Hair Restoration Blog

Question:

Hello,

I’m very interested in learning about the future methods and advancements in the science of hair restoration as you may have guessed. Is there an “on line” information source you could direct me to, in order to keep of with the current work on stem cell progression, and the like? I have ushairrestoration.com site, of course, because it’s on your card. But am at a lose as how to get more information. Is there a site that publishes research papers and cases studies of new developments?

Answer:

I am not aware of any site that is dedicated to the advancements on stem cell research, but there are some sites that you can get good information on hair restoration and possibly get yourself familiarized with the new surgical and medical methods to restore hair. One that I recommend is the website of the International society of hair restoration surgery. It may not be updated very often, but is being fed through many different sources and could be a good source of information for someone like you to get some general information. Of course if you are interested in more scientific articles, you can use the National Center for Biotechnology Information, which gives you the most recent publication in most medical journals. This site is searchable for different criteria so you can put your keywords in and see what new information is out there.

Hi Doctor,

My son has had a hair transplant years ago with old techniques and he has bad hair transplant scar now. He now wants to shave his head, but the scar of hair transplant on the back of his head may become exposed. Do you perform hair transplant scar repair or do you recommend any procedure that can help with hair transplant donor scar coverage?

Answer:

Hair transplant with strip technique can cause a linear scar that could be visible on the back of head if the patient wants to shave his/her head. A hair transplant scar is not limited to a bad hair transplant technique and it might have to do with one’s personal healing process too (some people are generally better healers compared to the others).

The good news is that we have methods to minimize the size of the scars nowadays and if you have bad hair transplant scars from bad transplants in the past, there are several new methods that can help improving the appearance of the donor scar. A hair transplant scar could be improved by repair of linear widened scars with different methods that we perform at our Los Angeles office of US Hair Restoration. Dr. Mohebi is the inventor of the axometer, a device that measure the laxity of the scalp precisely before hair transplant surgeries. Good measurement of the scalp laxity is one of the best ways to minimize development of donor wound complications and widening of donor scar and the Laxometer is the device to do these measurements.

One method is through simply excising the scar. Excision of the donor scar may be helpful for some donor scars. After removing the scar, hair transplant surgeon can close the skin with the trichophytic closure method in which a small wedge on one or both sides of the skin edge is removed and the skin is closed primarily. Trichophytic closure allows some hair follicles to grow new hair into the final scar. Presence of hair helps making the hair transplant scar become invisible.

Hair transplant donor scar coverage could also be performed by transplanting hair into the scar. Hair could be harvested from other areas using FUE or mini-strip techniques. Again, presence of the hair inside scarred area could trick the discriminating eye and the scar would become less detectable. Patients may need more than one hair transplant procedure into the donor scar for minimizing the difference between the densities of hair in scar and surrounding areas.

The last method that could be used to camouflage the linear scar is by tattooing the scar. People who plan to keep the hair very short can easily tattoo the scar with the figures of short hairs so it seems that there are some hairs present in the scar area, which can help minimizing the visibility of the scar.

How much does a hair transplant cost. This is a question that people ask me on this blog every day. Hair transplant cost in LA might be a concern for many individuals who are trying to obtain a full head of hair. Today, advanced technology has helped thousands of hair loss sufferers to restore their natural hair and improve their self esteem.

Hair transplant have become a much better value in last few years. The quality of transplanted hair has improved drastically as long with the cost of hair transplants. Many people were interested in undergoing a hair transplant surgery, but were discouraged by the costs of hair restoration surgeries. Many modern hair transplant centers are performing larger hair restoration surgeries, which have made hair transplants more cost effective for the patient while also finishing the restoration process possible with fewer procedures.

Generally, hair transplant costs can range anywhere from $4000 to $20, 000 dependings on where and how it is performed. Regardless of the center, the cost of your hair transplant always depends on how many grafts patients need.

It is crucial to stress that hair transplant costs vary. The question really should not be “how much a hair transplant costs”, but what the value of the procedure is. That is why it is imperative that you consult a few doctors before choosing one. The possibility of monthly financing with low monthly payments is also often offered to make hair restoration even more affordable for a larger group of people.

Other expenses to keep in mind when calculating a hair transplant cost is the price of any extra medication, blood tests, anesthesia, and facility fees that are included in the cost of hair transplant surgeries in some hair restoration centers. At the end, your cost is associated with which clinic you select. At US Hair Restoration, patients are encouraged to shop around and find the best value hair transplant (not the cheapest). USHR has a high patient satisfaction rate, considering that US Hair Restoration offers the most recent standards in hair restoration surgery leading to the most natural results with a very affordable price.

Mega session hair transplant surgery has been around for almost a decade since Dr. Rassman and others started doing bigger and bigger sessions. Before 1993 all could be done was less than 1000 and occasionally 1500 grafts per each session. Using newer techniques and larger team of experienced technicians, we at US Hair Restoration are currently performing large sessions on a regular basis.

Not all physician teams are equal. If a doctor routinely performs sessions in over 2500 graft size, then it would be safe to assume that this doctor has mastered the skills required for large session. Unfortunately, not all doctors have either the teams or the skills to accomplish the feat on a routine basis. Limiting the size of the session to under 2000 grafts, it may take more surgical sessions to accomplish the same goal as when twice the number is transplanted.

Many factors should come together for a megasession hair transplant surgery. First, the surgical team must be trained in doing large sessions with fast, efficient cutting and placing. The following points must be available for the surgery to be successful. The sessions should not take more than eight to ten hours, for more than that, the grafts that are out of the body awaiting placement produces reduced graft growth. Hair transplant surgeon should keep a larger team of technicians to help reducing the time of surgery.

The surgeon must know the nuances of prolonged anesthesia without increasing the risks to the patient. The patient’s scalp laxity must be very loose so that a wide strip can be taken safely (often these strips measure greater than 2cm in width and 22cm in length). The patient’s density must be high (50% higher than normal densities). Large sessions might carry increased risk of swelling and redness after surgery, but overall are not more risky than smaller sessions, but the above criteria must be bet or the yield would not be there. At US Hair Restoration, we offer megasessions to patients with extensive baldness with good donor quality with excellent results.