What is surgical hair replacement?

What is surgical hair replacement?

Surgical hair replacement, often known as a hair transplant, is in simple terms a procedure by which hair is removed from one part of the scalp and transplanted into another. It involves either removing a strip of hair (typically from the back of the scalp) dissecting out the follicles and implanting them into bald areas, or removing individual hair or follicular units one at a time (again from the back of the head), known as an FUE transplant . Of course, this does require that the client has a sufficient amount of donor hair to start with.

The advantages of surgical hair replacement are firstly that it’s a permanent remedy, which is of course highly attractive to many hair loss sufferers. Whilst the up-front cost is high, it is low-maintenance long-term, assuming all goes well, and the hair replacement doesn’t require substantial follow-up or specific hair care. Surgical hair replacement is a worthy option for young people, those suffering with patchy baldness, or thinning hair. In the case of an FUE transplant, this is most suitable for those suffering from pattern baldness.

However, many people report that hair transplants deliver a varied success rate in terms of thickness, density, length and wave – not what you expect after suffering a highly invasive and expensive procedure! The disadvantages of surgical hair replacement are the high cost (prohibitive for many people), the invasive nature of the procedure, the risk of surgical infection, and lack of guaranteed results. Surgical hair replacement is only suitable for those with abundant donor hair, but it can leave clients with damage to the donor section of the scalp, and donor follicles can diminish over time, necessitating repeat procedures.