Research regarding hair loss and replacement is a continuing practice and there is a variety
of different approaches to the problem. Nowadays there are even methods of regaining all the hair that a person has lost. This refers straight to hair surgery that is in total contrast to the idea of medications used to bring back hair growth.
More precisely, the means recommended for developing a new growth of hair is known as surgical hair replacement. This simply means that a patient may have hair surgically planted on his head permanently.
The typical candidates for surgical hair transplantation are:
1. Patients with male baldness or patterns of this kind
2. Patients with thinning hair
3. Patients who have lost hair because of accidents such as serious injuries on the scalp
or any other areas of the body where hair normally grows.
There are also various types of surgical hair replacement methods:
1. punch grafts – consist of 10-15 hairs
2. mini-grafts - consist of 2-4 hairs
3. micro-grafts - consist of 1-2 hairs
4. slit grafts - consist of 4-10 hairs each
5. strip grafts - consist of 30-40 hairs
Considering these methods, it must be emphasized that a patients is not limited to use only one of these methods; merging the two of methods may be employed in order to get an expected result.
It also must be clearly stated that hair replacement surgery is an extremely fragile process and a patients needs to be conscious of the risks that also lie in such a surgery. It must be emphasized that patients are different. Their reactions to the surgery may be different and the way that their bodies heal may vary. This is why it is not easy to determine what the results of such a procedure may be.
The complications that are possible to affect the patients include:
1. Infections of the scalp
2. Bleeding that is increased or difficult to limit
3. Surgical scars (stretch-back)
4. Some grafts may not be able to deal with bumps at the transplant sites
What is more, the patches occurence is possible after the surgery. In such a case an additional surgery may be necessary.
Hair replacement surgery is usually carried out using local anesthesia combined with sedation. This enables a patient to be more relaxed. The other option is general anesthesia that may be employed in case of more complex surgeries.
Some of the methods of surgical hair replacement include the following:
HAIR REPLACEMENT:
This method is used by carrying out the surgery in sessions in order to obtain satisfactory effects. Healing periods are permissible and it must be emphasized that this is an essential part of the surgical replacement. If the interval is not long enough then a patient may experience problems with further surgery.
Several months are recommended as healing intervals to ensure that every part of the scalp has enough time to heal. Due to the lengthy healing intervals, it might take up to two years to achieve a satisfactory result. It can be added that in the first session of surgery, the number of large plugs transplanted may vary considerably.
However, the average number of large plugs per session is about 50 and the number of
micro-grafts is about 700.
TISSUE EXPANSION:
This is the next method of hair replacement. It uses live growing cells or tissue to place over the bald areas of the scalp. It must be stated that hair starts to grow in the bald area by creating a surplus of cells from a healthy part of the scalp. During such a procedure a device is inserted under a healthy part of the scalp. Afterwards, this balloon-like device inserted under
hair-bearing scalp is filled with saline. This inflation lasts over a period of two weeks.
As a result, the skin bloats and the new cells grow. After a few weeks, when the skin
is stretched enough, the next step of the procedure is conducted. This includes moving the new cells of the scalp to the area that is bald. Hence, through this a patient may grow hair. This process is repeated as much as necessary until expected results have been obtained.
FLAP SURGERY:
This method also works similarly to the Tissue Expansion. However, in flap surgery, cells are not generated because of lengthy procedures. Instead, a piece of live healthy skin on the scalp is elevated while one its end is still attached to the scalp.
Then, it is shifted and placed on an area where hair does not grow. Before putting it down on the bald scalp, it is necessary to remove the dead skin from the bald area. This part of the procedure is done first, before the healthy skin replaces it.
SCLAP REDUCTION:
Sclap Reduction is similar to Flap Reduction due to the fact it works by placing healthy scalp over bald parts. In this procedure, healthy skin is pulled back over the back and top areas of the head to cover bald areas. However, as a result, the frontline diminishes significantly.
It must be emphasized that after these surgical incisions have been conducted, they may not look finished. They may require touch-up jobs to give a complete look.
