Natural Beauty


eg: UK or Brides UK or Classical Art or Buy Music or Spirituality

Business & Money

Technology

Women

Health

Education

Family

Travel

Cars

Entertainment

Cost Of Hair Transplants

View:

It was not so long ago that I was engaged in a debate about hair transplants and hair loss. Though my knowledge upon the subject was very limited, I was sticking firmly to my too much hair spraying is not the cause of hair loss. The argument arose from my complaints of my hair thinning dramatically as I grow older each year. Yet my good simple friend was convinced it was a self-inflicted problem and hair transplant will not resolve it - we will see that that is not necessarily true.

Luscious lost locks

I used to have people envy my beautiful long thick black hair that trailed down to my lower back. I was around ten years old and I would always complain about its thickness, as I found it difficult to tie it up into different twists and turns. Fifteen years later, I look back to those years and yearn for that long luscious thick hair I once had. Nevertheless, I know for a fact this is not because of 'too much hair spray'. However, in my case I would not need to go as far as having a hair transplant just yet.

I have my mother to thank for that unfortunate part of my gene (top it with heart disease, weight gain and diabetes and I am the perfect patient that doctors hate!). Unlike most unhealthy genetic traits, hair loss is something you cannot prevent from happening. However, it is a treatable condition, the most popular treatment being hair transplantation.

The facts

On average people can lose and restore between 50 to 100 strands of hair per day. Excessive amounts of hair loss can be a caused by poor nutrition, medication, stress, illness or emotional instability. Male pattern baldness is a common factor that unfortunately does not come with a cure.

Three factors can cause this - genes, hormones and age. None of the three has anything to do with chemical alterations like using too much hair spray, though I am not disproving that theory. Women can suffer from hair loss too, the difference being that women end up with thinning of the hair rather than balding patches.

Men who suffer from excessive hair loss are likely to feel depressed, feel unattractive and often cause low self-confidence. It is a myth that male pattern baldness is a sign of infertility or old age, the fact is around 70% of men and around 50% of women are likely to suffer from some degree of hair loss due to various above explained reasons.

Hair restoration treatments were introduced around the 19th century, with modern treatments used in Japan in the 1930's. However, it was not used to treat baldness per se but more to treat or replace damaged areas of the skin or eyebrow. It was during the 1950's that modern hair transplantation, as we know it today was introduced to treat baldness

The procedure

The procedure takes between 3-5 hours, involving a meticulous procedure moving one existing hair follicles from a 'donor site' (area in which there is no hair loss usually the back or the side of the head) to the balding area. As long as the patient has enough donor sites, the procedure will be more effective. This is so it enables the follicles to grow for a lifetime, as the transplanted hair follicles are genetically resistant to hair loss. It is performed on a mild anaesthetic and is available on an outpatient basis.

New transplant procedures are being introduced making it less invasive and providing more effective results. One does not have to be too concerned about the cost either, as the procedure has become less expensive than when it was first introduced. The prospect of hair loss is overwhelming, even though there are treatments available, it does not stop the person feeling somewhat uncomfortable and down about it. The treatment is a way of giving the patient control over their appearance again and restoring their loss of self-confidence.

I conclude therefore that hair spraying does not cause your hair to fall, though using it too much is bad for the condition of the hair. Hair transplant is a proven method to treat excessive hair loss, with it being available to the public. Of course, there are side effects but they are usually minor and are always treatable. Best thing to do if one is considering this treatment, is to research into it and go through a consultation with an expert consultant.

Cost Of Hair Transplants

The donor tissue is removed in one piece. This is to ensure that the follicular units being relocated from the back of the scalp are not damaged. An integral part of hair follicle transplant is single-strip harvesting as it preserves the follicular units. It also ensures that no damage is caused to the individual hair follicles.

Follicular hair transplant technique follows a well laid out pattern. Follicular hair transplants allow the surgeon to use small recipient site. During the surgery the follicular units that are removed from the donor tissue are minutely studied by a microscope. This stereomicroscopic dissection raises the yield of the absolute number of follicular units, and that of the total amount of hair as well.

Follicular hair transplant procedure

During follicular hair transplant the surgeon scans ? under a microscope - the follicular units to be removed from the donor tissue. This stereomicroscopic dissection helps in protecting the follicular units. It also ensures a rich yield of both the follicular units and the total amount of hair that is restored.

Donor strip ? In follicular hair transplants the donor strip is the hair strip that is taken from one part of the body and transplanted to the bald region of the scalp. In this technique the donor tissue is removed in one piece. This ensures that the follicular units being removed from the back of the scalp do not suffer from any damage.

Donor strip extraction ? The donor strip is first taken out from the permanent zone in the back of the scalp. Then it is transplanted onto the areas of the scalp where there is no growth of hair.

The single-strip harvesting in follicular hair transplants ensures preservation of the follicular units and protection of individual hair follicles from possible damage.

Follicular units

Follicular units are a bundle of hair growing together. A follicular unit is usually formed of one to four terminal hairs. Every follicular unit is surrounded by one to two fine vellus hair, oil glands, a small muscle and a fine band of collagen. The follicular unit is the skin's hair-bearing structure ensuring maximum growth. It looks like a well-formed structure under the microscope.

In genetic balding the transplanted hair is of smaller diameter and length than the hair replaced. It is highly advantageous to use individual follicular units. It facilitates the use of very small units. At the same time the amount of transplanted units is proportionately much large. Therefore a surgeon can place up to four hair strands in a tiny recipient site. It has tremendous implications for cosmetic surgery in general.

This gives follicular hair transplant a considerable edge over micrografting. Transplantation of individual follicular units also gives a natural look to the transplanted hair.

Follicular transplant removal

In hair follicle transplant, individual follicular units are directly removed from the donor area. It means that this method is independent of linear incision. The surgeon uses a 1mm punch to make a small circular incision in the skin around the upper part of the follicular unit. It is then directly extracted from the scalp.

Very often follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (FUT) are treated as two different things. It's wrong. FUE is basically a type of FUT in which the follicular units are extracted directly from the scalp, instead of microscopically dissected from a strip that has already been removed. In follicular hair transplant the individual follicular units can be obtained either through single-strip harvesting and stereomicroscopic dissection or through FUE.

Follicular transplant preservation

In follicular hair transplants it is crucial to keep the individual follicular unit as it is. Neither the unit should be broken up into smaller units nor combined with larger ones.

This is a ground-breaking development in the history of cosmetic surgery. Often hair transplant surgeons combine several follicular units or split them up.

Follicular hair transplant and mini and micro grafting

There is similarity between follicular hair transplant techniques and those followed in minigrafting and micrografting. However, follicular hair transplantation is different from mini and micro grafting. Both of the latter procedures use a multi-bladed knife to split the follicular units. This results in unacceptable levels of transaction of hair follicles.

In follicular unit transplantation it is the nature that determines the graft sizes. In mini-micrografting the graft sizes are arbitrarily determined. The donor tissue is sliced to the size the surgeon considers fit.

There is another difference between follicular hair transplant and mini-micrografting. In the latter neither the hair follicles are kept intact nor the follicular units are preserved. In mini-micrografting, speed and economy of the procedure are more important. The process entails using a multi-bladed knife to quickly generate thin strips of tissue.

Related Articles
Author
Most Popular

•	A Head Of Hair, by Timknox
•	All Types Of Hair, by Juliet Cohen
•	Average Cost Of Laser Hair Removal, by Katrina Pells
•	Cause Of Hair Loss, by Alfred K.drews
•	Cause Of Hair Loss In Women, by Mark Hall

About Author

Both Shaun Parker & Michelle Hudson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Shaun Parker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online Marketing, Auto Insurance and Wedding Bells. Shaun Parker has researched the various types of hair loss that exist and the techniques available to combat them.. Shaun Parker's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.

Michelle Hudson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Hair Transplant, Hair Transplant and Eye Care. Michelle Hudson is an expert on . She regularly studies the various. Michelle Hudson's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.

Breakfast And Weight Loss
Long term weight loss means living a new life, but that does not mean the life has to be one you are not comfortable living