Hair transplants or rather hair transplantation refers to a surgical procedure whereby individual hair follicles are moved from the ‘donor site’ to the part of the body that is balding called the as the ‘recipient site’. Hair transplant procedures are mainly used to treat patterns of balding or hair loss which occur in men. This surgical hair restoration came about when the number of men usually from their mid-thirties and above experiencing patterned balding increased over the years. Traditionally, men would wear wigs to hide their balding, but nowadays a surgical procedure is enough for balding men to have a full scalp of hair. Statistics have proven that over 300,000 hair transplants are performed annually. This high number of annual hair transplants has been as a result of the affordability, convenience and effectiveness that come with getting a hair transplant procedure performed. Hair transplant procedures are also performed in women as well, but are more common in men.
Below are the four most popular and fashionable hair transplant procedures that are performed in both men and women:
- Follicle Unit Transplantation (FUT) – In this procedure, which is performed under a local anesthetic, a strand of hair is taken out of the back of the head containing permanent hair follicles. These permanent hair follicles are not affected by balding. They are then divided into smaller follicle units under a microscope and then placed into the recipient site. Slits are made on the recipient site into which the smaller follicle units are placed or inserted, after which this will result in the natural growth of the hair. Some of the advantages of this procedure are: little aftercare is required, adds great density to the hair, and baldness of large areas can be covered at once.
- Follicle Unit Extraction (FUE) – This hair transplant procedure involves extracting strands of hair individually or strand by strand from the donor area at the back of the head, and then placing them in the recipient area at the front and middle part of the head. The hair is then left to grow naturally. Just like in the FUT procedure above, the FUE procedure is performed under a local anaesthetic. The main advantage with this procedure is that it cannot be detected and there is no aftercare required.
- Eyelash Transplant – Eyelash transplant procedures are performed mainly on women, but can also be performed on men. This is a very delicate procedure and only surgeons with many years of experience should perform this surgery. This transplant is performed for the restoration of lost eyelashes, which could be due to a number of reasons such as overusing eyelash extensions, tight braids, and stress. Eyelash transplants are considered to be the best option to permanently restore your lost lashes.
- Laser Cap Treatment – This is one of the latest hair loss treatments in the market. This hair transplant is performed on both men and women, whereby it strengthens hairs that are thin and weak through the stimulation of hair follicles. As you age, the rate at which your hair grows slowly reduces. Therefore, with the laser cap treatment your hair can grow at a relatively fast rate despite your age. The main advantages with laser cap treatment are that it is affordable, effective, has been approved by the FDA, and does not have any side effects.
