Voila Health Tourism

Hair Transplant

Table of Contents

In recent years, it has become a global trend to popularize hair transplantation worldwide. Hair transplantation is the process of extracting hair roots from other areas of the body and transferring them to the scalp to restore hair in the areas of the scalp that are balding or thinning. It is the most commonly applied cosmetic surgery. The logical objective of hair transplantation is to enhance the look, and the latest innovative technology has a better possibility of meeting patients’ or clients’ objectives. In addition to the patient’s appearance, hair restoration surgery provides more permanent aesthetic and psychological benefits to the individual. Given the current state of their lives and careers, both men and women find hair loss and thinning to be psychologically and aesthetically uncomfortable.

The way people suffer from hair loss and accept it is deeply rooted in their culture, gender, age, etc. Each community has its way of considering hair, history, and approach to hair replacement treatment. Consequently, hair loss surgeries in this segment of the population are often shaped by clients’ goodwill and social characteristics, fashions, and expectations. While women have long accepted their feminine status and suffered from hair loss, the situation has improved considerably over the past decade, with a significant increase in the number of hair transplantation procedures being performed.

Definition and Purpose

Hair transplantation is a surgical technique in which hair grafts that contain hair follicles from very dense areas of the scalp are taken and transplanted into the bald or balding areas of the recipient. Hair follicles are the small clusters of hair that grow from the scalp normally. These hair follicles are taken from the donor area of the scalp, such as the back of the head, where denser hair is harvested and transplanted into the recipient area. Hair follicles grow at every part of the body. Each hair has different characteristics. Hair roots are like bulbs in the ground. Hair shafts do not grow uniformly; there are also rest periods. The structural substance of hair is keratin, which contains inclusions of water, lipids, and pigments.

The main purpose of hair transplantation is to make a balding person look younger with a natural appearance. Hair can influence someone’s mood and identity. There is a psychological effect that influences a person’s perception of themselves: people worry that the alteration in appearance following hair transplantation is too obvious to others or not good enough. Hair loss is a physical change that can occur in both men and women. Men with male-pattern hair loss can appear older and diminish the charm of their facial appearance, but hair transplants can make them look younger and restore lost beauty. Women with hair loss can have poor self-esteem that can impair their social or occupational potential, but hair transplants can restore their confidence and charm. Hair transplantation is an essential part of physical beauty restoration; in other words, it is performed for cosmetic and non-medical reasons.

Types of Hair Transplantation

Hair transplantation is a cosmetically driven treatment for patients with hair loss. It can significantly improve the aesthetic appearance of a person. In hair restoration practice, several procedures and surgical techniques are utilized for hair transplantation, which include FUT or Strip hair transplant and FUE. However, different techniques that have evolved over time offer significant advantages. The two techniques commonly used nowadays are DHI and Sapphire FUE hair transplantation. The DHI hair implantation process has a unique feature. The advantages of this process of hair transplantation in FUE and FUT hair implants are the direct implantation of collected Follicular Units directly into the recipient site due to the usage of the Choi implanter, which ensures very high and accurate follicular placement into the recipient site. The hair transplant with the Choi implant has increased acceptance due to its ‘no touch technique,’ usually referred to as a situation whereby grafts are not touched with forceps, unlike the other practices.

In contrast, the uniqueness of the Sapphire FUE procedure is related to the FUE procedure only. In extraction, the blade is used as an extraction tool in FUE hair transplant. Here, instead of the traditional steel blade used for channel opening in DHI, a sapphire tip blade is used for natural opening to ensure proper placement of the graft in the canal and better survival. These two contemporary FUE methods have been introduced recently. We will try to compare the technique and results of direct hair implantation (unshaven) DHI and the recently developed Sapphire FUE method for their technique, efficacy, and results.

Direct Hair Transplantation (DHI)

Direct Hair Transplantation (DHI) is a variation of the FUE method. In this technique, the harvesting of grafts is achieved by either manual extraction or by automated machines. The unique characteristic of DHI is the simultaneous implantation of grafts as soon as they are harvested, preventing them from staying outside the body for long. The procedure is carried out using the DHI implanter, which is a specialized tool available in different sizes. Insertion of grafts into the skin is performed in the forward direction, which allows the foldable H’s to be placed in the scalp for the whole incision length. The close placement of grafts into the skin mimics the pattern of transplanted hair to the natural hair, giving a natural look to the transplanted photo result. Further, the high graft survival rate is attributed to the reduced risk of damage to the hair follicles. For the same number of grafts, a denser hair volume is achieved in comparison to traditional hair transplant methods, and a quicker recovery and less discomfort are reported after the operation.

DHI is offered as a superior technique on account of the implantation of follicles directly after being harvested from the scalp, reducing the waiting period. Results from a case study demonstrated the effectiveness of DHI. A patient reported that he experienced hair growth after three months and complete growth after a year. Patients also report that hair transplant operations are more comfortable with the use of DHI.

Sapphire FUE Hair Transplant

The Sapphire FUE Hair Transplant tool uses an extremely fine rotating tip, positioned at a precise angle, which dramatically improves the creation of a recipient site. This means the hair implants can be implanted in your desired direction, thus making the angle more precise and natural, resulting in an arguably improved outcome. The Sapphire blades may help us reduce scarring, thus removing the possibility of white dotting when removing follicles with sharp metal instruments. A significant positive of employing Sapphire blades when performing the FUE technique is the advanced implanting ability. Unlike the metal blades used for extraction, the rotation of the sapphire prevents injury to the tissue due to oscillations. Being much thinner and initially sharper, the point of the sapphire blades makes a more precise cut, which means a better healing process, and the completely disinfected tips guarantee no disease transfer for our patients. Furthermore, the shape and proportion of the sapphire blade combine in a very revolutionary way with the rest of the device to make the extraction and implantation process for the patient more comfortable. This ensures a more ergonomic approach that reduces obstruction under the skin. Placing precision of depth, angle, and direction of the implanted hairs where we want allows us to successfully conduct the hair transplant process in finer hair, including beards, sideburns, and much more using the same procedure for the best result.

Procedure and Techniques

Hair transplantation is a popular procedure used to treat hair loss and restore hair to areas where hair has thinned or balded. The procedure is most commonly used to restore hair to the scalp, though it is also used for beards, eyebrows, and eyelashes. The primary procedure involves extracting and placing hair follicles into sections of the scalp or desired area of coverage. Extraction placement is also important for the number of sessions required for maximum results.

The donor area should be of high quality, and this is one of the factors affecting hair follicle survival in a healthy manner. Then the three- or two-step surgery begins, composed of the following techniques for extraction: There are two different techniques. The Direct Hair Implantation technique involves the single-step surgery of hair transplantation. First, the hair is extracted, and then it is immediately planted. The donor area will be selected, and the patient will be asked to lie in the surgery room. In some clinics, water treatment is done, and then the extraction step is started from the donor area, with each hair planted in the bald area directly. In contrast, the FUE method involves the extraction of the hair without directly implanting it, while a step is done such as choosing the donor area. The distributor may shave the surgical area to provide a workspace before positioning the head at a level to facilitate the removal of grafts easily. Scabs that start to fall off after about ten days lead to an increase and decrease in hair growth. Shedding begins at about two weeks, and fresh hair regrowth is evident going forward. It can take a few weeks to a few months for new hair to reach the desired length.

Donor Area Selection and Extraction

In hair transplantation, the donor area is where the hair is extracted to be used as a graft for the bald recipient area. The characteristics of a good donor site include a stable amount of growing hair or hair that is not influenced by androgenic alopecia and a high density of follicular unit complexes. The smoothness of the transition from normal density areas to areas of different density is as important as the density itself. No matter how low the donor density is, where the donor hair is harvested must represent the highest level of donor hair density.

Donor grafts should have optimal characteristics. Grafts that are to be transplanted or many varieties and types should have some uniform characteristics. The most important shared characteristic is the length of the shaft of the hair and the distance between individual follicles. The premium grafts are harvested and prepared carefully. The difference in length between a group of hair with a diameter of 0.1 mm and a group of hair with a diameter of 1 mm is greater than the difference between two hairs with any design in hair diameter and distribution. Regardless of the value of the selected cut diameter, if the graft does not measure the selected value at the level where the surgery is conducted, the selected cut size is of no use. Technique selection; the surgeon must have enough confirmatory skills and must be able to carefully examine each and every patient. The selection is an ongoing task that takes shape as every step is taken within the preoperative and intraoperative periods.

Recipient Site Preparation and Implantation

Recipient site preparation is as important as graft preparation. There are several factors influencing it, including the number of hair follicles in one graft, direction of the terminal hair, and hairline design. In hair transplantation, the recipient site refers to the area in which the hairs are going to be implanted. Therefore, recipient site puncturing is another critical step that affects the success of hair transplantation. In order to increase graft success, recipient site puncturing must be performed in a way that decreases unnecessary trauma. This is possible with the help of an experienced surgical team and an anesthetized operation area.

At the implantation sites, anteriorly located sites should be transplanted with one hair graft, while two or three hair grafts should be transplanted at the posteriorly located sites. Different hair angles should be determined according to the local anatomy of the scalp hairs. The angle of the exit surface from the skin is only 10 degrees when we consider the frontal area of the head. Additionally, the angle’s change while reaching the vertex area in the markings must be taken into consideration. If this change hasn’t been considered, subsequent implants will be blamed. Hair in the vertex permits only one length, one angle, and one oval result, so we cannot obtain an optimal result. Creating an unusually great angle and a very small angle in the same area can always have disadvantages in terms of aesthetics. The most proper adjustment is to achieve a good angle of the hair root and place the grafts without any pressure. The dermis is a laminated and glandular texture layer located under the epidermis.

Benefits and Risks of Hair Transplantation

To reap all the benefits of hair transplantation, people must understand that it is a modified procedure that helps only with some of the problems mentioned above. People should also be aware that hair transplantation has several benefits, but it also has some risks. Benefits 1. The main advantage of these surgeries is an improvement in an individual’s appearance, which may lead to a better quality of life. 2. If a person is dissatisfied with his or her current appearance because of hair loss or other conditions, hair transplant surgeries might offer some improvements in poor self-esteem. 3. This is a minimally invasive procedure that allows a reasonable number of grafts to be successfully implanted to the thinning or bald area without causing significant harm to the individual. 4. Clinical studies have reported a high level of patient satisfaction with the outcomes of hair transplant procedures. Risks 1. In the donor area, people might encounter multiple difficulties after the procedure. Some of them are temporary, while others are not, such as the possibility of scarring, cysts, itching, and pain. 2. In the recipient area, individuals might suffer from slow healing, deformity, scarring that can distort the hair shaft angle, or other conditions. There is the possibility of graft failure in some cases, especially when they slip off at the time of surgery or fall out postoperatively after several days. Preventive tips for safe hair transplantation Avoiding failure in hair transplantation can only be achieved by choosing a reliable dermatologist, their team, and operation room as well as patients’ compliance with the precise pre- and postoperative guidelines.

Advantages

Hair transplantation has various advantages over other hair restoration techniques. The best benefit of hair transplantation is that it is a permanent solution to hair loss. Whereas hairpieces need daily maintenance, bald spot spray re-application, and visits to the salon, hair transplantation needs only an occasional visit to the barbershop, as the transplanted hair grows and needs cutting in a natural way. Another advantage of hair transplantation is the improvement in aesthetic appearance. Many patients who looked older than their actual age before surgery felt that baldness had made their facial skin susceptible to wrinkling. After hair transplantation, they felt that they regained the years lost to baldness and looked younger. Patients have reported that they feel younger based on their new appearance. Some patients who have undergone hair restoration believe that good results can provide restoration of a complete head of hair after hair loss, but typically these expectations are unrealistic.

Practitioners of follicular unit extraction have suggested that modern hair transplant techniques are minimally invasive and have a quick recovery time. Their advertisements and other materials regarding the minimally invasive nature and quick recovery are accompanied by images showing a patient being physically active extremely soon after the procedure. In their commercials, practitioners claim that because of the appearance of greater quantities of plucked hair, the patient can return to their workplace on the third day after surgery, thus reducing the total cost of hair transplantation. However, in recent years, there has been increased mention of patient satisfaction. The results of qualitative studies, and not the patients’ degree of satisfaction regarding hair restoration, have been mentioned previously. In this study, interviews with physicians suggest that hair restoration could have the advantage of improving a patient’s self-esteem after treatment. The extent of resulting satisfaction determines each patient’s point of optimal treatment.

Potential Complications

Many complications may arise during hair transplantation due to factors such as disease, tissue-related issues, or grafted follicles. Following hair transplantation, the most common issues noted are inflammation, infection of the tissues adjacent to the graft, and swelling. This can cause several morbid problems in the donor area, such as scarring. Therefore, the recipient and donor areas should be selected carefully for the preservation of follicle integrity in the surrounding region. As another associated hair disease that results in scarring of the area on which it occurs, accurate diagnosis is mandatory for its treatment. It has been shown that LPP, with a higher proportion in FFA, is the most common scarring form in the post-operative period in both the recipient and donor areas. As FFA, a refractory form of LPP, results in smooth alopecia scars, sub-optimal outcomes are often seen in hair transplantation, especially if the patient does not respond to oronasal conditions or steroids.

Transplantation can also be performed in areas without evidence of subclinical infections without using any antibiotic prophylaxis. Nonetheless, complications under non-pharmacological therapy support are extremely rare. Hair transplantation can lead to a temporary “shock loss” in people shortly after the operation, which is another growth disorder. With knowledge of the potential early complications from hair transplantation, potential candidates can significantly reduce hair restoration patient postoperative issues by consistently following medical instructions. Drug education has also been shown to reduce the percentage of individuals experiencing complications during surgery. Therefore, this aspect is an integral part of the process for the possibility of minor negative effects related to hair recovery. Moreover, it is feasible that local anesthesia is not completely painless in all patients. Thus, there may arise pain and swelling during the intra-operative period in the donor and recipient areas.

FAQS

The success rate of hair transplants is generally quite high at around 90-95%. The possibility of follicle re-growth may be enhanced by taking finasteride after the procedure. The treatment time is relatively long as the transplanted hair takes around 12-18 months to show the final result. Some people may experience pain due to needle injection used to deliver the anesthetic. Once the anesthesia starts working, the pain is virtually negligible during the procedure. Very rarely, some clients may not have a sufficient anesthetic effect and report mild pain. Women may have a slightly higher pain threshold with a greater chance for the needles to be more uncomfortable during the procedure. Many women successfully go through the procedure with no complaints about pain. Anesthetic solution containing both saline and adrenaline is used, which significantly decreases the normal likelihood of bleeding. Virtually no blood may be seen on most clients after completion of the procedure, and there should be no immediate post-procedure scalp pain. The time taken for recovery can range from 5 to 10 days for the donor and 10-14 days on average for the recipient area. Factors such as complexion and hair loss level can also influence the period for recovery in some individuals. The expected result may be slightly increased by finasteride, but it is not essential for the success of the procedure and can be found to give the same satisfactory results based on previous experience. Transplanted hair is permanent and is intended to stay with clients for the rest of their lives. However, to prevent future hair loss, future hair loss treatment immediately after the procedure may be recommended.

What is the success rate of hair transplants?

Regarding the success of hair transplants, many hair transplant surgeries move tens of thousands of grafts, indicating that hair transplants are successful. In hair transplant terminology, the success of a hair transplant is typically understood in terms of graft “take.” Graft take indicates the survival rate of the transplanted follicles and is one of the primary clinical parameters. It reflects how a procedure was designed to avoid trauma versus how the body of the patient responded to it. The following subsections elaborate on these points. With contemporary methods of transplantation, the survival rates are considered to be well in excess of 85-90 percent. No variables are 100 percent reliably correlated with graft take, but survival rates typically reflect the quality and design of the procedure itself, the skill and experience of the team, and patient care, especially in the first five days post-op. It risks ascribing a degree of diagnostic ability to aesthetic results that is unwarranted. It is thus not an appropriate question to ask directly, and only volume can directly answer the exact graft take. Robustly collated data and census analysis demonstrate that the reputed hair transplant surgeons have success rates starting at 85-95 percent for giga- and super-mega sessions, which continue to be maintained at 85-90 percent. Legitimate expectations are thus very important. The art of hair transplantation also shares some characteristics with that of painting or having a haircut. Satisfaction is a function of individual preferences, and few professionals can guarantee universal results. Notwithstanding this, nearly 70 percent of clients report maximum satisfaction. If this trend is maintained in the full sample, then it means that appropriately planned and well-performed hair transplantation surgeries have a low risk of failure.

Is a hair transplant painful?

One of the most important worries of people who have not yet had hair transplantation is whether they feel pain during surgery. We probably inject the lowest amount of local anesthetic drugs among all plastic surgery operations. In other surgeries, a larger volume of serum is used during septic operations. In hair transplantation, an average of a smaller volume of local anesthetic is used. Pain during hair transplantation is no more than 20 seconds. To minimize the discomfort that may occur, a series of spray-based medications are used in the field of operations. The brain mainly feels pain during the use of a micromotor in the back of the head; cosmetically, a specific device is desired. Stopping bleeding, taking regular sunlight, exercising, and avoiding medications such as aspirin are also important. Patients with lower pain perception generally express that they feel less pain in the forehead, temple, and above the head, often with a smile. Hair transplantation, which is performed under local anesthesia, can sometimes be uncomfortable. You can be completely comfortable without feeling pain by explaining your concerns to the surgeon during the hair transplantation. Minor discomfort and pain can occur up to three days after the end of hair transplantation. You may experience postoperative pain, but with the prescribed medications, you should be comfortable, and pain at bedtime will not be seen in those who use the medications regularly.