First and foremost, you will notice that seek the advice of one’s GP before taking any pursuit. It is also vital to source a reputable, qualified hair loss expert who can provide careful assessment and facilitate transplant surgery via a seasoned surgeon.
In order to be considered for transplant surgery, you must have a significant amount of good quality existing or ‘donor’ hair. Serious hair loss which occurs a single area e.g. the crown is planning to be suitable for hair transplantation. Unfortunately large areas of total hair loss are not deemed suitable for transplantation as the rate of success of re-growth is minimal.
You must also be in general excellent health. Hair transplant is major surgery, performed under local anaesthetic with an associated recovery period. To make sure that the surgery as a success, you ought to fit and healthy and ideally you won’t suffer any other major medical environments.
There are also age constraints associated with hair transplant medical procedure. Candidates should be over 18 but many experienced surgeons won’t perform a hair surgery on young adults. This is because genetic or natural hair is yet to occur and will affect the transplanted hair. Conveniently in your late 20s or early 30s, hair loss can still transpire. This means if you undergo surgery, the actual hair could fallout and it’s a waste of your investment!
It’s worth noting that there are new surgical techniques involved in hair transplants. One option is FUE – Follicular Unit Extraction – which means that hairs are individually extracted from the rear of the head and re-planted across the area. This is a lengthy, pain-staking process but the result is minimal scarring and also a very natural-looking hairline. The other main technique employed in hair transplantation is FUT – Follicular Unit Transplantation. This technique involves taking a larger area or ‘strip’ of hair about the back of the head, dividing it into smaller units and then re-planting those units each morning desired area of hair loss. Scarring can be a little more conspicuous at the back of the head as being a larger area may be removed but an elite surgeon will minimise incision marks certain that rapid healing.
Hair transplants do of course utilise your own natural hair and re-growth can be expected within 4 weeks of surgery. Great care must be used during your recovery period to protect the newly-transplanted fur. However, once it is deemed safe to resume normal activities, the results can be life-transforming. A successful hair transplant is permanent and can restore confidence and self-esteem.
International Hair Institute – Hair Transplant Chicago
50 E Washington St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 854-3899