Hair Replacement Surgery
Hair replacement surgery techniques have improved significantly in the past years. An aging population and the advances in the surgical procedures have resulted in more and more people seeking options to replace lost or thinning hair.
Causes of Hair Loss
Two out of three men and one out of five women will experience some form of hair loss. Men can look at the older men in their family to predict if they will experience hair loss, as it is generally hereditary. Women experience hair loss mainly due to hormonal changes that occur during menopause. There are other causes of hair loss such as diseases or accidents, but hair loss is not caused by wearing hats, dandruff, vitamin deficiencies or poor circulation in the scalp.
Candidates for Hair Replacement
A good candidate for hair replacement surgery will have healthy hair growing on the back and the sides of the scalp. This hair is called donor hair, and is the hair that is used to replace the lost or augment thinning hair. A person that is totally bald is not a good candidate for hair replacement. Hair that is light in color results in a better outcome than dark hair, and coarse hair works better than hair that is very fine. Coarse, light hair gives the hair replacement a greater density so it looks fuller.
There are different types of hair replacement techniques that can be performed depending on the condition of the current hair. Punch, mini, micro, slit or strip graft techniques are generally used on those who just want a small change in the fullness hair appearance. For those desiring a more dramatic change, flaps or scalp reduction procedures can be performed.
Men suffering from male pattern baldness are teh best candidates for hair replacement, along with thos who have hair that is thinning at the crown. Several grafts may be necessary over time, since hair often continues to recede throughout a male’s lifetime.
Most hair replacement surgeons highly recommend a frank discussion about expectations before embarking on the hair replacement surgery. Often people have higher expectations than can be reasonably achieved.
Hair Replacement Surgery
The actual procedure for hair replacement typically requires several sessions, with a waiting period of a few months between each session. Small pieces of scalp, called grafts, are removed from the side or back of the head and moved to the bald area or where the hair is thinning. Punch grafts are round in shape and have about 15 hairs in them. Small grafts may only have up to four hairs. Strip grafts are long and have up to 40 hairs in each graft.
Tiny slits are made in the scalp and the grafts are inserted. They are placed so that all the hair will grow in a natural direction. Several grafts of small amounts of hair can be used to make the resutls look more natural.
When using flap surgery, the surgeon will actually suture a graft of hair onto the scalp. Though there may be scars, these will be covered by the hair as it grows in. Scalp reduction surgery removes the bald area and stretches the scalp area with hair to cover the bald sections.
Newly grafted hair almost always falls out within the first six weeks. New growth of hair can take up to 12 weeks to fully develop. Patchy areas may have to be filled in to get a more natural look.
The cost for hair replacement surgery averages around $3.00 to $8.00 per graft. The cost often decreases with the number of sessions. A consultation with a hair transplant surgeon can provide a good estimate of the total cost for a hair surgery procedure based on the condition of the hair.