Hair transplants: how do they work?

              Thinning hair is no longer something you have to grin and bear.

When discussing ideals of male attractiveness many people mention a classic V-shape physique that widens at the shoulders and tapers at the waist. Others talk of six-packs or bulging biceps. Some will mention a full and shiny head of hair.

But while the first two have always been within men’s control – to some extent at least – the third has, until recently, been outside it, predetermined by genetics. We can all lose weight or bulk up if we put our minds to it, but without resorting to unsatisfactory ‘solutions’ such as wigs and toupees, going bald was something men just had to live with.

And that meant a lot of unhappy men. By the age of 35 around two-thirds of men have some degree of hair loss. By 50, 85% of men have significantly thinning hair. One surprising statistic is that out of all men who suffer from male pattern baldness (MPB) 25% have started to lose hair before the age of 21.

Devastating effects

Does any of that matter? After all, baldness might be the subject of jokes and gentle teasing, but it’s hardly a serious medical condition. Do we need a ‘cure’ for baldness at all?

Many of those affected would say that we do. Contrary to popular belief, many men agonise over their hair loss, and admit that going bald can cause problems with their relationships and self-confidence. Hair loss may be something men banter about in the pub, but deep down a thinning mane is rarely a laughing matter.

A solution?

The good news is that solutions to hair loss are now a reality, above and beyond ill-fitting hairpieces. Products have now been officially recognised as stopping or preventing hair loss. On top of that, the number of men going for surgical hair restoration is rocketing.

Part of the reason for the sudden surge in hair transplant surgery is a new confidence in modern procedures, according to Dr XYZ, surgeon at XYZ.

“Hair transplant surgery has taken massive strides over the last, say, 15 years,” he explains. “Most notably, we have moved from plug surgery to single follicular surgery which provides patients with very effective and natural-looking results.”

What happens during hair transplantation?

During this type of hair transplant a surgeon will harvest hair follicles from a donor site on the body (usually the back of the head) and transplant them in naturally occurring ‘follicular units’, containing between one and four hairs, to the affected area. The beauty of the treatment is that it mimics nature, giving a far more natural appearance than previous techniques.

However, the final appearance to some extent depends on the donor site, and the density of hair available to transplant.

“There are limitations to what you can achieve via surgery if you only have a small donor site to work with and if this is the case, you have to carefully manage the expectations of the patient,” says Dr XYZ.

A thorough consultation prior to surgery gives patients a good idea of what they can expect from the treatment. “Hair transplant surgery today is very precise and the final results are more predictable than ever before,” says Dr XYZ.

But that precision does come at a cost, and a considerable one. Depending on the patient and the nature of the transplant, the procedure typically costs between ?????? and ??????, though occasionally it can cost a lot more. Other potential side-effects – affecting more than just the wallet – include scarring at the donor site and swelling or numbness of the scalp.

On top of that, not all transplanted follicles grow new hair, with a failure rate of around 5% - 15% of transplanted roots deemed acceptable.

Not an overnight cure

A hair transplant can often be achieved in a single session, and some patients are ready to go back to work the next day, though others take a few days off. But what won’t happen overnight is a new head of hair. In fact the real results of the transplant won’t be obvious for many months.

“It’s a very emotional journey for the patient and the key is to manage the patient’s expectations right from the start – unlike other procedures, there is no overnight result,” says Dr XYZ. “Patients will start seeing results from round 9-12 months from the op date – this for some is a lifetime and explaining that the transplanted hair will fall out soon after the op is devastating for some. However, if they sit tight and follow all the post-operative care guidelines, the results will come.”

Patients needed to understand that shedding transplanted hair is not the sign of a failed operation. Some patients also suffer from shock loss, when hair falls out due to the trauma inflicted on the scalp during the procedure.

This can be upsetting but, again, temporary. The real results, when they occur, tend to match or exceed patient expectations. “Some patients really don’t believe that this procedure works and delivers results,” says Dr XYZ. “However, in terms of all the surgical procedures we offer at Transform, this, for many, is the procedure that has the most dramatic results. It really is life-changing for the patient involved.”

"Part of the article have been borrowed from the internet with due thanks to the owner of the content."