If you’ve been faithfully using medication to slow hair loss or regrow hair and aren’t seeing any results, it may seem as if your situation is hopeless. While medications can be helpful in treating hair loss, they don’t work well for everyone. Restoring the look of your hairline with a hair transplant can help you feel confident about your appearance again.
Types of Hair Loss
Several types of hair loss can make you a good candidate for a hair transplant. People who have thinning hair, well-defined baldness and limited hair loss due to scalp burns or injuries are usually good candidates for surgery, reports the American Academy of Dermatology. In addition to treating hair loss caused by trauma or scarring of the scalp, transplants are also effective in restoring hair when loss occurs due to male or female pattern baldness. People who have triangular alopecia may also benefit from a hair transplant. If you are born with this condition, hair follicles never develop on the scalp above the temple.
What Is a Transplant
During a hair transplant, doctors remove tiny patches of the scalp containing healthy hair and transfer the patches to balding areas. Hair replacement candidates must have healthy hair growth at the back and sides of the head that can be used for the transplant, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. More than one transplant session may be needed to restore your hairline.
Taking Grafts
Your doctor begins the transplant procedure by removing tiny pieces of the scalp containing healthy hair follicles with a punch device or scalpel. These pieces of scalp, tissue and hair follicle are called grafts. Grafts vary in size and shape, and your doctor may choose to remove hair follicles using micro-grafts containing one or two hairs, mini-grafts containing up to four hairs, slit grafts containing up to 10 hairs, round punch grafts containing up to 15 hairs or strip grafts containing up to 40 hairs. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that doctors transplant 50 large plugs on average during the first transplant session and up to 700 micro- or mini-grafts per session. After removing grafts, your doctor will close donor sites with sutures.
Transplanting Hair
Once the grafts are taken, the doctor creates small slits in the scalp with a scalpel and sutures the grafts in place in the slits. Grafts are placed 1/8 inch apart in the scalp to maintain healthy circulation, notes the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. During later transplant sessions, new grafts are placed between the old grafts for a fuller hair line.
Considerations
If you have a large bald spot, your doctor may recommend that you undergo scalp reduction surgery before having a hair transplant. Scalp reductions are used to remove excess skin on the top of the head, reducing the size of the bald spot. When there is not enough loose skin on the top of the head, your doctor may insert tissue or scalp extenders under the skin of your scalp to stretch the scalp skin in preparation for scalp reduction surgery.
Member Comments