About Hair Transplants
Hair transplants are areas of healthy hair surgically removed and transferred to a bald or balding area of the scalp. Hair transplants are most commonly performed for male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss. People with hair loss due to injury, burns or medical problems are also good candidates for the procedure. Hair transplantation is an outpatient procedure, performed in an office setting under local anesthesia.
Ideal Transplant Candidates
Hair transplantation does not add new hair to the bald areas, but moves hair from another area of the patient's scalp. The ideal candidate needs to have enough remaining hair to provide a decent transplant and cover any scarring that may result from the transplant procedure. The remaining hair should also be healthy, and the bald areas should be well-defined. A transplant can occur in the following areas of the scalp: the frontal area--from the forehead to just above the ears; the mid-scalp--from the ears to the crown; and the crown. The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery recommend transplantation in only one area per session.
How Transplantation Works
The surgeon numbs the donor area of the patient's scalp and uses a sharp scalpel and a high-magnification mirror to remove a narrow strip of hair from the donor site. The surgeon then closes the incision on the donor site and prepares the strip of hair for transplantation. Most hairs grow in groups of two to five bound to one follicle; the surgeon carefully cuts out the follicle groups to form individual grafts. The surgeon numbs the recipient area and makes tiny incisions at an angle that mimics the original growth pattern. He then inserts the hair follicle grafts into the incisions.
The donor hair falls out within three weeks, then grows back within three months of transplantation. One important consideration is that the transplanted hair will grow in with the same texture, color and other characteristics as the hair at the donor site. A patient with different textures, on different parts of her head, may have to adjust to the new growth. The recipient hair will continue to grow as long as the hair from the donor site.
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