Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
Although hair transplantation is a fairly simple procedure, some risks are associated with any surgery. It is important to inform the physician about any medications currently being used and about previous allergic reactions to drugs or anesthetic...
agents. People with blood-clotting disorders also need to inform their physician before the procedure is performed.
It is important to find a respected, well-established, experienced surgeon and discuss the expected results prior to the surgery. The candidate may need blood tests to check for bleeding or clotting problems and is usually asked not to take aspirin products before the surgery. The type of anesthesia used will depend on how extensive the surgery will be and the setting in which it will be performed. The candidate may be awake during the procedure, but is usually given medication to cause relaxation. A local anesthetic drug that numbs the area will be applied or injected into the skin at the surgery sites.
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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.)
Other Information
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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