Hair Transplantation Surgery

What is hair transplantation?
People suffer from pattern baldness for various reasons, heredity leading the list. Stress, disease and harmful medication too can result in male pattern baldness and hair transplantation is the most effective solution for it. The process involves transplantation of the scalp’s hair-bearing portion onto the bald area. Thanks to recent technological advances hair transplantation is today considered one of the most convenient and affordable methods of medical hair restoration. No wonder it is so popular among the balding masses, though there are several alternatives to the hair transplantation method of medical hair restoration. Intake of Propecia is a prominent one. 

Hair Transplant Procedure 

 Why hair transplantation is favored
Hair transplantation is the most effective method of dealing with male pattern baldness. The surgery involves removal of the scalp’s hair-bearing portion and transplanting it onto the bald patch. Recent technological advances have made hair transplantation so convenient and affordable that it is today the most popular method of medical hair restoration.

Besides the hair transplantation method of medical hair restoration there are other options for surgical hair restoration, Propecia being a prominent one.

Procedure of hair transplantation

Hair transplantation surgery is a delicate affair calling for a series of precautions. In the surgery that takes about four hours the scalp is treated with certain antibacterial chemicals and then shampooed.

The surgery involves harvesting a strip of hair from the scalp’s hairy area, or the donor strip, that measures 1-1.5 x 15-30 cm. Great care is taken while removing the excess fatty tissue to ensure that the vital follicular cells come to no harm. Using binocular microscopes for close inspection the surgeon punctures the graft-receiving sites with a fine needle. These are then arranged according to a predetermined density and pattern and the individual grafts placed on the problem patches. Normally 50 grafts per square centimeter are considered enough for providing acceptable hair density.

When done properly this method of medical hair restoration can yield breathtaking results. It becomes hard to tell whether the hair is natural or been transplanted. Surgery is also convenient because much less time is used up in separating the follicular units and their transplantation in the problem areas.

In hair transplantation surgery it is also possible to save the follicular units from iatrogenic injuries that bedevil the dissection phase and during placement of grafts.

Precautions before and after surgery

Several precautions are taken while conducting hair transplantation surgery, of which the patient is informed in advance. S/he also decides whether to go in for single or multiple sessions. But it is important that no medicine other than the antibiotics prescribed by the surgeon is taken and the patient stays off alcohol for a designated period before surgery.

The operated area must not be shampooed or exposed to sunlight for some days after surgery. And don’t get scared if some of the hair falls off in the displaced area. This is part of the process of hair renewal and re-growth takes just a few months to resume.

After the hair transplantation surgery the patient loses hair in only the areas where none was transplanted. Whether to go in for medication or hair transplantation treatment of the untreated areas is the patient’s prerogative. But if he s/he has opted for surgery in one portion it makes sense to repeat it in the newly balding areas as well. For remember that medication isn’t half as effective as transplantation in these extreme cases.
 What is hair transplantation?
People suffer from pattern baldness for various reasons, heredity leading the list. Stress, disease and harmful medication too can result in male pattern baldness and hair transplantation is the most effective solution for it. The process involves transplantation of the scalp’s hair-bearing portion onto the bald area. Thanks to recent technological advances hair transplantation is today considered one of the most convenient and affordable methods of medical hair restoration. No wonder it is so popular among the balding masses, though there are several alternatives to the hair transplantation method of medical hair restoration. Intake of Propecia is a prominent one.
Causes of pattern baldness Most people who lose scalp hair are genetically predisposed to pattern baldness. Such people have a male hormone in their hair follicles, called testosterone, that gets converted into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase.

The effect of DHT on the hormone receptor in the hair follicle is to slow down hair production, thus resulting in weak hair. When that happens hair growth can cease completely. Baldness follows a certain set pattern. It’s usually the temples or the crown of the head that first start balding. Then it spreads to the other areas.

Stress is another cause of baldness. People who lead stressful professional or personal lives, and do not exercise enough, are more prone to baldness than those who are carefree.

Why men are the biggest sufferers

To find out whether men are more likely to suffer from pattern baldness than women you don’t need to consult an expert. Just look around you and you’ll have the answer. Yet why does this happen? The reason is biological. Women’s bodies to not produce the male hormone testosterone that causes male pattern baldness.

The production of testosterone in the male body continues throughout a person’s lifetime. A new supply of this hormone produced by the testicles is always on the way. To make space for these new supplies the older lot gets converted into di-hydro-testosterone (DHT). As the body ejects the DHT, a waste material, the hair follicles in the scalp get clogged and become incapable of holding on to the hair. This is what causes baldness.

People in the 20-45 age group are particularly vulnerable to male pattern baldness. To repeat, both hormonal and lifestyle factors can be the cause of male pattern baldness. Of all the methods of medical hair restoration it is hair transplantation that such people need to go in for.  Risk factors in hair transplantation
Hair transplantation is a highly effective method of medical hair restoration. In it the hair-bearing portion of the scalp is removed and transplanted on to the hairless one. What results is natural hair where there was none.

The risks involved in hair transplantation are minor and can include bleeding, infection and scarring. Pre-transplantation anxiety is less easy to quell due to the numerous misconceptions surrounding it. It is normal for patients to become jittery, especially while the hair transplantation surgery is in progress. The long time it takes tends to make the person undergoing surgery restless. Patients report varying degrees of discomfort at the donor site and of the forehead swelling up. The swelling, however, is temporary and recedes within days of surgery. A good surgeon prepares patients well in advance, so as to raise their comfort level and ensure speedy recovery.

Alternatives to surgical hair restoration

Hair transplantation is the only permanent method of hair restoration. There are also some medicines that, when used regularly over an extended period, slow down and, in some cases, even reverse baldness.

Among the medicines that assist medical hair restoration Minoxidil, marketed as Rogaine, is a popular one. It is applied on the scalp twice daily and acts variously on patients, depending on their constitution and the extent of baldness. Having applied the preparation the scalp should be massaged thoroughly, and the treatment pursued over an extended period.

Finasteride, marketed as Propecia, is another medicine which is sold in pill form and taken once a day. The Propecia hair loss treatment is known to work well in cases of male pattern baldness, but only if it is used over a long period of time.

There is also the camouflage solution. As the term implies these colored creams, sprays and powders camouflage the thinning hair areas on the scalp creating the illusion of hair in and about the area where it is thinning.

Painless hair transplantation

Hair transplantation techniques have seen various advances in recent times. All these ensure painless hair transplantation.

The Woods technique of follicular relocation offering painless hair transplantation is really quite different from traditional surgery, which is painful and can cause scarring. The Woods method involves transplanting of only hair and not the excess tissues, as is the case with the older techniques.

This means that the transplant site needs only to nourish the follicles, resulting in a higher take rate and a much lower risk of a fallout caused by localized shock. The method has benefited over 2,000 people so far.

Propecia

Propecia is a safe and reliable method of hair restoration. It prevents the conversion of the male hormone testosterone into di-hydro-testosterone (DHT). The production of testosterone in the testicles is unceasing during a man’s lifetime. As new supplies pour in the testosterone that was present earlier gets converted into DHT – a waste product. While it is getting ejected the DHT clogs the hair follicles of the scalp. As clogged air follicles are unable to hold hair it starts to fall.

The Propecia hair loss treatment blocks the conversion of testosterone into DHT. This hair restoration method uses a steroid type II alpha reductase, which works on the testosterone and synthesizes it in 5-alpha DHT.

Marketed as a pill, Propecia is taken once a day and the treatment continued for at least three months. The Propecia hair loss treatment, however, works only in the case of male pattern baldness.

Side effects of Propecia

The side effects of Propecia are minor, such as hypersensitivity, swelling of the lips and itching. Propecia side effects vary according to the patient’s constitution and disappear after the first few days of treatment, as the body gets adapted to its use.