What is Hair Transplant?

Hair transplantation is slowly and steadily becoming a very popular and even cost effective way of regaining youth. But as it is a surgical process, people thinking of going for it have several common doubts regarding the process.

1. How does hair transplantation work?

Answer : Hair transplantation is really about transplanting the bald resistant hair follicles from the back of the head to the balding areas on the top of the head.

2. Does it work for a lifetime?

Answer : This process mostly works for a lifetime because the hair follicles taken from the back of the head are genetically resistant to baldness.

3. How long does hair transplantation take?

Answer : It depends on the extent of baldness or to be precise the number of grafts that needs to be planted. A typical session involves a full day of surgery with several breaks.

4. Will my hair transplant results look completely natural?

Answer : Completely. No one can tell by any means that you have undergone the surgery.

5. Does it hurt?

Answer : Patients are given local anesthesia in the donor and recipient areas. Most patients find that once the anesthesia is given that they feel no pain or discomfort during the surgery. Following surgery patients will typically feel some amount of soreness and numbness, with some mild discomfort. Most patients are pleasantly surprised by how minimal the discomfort from the surgical procedure is.

6. What is the recovery time?

Answer : With today’s technology, process is very less intrusive and thus healing is much faster. Most patients feel fine within a day or two following surgery, although some numbness and mild soreness can be expected for several days following surgery.

7. Can hair be transplanted from one person to another?

Answer : A hair transplant between individuals can only be performed on identical twins, since they are genetically the same. In all other cases, including non-identical siblings, the transplanted hair will be rejected. We are often asked how it is that one can perform kidney transplants from one person to another, but not hair transplants. The reason is that the skin is more antigenic than a kidney, i.e. it is more likely to be rejected. The reason is complex, but this makes sense considering that the skin is the first line of defense against foreign organisms.

8) When will my newly transplanted hair start to grow?

Answer : Normally it takes between three to five months following surgery before the transplanted hair follicles begin to grow new hair. The transplanted hair grows in very thin initially and gradually grows thicker and fuller over time. After one year a patient’s transplanted hair will be fully mature and will continue to grow for a life time.

So while the options are aplenty, one should do a bit of research about the processes, facilities and surgeons before zeroing onto one clinic.