|
|
Am I the right candidate for Hair Transplant?
If you are male or female and have a bald patch with no further hair loss you can be considered for hair transplant. Generally males tend to have male pattern baldness due to the androgenic hormones. Depending on their hereditary pattern they may have male pattern baldness of varying grades or severity. You can consult Dr Sumita for finding out further suitability and discuss the pros and cons in details.
|
|
|
|
|
How is the surgery performed?
A strip of hair bearing skin is excised from the back of your head. This is further slivered in to bits and from which follicular units are extracted. After infiltrating the recipient or the bald area with anaesthetic solution, multiple punctures or slits are made into which these follicular units inserted.
|
|
|
|
|
What type of the Anaesthesia is used? Is the surgery going to be very painful?
The surgery is usually performed under local anaesthesia with sedation. Except for the initial prick while injecting anaesthetic solution you will be quite relaxed and pain free during the procedure
|
|
|
|
|
How long will the surgery take?
Depending upon the number of follicular units or the micrografts, the surgery duration may vary from 4-6 hours.
|
|
|
|
|
How many sessions of surgery will I need?
If you have a completely bald area, it may take two to three surgeries to cover. If you have an area partially covered with hair, it may take only one surgery to fill in the area. Our goal is to restore about twenty-five percent of the donor’s original density in each surgery. After two surgeries, the density is about fifty percent which is often adequate coverage to satisfy the patient. The time between each session is usually four to six months in order to see how the hair is growing out and to provide more equal distribution. Correct evaluation & estimation is possible after personal consultation with Dr Sumita.
|
|
|
|
|
How will the surgery affect me when I return to work?
For the first two days, there will be a bandage around the head. It will be removed on the second day. If you have the surgery done on the hairline, the small scabs will remain for seven to ten days. When the small scabs fall off after seven to ten days, the freshly implanted grafts will be pink, slightly shiny which is usually a similar colour to the surrounding normal skin and is minimally obvious at first. After approximately two weeks, the areas where the grafts were transplanted are barely visible. Pre-existing hair around or adjacent to the transplanted grafts may shed, giving a thinner look, but will begin to grow back within a few months. This temporary thinning of pre-existing hair is called Telogen Effluvia.
|
|
|
|
|
How long does it take for the transplanted hair to grow out enough to fill in the balding area?
Usually it takes three to four months for the hair to grow out, and after that it will grow about half an inch per month which is the same rate as the donor hair. Initial hair quality is usually very thin, softer in texture like baby hair and then it become coarser over time. Sometimes the initial hair is curlier which then straightens in about one year. The colour of the initial hair may also be darker. It may be lightened by the sun later.
|
|
|
|
|
How long will the transplanted hair continue to grow?
The transplanted hair is the hair from the back of the head, so even though it is transplanted it will still have the same life span. Normally a hair follicle sheds every three to six years and then grows back from the same root. Thus, the transplanted hair continues the same life cycle.
|
|
|
|
|
Can hair transplantation affect the rest of my hair?
Hair roots are very tough and can tolerate surgery or any irritation to the scalp. A hair can be plucked out hundreds of times and just keeps growing back. The actual physical trauma of cutting the scalp, then inserting the donor grafts, can cut the shafts and/or damage some hair follicles. But more significant is the interruption to the pre-existing hair’s blood supply which is enough to cause the shedding of this pre-existing hair. It is temporary as most lost hair will grow back after a few months.
|
|
|
|
|
What are the complications and risks involved?
There are some minor, temporary complications such as numbness, swelling around eyes, infection etc. Most important aspect is to understand that transplanted hair cannot offer the density in hair. Whatever hair is transplanted is generally permanent, but you can still lose hair from the adjacent areas as a continuation of male pattern baldness.
|
|
|
|
|
Can fallen hairs or hairs from other body area or hairs from friend or relative be transplanted?
No
|
|
|
|
|
Can hairs be transplanted in eyebrows, sideburns, beard or moustaches?
Yes
|
|
|