Should You Get a Hair Transplant Surgery?

Dandruff Problem. Brunette Girl Looking At Hair Flakes In Mirror Standing In Bathroom. Panorama, Selective Focus

There are a lot of techniques available, but all of them involve taking hair-bearing skin from one part of the scalp, and then grafting these pieces of skin onto the thinning or balding areas of your scalp.

Hair loss may be caused by female pattern baldness, injury to the scalp, or scalp inflammation. Anyone who experienced injuries from burns, surgery, scalds, or car accidents may have permanent areas of hair loss. The good news is that you can conceal this with hair transplantation.

If you’re concerned about how you look, or if you’re thinking about cosmetic treatments to help you boost your confidence, then there’s hope for you. There are alternatives you can choose from, which include prescription medication, OTC minoxidil lotion, or simply accepting the fact that you’re losing hair.

Should You Get a Hair Transplant?

Hair transplant isn’t a cure for hair loss or baldness. The transplants can cover the bald scalp, but can not protect you from further hair loss. Female pattern baldness is a progressive condition, so it will be best to consider combining surgery and medical treatments. This will help slow down the balding process. You can learn more about this by visiting https://www.foundhair.com/.

Before you decide whether or not you’ll get a hair transplant, below are the things that you need to understand:

What to Consider Before Getting a Hair Transplant Surgery

If you’re considering getting a hair transplant, then there are important issues that you need to keep in mind. These include:

  1. Gray or light-colored thick hair gives better results than dark-colored thin hair.
  2. You need to have realistic expectations. If you don’t have much hair, then a transplant will not give you a full head of hair. You will get better results if you have thicker and denser hair before the transplant.
  3. Consider how much the costs will be. Private health insurance companies won’t cover the expenses for your cosmetic surgery unless the hair loss was caused by trauma or burns.
  4. You may need to continue the medical treatment after getting a hair transplant surgery.
  5. It may take up to 9 months before your hair takes root and begins to fill in.
  6. If you’re a smoker, then you’re at risk of complications from the surgery. You should quit smoking if you’re serious about undergoing surgery.

How Does the Hair Transplant Operation Work?

Hair transplant has different methods, so your surgeon may choose the most appropriate one for you, based on the severity of your condition.

  1. Hair transplant graft. This procedure is usually performed under local anesthetic. Each session can last up to 8 hours, depending on the number of hairs that needs to be transplanted. Typically, you’ll need 1,000 and 2,000 hair follicles to be transplanted in one session. However, larger areas of hair loss may require up to 4,000 hair follicles in one session. One session may take several hours, and you may have two or three separate sessions to complete this procedure.

What Does This Operation Include?

  • Trimming the hair on the donor area short to make it easy to handle
  • Anesthetizing the area of your head where hair grows thickly
  • Taking small sections of the hair-bearing scalp and then transplanting them to the desired area
  • Using various instruments to harvest the donor skin.
  • Flap surgery. This procedure is used for extensive hair transplant if it requires large tissue flaps instead of small grafts. Flap surgery may require you to stay in the hospital.
  • Implanting balloon-like devices under the skin of a hair-bearing section of your scalp. This inflates the tissue expanders with more saline in a few weeks, which encourages the area to grow more skin cells.
  • After two months, your scalp will have grown enough extra skin for the transplant surgery.
  • Cutting and removing the bald section of your scalp. This newly grown area of hair-bearing skin is cut away, and then moved and stitched to its new location.
  • Scalp reduction surgery. This procedure is best for treating bald areas on the back and the top of the scalp, not towards the front of the scalp.
  • Administering local anesthesia to the scalp
  • Cutting out a strip of bald skin in a Y or U shape
  • Loosening the scalp and bringing the incisions together, and then stitching them

What to Expect After the Hair Transplant Surgery?

The surgery may have its side effects, depending on the extent of the surgery. After the surgery, you can expect the following:

  • Swelling and bruising
  • Pain, throbbing, and discomfort
  • Possible numbness
  • A tight feeling in the scalp
  • Formation of small scabs across the areas of the scalp

What Are the Complications of Getting a Hair Transplant Surgery?

Let’s accept it. All types of surgery can carry some levels of risk. Below are the possible complications of hair transplant surgery:

  • Surgical risks like bleeding or infection
  • Further surgery to treat complications
  • Death of the skin grafts
  • Risks of general anesthesia, which includes allergic reaction
  • Nerve damage, which includes permanent loss of sensation
  • Death of tissue along the wound
  • Scars that may be severe, raised, itchy, and reddened

Note that this isn’t the complete list. For more information, consult your surgeon.

Self-Care Tips After Getting a Hair Transplant Surgery

After the surgery, make sure you always consult your surgeon. Below are some self-care tips you can follow after a hair transplant surgery:

  • Avoid any strenuous activity that may increase your blood pressure. This will make your wounds bleed. Your surgeon may tell you to avoid exercise and sex for 10 days.
  • If bleeding occurs, make sure to report it. Also, report severe pain and unusual symptoms to your surgeon.

These are the important things you need to know when getting a hair transplant. Before you say yes to it, make sure you understand all these things, so you’ll know what to expect after the procedure.

Vivianne Sterling

Editorial Manager at Beautips. I love street style and I'm always in search of bits of inspiration around me. I also believe in home-made solutions for fitness, beauty tricks and healthy cooking.

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