How to get thick hair back: methods and cost of hair transplant
Hair transplant in Patna, India, is a successful solution for addressing hair loss. With advanced techniques, skilled medical professionals can restore a patient's hairline without adverse effects.
What is a hair transplant?
A hair transplant is an operation to transplant hair follicles from one body area to another. This method is used to restore hair on a person's head and in the area of the beard, mustache, and eyebrows.
Often, baldness can be eliminated by treating the underlying pathology that caused the alopecia or by changing lifestyle. But often, only hair transplantation becomes the optimal solution.
In what cases is it used?
The need to restore hair on the head appears for three reasons: androgenetic alopecia, cicatricial alopecia, and insufficient hair density in different areas.
Androgenetic alopecia
Androgenetic (androgenic) alopecia is a disease caused by increased sensitivity of hair follicles to androgens (DHT-active form of testosterone). This type of baldness is the most common and occurs in more than 75% of cases.
The initial period of the disease is characterized by thinning and thinning of hair. Next, bald patches form, and then complete baldness of the fronto-parietal zone and the crown occurs.
Insufficient hair density
It may manifest as a diffuse decrease in hair density throughout the head or specific areas.
The main reasons are severe emotional stress, lack of vitamins and minerals in the body, endocrine system disorders, and digestive tract diseases.
"It is very important to find the cause of the pathology so that it does not lead to more serious problems. Eliminating the cause may help return the hair to its previous thickness. In this case, a transplant may not be necessary," the expert advises.
Scarring alopecia
Scarring alopecia is hair loss characterized by continuous hair follicle destruction without hair growth restoration.
Such alopecias include lichen planus, scleroderma, and burns and scars.
Preparation for the procedure
A week before surgery, you must:
- Avoid alcohol.
- Quit or minimize tobacco use.
- Stop taking medications that affect blood clotting.
- Avoid head massage.
- Avoid stress.
- Minimize sports activities.
Six hours before the procedure, it is not advisable to consume food or water. Before surgery, you must wash your hair thoroughly without using styling products.
Tests required:
- general blood analysis;
- HIV test;
- for sexually transmitted infections;
- for hepatitis C and B.
Additional tests - BAC (biochemical blood test), coagulogram, glucose test.
The hair transplant procedure lasts four hours or more; the patient must be well-rested and well-rested.
"In professional clinics, they carry out procedures that are recommended to be done before hair transplantation so that the survival rate of the follicles is much higher.
Hair transplant calculation
The specialist determines the exact amount of material for transplantation at a preliminary consultation. First of all, the doctor pays attention to the quality and density of the donor material, as well as the degree of baldness. After this, the required number of bulbs for the operation is calculated.
The donor material is not considered to be hair but a graft. A graft is an element of scalp hair tissue that includes one to four follicles. It looks like several hairs growing from one point.
The optimal amount for hair transplantation is per 1 sq. cm. 35-45 grafts are considered.
Donor sites
During the consultation before the transplant operation, specialists select the area of skin to be transplanted and perform a hair analysis.
Most often, the donor site is the occipital region. However, there is only sometimes enough material in this area. In this case, doctors can use other places with thick hair: the chest area, arms, and beard.
The choice of the back of the head as a donor site is determined by the degree of survival of the hair follicles. A graft from the back of the head is more likely to survive than material from another location. For example, material taken from the back of the head will take root with a probability of 99%, from the beard - about 95%, from the body - about 60%.
Transplantation process
Suture techniques
The suture method of performing hair transplant surgery is already considered outdated and is rarely used. The main reason for refusing this method is injury to a large body area.
Suture methods include:
FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) is a method during which donor material in the form of a strip of skin is removed from the back of the head. Usually, its size is, at most 10 by 3 cm. After this, grafts are removed from it and transplanted into bald areas.
STRIP (flap method) is almost completely similar to FUT, except for the size of the donor material. With this method, a strip of skin can reach 25 by 3 cm.
The suture method of hair transplantation is considered the most painful and traumatic of all existing ones. Scars in the back of the head are another unpleasant feature of this method.
Seamless techniques
Seamless hair transplant methods use special equipment that simplifies the distribution of hairs over the skin and reduces the risk of infection.
FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) is a seamless method characterized by removing tufts of hair from the donor area. The follicles are extracted using a special tool (punch). An incision or puncture is made where hair needs to be transplanted. Next, donor material is implanted into it.
The advantages of this method include rapid healing of scars and a short rehabilitation period.
How long does a transplant last?
In cases where a transplant operation is performed by competent specialists, following all techniques, the result of the procedure can last a lifetime.
Modern hair transplant methods allow you to achieve the best results without scars or side effects. Will I need surgery again, and will my hair grow throughout my life? This depends on many factors, from the quality of the operation to the implementation of doctors' recommendations after the procedure.
Contraindications
Main contraindications for hair transplantation :
- The presence of mental disorders with obsessive thoughts distorted perception of one's body.
- The presence of wounds and ulcers on the scalp.
- Oncological diseases.
- Chronic skin problems.
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system.
- Diabetes.
- Intolerance to analgesics.
- Age up to 25 years.
In addition, surgery is contraindicated in the presence of diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, hemophilia, and lupus.
Pros and cons of the procedure
The main advantages of hair transplant surgery :
- Hair grows in the same way as in healthy areas.
- No additional care is required. There is no need to use specialized creams and ointments.
- Complexes disappear due to lack of hair.
- The main disadvantages of hair transplantation are the duration of the procedure (from 4 to 6 hours) and the possible need to repeat the operation. The disadvantages of this procedure include its high cost.