Different Hair Transplant Techniques And Their Side-effects

Hair loss is one of the most widely reported problems, coming second to only acne, in the field of Dermatology. In medical terminology, hair loss is known as Alopecia. It can have several causes, including fungal infection, auto immune disorder (improper functioning of immune system), damaging of scalp due to trauma, as a result of cancer treatment (radiotherapy and chemotherapy in particular) and due to certain nutritional deficiencies, primarily that of Iron. The most aggressive form of hair loss is alopecia universalis, which involves the loss of all of the hairs of the entire body. The most common type of hair loss is the male pattern baldness and statistically speaking, it affects at least 70 percent of men and 40 percent of women at some point in their life time.

Baldness can lead to inferiority complex, depression and psychological trauma. Fortunately medical science can help those who are affected by this condition. There are a variety options available for management and treatment of baldness. Topical medicines (creams and ointments that can apply on the outer layer of skin) and Hair transplant are the most preferred and recommended options. In this article we will discuss the later i.e. the option of Hair transplant.

Hair Transplant – Overview:

Hair transplant is primarily used to treat “Male pattern baldness”. Records from various hospitals show that most of the hair transplant procedures are carried out on the head of the patients; however, the same procedure can also be used to restore eye lashes, chest hairs, beard hairs, eye brows and pubic hairs. At times, hair transplant can also be done to hide scars resulting from accidental injuries and previous surgeries. It is a minimally invasive procedure and patients can return to their home the same day on which procedure is carried out.

Procedure:

The entire procedure of hair transplant consists of the following three stages:

1)     Stage 1 – Pre operative assessment

Pre operative assessment is done by a doctor, preferably by a dermatologist. The doctor may advise the patient on expected results, procedure and pre operative care. It is worth noting that doctors usually advise against smoking and alcohol consumption, prior to days before surgery, as it can affect the outcome and health of the restored hairs.

2)     Stage 2 – Surgery

Prior to surgery, the scalp is shampooed and then treated with an anti-bacterial agent. This surgical procedure is minimally invasive and almost painless. Some patients, with low affinity for pain, may be given a local anesthetic agent. The actual surgical procedure consists of two stages:

Harvesting of hair follicles:

The part of the body from which hair follicles are harvested is known as the donor site. There are two main techniques of harvesting these hair follicles:

• Strip Harvesting:

It is the most common technique used for harvesting of the hair follicles from the donor site. In this technique, the surgeon removes a strip of skin (10 to 15 cm) from an area of good hair growth. The resulting wound is closed by a technique known as Trichophytic closure. A stereo microscope is then used for removing the excess of fibrous and fatty tissue from the harvested skin, carefully avoiding any resulting damage to the follicular units.

A disadvantage associated with strip harvesting is that it leaves a scar on the donor area.

• Follicular unit extraction (FUE):

This is the second most prevalent technique used for harvesting the hair follicles from the donor site. This technique aims at harvesting individual follicular units containing 2 to 5 hairs.

Follicular unit extraction leaves no scars and is known for very natural results. However, it takes multiple sessions and hence costs more. As no suture removal is require in this case, the recovery time is minimal, not exceeding 7 days in most of the cases.

Grafting of harvested hair follicles:

In the grafting of hair follicles, the surgeon used very fine needles to puncture the recipient sites. The density and pattern of these punctures are pre determined and the resulting wounds are angled in a consistent fashion to promote a realistic hair pattern.

3 ) Post operative care:

Hair transplants are carried out on an outpatient basis so any post operative care has to be done by the patient himself at his home. The recipient site must be protected from direct sunlight. Shampooing is advised after two days from the date of surgery, it prevents the formation of scabs around the hair shaft.

It must be noticed that, within ten days of the surgery, all of the transplanted hairs will fall out. This is known as “Shock loss” and it happens because of the trauma to the hair follicles resulting from the transplant. It may take about two to four months for new hairs to grow from the transplanted follicles.

Side-Effects of Hair Transplant:

Some common side effects associated with hair transplant are hair thinning, bald patches and swelling. Hair thinning is primarily because of Shock loss and over the time hairs are expected to return to their normal healthy state.

Bald patches are also expected to resolve on their own, however, if in some cases they still remain then some topical treatment can be advised by a doctor. Minoxidil solution is one of the most commonly used topical liquid for the treatment of bald patches. A proper healthy diet high in nutrition is also recommended to speed up the hair growth.

Medications are prescribed to control swelling and patients are advised against scratching of the scalp as this may damage the newly transplanted hair follicles.

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Gabor Molnar is a well known and establish dermatologist, currently practicing in London. He has assisted on more than 50 hair transplant procedures and is considered as an authority in this field.