Hair Transplant Basics
Modern hair transplantation can provide exceptionally natural, long-lasting results for appropriately selected patients. The procedure moves hair follicles from areas generally resistant to hereditary hair loss to areas where hair has thinned or been lost. But successful transplantation involves more than growing hair. Surgical expertise, natural hairline design, responsible donor management, and planning for future hair loss are essential to results that look natural and remain satisfactory over time.
Am I A Candidate
Determining whether someone is a suitable candidate for hair transplantation requires a thorough evaluation. The type and progression of hair loss, age, donor hair availability, medical treatment options, and realistic expectations all play essential roles. An experienced hair transplant surgeon must consider not only what can be accomplished today, but how the results may appear as hair loss progresses over time. For some patients, postponing surgery or advising against it altogether may be the most responsible recommendation.
FUT removes a narrow strip of donor scalp, which is carefully dissected into naturally occurring follicular unit grafts.
FUE uses small surgical punches to extract naturally occurring follicular units individually from the donor area.
Donor hair is limited. Careful harvesting helps protect the donor area and preserve future hair restoration options.
Natural hairlines require thoughtful design, precise graft placement, and planning for progressive hair loss over time.
Hair transplant surgery carries risks, including infection, poor graft growth, visible scarring, and permanent cosmetic damage. Planning and surgical technique can reduce these risks, but cannot eliminate them.
Healing after hair transplant surgery takes several weeks, but hair growth develops gradually over many months. Transplanted hairs commonly shed before regrowing, and final results may take a year or longer.
Repair surgery may improve unnatural hairlines, visible scarring, and problems resulting from previous transplants. Some damage may be permanent.
Hair transplantation may benefit some women. Hair loss patterns and the availability of stable donor hair are essential to determining candidacy.
Planning For Surgery
If you have decided to have surgical hair restoration you have made a very serious decision that should not be taken lightly. The planning for such a procedure is perhaps one of the most important undertakings you will ever do. The success or failure of your procedure will influence and even potentially dominate your daily life for many years.
Cost
Hair transplant costs have varied widely for the past few decades. In the 1970’s and 1980’s the cost of a single “plug” graft would cost anywhere from $20.00 to $50.00 each. When the doctor would perform surgeries of 200 grafts on four or five different patients every day the money would pile up quickly.
Find A Surgeon
The International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons is a consumer organization that selectively screens skilled and ethical hair transplant surgeons. The IAHRS does not offer an open membership policy to doctors practicing hair transplatation, and is the only group that recognizes that all surgeons are not equal in their skill and technique. Its elite membership seeks to represent the best in the discipline, the true leaders in the field of surgical hair restoration.