Ensuring Safety During Hair Transplant - A Comprehensive Overview
Restore your hair, fall in love with your hairline all over again and win back your life!
A hair transplant promises to reclaim your lost confidence and re-establish your self-worth by transforming your look!
Understanding Hair Transplant Procedures:
Distressing and traumatic, hair loss and balding take a huge toll on your mental health and affect every aspect of your life. Whether it is thinning of hair, dealing with a receding hairline, or bald patches in the crown, the sooner you tackle it, the better will be the results.
A hair transplant is a permanent remedy to restore your lost hair and achieve a head full of hair!
What is Hair Transplant?
A hair transplant is a surgical hair restoration procedure wherein hair from one site on your scalp is moved to a spot where there is balding.
Different Types of Hair Transplant Methods:
By and large, trichologists perform the FUE and the FUT methods of hair transplant. Both will help restore lost hair and give you naturally thicker, stronger and fuller hair.
You and your doctor will discuss and decide between FUE and FUT and which one would be more appropriate for you.
For the FUE, individual hair follicles are extracted from the donor area (which is usually the back of the scalp) and transplanted to the recipient site which is bald; and for the FUT, a strip of scalp tissue is excised and transplanted to the recipient site. Once your doctor nails down the specifics of the hair transplant procedure, you will be explained the pre-surgery guidelines that you need to follow.
Key Steps in the Hair Transplant Procedure:
- The hair transplant is performed under local anaesthesia; you will also be given a sedative so that you are relaxed and comfortable. The scalp will be insensitive to pain, but you will be conscious and aware of what’s going on, and may feel some tugging on your scalp too, but you won’t feel any pain.
- A microneedle or a punch device will extract individual hair follicles (in an FUE) or a strip of the scalp tissue with several hair follicles (in a FUT) from the donor site, which is usually the back of the head.
- The recipient area which is bald, is prepared for the transplant.
- The extracted grafts will be sorted.
- The grafts will then be inserted into the scalp, paying close attention to the angle and direction of the hair, so that the results look perfectly natural.
- The post-op aftercare instructions need to be followed by the T so that you have the best outcome possible. You need to look into every detail of the treatment plan.
Essential Safety Measures for Hair Transplant:
The hair transplant surgery is absolutely safe when carried out by an experienced, licensed, board-certified surgeon. Regardless, it is prudent to know the likely pitfalls and risks that may occur and take adequate safety measures to keep them at bay.
Choosing the Right Hair Transplant Surgeon:
Selecting the right surgeon is the most important milepost in your hair transplant journey! Select a hair transplant surgeon who has had loads of experience and is providing avant-garde and innovative treatments. It is vital to do a background check on the surgeon as well as the clinic. You must be completely sure that it is safe and reliable.
Pre-Procedure Care and Safety Considerations:
You will be given specific guidelines on how to prepare for the hair transplant; carefully following the instructions laid down will help your surgery go smoothly and will ensure that you have the best possible outcome.
Your surgeon will assess your case and guide you through the entire process. Based on your specific requirements and your expectations, he will curate your hair transplant. After the surgery, you will be given all the pertinent information on how to prepare and what you should expect. Follow the doctor’s orders to the
- Sleep early in the night, right before your surgery, so that your mind and body are well rested.
- Stay well hydrated and have bland meals for a few days before the surgery. Have a light snack before your hair transplant. Steer clear of caffeine for a couple of days prior to the surgery.
- Wash the hair well on the evening before your surgery.
- Do not apply anything in your hair about 3 days before the procedure.
- Do not cut or colour your hair a week before the procedure. It will eliminate the landmarks which would be helpful for your surgeon.
- Do not smoke and drink 2 weeks before the surgery; it decreases the flow of blood to the scalp and slows down recovery.
- Make sure that your doctor knows about a medical condition such as diabetes, or hypertension, that you have and the medications and supplements that you have been taking. Do not take any medicines without your doctor’s permission.
- Do not take anti-inflammatory medicines and blood thinners 1 week before the procedure.
Your doctor will discuss all the guidelines and do’s and don’ts with you before your hair transplant. Diligently follow all pre-operative instructions so that you have a quick recovery and the best possible results.
Safety Measures During the Procedure:
- Your doctor will maintain the strictest levels of hygiene and cleanliness during the procedure. A surgery calls for complete aseptic conditions in order to ward off complications. Negligence and disregard for hygiene can have grave ramifications, including causing life-threatening infections.
- Your surgeon will have all emergency measures on standby. This will ensure that the entire procedure is absolutely safe and the chances of grave complications setting in are slim.
- Your doctor will use high magnification for the surgery to ensure precision and accuracy.
Post-Procedure Safety Measures and Care
Post-surgery care is extremely important to help boost healing and recovery, and the recovery phase decides the outcome of your procedure.
You will be prescribed post-surgery guidelines that you need to adhere to. You will be told how to wash your scalp and hair, put certain specific activities on hold, eat a nutritious diet, and take the prescribed drugs. It is important to rest as much as possible after the hair transplant surgery. Adequate rest speeds up recovery appreciably.
Risks and Complications of Hair Transplants
As is with any surgical procedure, there are certain risks that are always associated.
Common Risks and Side Effects of Hair Transplants:
- Infections are known to occur occasionally.
- Sometimes, bleeding may occur at the surgical sites.
- There is a risk that some of the grafts won't take root well.
- Sometimes the graft may not stay viable and may die and the surgery may need to be repeated.
- Very rarely, small bumps or pimples may form at the transplant sites, this is folliculitis.
Addressing Complications Post Transplant Surgery:
Let’s address each of these complications individually, and see how they are handled –
- Surgical wound infection may occur about 2 days after the procedure. Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection and expedite recovery.
- If there should occur an episode of bleeding, you need to place a clean cloth at the bleeding site and apply gentle pressure for a couple of minutes. Be cautious and gentle, especially because you need to maintain the integrity of the transplanted follicles and not uproot them.
- If the grafts fail to get anchored well and the hair transplant fails, you will need a second hair transplant to rectify it. It is very crucial that you are careful when dealing with hair grafts, especially during the first 15 days. If a graft gets dislodged, your doctor will ask you to immerse the graft in cold saline water immediately and he will schedule a re-implanted within hours. By and large, losing a couple of grafts won’t affect the outcome, given that hundreds of grafts have been implanted; however, do be very careful with the freshly transplanted grafts.
- Statistics show that the hair transplant procedure is extremely successful and 80 to 90 % of the grafts survive. With top-notch and avant-garde methods being used, the failure percentage is 5 to 10 %.
- To deal with folliculitis, your doctor will use a sterilized needle to make a small incision in the lesion and get rid of the pus.
Real-life Insights: Interviews with Hair Transplant Patients:
Reviews and testimonials from people who have had a hair transplant can be a strong deciding factor for the choices that you make. A good patient review plays a pivotal role in helping you zero in on the clinic as well as the doctor. Testimonials from patients have a very powerful influence in shaping choices. Online reviews as well as talking to people who have had a hair transplant will give you an insight into various clinics, facilities, methods and clinic set-ups. Do your homework before booking a hair transplant consultation!
Discussing Patients’ Experiences:
You should have a chat with people who have had a hair transplant and understand their experience and whether they are happy with their choice of doctor and the clinic.
Patient reviews give comprehensive details about the doctor, the competency of his team, the degree of doctor-patient communication, and the kind of technology used.
Tips from Patients on Ensuring a Safe Hair Transplant Procedure:
The healthcare system today is completely patient-driven. Patients want to know whether they’re getting the best care for their money. Thus, talking to people who have had a procedure will give you a good understanding of everything that has to do with a hair transplant. When a hair transplant is carried out well, it will give you beautiful, seamless, natural-looking results; this is where the doctor’s deftness and experience come into play! People who have had a hair transplant will tell you that getting the best surgeon is absolutely vital. When advice and recommendations come directly from a patient who has had the procedure, it sure can be a trusted reference point for you.
FAQs:
A hair transplant done well, will give you natural-looking results; this is where your surgeon’s experience and excellence will come into play! How well the follicles are extracted and transplanted will decide the outcome of your surgery. The hair follicles need to be placed close together, to make sure you have good hair density and a seamless natural-looking hairline.
Your surgeon should pay close attention to your original hairline and the curated hairline and discuss it with you.
Also, it is imperative that you ensure that the doctor is licensed to carry out the hair transplant surgery.
- Your scalp will be bandaged for a day or two.
- Wear a cap to protect your scalp.
- Wash your hair 5 days after the hair transplant, using a doctor-approved shampoo.
- Make sure you have all the prescribed medications – oral and application and keep the scalp completely healthy.
- After the surgery, for 10 days you must sleep in a raised position. Do not sleep on your tummy.
- Follow all instructions laid down by your surgeon dedicatedly.
- Follow-up consultations with the doctor are mandatory.
- No strenuous exercises for 20 days.
- Do not expose your scalp to direct sunlight for 2 weeks.
- Do not drink alcohol for 20 days, after you’ve had the surgery.
You can exercise about 10 days after you have had a hair transplant surgery. Do get your doctor’s go-ahead before embarking on your exercise routine though. After 10 days, a light workout will be permitted – one that won’t make you sweat profusely; yoga and walking are perfect options. After a fortnight, heavy exercises, such as weightlifting will be allowed. For people involved in contact sports like, football and boxing must wait for 1 month before resuming.
After the hair transplant, the surrounding hair will continue to fall out as part of a progression of the pattern hair loss and consequently what will happen is, that your hair will look unnatural and patchy, more so, if the newly placed hair lies right next to the hair that’s falling out.
By and large, doctors prescribe steroids to prevent as well as treat swelling on the forehead after your hair transplant. You may be administered steroids either before, during or after the procedure.
Some doctors avoid steroids altogether and treat the swelling successfully. Spraying the scalp with saline ensures that your scalp stays hydrated and that it does not dry out. The donor site will also need betadine and fucidin to ensure that no infection sets in.
FUE is trail-blazing and avant-garde and has improved the results of the hair transplant radically. Here are the advantages of opting for an FUE –
- The FUE is minimally invasive – the FUE is minimally invasive and there’s hardly any scarring. FUE extracts individual hair follicles, with an extraction site of 1 mm, thus without leaving behind any scars.
- There’s a high survival rate of the grafts – FUE grafts have a 90 to 95 % survival rate, in comparison with the FUT grafts which have a 75 % survival rate. Precision extraction of FUE decreases trauma to the hair follicles and increases their viability.
- Quick Recovery – in about 10 days, there will be recovery and you can get back to your routine.
A hair transplant is a one-day procedure, taking about 4 to 8 hours. If you are having lots of grafts transplanted, you will have to come back to the clinic for a couple of hours the next day. The duration of the surgery also depends on which procedure has been employed – the FUE or the FUT.
