SURGICAL
HAIR TRANSPLANT
Some
people try medical therapy and non-surgical therapy, and
still do not have their expectations met. For those willing
to endure the discomfort , side-effects, and have a significant
amount of money to spend, surgery remains a good option.
There
are many different hair replacement surgical techniques.
Most surgery works by taking hair "grafts" from a place
that has hair (the usual donor site is pictured), and moving
it to a place that doesn't. The hair usually comes from
the sides and back of the head, and is put on the top and
front. This is commonly called hair grafting, punch grafting,
plug grafting, or hair transplantation. A hole puncher
device, or simply the removal of a strip of hair follicles,
is usually used to remove different size areas from the
back or sides of the head. These are then cut-up and transplanted
into small areas in the bald area as macro and micro graphs
(depending on the number of hair follicles present in the
tiny bit of scalp tissue). Anywhere from 50 to 5000 of these
plugs are done at each of up to 4 or more sessions.
The
cost is quite variable depending on the procedure, but commonly
runs $5000 to upwards of $15,000 PER SESSION. If repeat
sessions are needed, they are usually done 3 months apart.
Other
variations on this technique are used according to the desires
and expectations of the patient and the experience of the
surgeon. Many different surgeons have many different techniques
each with a specific set of benefits and problems compared
to other techniques.
Other,
less common, surgical techniques include Flap Transplantation,
where a large area or skin with hair is removed from the
back/sides of the head, and attached at one end to the front
(where it receives its blood supply). Scalp reduction is
another surgical method, where saline balloons are placed
under the skin with hair to progressively stretch it, followed
by surgical removal of the bald part of the scalp and replacement
with the stretched hairy skin. (Ouch!) This is used in combination
with the other surgical techniques mentioned.
