Transplanting hair grafts and scalp flaps are 2 of the more innovative and modern surgical procedures for hair replacement being employed today. Both of these are extremely effective where replacement of lost or thinning hair is concerned and have become extremely popular over recent years. There is a recovery period and certain precautions to be aware of once you have had a surgical hair replacement procedure performed. You want to be sure and follow these recommendations and the recovery should proceed smoothly.
Take a baseball cap to wear after the surgery is done – do not use a fitted one. It must be adjustable. The cap will help you avoid any damage to the affected scalp areas and help to prevent any infection from occurring. Although the surgical hair grafts will be clearly visible after your surgery, you’ll want to keep the cap a bit looser than you would normally wear it, because if it is too tight, it will restrict blood flow which will eventually damage the hair grafts.
Take all medications as instructed – your hair replacement surgeon is going to prescribe specific medications for you to take once the surgery is completed, including:
- an antibiotic for fighting infection
- a mild steroid to prevent swelling
- a pain reliever
Make sure you follow the physician’s instructions on each of these medications. This will ensure that they work properly and there are no complications.
Leave your hair alone for up to 2 days – this includes shampooing it after you have had the replacement surgery performed. After a couple of days, it should be alright to shampoo the hair but you want to be careful for the next couple of weeks as well. Be gentle when you are shampooing and try to refrain from normal scrubbing like you would have done prior to the procedure.
Keep the scalp protected and covered for up to 2 weeks – you want to avoid direct sunlight and covering the hair will help with that. You also want to stay fairly inactive for the first 2 weeks after the surgery. Normal chores and shopping are okay but no strenuous exercise is allowed.
Leave the scabs alone – grafted areas are always going to scab over after the hair replacement surgery and they will inevitably start to itch. This is a good sign that the surgery is healing properly. They should start falling off within 1 to 2 weeks, but if they don’t, shampoo your hair a little more vigorously.
Laser hair replacement is now one of the more innovative and recent technologies being used for the treatment of hair loss. It is currently being viewed as a very effective hair replacement technique. When it is used during the replacement process along with taking Propecia or applying Rogaine, it is producing some outstanding results for the individual who employs either of these methods. In some instances, loss stoppage as well as pronounced re-growth of thicker hair has been documented.
Currently, there are different types of this hair replacement procedure available in the market today. When you are consulting with your replacement surgeon, they are going to be able to accurately determine which these methods will best target your personal needs. The following is a list of information that will educate you as to the different laser methods or techniques that you currently have to choose from.
Laser Combs – the laser comb is a device that you can employ at home for hair replacement therapy. Your hair loss specialist or surgeon may recommend this along with the in-office replacement procedures that are performed. When the device is brushed through the hair and over the scalp, additional therapy is applied to enhance your results that you achieved at the surgeon’s office. Always consult with your hair replacement surgeon for any recommendations as there are a number of these types of products now available.
Laser Luce LDS 100
One of the more effective laser hair replacement techniques currently available [click to continue…]
Laser hair replacement is one of the newer surgical replacement methods currently being used today in the industry. This particular replacement technique increases the scalp’s blood flow and assists in re-growing lost or thinning hair. The surgical procedure has shown to thicken hair in many of the recorded cases and is now a very popular procedure as a result. However, people are still asking the question “does this surgical technique really work?”
How laser hair replacement works
Laser hair replacement surgery involves removing a donor strip of scalp tissue containing hair follicles that are DHT-resistant. These follicles are typically removed from the back of the scalp. DHT is the hormone that builds up in the hair follicles and causes baldness where both men and women are concerned. The hair grafts used can be transplanted anywhere on the scalp or a person’s skin and there is minimal risk that they will fall out. The laser punches small holes in the balding areas of the scalp and the grafts are then transplanted into them.
Post-operative recovery and care
Your hair replacement surgeon will advise you of certain “do’s and don’ts” that you need to pay attention to once the surgery has been performed. Most importantly, you don’t want to wash your hair for up to 2 days and also make sure that there is no scratching of the scalp during this period. Try to avoid [click to continue…]
There are numerous nuances of hair replacement procedure that you are curious to know about but do not know where to ask. Most of the individuals contemplating the surgical operation have many questions such as:
Where will be the surgery done?
Are there different types of anesthesia that the surgeon will use?
What will happen during surgery?
To begin with, most of the hair replacement surgeries are held in the surgeon’s facility or as an outpatient based center. Only in rare cases, it might require hospitalization. Irrespective of the technique used, all of the replacement of hair procedures are conducted under local anesthesia and may require sedation for higher relaxation. Even though you may not feel the pain, tugging and pressure can be felt during the surgical operation. However during flaps and advanced surgical grafting procedures, general anesthesia is given.
The most anticipated phase of the replacement procedure is the [click to continue…]
As with any surgical procedure, hair replacement surgery entails numerous risks that must be clear to you before you actually go ahead with the procedure. The chances of things going wrong can happen during and after the hair replacement operation and includes infections, scarring and failure of the surgery.
The worst that can happen is that the complete procedure can fail, deemed as an unsuccessful surgical process. Well, it entails quite many things such as complete fallout of hair follicles or the transplanted hair follicles die. In other words, it means that the balding spots will remain as no new hair will grow there. Additionally, failure of hair replacement surgery is also termed when there is irregular growth of new hair due to patchy transplantations. Thus, to remedy the unsuccessful surgeries, another hair replacement procedure will be needed. The fact remains, the more surgeries you get done, higher are the chances of scarring and infections.
The other complications associated with replacement surgeries include:
Infections
Any post surgical care requires constant monitoring for infections. Even though surgeons and doctors take all care for proper sterilization and after care procedures, infections are common occurrences. The main reasons for this is weaken body and fresh sutures which make the area susceptible to infections. As in any other operation, hair replacement surgical infections are [click to continue…]
Even though hair replacement procedure can change the level of self confidence with a different appearance, but it is not necessary that you’ll look like your ideal. However, it is important to know all the pros and cons of the replacement of hair procedures and discuss your apprehensions with the surgeon. Though the basis of all hair replacement procedures focus on the re-use of existing hair and the surgeon looks at the best options.
Before the procedure can begin, the surgeon will evaluate the hair growth on the sides and at the back of the scalp which serve as donor areas. The surgeon will take flaps of skin or grafts of the scalp from the donor areas to transplant them on the balding patches. The results of the hair replacement procedure cosmetic effects are affected by textures, waviness and hair colors. Though there are a variety of techniques used in the replacement surgery sometimes, the surgeon may use two or more techniques to get the desired effect. Some of the common techniques include:
- mini-grafts
- punch grafts
- micro-grafts
- slit grafts
- strip grafts
These are some of the common techniques that are done on patients requiring [click to continue…]
Apart from the punch grafting technique, there are other hair replacement methods that use grafting as a method to re-grow hair on spots where there is thinning of hair.
Grafting
Though there are numerous types of grafts that are done for hair replacement procedure, basically the surgeon uses a scalpel and cuts a small section of the scalp with hair. This small portion of the hair bearing tissue is further dissected and then transplanted into slits within the scalp. During the operation or surgical process, three is periodic injections of salt-saline water to ensure that the skin strength is maintained and the skin does not wrinkle. Most of the donor graft areas are closed with stitches. The punch holes need just one stitch while the larger flap graft areas require straight line stitching. Sometimes it results in wide scars. Usually these scars are concealed with the hair surrounding it.
All grafts are spaced out to ensure healthy blood circulation and healing. The spaces between grafts will be later transplanted with hair to maintain the smooth flow of hair. The advantage of having the procedure done by an experienced doctor is that [click to continue…]
With a multitude of hair replacement products for topical application and surgical means in the market today for those suffering with hair loss, choices are many. In most cases, replacement of hair requires a certain amount of follicles transplantations that are taken from the donor area to be implanted on the patch of bald spot on the scalp.
With innovative techniques and advancements of surgical procedures, each of the hair replacement procedures has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here are the top techniques used in replacement of hair for men and women in recent years.
Cutting edge NeoGrafting technique
One of the latest techniques in replacement of hair surgeries, NeoGrafting uses the state of art NeoGraft Transplant machine which selects the donor hair follicles and extracts it to implant them on the required scalp region of the recipient. The main advantage of this surgical procedure is no suturing, stapling or use of the scalpel. Although there is minor scarring on the specific transplanted area there are no linear scarring as in other traditional methods of hair replacement surgery.
FUE procedure
Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE is one of the latest [click to continue…]
The options available for hair replacement have increased manifold especially when appearances are everything for men and women today. It is not only cosmetic but the loss or thinning of hair can affect the individual psychologically. With non-surgical hair replacement techniques and products available, more people with thinning hair or balding issues opt for these methods.
Apart from surgical replacement of hair, there are numerous topical applications that have known to benefit the growth of hair and are sought after commodities for both men and women alike. However, with the benefits come some side effects that you need to consider before application. One of the most popular hair replacement topical applications includes Minoxidil or which is better known as Rogaine. It has proven to be effective for both men and women and is one of the most prescribed applications in non-surgical use. However, the most surprising fact remains that Rogaine was used as a medicine for the treatment of hypertension. Intensive research was conducted on the side effects of the medicine and it came out that there was lush hair growth in individuals being treated for hypertension. Thus, a new medicine, Rogaine (Minoxidil) for the treatment of hereditary baldness and thinning hair was introduced in 1980s. Initially it was only for men but constant good results led to its wide spread applications for women non-surgical hair replacement issues.
However, major fact was [click to continue…]
Hair loss is traumatic at any age. However with advancements in technology, hair replacement procedures are sought after by a multitude of age groups that maybe experiencing the loss due to illness, accidents or specific compulsive disorders where the individual intentionally plucks away hair. Earlier the only solution was concealing bald spots with scarves or hats but now they want the real thing. The procedures that are available today have been tested with success, but dangers still loom.
However the dangers and obstacles about doing something significant to cure hair loss may require serious consideration. Not only the benefits and disadvantages seem confusing but at every step, there are risks involved. So before you actually go ahead and start on the hair replacement procedure, ask yourself if the procedure is worth the risk involved? Thus, it is best to research more about the associated costs and dangers of the surgery procedure.
Before you think that there is no other way to deal with hair loss, think again. There are different methods apart from hair replacement that can help. Counseling can play a major role in establishing the need or reason for the individual’s decision about hair replacement. This can help you avoid associated risks apart from saving money. However even after that if you decide to go ahead with the hair replacement procedure, and then seek all the information about the total cost, risks, after procedure care and problems that may crop up. The basic three treatment patterns include:
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