Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
There are several alternatives to hair transplantation. The two most common include lotions containing drugs and wigs.
As of 2003, only lotions containing Minoxidil or Finasteride actually grow any new hair. This does not occur for all users....
The new hair Minoxidil grows is usually only a light fuzz on the crown of the head. When Minoxidil treatment is discontinued, the fuzz disappears, in addition to any hairs that were supposed to die during treatment. In some cases, Finasteride does grow thick, strong, long-growing hair on the crown.
Wigs and hairpieces have been used for centuries. They are available in a wide price range, the more expensive ones providing more realistic appearance than less expensive models.
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A physician shows the "up close" results of hair transplant surgery using the scalp of a patient. The hair replacement approach used mimics the natural direction of the hairs and shows the typical spacing of hair follicular units transplanted in the procedure.
In a hair transplant, plugs of hair and supporting tissues are removed from a donor area at the back of the head (A and B). Pieces of skin are removed at the front of the head, and grafts are placed (C). (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that involves moving skin containing hair follicles from one part of the body (the donor site) to bald or balding parts (the recipient site). It is primarily used to treat male pattern baldness, whereby grafts containing hair follicles that are genetically resistant to balding are transplanted to bald scalp. However, it is also used to restore eye lashes, eye brows, beard hair, and to fill in scars caused by accidents and surgery such as face lifts and previous hair transplants. Hair transplantation differs from skin grafting in that grafts contain almost all of the epidermis and dermis surrounding the hair follicle, and many tiny grafts are transplanted rather than a single strip of skin.
Since hair naturally grows in follicles that contain groupings of 1 to 4 hairs, today’s most advanced techniques transplant these naturally occurring 1 – 4 hair "follicular units" in their natural groupings. Thus modern hair transplantation can achieve a natural appearance by mimicking nature hair for hair. This recent hair transplant procedure is called "Follicular Unit Transplantation."
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