How Does A Hair Implant Work

Wondering how does a hair implant work? Hair implants involve removal of hair follicles from your head which is often referred to as a donor area. Follicles are then implanted into the tiny slots on the required or affected areas on the scalp.

There are 2 main kinds of hair implants-

• FUSS or Follicular Unit Strip Surgery – This procedure is also known as FUT or Follicular Unit Transplantation. The process involves the removal of strips of skin from a donor area, followed by closing the slit with stitches. The surgeon separates the donor skin by using a microscope, into follicular units containing 1 or many hair follicles. He then inserts these follicular units into the affected area.

• FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction – using tiny punch tools, the surgeon removes the follicles from the required area. This hair implant procedure may result in some scarring. However, the scars are unnoticeable with no need of going through stitches.

Both of the above-mentioned procedures are effective and they provide different results in different cases. FUE requires additional skill and longer time than FUSS but FUE produces better results provided the surgeon has enough experience in this method.

In maximum cases, the surgeons use either the back or the side of the scalp as a donor zone. However, they may also take skin from the check, back, or chin which has proved to be effective. They may also use body hair in case the hair on the sides and back of the head is not very thick.

Many surgeons suggest that it is much easier to use scalp hair than using a beard or body hair since it is more laborious. However, another group of surgeons suggested that the beard and body are a great source of hair for implants.

No matter which procedures is used, they both take several hours to complete depending upon the number of follicles to be implanted and both hair implant procedures require local anesthesia.

How Does A Hair Implant Work? Does it work?

Hair implants are generally more successful and effective than hair-restoration or cosmetic products. However, you need to consider the following factors about hair implants –

Your implanted hair is 10 to 80% likely to grow back within an approximate time of 3 to 4 months. They feel like regular hair and so, they are may thin or reduce in volume with age, just like your regular hair.

Those with dormant follicles (the sacs generally contain the hair under the skin but they do not grow anymore), may undergo fewer effective implants. But plasma therapy helps in the growth of the implanted hair by more than 75 percent.

Worth mentioning, hair implants may not work for everybody. If your hair is thinning or balding naturally, the hair implant is used for restoring the hair into your scalp.

Recovery

Both FUE and FUSS take several hours or even days depending on the efficiency of the surgeon and the number of hair follicles to be implanted. You may go home immediately after the procedure is complete.

Immediately after the surgery, the surgeon removes the bandages very carefully. The operated area may become swollen. For this, the surgeon may inject triamcinolone to treat the swelling.

You may feel soreness or pain at the implanted area and also from the donor area.

Aftercare Tips

• Do not wash your newly implanted hair after the surgery. You may wash or shampoo your hair after a few days. For the 1st few weeks, use only with mild shampoos.
• You may return to normal activities or work after 2 to 3 days.
• Do not press a comb or brush down your newly implanted hair for around 2 to 3 weeks.
• Avoid wearing any pullover shirts, jackets, or hats. Ask your doctor for more details on this.
• Avoid working out for a week. Sweat may ruin the newly implanted hair.
• There is nothing to worry about if a few hair strands fall out. It is a part of the procedure. Implanted hair may grow as much as your original hair.

How Does A Hair Implant Work – Conclusion

Hair implants can be very effective compared to other techniques of hair restoration. The cost of hair implants maybe somewhere in between $4000 to $20000 per session. The final costs depend on many factors like the surgeon’s experience, availability, extent of the implant procedure. And since hair implant is a cosmetic procedure, health insurance will not cover this.