Hair transplant is a procedure that involves the transfer of healthy hair from the sides and back of the head, which has the feature of not falling out, to the bald areas. For ensuring a successful operation, the hair in the donor area should be healthy and has adequate density. The color, straightness, or curliness of the hair affects the result of the operation, as well.
Drawing a proper front hairline is one of the prerequisites for a successful hair transplant. In a hair transplant operation, a result satisfactory for the patient may not appear if naturalness is not given to the front hairline to an adequate extent. The size of the hairless area, the amount of graft taken, and the patient’s head structure, age and expectation should definitely be taken into consideration when drawing the front hairline.
The Stages of Hair Transplantation Operation
1- Haircut, 2- Local anaesthesia application, 3- Harvesting hair follicles one by one using 0.7 mm punch with FUE technique, 4- Creating front hairline, 5- Taking a rest break to eat, 6- Creating micro channels in the natural direction for the harvested hair follicles, 7- Placing hair follicles into the micro channels, 8- Finally applying dressing.
FUT
It is a procedure of harvesting follicular units (group of hair follicles) one by one from the nape area via micro-motor. These harvested follicles are transplanted one by one into the bald area. The greatest advantage of the FUE technique is that no scar is left and a maximum of 7,000 and minimum of 3000 grafts can be extracted depending on the density of the donor site. No scalpel is used with this technique and no sutures are placed in the donor site. FUE is the most common hair transplant technique used in today’s world. FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) Technique It is a procedure of cutting and removing the scalp between two ears in the form of a strip and diving it into follicular units one by one (group of hair follicles). The greatest advantage of this technique is that hair cut is not required. Since donor area is sutured, a scar in the form of very thin line is left.
How should the front hairline be?
A proper front hairline is a must for a successful hair transplantation. If a natural front hairline is not provided in the hair transplantation operation, patient may not achieve a satisfactory result. When a frontal hair line is drawn, the structure of the head, the size of the bald area, the quantity of the harvested graft, the age and the expectation should be absolutely taken into consideration. The only reason why we see the transplantations in the form of grass man in social life is because of not taking these aspects into consideration. The more suitable hairline with the structure of the head is drawn, the more successful transplantation result is achieved. If a proper hairline is not drawn, turning back is very difficult and laborious. If the hairline is drawn too low, it will not appear harmonious and natural at advanced ages and if the hairline is too high, it does not satisfy the patient. Therefore, the hairline should not be too low or too high. The hairline should be determined after the patient is informed about all these aspects.
Adjustment of Hair Thickness
The adjustment of the hair thickness of the transplantation area totally depends on the number of graft obtained from the donor site. The average number of hair per square centimetre is between 80-100 grafts. Maximum 60 grafts can be transplanted per square centimetre in one hair transplantation operation. While the desired result can be achieved with 25-30 grafts per cm² in some individuals, 50-60 grafts per cm² may be necessary in some individuals. While determining the thickness of hair, the expectation of the patient should be taken into consideration. The patient should be informed about the thickness of hair during the operation. Thus, the patient should create his expectations in compliance with the provided information. Otherwise, the patient may not be satisfied with the result, no matter how successful the operation was.
Process After Hair Transplantation
3 DAYS LATER: The hair is washed for the first time after the procedure and it is repeated once a day; 10 DAYS LATER: Crusts in the transplantation area fall and the hair shows up like stubbly beard. 20 DAYS LATER: The transplanted hair begins to fall temporarily and this process lasts for about a month. 3 MONTHS LATER: New hair grows instead of lost hair. 6 MONTHS LATER: The growth of 60-70% of the transplanted hair is completed. 8 MONTHS LATER: The growth of 80-90% of the transplanted hair is completed. 12 MONTHS LATER: All the transplanted hair grows and the final result is achieved. If the transplantation area is too large, a second session should be carried out. 6-8 months are needed to perform this. The patient can go to hairdresser a month after the operation, however, haircut should be done with scissors and hair clipper without using razor.
