Hair Restoration Surgery & Medicine in Houston, TX
Hair Loss affects men and women, from teenage years to senior citizens. Hair restoration surgery is an operation that takes hair from the back of the head and moves it to the area of hair loss. The fringe (back and sides) of hair on a balding scalp is known as donor dominant hair which is the hair that will continue to grow throughout the life of most men. The transplantation of this hair to a bald area does not change its ability to grow.
Donor dominance is the scientific basis for the success of hair transplantation. Dr. Okuda of Japan first described the use of transplanted hair to repair scarred eyelashes and eyebrows. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II prevented his valuable discovery from reaching the rest of the world for two decades. Dr. Norman Orentreich published the first widely read report on hair transplantation surgery in 1959 and the field of hair transplant surgery was born.
There Are Two Surgical Methods For Performing Hair Transplant Surgery
Who is a candidate for hair restoration?
Candidates for hair transplant surgery are usually individuals with genetic hair loss that have sufficient donor hair from the fringe of the scalp to transplant to the balding area. In the past, many bald patients were not suitable candidates for hair transplant surgery but modern techniques like ultra refined follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE) have advanced the art of hair transplant surgery so that many more men and women are candidates.
Also advanced therapies like ACell combined with platelet rich plasma (PRP) hair regrowth injection therapy have revolutionized options for many patients.
Hair transplantation surgery has improved in leaps and bounds over the past decade.
The days of the “plugs and corn rows” are gone and the age of single hair-, micro-, and mini- grafting has arrived. Through the use of the these variable sized hair grafts along with new and improved instrumentation, the accomplished hair transplantation surgeons can create a natural hair appearance that is appropriate for each individual patient. Single hair-grafts have the finest and softest appearance. Although they do not provide much density, they do provide the critical soft hairline that is the transition to thicker hair. Reconstructing a new hairline is a skill requiring surgical as well as artistic skill. It is critically important to get it is performed right the first time and thus requires considerable forethought and planning.
The side-effects of hair transplantation surgery are relatively minor consisting of mild pain and discomfort after the operation, swelling which may move down to the eyes, and the formation of scabs over the grafts which take approximately one week to resolve. Serious problems of bleeding, scarring, and infection are rare. Modern hair transplantation surgery is comfortable, predictable, and the results are natural.