Hair Transplant Procedures
This procedure can help eliminate the most visible sign of aging – baldness. A transplant procedure at the Aventura Center could be exactly what you need to feel like yourself again! The physician, is a certified restoration surgeon, provides several treatment options for men and women who are troubled by this condition. Of these options, transplant surgery is the only permanent treatment for baldness. The joy of having your own permanent and natural growing hair cannot be duplicated by any other means.
Transplant procedures are relatively minor operations that take follicles from the back of the head and move it to areas requiring more follicles. The fringe, or back and sides of a balding head, is used from the donor. The transplant donor area contains follicles that are genetically programmed not to shed due to the influence of testosterone’s conversion to DHT. This stable donor follicles, when transplanted, will continue to grow throughout one’s life.
Transplant surgery has improved dramatically over the past decade. The days of plugs, corn rows, and doll’s hair are gone. The age of follicular unit grafting has arrived. The ideal transplant results in a natural appearance and an undetectable hairline. This natural result is achieved through follicular unit transplant surgery, the most advanced technique used today. At our transplant facility, Dr. Gershenbaum utilizes the latest techniques and technology for his patients.
Follicles naturally grow as single follicles or in groups of two, three, or four hairs. These groups of follicles grow in an irregular pattern and are called follicular units. Follicular unit transplant procedures preserve these naturally occurring groups and transfer them, one by one, from the donor area to thinning or balding areas.
Through the use of these different sized grafts, along with new and improved instrumentation, a completely natural result can be created that is appropriate for each individual patient. Modern techniques also allow the transplantation of a large number of grafts, greatly reducing the number of procedures needed to attain the desired results. Understand, however, that there are many factors that must come together to get the ideal result. In essence, it is very easy to take follicles from the back of the head, transplant it to the front and have it grow. It is so easy that there are vast numbers of physicians from varying backgrounds and specialties performing this procedure daily. There are, however, very few physicians who have the knowledge, skill, and artistic ability to render completely natural results on a consistent basis.
In addition to using follicular unit grafting, the most advanced transplant technique, the surgeon must design a proper hairline that will look appropriate over the many years that lie ahead. Transplanting these follicular units with the proper angles and direction, like your own natural hair would normally grow, is paramount in obtaining a natural result. Furthermore, the expertise of the team and technicians who are preparing and placing the grafts cannot be overemphasized. This is an area in which the Aventura Center excels – the transplant team at our practice is experienced at performing these critical aspects of transplantation.
In the field of transplants, one surgical technique will not suit all patients. Many factors must be considered to choose the most appropriate transplant procedure, or combination of procedures, to obtain the ideal result. Consideration must include:
- Cause of Follicle Loss
- Donor hair - density, texture and color
- Cranium elasticity and skin type
- Age
- Potential for future follicle loss
- Family history
- Configuration of the head and face
- Ethnic background
- Medical history and healing history
- Patient’s goals, desires, and expectations
- Budget
New transplant techniques naturally give rise to new terms, which can be confusing. There is different terminology and different techniques used by the many International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS). Some doctors use the terms "micro and mini grafting" and "follicular unit grafting" interchangeably.
Micro and mini grafting uses one, two, three, and four grafts, as does follicular unit grafting. However, true follicular unit grafting avoids separating follicles from their naturally occurring groups or units. Although there are variations in techniques used by individual doctors, ultimately it is the proper surgical skill and artistic eye, along with an experienced staff, that provide the most natural results.
The best advice is to start to combat baldness early. This may include medical treatment alone or in combination with transplant surgery. Medical treatment may greatly diminish the progression of baldness over time, while transplant surgery (when started early) will gradually replace thinning follicles to avoid the outward signs of baldness or extreme recession. Also, existing follicles will easily hide the areas of newly transplanted follicles and the gradually growing new follicles will go unnoticed.
Transplant surgery, as performed at our center near Fort Lauderdale, is more affordable when completed over time. However, the patient’s expectations and understanding that baldness is a life-long process is paramount. When performing a transplant procedure on someone in his or her 20s or 30s, the decisions for hairlines and crowns must consider the future progression of balding. Many younger patients simply do not conceptualize the future progression of follicle depletion and insist on maintaining their youthful hairline, unknowing of the consequences. A 27 year old with a low transplanted hairline will come to realize, as the progression of balding continues, that at age 50 his hairline is unnaturally too low. Too many poor choices and decisions with younger transplant patients lead to unnatural results at a later age with need for corrective surgery. The importance of making proper decisions early on can’t be stressed enough.
Follicle Transplant Results
After receiving transplant treatment at our center, it generally takes 4 to 6 months to observe early growth. Full results are not achieved until eight months to one year after transplant surgery. It is important to understand that transplant surgery most certainly will add more follicles and density to the areas grafted. It will not have the same density as the side and back of the head.
Transplant surgery will not generally remove the signs of baldness and thinning. There will always be space for additional grafting if requested and if donors are available. In some individuals in their active stages of depletion, the grafted follicles will grow in and remain permanently as they continue balding in some areas - in essence trading permanent follicles for follicles being lost with no appreciable net gain. Medical treatment with Propecia and/or Rogaine can help remedy this problem. Stabilizing the progression of the depletion with Propecia and/or Rogaine, and transplant surgery is recommended to most patients. Obviously, Propecia is reserved for male patients only.
To schedule a transplant consultation, please contact the Aventura Center today!
