Hair Transplantation - an Emerging Need

Hair transplantation involves the removal of self hair follicles either from a strip of hair taken from the back of our scalp (occiput) or from 0.5-1 mm scalp punch biopsies. The latest in hair transplantation procedure is follicular unit transplantation (FUT) or follicular unit extraction (FUE). It is also known as follicular transfer (FT).

Hair Transplantation:

• FUE are naturally occurring groups of 1 to 4 terminal hairs along with sebaceous glands, arrector pilorum, neurovascular plexus and occasional vellus hairs with a cuff of adventitial dermis.

• As these individual units act as a distinct anatomic and physiologic unit, they give better results with good cosmesis and are preferred over other type of transplantation.

• The dissected follicular units are then repositioned into the scalp under local anesthesia.

• This process is highly skilled and time consuming. It takes around 6 to 8 hours for transplantation of 2500 to 3000 hair follicles.

• There is considerable skill in fashioning a natural looking hair line.

It is essential to assess the patient’s expectation before performing a transplant and to give a realistic idea as to what the outcome may be.

Candidates for Hair Transplantation:

1. Men who have stable hair loss, whether frontal or vertex secondary to androgenic alopecia, with good occipital hair density.
2. Women with female pattern hair loss (FPHL) may benefit from transplantation to the frontal hair margin.
3. Individuals with stable scarring alopecia in whom the inflammatory process stops and is no longer active. Eyebrow and eyelash transplant in case of long standing scarring.
4. Individuals with hair loss secondary to trauma, such as burns.

Ineligible Candidates:

1. Younger men with frontal recession or those with unstable loss at the crown on transplantation, leading to isolated transplanted hairs.
2. Men or women with insufficient occipital density to transplant or have any dermatological illness at the donor site.
3. Individuals with unrealistic expectations.

Side Effects and Complications:

Minor bleeding, edema, crusting, itching, postoperative hair fall (effluvium), wound infections, folliculitis, neuralgia. Some esthetic complications may arise such as visible scarring, hypertrophic and keloid scarring, unnatural appearance and poor density.

To know more about hair transplantation, consult a dermatologist online ---> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/dermatologist