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Hair transplant refers to surgical removal of hair follicles from a hair-bearing donor site and their relocation to a balding or bald area by a grafting procedure, in order to restore normal healthy hair growth at the recipient site over a period of time. The most common application of hair transplant is in treating male and female pattern baldness.

Hair transplant is a minor outpatient surgery carried out under local anesthesia and a single session lasts about 3 to 5 hours, depending upon the number of grafts performed.

The total number of sessions required for full treatment will depend on the (i) the area of the bald patch, (ii) the size and number of grafts used, (iii) the hair density desired by the patient, and (iv) the individual characteristics of the hair, e.g., coarse, fine, curly, etc.

History of Hair Transplant

Hair transplant in its present form has evolved a long way ever since it began in 1952, when Dr. Norman Orentreich performed the first hair transplant for male pattern baldness in New York City. For many years, hair transplants were carried out using more or less the same method. It involved direct removal of 4-mm-diameter circular grafts (called punch grafts or plugs) from the back of the head by punching, giving the donor area a moth-eaten look. Each graft carried 15 to 20 hair follicles. Such large grafts resulted in acorn row or a dollar haircut look, not a fine natural look. This technique is outdated now.

In the 1980s, hair transplant surgery evolved dramatically with the emergence of the method of harvesting mini-grafts (4 to 8 hair) and micro-grafts (1 to 3 hairs) from a strip of donor tissue; a combination of mini and micro-grafts gradually replaced the punch grafts. Mini-grafts were used to create fullness and density, whereas micro-grafts were used to give a soft, feathered natural look to the hairline.

The nineties saw the emergence of a very refined surgical procedure called the follicular unit hair transplant (FUT). This very precise and painstaking procedure involves transplanting hair using 1- to 4-haired follicular units, exactly like how natural hair growth occurs. This procedure gives a fine natural look to the transplanted hair and is now considered a Gold Standard in hair transplant.

Statistics on Hair Transplant

To give you an idea of how prevalent hair transplants have become today, here are some statistical facts and figures according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) 2005 Practice Census: An estimated number of 168,155 hair transplant procedures were performed worldwide in 2004, of which 87,987 were in US alone. The US market for hair transplant was estimated to be a whopping US $811,684,185!

Hair Transplant Procedure Today

The procedure begins with the removal of a donor strip (usually 1 and 1.5 cm wide) from the back or sides of the scalp under local anesthesia. The opening is then closed with self-absorbable sutures. The donor strip is then dissected into grafts of three different sizes: single-hair micro-graft, 2-hair single follicular unit, and 2 and 4-hair modified follicular unit. This takes about 2 to 3 hours. After the individual hair follicles are isolated from the donor strip and the excess tissue removed, they are immediately inserted into pre-cut micro and mini slits or punctured holes that are strategically placed so as to give a natural and aesthetically appealing look to the hair that will grow in future from the transplanted follicles. An expert surgeon can place up to 50 grafts per square cm. The surgery does leave a scar in the donor area, but that gets covered once the hair grows fully.

A far less invasive method of obtaining hair grafts for transplant is the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method. Here the surgeon examines the donor tissue under a microscope and selects individual follicular units and then plucks them out using a fine needle, eliminating the need to excise the skin from the back of the head. The benefits of the FUE method are faster healing, less trauma, no strip scar, and the surgeon’s ability to individually select follicular units. However, this procedure is far more time-intensive than the traditional strip methods and therefore much more expensive.

Since the hair transport involves outpatient surgery, recovery is speedy. You can go to work the very next day itself and carry out all your normal activities within a week. Post-surgery, you would need to take the prescribed antibiotics and vitamin supplements for some days to avoid wound or graft infections and aid healing. The transplanted hair will fall in 2 to 4 weeks time and new hair will start growing in 3 to 4 months time; within 6 to 9 months the hair growth will become normal, allowing you to style your hair as you please.

Since the hair is transplanted from ones own scalp, it is a safe procedure with no major or long-term side-effects. The only important requirement to get good results is to have healthy hair growth at the donor sites. So do not wait to get your hair transplant done until you go completely bald!

Other Areas for Hair Transplant

Other than treating male/female pattern baldness, hair transplant surgery makes it possible to restore hair on other areas of the body too, e.g., eyebrows, eyelashes, chin, moustache, sideburns, chest and pubic area.

According to ISHRS 2005 Practice Census, 95% of the hair transplant surgeries were done for treating baldness (89% for male baldness, with 30% of them being in their 40s). Approximately 3% of hair transplants were performed on eyebrows, about 1% on moustache/beard, 0.35% on eyelashes, 0.34% on the pubic area, and 0.06% on the chest.

In fact, the earliest hair transplant carried out by a Japanese dermatologist Dr. Okuda in 1939 was for restoring hair on the eyebrows and eyelashes of burn patients by using small grafts from the scalp.

Advantages of Hair Transplant

The greatest and most palpable advantage of hair transplant is that you have your own new crop of hair thats there for keeps! Unlike a wig, there is no fear of transplanted hair moving around or changing position, no matter what the activity. And since the transplanted hair is harvested from your own scalp, there is also no fear of tissue rejection or foreign body reaction as in other organ transplants. Also there is no headache of matching color and texture that you face while shopping for a wig.

The transplanted hair can be shampooed and styled just like normal hair, because they are your normal hair. A hair transplant can immediately take away 10 years off your visible age. It makes your looks youthful and boosts your self-esteem.

How Expensive is Hair Transplant?

Though at first glance a hair transplant procedure may appear expensive, in the long run it can turn out to be more economical than buying wigs. Due to the stiff competition in the hair transplant market, the rates have fallen from the earlier US $15 per graft to US $3 per graft. Of course, the number of grafts required will depend on the area of the bald patch, the size of the graft, the required hair density, etc. In general, the total cost of hair transplant can vary from US $4000 to $15,000.

Whatever the case, considering the boost and positive energy it adds to the psyche, a hair transplant is worth every cent. After all, its hair today, not gone tomorrow.

Barry A. S. Lycka is one of North America’s foremost authorities on cosmetic, skin cancer and laser surgery of the skin. You can find out more at http://www.barrylyckamd.com and http://www.restoringyouthonline.com. He is founder of the Etical Cosmetic Surgery Association (http://www.ecsaonline.com)

For centuries people have been frustrated by hair loss. It is a common problem.

Hair loss affects both men and women, although it is more common in men. Hair loss generally has a negative effect on one’s sense of self-image. Frequently hair loss will cause a loss in self-confidence. In order to get the best kind of treatment for hair loss, it is important to separate the myths from the truth and understand the various kinds of hair loss.

There are many causes of hair loss. The most common cause of hair loss in men is believed to be genetics and DHT. A genetic predisposition to hair loss can be inherited from either one parent or from both parents. A popular belief states that hair loss is inherited through the maternal side, but this is not correct since the trait can come from either side.

This genetic theory of what causes hair loss also involves DHT or dihydrotestosterone. Many scientists believe that DHT is a key factor in male pattern baldness. DHT is a male hormone found in the body that can shrink the hair loss follicle until it ceases to produce visible hair. Many scientists are of the opinion that your genetic predisposition, combined with DHT, are the key factors in hair loss, especially in men.

Male pattern baldness is characterized by a receding hairline and thinning in the temple, crown or vertex area of the head. So Male Pattern Baldness, or MPB, which is the most common type of hair loss in men, is believed to be primarily caused mostly by a combination of two factors, a genetic predisposition to hair loss and Dihydrotestosterone or DHT.

DHT is a byproduct of the hormone testosterone and is present in every male. Scientists have shown that if DHT can be suppressed, the hair follicles will continue to thrive and the hair will grow.

DHT deprives the hair follicles of food and oxygen. As the hair follicle weakens, the hair it produces will get thinner and thinner. Eventually, the hair follicle dies and stops producing hair altogether. When enough hair follicles die off, people begin to notice the thinning of the hair and eventually balding occurs.
While we all produce DHT, there is an inherited genetic trait that comes from either side of the family which make many of us much more susceptible to the negative effects of DHT on hair.

In 1949 an experiment was performed to help understand the causes of Male Pattern Baldness or MPB. A group of castrated prison inmates, males who were therefore not producing testosterone since they were castrated, were divided into two groups. The first group had a family history of male pattern baldness while the second group had no family history of baldness. Both groups were then injected with testosterone. The group with a family history of baldness began losing their hair within weeks. The group with no family history did not lose hair. When the injections of testosterone were halted , the progression of thinning hair stopped.

This experiment helped show that male pattern baldness was an inherited trait that is triggered with the addition of testosterone.

Since that early experiment, we have learned that it is not actually testosterone but the testosterone by-product DHT that causes the hair loss.

There are still many factors about the inheritance of baldness that are not understood and more research to be done.

Many hair loss treatments and products attempt to fight hair loss by fighting the effects of DHT on our hair.

Keep in mind that hair loss can also be caused by other factors. These factors include disease, stress, some prescription medicines, exposure to certain chemicals and other factors including improper nutrition and diet.

Information in this article is provided for informational purposes only, and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. You should NOT use the information contained herein for diagnosing, preventing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication.
When shopping for nutritional supplements or herbal formulas you should carefully read all product packaging and information on the product label or product web site. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your health care provider. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are NOT intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease

Chuck Irving is an internet marketing consultant. http://www.hairloss-productreviews.com/index.html