Hair transplantation is a really tough decision to take. It takes lots of thought and consideration to go for a hair transplant. Therefore it is necessary to know as much as possible before one goes for hair transplantation. FUE transplant is a process of extracting grafts one by one and transferring them to the balding area. This treatment is helpful in cases where medicines or any other procedures do not work. It is expensive but it gives long-term results. Before going for transplantation your doctor might suggest you take certain tests and give some medicines few days before the surgery. The surgery might take a day or more depending on the number of grafts.
Steps before FUE hair transplant
One should take a proper consultation with the doctor. During the consultation, the doctor will ask about your complete history and other conditions. They will also do your Trichoscan. In that, they will see the number of follicular units per square centimeter and measure their thickness. Also, they measure vellus hair percentage. This is to determine the condition of the donor area. They examine the balding area and determine the grade of baldness. Depending on the area of baldness they calculate the number of grafts to extract.
Few days before the surgery the doctor will ask you to take certain blood tests. These tests are; CBC, BT-CT, FBS, HIV, HBsAg, Anti-HCV and few more test depending on patient’s underline physical health. They also prescribe medicines for reducing the pain beforehand. If you consume alcohol or have a habit of smoking the doctor will ask you to stop for few days before and after the surgery.
Steps For FUE Transplant
- Step 1: The first step consists of marking the donor and reception area.
- Step 2: In this, they scrub the scalp with anti-septic solution and then they give local anesthesia to the patient over the scalp. With the help of anesthesia, the patient don’t feel any pain.
- Step 3: After scrubbing and anesthesia are given to the recipient area, they proceed to slit-making. They also apply methylene blue so that the slits in the recipient area are visible.
- Step 4: The next step is graft harvesting. This step consists of cutting, coring, and extraction. For cutting and coring surgeon might use a motor or manual sharp punch. Each graft will have single, double, or triple hair.
- Step 5: Then they implant the graft in the slits on the recipient area.
- Step 6: Lastly the donor and recipient areas are cleaned properly.
Those who don’t want to shave their head can also go for non-shaven FUE. It was done in Adon clinic for the first time in India.
What to expect after Transplant
Your transplanted hair will shed after few days and then new hair will grow in its place. The life span for the transplanted hair is approximately 15 years, depending on the condition of donor area. Hair transplants are usually expensive but they give long-term results. One can continue regular routine treatments after a few weeks. They can keep using medicines or go for procedures like PRP or derma-roller, etc.
However, FUE is a really reliable choice for patient who want to undergo hair transplant. It gives satisfactory results. Also, there is no scarring in the donor area as seen in FUT!