Hair Restoration & Transplant

There are many ways to transplant hair, but they share one core principle: relocating healthy follicles from areas of full hair to bald or balding areas.

Once the transferred follicles recover, they grow like normal hair. The surgeon removes donor hair from the back of your head under local anesthesia or mild sedation. The removal method varies depending on who performs your surgery.

Most surgeons use either strip removal or Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) to harvest donor hair. We typically use FUE, which takes the natural grouping of hair as individual strokes and avoids a linear scar.

Once the graft is prepared, the surgeon cleans and numbs the recipient area, creates slits in the scalp with a scalpel or needle, and places each graft into those slits.

How long the process takes depends entirely on the size of the transplant. It is safe and natural, especially compared to the other options available.

Several things matter before a hair transplant. First, the surgeon checks the quality, density, and color of your donor hair. Then they plan the hairline by analyzing the structure of your face, which is critical to the final result.

After your initial consultation, the surgeon schedules your procedure. Before you arrive, shampoo your hair with a surgical scrub and let it air dry.

To begin, you receive local anesthesia and can nap or watch TV while the surgeon removes and replaces your follicles. The surgery is straightforward, but it can be done badly in inexperienced hands, so the surgeon matters.

The tissue harvested from the donor area contains the follicles that make restoration possible. The harvested strips are divided into their follicle groupings and tested before each graft is declared ready.

The surgeon makes several incisions in the recipient area, one for each follicular unit, with close attention to the location, depth, and angle of each. This is the most critical part of the procedure. It determines whether the result looks natural and can take four to six hours, hence the suggestion to take a nap.

Typically, hair is transplanted into three areas:

• The head
• The eyebrows
• The eyelashes

Hair transplantation is the least invasive of the regrowth options, but take recovery seriously. It is usually quick, with slight crusting over the donor and graft areas. Eyebrows and eyelashes need trimming every few weeks for the best results.

Recovery goes smoothly for almost all patients. Your scalp may be tender, so you will wear bandages for a day or two. Your surgeon may also prescribe an antibiotic or anti-inflammatory for a few days to reduce the risk of infection.

It is normal for transplanted hair to fall out two to three weeks after surgery. New growth from the transferred follicles appears within a few months and looks natural. This is expected, so the number of grafts is calculated with it in mind.

Hair transplant patients rarely have side effects. When they occur, they are usually minor and clear within a few weeks. They may include:

• Infection
• Bleeding
• Bruising around the eyes
• Swelling of the scalp
• Lack of sensation or numbness in the treated areas
• A crust that forms on the areas where hair was implanted or removed
• Itchiness
• Inflammation of the follicles
• Unnaturally-looking hair tufts

If needed, your surgeon may also prescribe hair-growing drugs such as Rogaine to support growth after the transplant.