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Goals and Expectations > Styles
and Costs > Repair Work Patients with Previous Hair Restoration Surgeries
Unfortunately, more than 1 million men started the hair transplant process
with pencil-size grafts. This produced the well-known cornrow or doll's
head look that characterizes the early hair restoration era. In addition,
these older procedures were frequently wasteful of hair and produced significant
scarring around the sides and back of the head. These early techniques
produced cosmetic deformities that may be repaired or corrected with Follicular
Unit Transplantation.
- Hair Restoration History: Your history allows your physician to estimate
the required work and the availability of donor hair. The following
information is collected:
•Number and type of procedures, names of physicians, and dates,
•Condition of donor area and donor area scars from previous surgeries,
and
•Description of current hair systems.
- Satisfaction and Need for Camouflage: The patient (work-ing closely
with the physician) will determine his priorities for additional work.
Often focusing on making the hairline look more natural by hiding or
removing plugs or scars.
- Characterization of Donor Area: This critical assessment is needed
to determine how much movable hair is left in the donor area. This will
determine how much total additional work can be done and the number
of grafts that may be attempted in each additional procedure.
- Status of the Recipient Areas: Each patient should create a list of
the goals to be addressed. As the donor supply is often limited, this
list will be the basis of a new Master Plan for the repair. Many times,
the list may be more extensive than the donor supply can support. Compromises
may be necessary, because once the donor supply is fully exploited,
further hair restoration procedures will not be possible. This list
must not only to itemize the hair coverage issues, but also problems
such as cobblestoning, scarring and plugginess. All of the above information
will be used to create a unique plan for each patient.
Realities of Rebuilding Your Hairline
Regaining the hair density of your youth is not a realistic goal. Although
some doctors may claim that high hair density can be achieved without
a "pluggy" appearance, such claims are misleading. There number
of hairs that can be redistributed to cover your balding areas is finite.
In addition to the problems inherent in redistributing a limited amount
of hair, there are also limitations on how close together transplanted
hair can be placed. A relatively thick hairline can give the illusion
of more hair and fullness, but achieving this natural appearance is not
easy. Auto-transplantation is the science of moving an organ or tissue
from one part of the body to another part. Hair follicles constitute an
organ that includes the vital support structures needed for the hair to
live and grow.
Because of the need to preserve the sustaining organ during the hair transplant
procedure; the physician must extract a safe amount of tissue surrounding
the follicle. This extra tissue limits how closely hair can be packed
together. Though it may be difficult to mimic nature's density, certain
techniques allow the packing of hair to create a natural appearance. In
addition to the problems associated with transplanting follicles containing
extra tissue, the volume of the scalp also affects the ability to densely
pack hair grafts. By placing follicles into the holes placed in the scalp,
there is an increase in mass in the area of transplant. If the holes are
too close, the insertion of grafts in one section will force grafts out
of adjacent sections.
This is a mechanical problem, not a blood supply problem. The skills
required to manage this problem well take years to learn; it is for this
reason that dense packing is not widely accepted. Through a series of such procedures, successive groups of small grafts
(1-4 hairs) are placed in a way that creates a dense appearing hairline
with a normal, soft transition that frames the face. To appear natural,
grafts must be graded with 1-hair units in the leading edge and larger
units behind the leading edge. |
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Hair Loss information on this site has been
contributed by hair loss specialists and surgeons who have
years of experience in the field of hair loss.
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