HAIR TRANSPLANT– HAIR RESTORATION

The healing process starts immediately. The patient's own blood clot seals the graft in and forms a crusted area on the surface. The smaller the recipient's sites (the slits or needle sites where the follicular units are placed) the faster they close up. The crust can fall off between one and two weeks.

If the new hair does fall off with the crusted part, it will still keep growing. If we go by the textbook, the new transplanted hair makes its way out of the scalp surface 12 weeks after the surgery.

During the healing process no bandages are required. After the crusts have fallen off, the skin surface is pinker because there is brand new skin. There might be some hairs continually growing from the day of surgery, but most of them are under the surface of the scalp making their way up to the surface, That process is completed in 12 weeks (for a first time transplanted area) and up to 16 weeks (for a multiple time transplanted area).

There is usually no down time with the new follicular procedures because the trauma to the scalp is minimal and healing is very fast. Patients not engaged in heavy physical activities could resume work the following day after the surgery.

You may wash your hair as soon as 48hrs after the surgery but very delicately in the grafted area.

Please be aware that the pressure of the shower head could dislodge the grafts, therefore, we recommend using a bowl full of water and making it fall gently on the grafted area. No rubbing or any traction should be applied. Dry the area with a soft wash cloth by just gently pressing, not rubbing.

The area from which the grafts were obtained should be cleaned more vigorously. This will help in the healing process and facilitate the suture or staple removal.

After a transplant, many patients are afraid of losing hair that was already there. It could happen, but if it does, it is only a temporary condition as the hairs will regenerate in several months. One reason for hair loss is transplant shock. Transplant shock is when you lose hair in an area where hair is newly transplanted. This hair all grows back within 8-9 months. Another reason for the appearance of less hair after transplants is that when the surgeon is making the recipient sites, he could be cutting adjacent hair very close to the scalp. That hair grows back immediately.

Hair transplantation lasts forever, it is permanent.

Scars at the grafted sites are a thing of the past. Scars in the donor area are minimized by the new techniques we have today. They are not visible unless you buzz your hair extremely short.

Hair transplant surgery could take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours depending on how many grafts the patient needs.

With the method of dense packing, we try to give the patient the most hair the first time around. There are also other factors that come into play, such as the patient's own hair density, that will determine how many surgeries are necessary for a certain result.

Usually two surgeries could be sufficient to obtain a great result, although we try to give the best result with just one surgery.

The number of transplants needed may vary from one person to the other. Even though the number of 'real' hair is important, the way it actually looks is also important; this depends above all upon the degree of contrast between the hair and the skin, the average thickness of the hair, the number of hairs per follicular unit, and the hair's undulation. It is also very important to take into account the available hair on the donor area.

In order to present you with an adequate estimate of your needs, you will have to send us a set of pictures showing well-lit close-ups of your head from all angles: front, back and above. See photo guidelines

So that we can provide the most accurate assessment possible, submit digital photos or scanned print photos

• Use bright, natural room lighting. Do not use a flash.
• Shoot from a distance of 3 - 5 feet.
• Ensure that the area you are shooting is in frame and in focus.
• Photos must not exceed 4MB (4,000kb) each. Please resize photos that exceed this limit.
• Acceptable photo file types are jpg or jpeg.
• If your photos exceed our size restrictions, Download PhotoResize800.exe (Windows only) and Save it to your desktop.

The PhotoResizer icon (pictured left) will appear on your desktop. Simply drag and drop individual photos or folders containing photos onto the icon and PhotoResizer will create a resized copy automatically. If the original photo is named myphoto.jpg, PhotoResizer will create a resized copy named myphoto-W800.jpg.

Provide photos showing the following angles:

The top of your scalp

This gives us an overall view of your hair loss situation. The top view is important as it helps us determine the amount of existing hair loss and possible future hair loss.

Left and right profile

The profile is very important in assessing the needs of our patients. The profile helps us understand the extent of hair loss.

The back of the scalp

If possible, include a photograph with your donor hair pulled up either with your hand or with a comb. This helps us determine your donor density.

Front hairline

We need to be able to understand how your existing or new hairline frames your face. This is imperative for the review process. If possible, take some time to draw your hairline on your scalp to show us where you would like to have it placed. This helps us to understand your desires and expectations from the procedure.