Advancement In Hair Transplantation

A standard hair transplantation procedure involves the removal of donor strip of hair from the back of the head from where the follicular unit grafts are dissected under a microscope. These grafts are then preserved in saline and are then transplanted on a bald patch on the crown area of the scalp.

Given the time consuming and tedious nature of this procedure, a hair transplant surgeon is often able to transplant only about 500 to 600 follicular unit grafts per day. However, thanks to the recent hair transplant advances, this technique is often replaced by the follicular unit extraction (FUE). The cost per graft of FUE is typically twice the cost of the standard follicular unit hair transplant procedure discussed above but it is comparatively faster and minimally invasive.

Some hair transplant advances

In a typical FUE procedure a small round punch is made in the donor area to directly extract 1, 2, 3 and 4 hair follicular unit grafts. The follicular units extracted using this process is typically referred to as “blunt dissection” where a punch is made to envelope the entire follicular unit separating it from the surrounding soft tissues.

Once the underlying follicular unit is separated from the surrounding tissues, it is easily extracted using a small forceps. The small holes left behind after the follicular unit extraction gradually heal over the next few days and are not detectable to the naked eye once the patient’s hair grows out. The healing time is much less than the donor strip extraction procedure.

While the FUE procedure has been adopted by most hair transplant clinics, the standard strip excision method is still the most popular hair transplant procedure because it is more economical than the FUE.

Moreover, due to some recent hair transplant advances such as the use of trichophytic closure technique, the linear donor scar created by the strip excision procedure is now often rendered almost undetectable to the naked eye. This advancement in the hair transplantation technique has made FUE procedure relatively less appealing.

Hair transplantation research

Besides the hair transplant advances in the transplantation procedures, a lot of research is also underway to clone the hair. If the hair transplantation research is successful it will be possible to make several copies of donor hair in the laboratory. The application of this technique would be used in the form of hair transplantation. In the traditional procedures, the biggest limitation is often the donor which is not able to meet required density. However, hair cloning promises to overcome this problem by having the amount of hair required to be grown in a laboratory from a single donor hair and then implanting it into the scalp.

Hair transplantation research for cloning is very difficult and there are many hurdles that have to be overcome regarding the safety and cosmetic characteristics of the cloned hair. Some hair transplantation research has also provided breakthrough for some hair loss medication like Dutasteride.

Hair Transplant Procedures Costs

Hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness is a condition that affects both men and women. Surgical hair transplantation is the only solution for restoring the lost hair in pattern baldness when medical hair restoration does not offer you a good hair re-growth.

If you have well-defined and clearly established areas or patterns of baldness on the crown with healthy dense coverage of hair at the sides and the back of the head, you are probably suitable for a hair transplant surgery. Hair that is transplanted in the frontal region of the skull generally offers the best results. However, a hair transplant procedure can also be carried out on any other area of your head if you have some bald patch there.

It is best to have detailed information about the hair transplant procedure before you make plans to undergo a surgery. It is only after you have read through all the information that you can understand and appreciate the significance of surgical hair restoration. The information will also help you decider whether you are the right candidate for the hair transplant surgery.

Now that you are well informed, you would probably think whether the hair transplantation is at all affordable? Hair transplant cost varies depending upon your past medical history, the degree and extent of your hair loss, possibility of medical hair restoration as an adjunct for surgical hair restoration, number of sessions that would will be required for hair transplant surgery, etc. It is after placing due considerations to these factors that your hair restoration surgeon will be able to chalk out an affordable hair transplant treatment plan for you.

Before you make a decision to undergo hair transplant procedure, it is better that you make a consultation visit to the hair transplantation surgeon. This consultation will give you some idea about the hair transplant cost for your surgery.

In general, the average hair transplant cost in USA ranges from $3,690 to $ 9, 800. In some cases it can also be as high as $ 15, 000. The hair transplant cost varies considerably from person to person, and also depends on how many grafts you need, the number of sessions involved, and the hair transplant center or clinic you visit. Clinics in California charge more on average than clinics in Texas. Going to Canada or to Mexico for the hair transplant will be cheaper.

Remember that the hair transplant prices should not be the main reason for choosing a particular hair transplant surgeon, though it is an important factor for most patients. The cost of hair transplant surgery at most hair restoration centers in the USA is based on the size of a hair transplant “session” not on the number of hair follicle units transplanted. This is simply because some grafts contain more hair follicles than others