Hair transplants are low-risk procedures that might seem to be effective on every scalp. However, hair transplants, similar to any medical procedure, requires thorough planning. It is important to plan for your hair transplants to avoid disappointments as the consequences of the procedure are something you will live with forever.
Listed below are important factors to look into prior to beginning your hair transplants:
1- The cause of your hair loss
Hair transplants are popular for their successful results; however, they cannot reverse all types of hair loss. In order for any category of alopecia to be reversible with hair transplants, it needs to meet two requirements: predictable pattern of hair loss and a sufficient supply of donor regions.
Androgenic alopecia
Androgenic alopecia is hair loss due to androgens, male hormones. The condition is characterized by a distinct predictable pattern of hair loss. The hairs in the crown area tend to be susceptible to hair loss whereas the hair in the back is often hair loss resistant. The resistant hair is then used as donor regions from which grafts are extracted and relocated to areas of hair loss. However, not every case of androgenic alopecia is reversible with hair transplants.
The success of the surgery relies as well on the number of donor regions and its ability to cover the balding scalp. While it is not up to you to determine the quality of your donor regions, pioneer hair transplant centers like the Vera Clinic provide consultation sessions for this purpose. Book an appointment with Vera Clinic, and a medical specialist will assess your scalp.
Alopecia areata
Hair loss from alopecia areata is the result of an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s own line of defense attacks body cells including follicular units. Hair loss in alopecia areata is not stable or predictable, consequently, locating healthy grafts is nearly impossible. In other words, alopecia areata is not reversible with hair transplants.
Traumatic alopecia
Traumatic alopecia refers to hair loss from accidents such as burns. Since the affected scalp does not spread any other region could act as a donor region from which grafts are harvested and relocated to areas of hair loss.
2- Techniques of hair loss
Hair loss techniques can impact how satisfactory your results will turn out. The two primary methods include follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (FUT).
FUT
In FUT the process of extracting follicular units is invasive and results in a linear scar and nerve damage in the area. To obtain grafts, the protocol requires the incisions of a strip from the scalp and later dissecting it.
FUE
FUE, on the other hand, has a minimally invasive procedure with extracting grafts. Instead of excising a piece of the scalp, grafts are individually isolated and extracted. As a result, the scars are minuscule and cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The bottom line
To have a safe hair transplant experience, you need to be realistic about your condition of hair loss as not every case of alopecia is reversible with hair transplants. Secondly, you have to become familiar with the methods of hair transplantation available for you to compare and choose the method most ideal for you.
