Hair transplants are a surgical hair restoration procedure that treats various hair loss conditions. Owing to their permanent and successful results, hair transplants have become the talk of the decade.
With new techniques emerging that offer better results and operate at a better rate, hair transplants have come far from their humble beginnings.
If you’re considering this form of hair restoration, you should first look into its many aspects. These include, the technique, the cause of your hair loss, and state of your donor region.
How Do Hair Transplants Work?
Hair transplants are an option in the case of permanent hair loss only. Most hair loss occurs in a specific pattern. As is the case with androgenic alopecia, where men tend to shed hair from the hair line down to the crown of the head. The remaining hair is healthy and isn’t susceptible to hair loss.
To execute the process, doctors first extract some hair from areas of stable hair growth. Once out of the scalp, the grafts are placed in a Hypothermosol solution. The solution keeps them viable while doctors open channels on balding scalp.
Once the incisions are made on the recipient site, doctors place the grafts in them. This marks the end of the procedure and it is then in your hands to direct the progress of your healing through abiding by your surgeon’s instructions.
Hair Transplant Techniques
While all hair transplants follow a similar procedure overview, each technique conducts the phases differently. There are currently 4 popular hair transplant techniques.
1- FUT Hair Transplant
FUT hair transplant was the first form of surgical hair restoration to emerge. The procedure extracts hair from healthy donor regions by removing a layer of skin from the scalp. Because this leaves behind a big wound, doctors have to seal it with sutures.
The strip of skin undergoes dissection to achieve individual grafts. And then using a scalpel, doctors open channels on the scalp where they place the grafts.
Some of the side effects of the technique include visible scarring and nerve damage in the donor region. The FUT is one of the oldest technologies and is abandoned in many parts of the world. Particularly since more advanced technologies came along.
2- FUE Hair Transplant
FUE was born as an upgrade to FUT hair transplant. The technique does not remove entire layers of skin from the scalp. Instead it collects grafts one by one using a micro-punch and tweezers directly from the scalp. This technique leaves no visible scarring or nerve damage in the donor region.
While your doctor opens channels in the recipient site, the grafts remain in Hypothermosol solution.
Once the necessary number of incisions are made, your doctor will place the grafts into the channels.
3- Sapphire FUE
In regards to the procedure, Sapphire FUE is a replica of the FUE hair transplant technique. The difference is that Sapphire FUE uses instruments crafted from the precious sapphire stone. The sapphire stone has been in use in the medical field for decades. The stone has some unique traits that make it ideal as a raw material for surgical instruments.
Likewise, scalpels made from sapphire are extremely sharp with small surface areas. This allows them to accelerate the process of channel opening on the recipient site. Furthermore, they create very small incisions and initiate less harm to surrounding tissue.
4- DHI Hair Transplant
DHI Hair Transplant uses a special instrument called the Choi Pen. This tool allows doctors to blend the phases of channel opening and implantation at once.
During a DHI hair transplant procedure, doctors extract grafts from stable donor regions individually. While the reminding grafts are in the Hypothermosol solution, doctors take one follicular unit and place it in the Choi Pen.
In the recipient site, doctors use the pen to open channels, but before removing the pen, the graft is loaded into the opening. The process is repeated until all the grafts are placed.
The Underlying Cause Of Your Hair Loss
In order to be a good candidate for hair transplant your hair loss has to meet the following criteria:
- It is permanent.
- It doesn’t affect all your hair.
- Quality of your donor region
For example, male pattern baldness where men have some regions of stable hair growth is suitable for hair transplant. Patients who have lost hair due to accidents but have regions of stable growth, can also opt for hair transplants. The same applies to women suffering from pattern baldness.
Yet despite these cases being initially suitable for hair transplant, the quality of the donor regions is another factor to consider. It may be that your hair loss isn’t complete, but if you don’t have enough hair to cover the regions of your hair loss you can’t proceed with treatment
Whereas patients with complete hair loss in the scalp aren’t suitable for the procedure. Likewise, patients with alopecia areata, hair loss from an autoimmune disease, aren’t suitable for the procedure.
Success Rates Of Hair Transplants
The success of the surgery depends on where you choose to operate as well as aftercare. Make sure you operate at board certified hospitals and qualified surgeons. Remember that your choices and commitment after surgery have the big say in how well you recover. Avoid direct sun rays and be gentle with your scalp in the first few weeks to reap the best results.
Contact Aren Clinic
Contact Aren Clinic to learn more about hair transplants.
