Hair Transplant - Know More About It

Hello friends.

I am Dr. Sharad Mishra. Today we are going to discuss a very popular topic: hair transplantation. Hair transplantation is a rage today. Everybody wants to get new hair but in this process of peer pressure and popularity, people do not take time to consider whether the procedure is appropriate for them or not. The first step, if you are considering hair transplantation, is to think whether this procedure is good for you or not. For that you have to first think about your extent of hair loss, the grade you are in, the age you are in and what are your expectations from the hair transplantation procedure. These things can be best discussed with an experienced hair transplant surgeon. He will have a look at your hair, the scalp condition, the extent of hair loss, your donor area, whether hair transplantation is going to be successful for you or not. So, blindly going for a procedure without consulting a good surgeon is not a good idea. Hair transplantation can be done in 2 basic ways which are scientifically approved and are still popular: one is called the FUHT or follicular unit hair transplantation in which we take out a strip of skin along with the hair from the scalp and then separate this hair and implant them in the area which is thinning out and has already lost the hair completely.

This procedure has the main advantage of giving more number of hair and from a finite donor area which is long-lasting and give good pleasing results. The other procedure which is relatively newer is called FUE or follicular unit extraction. In this procedure, we take out the hair one by one directly from the scalp using a micro punch machine through which individual hair roots can be taken out. These individual hair roots are then implanted again on to the thinning area or in the area of hair loss. The main advantage of this procedure, the FUE, is that it does not involve cutting and stitching and therefore is relatively scar-free as compared to the FUHT procedure. The healing is faster in this procedure and the downtime is lower. The main disadvantage of this procedure is that limited number of grafts can be harvested and equality of graft if somebody has traced into the non-permanent zone of the donor area, is not very long lasting. Again, an experienced surgeon can determine if you are a good candidate for FUHT or FUE.

Do not go blindly thinking that the advanced procedure is going to be better or the older procedure is going to be bad for you. Postoperatively, you have to take care of a few things after the transplantation, most important thing is that do not rub onto a transplanted area, heavy exercises, weight lifting, jogging, running should be avoided for a couple of weeks. Just take it easy. Day to day activities like your office work can be resumed from the second day of the procedure. The healing for the transplantation is usually complete within 10 to 12 days of the procedure but the hair would start growing only after three months. So be patient, the full growth will take approximately 10 to 12 months to complete and after that you can go for haircuts, you can wash your hair normally, you can style them, cut them, oil them, colour them and wear them normally. Post-procedure you may be advised to use some medications which are for your existing hair. Please continue to use them regularly so that you have a full head of hair always.

Thank you!