If you’re fed up with the amount of hair that seems to keep falling out of your head, you may consider a hair transplant to regrow hair in balding areas. Hair has a major effect on a person’s appearance, and losing large amounts can make anyone self-conscious. If you don’t know anything about hair transplants, it can be stressful to understand where to start. Sometimes simply learning about the process can make it easier to decide if this is truly what you want. Here’s everything you need to know about hair loss treatment from a doctor like Dr. Robin Unger.
Who It Can Benefit (and Who It Can’t)
First, you need to figure out if you are even a candidate for a hair transplant at all. Going bald isn’t enough of a reason to make you eligible for the procedure, though it is a start for men. Women with thinning hair or those who have lost hair because of an injury may also be able to get a transplant. However, anyone who does not have enough hair on other parts of their head to provide donor hairs, women with hair loss across the entire scalp, people who get thick scars after surgery and people with hair loss because of medication are not able to get a hair transplant.
What’s Involved
There are two types of hair transplant procedures: Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). In a FUT procedure, the doctor removes a section of skin from the head that contains donor hairs and then implants small sections of them into the transplant area. For a FUE, each hair is removed separately from the donor area and carefully replanted in bald spots. Most procedures only require one session to complete a full transplant, which can involve thousands of hairs.
How Long Recovery Takes
Recovery for a hair transplant is usually less than a week. Some people may be back at work as little as two days after the procedure. Usually, an FUE requires less recovery than an FUT because it does not require the removal of skin and the need for stitches. Expect some soreness or redness in an area where skin was removed. A doctor may prescribe medication to help with pain and keep swelling down, as well as to prevent bacterial infections.
Never be afraid to ask your doctor about the whole scope of a transplant. A single transplant can cost thousands of dollars, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your money.
