FUE (Follicular unit extraction) for 5000 grafts as I had 6 Grade baldness. Luckily my donor area was strong and had 50-70,000 grafts along with a decent beard. So, 4300 grafts and 700 grafts were extracted from donor and beard area.
There are 2 popular methods of performing a HT
- Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)
In the FUT procedure, a strip of hair-bearing skin is removed from the donor area of the scalp, usually the back of the head. This is why FUT is also known as ‘strip’ surgery.
The long-term donor hair supply will be influenced by how loose (or lax) the scalp skin is and by how many hairs there are per square centimetre of donor scalp. Generally speaking, the FUT procedure gives access to a greater donor hair yield during a lifetime compared with FUE.
The strip is then placed under high-powered microscopes and the surgical team meticulously divides it into tiny grafts of individual follicular units comprised of one to four hairs. These grafts are placed in a chilled tissue storage solution until they are transplanted.
The donor area is stitched up and usually then covered by the surrounding hair. After between 10 and 14 days the stitches are removed and the donor area heals to form a linear scar.
- FUE (Follicular unit extraction)
In the FUE procedure the donor area of the scalp is shaved and follicular unit grafts are excised individually, using a 0.8mm to 1mm ‘punch’. The procedure can be carried out manually or using a motorised surgical tool.
Following FUE there will be a series of tiny dot scars on the scalp, but these are so small as to be scarcely noticeable. With multiple FUE procedures more dot scars are accumulated and the hair in the hair in the donor area is gradually thinned out. This is why there is a limited amount of donor hair, which means that surgeons and patients must take care to ensure that there is adequate donor supply for a long term plan.
The FUT and FUE methods both have their advantages and disadvantages. Follicular Unit Excision is often described as the more ‘advanced’ technique, although both FUT and FUE provide excellent results, and choosing the most suitable method depends on the particular needs and characteristics of the patient.
Post Surgery
I was given a surgical cap which had to be worn for sometime. After 7 days the doctor had informed to do a shampoo wash at home.
Shedding of Hair Transplant or Shock loss
This process starts at 1-2 weeks after surgery and is completely normal. Your new hairs will grow in their place in the next 8-12 months.
After a hair transplant, the implanted follicles and the attached hairs will stay in their new place for 1- 2 weeks. The follicles in this period will start to switch into a resting phase and will then begin to shed their hair. This shock loss can start as early as 10 days following transplantation. It can last up to 12 weeks.
From 12-18 months following surgery the hairs should start to thicken, making the end result even better.
Medicines and Solutions used after Hair Transplant.
Minoxidil 5 % (Twice a Day)
Minoxidil is a solution or a foam you can apply to thicken areas of thin hair. It also helps to prevent hair loss and can be used to help quicken the growth of hairs that have shed during shock loss.
Finasteride 1mg tablet (Once a day)
Finasteride reduces the level of dihydrotestosterone in the scalp. This prevents hair loss and thickens hair in many men. Finasteride is a tablet you can take everyday or as advised by our Surgeons.
Riotin Plus Tablet (Multivitamin)
Riotin Plus Tablet promotes healthy hair and strong nails. Biotin is a co-factor in glucose metabolism and helps body cells produce energy, metabolize protein, fat and carbohydrates in food. It supports cellular energy production.
- Some important facts and myths of HT
- Myths
- Hair Transplants Are Painful.
- More Grafts = Better Chance At Success and full scalp coverage.
- Hair Transplant Is Costly
- It is not long lasting
- Unlimited FUE extraction is possible from Scalp
- FUE does not leave any scar.
- New hairs will grow on the site of the donor.
- Hair Transplant will immediately cover baldness.
- The results of a hair transplant procedure look unnatural
- Hair Transplant will give you immediate results
- Large grafts will produce more density
- Hair transplantation doesn’t works for women
- Hair Transplant Surgery can affect your brain
- An old individual should not undergo hair transplantation
- Body Hair or Someone Else’s Hair Are Used for Hair Transplants
- After Hair Transplant, one need to take medicines throughout the life.
- Facts
- Transplanted hair remains forever the life if transferred from the safe donor area.
- It is a 100% surgical procedure performed with anaesthesia.
- Over-harvesting of hair follicular from a donor site by FUE technique may lead to diffused density and the baldness in the back of the head will be visible.
- New hair will not grow from the point of extraction.
- Hair transplants can take up to a year to fully grow in, so immediate results of hair transplant procedure are not possible.
Note - Hair Transplant can not bring back our receded hair for instance- during our childhood we had 200,00 grafts in total on the scalp. After baldness, we are only left with 60–80,000 grafts in the donor area.
A maximum of 5000–12000 grafts on extreme cases can be implanted to fill the bald area of scalp.
Always remember that Hair Transplant is an Art Of Illusion. A particular Hair length is required to give the illusion of fullness and block the reflection of light off the scalp.
More hair length more shadow, more coverage.
It comes down to the law of physics, thick long hair will cover the scalp better than thin short hair. With thick, long hair the light does not reflect back as easily and less scalp is visible. As the goal of a hair transplant is to block the appearance of scalp there needs to be a compromise between graft density placed and the hair characteristics to achieve this.