How Is Hair Transplantation Done and Their Techniques

Hair is one of the most important accessories for a person’s confidence. Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with a beautiful mane for the entire span of their life. With a lot of products on the market, it becomes difficult to choose the correct treatment for the hair loss a person endures in their life time. Hair loss has been with humanity for as long as the human race has existed. Over the course of time, many methods have been developed to recover from this plague. But with wigs becoming a thing of the past due to their obvious and on the face appearance and various cosmetic procedures such as hair patch being only temporary solutions to an everlasting problem people have started to prefer Hair Transplant procedure over these outdated methods. Hair Transplant has become easily accessible for the common public now to obtain world class services at an affordable price thus making it not exclusively limited to celebrities. The Two basic techniques of Hair Transplant are FUE and FUT: 1. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE): In this technique, each unit of the follicle is individually extracted from the scalp. The steps of the procedure are as follows: • First the hair is trimmed to about 1mm of length. It may not be required if the persons hair is long enough to cover the donor area from which the follicles are to be extracted. • The next step is to clean the donor area with an antiseptic solution and make it completely free of bacteria. • The scalp of the patient is then injected with local anaesthesia to make the region numb to the needle pricks. • The grafts are then collected using sterile needle tips. Smaller grafts are preferred since they give a more natural look. The grafts are collected in a group of 3-4 hair strands together known as Follicular Units from which the name Follicular Unit Extraction is also obtained. • The hair grafts are collected and stored in a special solution of chilled saline with additives such as Allopurinol, Nitric Oxide Inhibitors, Arachidonic Acid Inhibitors, Vitamins, ATP, Insulin, Steroids, etc. to prevent dehydration, nutrition deficiency, ischaemic injury due to lack of blood supply and bacterial or fungal infections. It is also used to prevent pH imbalances. • The grafts are then prepared for implantation. The needle of the pen is pricked into the skin in the desired angle and direction of hair growth. • The skin of the transplanted part forms scabs in about 10 days and falls off. 2. Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT): In this technique, a strip of tissues is removed from the donor area from which the follicles are extracted. The steps of the procedure are: • First the donor area, usually at the back of the head is trimmed and cleaned using an antiseptic solution to prevent any infection. • The scalp of the patient is then injected with local anesthesia to make the region numb. • The area to be removed is then marked with a surgical pen with the width and length of the part to be removed depending upon the elasticity of the scalp. • After removing the donor area it is sutured and closed using Trychophytic Closure technique that leaves minimal to no scars. • The follicles are then extracted from the patch of skin removed by slicing off the skin in thin strips. This is known as Strip Harvesting and results in better follicular count. • The grafts are then prepared for implantation. The needle of the pen is pricked into the skin in the desired angle and direction of hair growth.