Thinning hair is a part of aging, but when the hair loss grows beyond normal thinning, it can be a real drag on a person’s self-esteem. While men usually have areas that become fully bald, women tend to suffer from universal thinning hair.
Dr. Saltz now offers the NeoGraft hair transplantation system, which employs follicular unit extraction techniques to transplant active, growing hair follicles into the thinning or balding areas for a return to natural, healthy hair growth.
How is hair transplantation different now?
Hair transplantation has been performed since the 1950s, but techniques have come a long way. Formerly, an entire patch of “bald resistant” hair from the back of the head was removed and transplanted in its entirety on the balding area. This created two problems. First, when the skin on the back of the scalp was stretched back together and stitched, it created an unsightly scar where hair would not regrow. This scar could be seen when the person was swimming and in other situations. Second, the transplanted hair patches looked unnatural.
Dr. Saltz uses the NeoGraft system, which uses the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method for hair transplantation. This involves taking individual follicles from the back of the scalp and transplanting them into the balding areas. The result is natural looking and effective. Plus, the problem of the large horizontal scar created by patch transplantation is non-existent with the FUE method used by Dr. Saltz.
How is FUE done?
In follicular unit extraction, the back of your head is first shaved and then numbed. This is the area where your hair is still growing normally and isn’t prone to balding. Then Dr. Saltz removes hair follicles one by one from this area. This area will heal with small dots, but the surrounding hair will cover those.
Next, Dr. Saltz cleans and numbs the area where you want hair restored. Holes or slits are created with a special NeoGraft tool, and each hair follicle is placed in one of the holes. Dr. Saltz takes care to match the hair direction with natural hair flow as much as possible. As you would assume, this is a time consuming process, taking anywhere from four to eight hours.
When will the hair start to grow?
Immediately after your procedure and for about three weeks that follow, your hair will look normal, as the transplanted follicles will have returned hair to your balding areas. But then the transplanted hairs fall out, and depression sets in. But this isn’t a reason for concern. This is simply the follicles’ reaction to the trauma. Of your transplanted follicles, around 60 percent will successfully take hold and start growing new hair within six to nine months.
Would FUE work for me?
The question of whether you could have NeoGraft FUE transplantation with Dr. Saltz depends on if you still have hair growing on the back of your head, the area usually immune to male pattern balding. If so, then you could probably have FUE and a return to a fuller head of hair.
Interested in NeoGraft hair transplantation with Saltz Plastic Surgery? Call us at our Salt Lake City offices, (801) 274-9500, or our Park City offices, (435) 655-6612, to schedule a consultation.