Hair Transplants and You

Lot of people in Chennai come to us asking several questions about hair transplants. Hence we decided to write this blog story hoping to answer all your questions. The cost for a hair transplant is formidable, we’re talking thousands of rupees no matter what. Whether you got a little hairline recession or you got some serious baldness showing.  It is almost surprising how many women undergo this surgery, I say “almost” because it is actually not that a shocker that women would feel more pressured to have the proper hairline than many men, for whom a bald pate is stigma only to those who feel inadequate without their hair – and there are plenty – and for whom dropping that kind of money on hair is simply not going to happen.

To sign up for a hair transplant just go online and start shopping.  You would also be smart to check the reviews of whomever you are interested in to do the transplant.  Since most people who really want to do a hair transplant will pay whatever, the cost is still very high for this surgery.  There are of course other reasons than balding for getting a transplant, such as the restoration of eyebrows, chest hair, pubic hair, and to fill in scars left by accidents or surgery.  Many websites will offer a way to estimate your cost without even placing a call or making an appointment.

The basic procedure involves removing hair from a part of the body that is resistant to balding and transplanting it to a spot that is in need of hair through accident, surgery, balding etc.  The latest hair transplant technique is not the same as a skin graft, where swatches of skin are removed hair and all.  Only certain types of hair follicles are removed and transplanted helping to match your natural hair perfectly.

Methods for scalp transplant:

Strip Harvesting is the where a strip of scalp with hair is removed and cut into small pieces called grafts.  These grafts are then sutured to the balding area leaving scars that will show unless the hair is long.  Recovery time is less than a month.  There will be pain, and stitches to remove.

Follicular Unit Extraction is the harvesting individual hair follicles and reinserting them in the bald or balding area using micro punches for the removal and micro blade for the insertion. This is the latest technique but may not be better than strip harvesting since the survival rate of the follicles is lower without the piece of scalp and multiple treatments are likely.  There will be less pain and much shorter recover period, and no stitches to remove, however. After an FUE procedure, there may not be a suitable strip of scalp left for a graph if the transplant is not satisfying. In case you are interested, we did an in-detail review of FUE Hair Transplant in Chennai a few days back.

Like any surgery, anesthetic will be involved along with a cleansing of the area (shampoo), and antibiotics.  No smoking or drinking before the procedure or your grafts may not take.  Apparently when you go home all of that newly transplanted hair will fall out, only to be replaced in a few short days by newly grown follicles.

Note:  You may have to repeat this surgery if your “regular” hair continues to thin while your transplanted hair stays new.