Category: Hair Transplantation

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Hair Loss InformationHow Does a Surgeon Fill In a Hairline Without Causing Shock Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

How does a HT doctor, not recreate, but fill in an existing hairline without causing trauma to nearby follicles. Is shock loss inevitable because of close proximity to existing follicles?

Thanks

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We do not recommend surgery if we believe there is a greater risk of shock loss over the benefits of a hair transplant procedure. In other words, we do not blindly advise surgery to everyone.

If surgery is recommended, we use the smallest instruments and take great care to avoid trauma to adjacent existing hairs. There will be some trauma to the hairs, but the overall goal is to minimize this and make the hair transplant surgery worthwhile to be of a cosmetic benefit for the patient. This is one of the many reasons you must pick a doctor and the medical clinic with a good reputation and history of doing quality work.

The causes of shock hair loss after a hair transplant relate mainly to the age of the patient and the degree of miniaturization present at the time of the transplant. A patient with active hair loss who is under 28 years old has a higher risk of shock loss than a man over 40 who does not have active hair loss. The use of finasteride tends to protect the patient against shock loss, even in the patient under 28 years old.

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Transplanted Female Hairline (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Some women develop changes in their hairlines as they age that make them look more masculine due to receding corners. These defects are very evident in women with very dark hair and light skin (like the Asian patient below), more so than in women with blonde hair and white skin or brown hair with olive skin tones.

These changes occur with many women who undergo plastic surgery, as their hairlines are often negatively impacted by face lifts and brow lifts. The changes tend to become noticeable rapidly after their plastic surgery is done, while others who did not have any such cosmetic procedure will barely notice the changes as they occur very slowly over the years. There are many women who show miniaturization in the corners of the hairline that may eventually lead to the type of changes shown here.

We love doing these surgeries as the patients are most grateful.

The before photo is below on the left, the after photo is on the right. This was done in a single procedure of 1800 grafts, mostly in the corners with some work in the frontal hairline. The after photo was taken about 18 months after her surgery. Click to enlarge.

 

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Hair Loss InformationMy Surgeon Said Some Grafts Can Be Dormant a Year After My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

A year after a successful transplant I can still feel some grafts on my head that never shed a year later.

Hello doctor, it is about 12 months since my FUT procedure of 2350 grafts. I and all concerned are very pleased with the results. As expected by this stage, almost all of the grafts are grown out and have matured for quite some time now. However, I find it strange that in one or two areas of my head I can still feel some of the short shaved implanted hairs that never shed or started to grow in the whole 12 month period. Now this number is very small, im talking maybe only 10 to 15 hairs over my entire scalp, most of which are in the hairline region.

I discussed this with the transplant surgeon at my 12 month review, and he told me that it was acceptable that even after 12 months there may still be very small number of grafts still in the dormant phase, and that these would eventually grow out in time.

I was just wondering if you had ever come across this before and if it was normal? Perhaps my growth is just a little slower than average as I noticed my real thickening happened around month 9/10 as opposed to the normal month 6 that one usually reads about. I also have been on finasteride for the past 5 years.

Thank you and I appreciate any response you may have for me on this.

Kind regards

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You may also have the hair from the original transplant that just never shed and is just stuck in there (without shedding or growing). You can test this hypothesis by finding this “stubble” and gently tugging on it. If it slides right out, it may have been the original hair in the grafts from a year ago. Imagine a splinter stuck in your scalp. In this case, the splinter would be your inert hair.

Otherwise, your guess and your surgeon’s guess is as good as mine. I have no idea what you may actually be experiencing without an examination.

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How Many Hairs Would Need to Be Transplanted to Achieve 100% Density? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Rassman! I was just wondering where you got your degree?

I was also wondering how many hairs per square cm you would (theoretically) need to achieve the illusion of 100% density. 50%, 75%, 90%? Generally speaking of course.

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Well, if an average Caucasian male has 200 hairs per square centimeter, and 50% of this density can be perceived as normal density, you can say 100 hairs per square centimeter can achieve the fullness. But it really all depends on your hair color, skin color, hair length, hair texture, hair style, etc.

For example, if you have 100 hairs per square centimeter and you have black hair on white skin with a short, straight hair cut, it will not even look close to a fullness enjoyed by someone with 25 hairs per square centimeter, but with black hair, dark skin and long curly hair. My point is, to achieve the maximum illusion of density, it isn’t just strictly about the numbers. Hair color, character, and style are also very important factors.

As to your first question — all of the our resumes can be found here.

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Hair Loss Information5 Weeks After My Hair Transplant, I Think My Scar Is Going to Be Too Obvious – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,

I had 3050 grafts taken from my donor hair to create a hairline and add density to frontal area. so far so good, but 5 weeks after surgery and my first hair cut ( just blending in etc ) i have noticed that the donor hair area does not match up and its very obvious that i have had a procedure! now im worried that too many grafts were taken from certain areas at the back and It looks like Im going to have a constant “horse-shoe” shape on the back of my head! please tell me this is normal and it will grow and blend in to the rest of my hair

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Your doctor should have described what your scar will look like and how wide it may be. Many doctors and patients forget to address the potential scarring from hair transplant surgery. Some believe that only a strip procedure can leave a visible scar, but even a 3000 FUE surgery will leave a significant series of scars (3000+ dots).

It’s also possible that perhaps you just got your hair cut too short, and that is why your scar is visible.

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Hair Loss InformationMy Surgeon Said I’ve Exhausted My Donor Area After Multiple Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a 60 yo male. I’ve had multiple transplants via the strip method, most recently 2years ago. I’m pretty pleased with the results, but there is an area on the top toward the front where my hair is thinner than surrounding areas. It does not involve the hairline.

My surgeon told me I had exhausted the donor site after the last surgery. My ballpark guess is that 100-200 grafts would make a big difference.

1. Am I a candidate for FUE given my history?
2. If so, are 100-200 grafts a realistic expectation?
3. Do patients on Coumadin have to stop it prior to FUE surgery?

Thank you

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You might be a candidate for 200 graft FUE style, but we would have to evaluate you first. Each case is unique.

If you are on Coumadin (warfarin), I would consider still doing a limited FUE procedure, but you will almost certainly have some more bleeding than normal. This has to be discussed one-on-one with either Dr. Pak or myself.

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My Doctor Said I Need Laser Treatments After My FUE Procedure – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a 30 year old female and I had FUE last December, 600 grafts. Almost 7 months later, it seems like the grafts are not falling off. A couple of months ago, I got an infection due to one of the grafts not falling off and new hair already growing in the same place. My doctor had to use a needle and pull out the graft and i ended up with a bald patch. I have another bump on my scalp now due to the graft not falling off but it is not infected yet. My doctor is pushing me go for her laser treatment saying all my problems will clear up if I do.

Is it necessary to go for treatments like laser after an FUE?

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Most people will see the newly transplanted hair fall out and go through a dormant phase before regrowing months later, but some will see those grafts just start growing without going dormant. I am confused by what you’re describing about pulling grafts out months after surgery. After 7 months you should see some hair growth from the grafts you had transplanted. Lasers are not necessary to get the hair to grow.

Lasers treatments do not work for hair growth, for FUE scars, or ingrown hairs. As for bumps following a hair transplant, I’ve discussed that here.

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Hair Loss InformationWhen Can I Stop Sleeping On My Stomach After Having FUE Into My Strip Scar? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had fue into strip scar, 300 grafts were implanted to the scar. I slept 17 nights on my stomach post-op. I’m aware of the graft anchoring study from 06, but it was on a virgin scalp. My question is that was that 17 nights post-op enough for the grafts to secure in the scar? My doc said one week is enough and then I can start to sleep normally. The grafts were all singles and doubles. I’m white male, 26yrs.

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I agree with your doctor. A week should’ve been fine. Once the eschars are gone, the grafts are stable.

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Hair Loss InformationOther Uses for ACell in Hair Transplant Surgery? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

There have obviously been lots of inquiries on the forum about ACell’s ability to multiply hair, but I’m curious about a different use. I had a consultation with a doctor that advocated using ACell in the donor region to aid wound healing (which you’ve discussed), but also injecting into the graft areas-not for hair multiplication, but to thicken miniaturizing hairs in the grafted areas and promote growth of the grafted follicles; sort of a nourishing property, if you will.

This is a completely different use from the “plucking” application yes? Any thoughts about this use?

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ACell does not multiply hair. Some doctors, including myself, were involved in a year long study and the multiplication/plucking claims by the original doctors involved were false and unable to be replicated (see here and here). Otherwise, the entire hair transplant industry would have been changed by now (almost 2 years later).

Some doctors use ACell in the donor area to promote faster wound healing. It does not grow new hair there nor does it make the scar smaller. It just promotes healing faster. We have been using ACell at NHI for a couple years for this purpose and based upon our experience, I can say that there is no evidence presented anywhere that miniaturized hairs can be reversed with ACell.

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Hair Loss InformationTransplanting Wavy Hair – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am scheduled to go in for a consultation in two weeks for getting a procedure done. What I wanted to know, I have wavy hair but when it is short its not wavy. However, the wavy hair starts to come out on the top and front of my head first then the donor area follows a few week after. Wouldn’t that be a problem if I get a transplant b/c I will have straight hair in certain areas and then wavy hair?

Are most clinics required to develop a long term plan for future hair loss for a patient, and are they required to use devices to measure miniturization on the scalp for a patient?

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You should always start off with a Master Plan, created by you and your doctor based upon his findings during your examination. If you have wavy hair in the donor area it will grow out as wavy hair in the transplanted area.

There are no requirements to measure miniaturization. It is something I stress in my practice and on this site, but many doctors do not do this, nor do they measure bulk of the hair in the various parts of the scalp in the initial examination.