is separated and dissected out. These follicular units are then implanted on to the front of the forehead.
Trichophytic closure
It is method of closure of the skin gap/defect after harvesting the strip, in way that leaves minimal scar and also more importantly places the hair follicles on the scar so hair growth is noted along the scar line, which in turn makes the scar almost inconspicuous.
Combined FUE & FUT method
As the name suggests, in this both the procedures are combined. After harvesting the strip, FUEs are harvested from above and below the scar line to give us more hair grafts for implantation. This procedure is generally combined for moderate – severe baldness and when there is adequacy of the graft.
Duration of the Surgery ?
It typically lasts from 4-10 hours, totally depending upon the number of grafts planned for hair transplant. More the graft, more is the time generally.
Recovery ?
All patients are sent back the same day and it is a day-care procedure. After the Surgery patients are given detailed instructions about follow up and informed about timeline of expected hair growth.
Expected Hair growth
The transplanted hair may fall off after 1 month, that the hair strands, however the roots of the hair remain inside the scalp and are alive. These then produce new hair and it may take 3-4 months to see new growth of transplanted Hair. Full density of transplanted Hair is seen at about 1 year after transplantation.