Hair Transplantation Surgery
Overview
Hair transplantation is the procedure of re-locating the genetically resistant hair follicles from the donor area and planting on the recipient areas like scalp, beard, moustache, eyebrow etc. It is an outpatient procedure and done under local anaesthesia. Hair transplantation generally takes 6 to 9 hours and -due to individual differences and graft counts- even next-day continuation might be needed. The usual hair transplantation procedure which lasts 6-9 hours and even second day continuation called as a Single Session. Depending on your hair loss severity you may need more than a single session. The usual waiting period for next session is generally around 3 to 4 months. But in single session the follicular unit (graft) count that could be feasible to transplant is not unlimited. A typical three to four thousand graft operation already lasts 8 to 10 hours. To keep the quality, it is vital to allocate proper time period for each procedure. Trying to transplant more graft than 3000-4000 grafts within 8-10 hours definitely decreases the quality.
The usual donor area for hair transplantation is located at the back of the head and we call this donor area as the major donor area. Beard and chest hairs are also good sources where we call them minor donor areas.
Hair Follicle Harvesting Methods
There are two ways of obtaining follicular units (grafts) from the major donor area and we call these methods as:
Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (FUSS)
FUT is the ex-term for this method. A strip is removed from the back of the head and stitches are placed to close the defect.
Follicular Unit Excision (FUE)
Your surgeon will decide on the method after the assessment.
Hair Follicle Implanting Methods
There are several ways of grasping and implanting the hair follicles. Grasping and implanting hair follicles by forceps, implanting hair follicles by a pen like instrument etc. Every surgeon and team have their own method where they are experienced in thus, they are not superior to each other. Black market clinics tend to use misleading terms like NDHI, Touchless method etc to draw the attention of the patients.
So, regardless the methods of harvesting and implanting the outcome of the procedure is determined especially by your surgeon’s experience. So, if you feel you find the right surgeon just trust and go ahead, do not stuck on minor details.
