Hair Transplant Surgery Basics and the Suggestions to Do Before and After the Process

As a person suffering a serious hair loss problem, you may hesitate because of your fears or expenses. Unfortunately, health insurance does not work for this surgery since hair transplants are one of the cosmetic procedures.

However, if you decide to apply a hair transplant surgery, you should know that the final costs may depend on some criteria.

They can be listed as the extent of the transplant procedure, the availability of surgeons in your area, the experience of the surgeon, and the surgical technique you will choose.

That means there are so many variables to change your expenses and the process. To overcome your fears and hesitations about hair transplant surgery, you should read my guide first. You will find the things to before and after hair transplant surgery, too!

Basic Informations About Hair Transplant Surgery

Initially, here are the basic pieces of information about hair transplant to get informed about the process. It would be helpful to convince yourself and the people around you to the success of this way of handling hair loss.

A hair transplant procedure is performed with a group of doctors and some medical technicians. If you want to take possible complications, your operation should be conducted in a fully-equipped hospital. In other words, if you face any dangerous situation during the hair transplant surgery, the group and types of equipment should be ready to save you so that you can feel safe yourself.
Individuals aged between 20 and 60 years can have hair transplant surgery. If you are someone below 20 and suffering from hair loss, you should know that it is valid and okay for your age.
The patient who will undergo a hair transplant surgery will need someday to feel okay. It is around 3 days. That means you should ready to spend the day after the surgery to take a rest.
Although the duration of surgery varies according to the number of grafts that will be transplanted, it usually lasts about 6 to 8 hours. Hence, there is no reason to get excuse about timing and you are being busy for this operation.

It is significant to have realistic expectations about the steps and process. To illustrate, if you start without much hair, a transplant will not give you a full head of hair at the end of the day. In other words, your hair’s being thick and dense have a big role in the result.
It may take around 6 to 18 months to see the final outcome of hair growth so you should be patient as long as possible for the surgery progress. Nevertheless, it is good to know that you can expect to see hair growth until one or two years.

What to Do Before Hair Transplant Surgery?

This is the first and most important step as preparation of hair loss surgery process. You should read all carefully and follow your own doctor’s advice at the same time. Something more might be needed due to your personal history.

You need to take into consideration medications if you use regularly one of them. Aspirin and any other anti-inflammatory medications are the first ones you should not take for seven days prior to your procedure.
The way you wash your hair and the chemical products you use are important before the process. Indeed, you should wash your hair more carefully after the surgery.
It is the same for the hair products you have. For the shampoos you need to use, you should check with your doctor about the products with natural ingredients. Also, you should avoid using any gel or oil to your hair before the treatment.
You need to give a break to consume alcohol before the surgery. Besides alcohol, you should not take multivitamins, vitamin B, or vitamin E supplements for one week before your surgery day.

It is the same for smoking, too. You should avoid to smoke before the surgery, and especially not on the day of the surgery since it might reduce blood flow to the scalp.
For the type of clothing, you need to wear comfortable clothing. For your information, nothing has to be pulled over your head after surgery. That means you should not wear such types of clothes that need to wear from the head when coming for the hair transplant treatment. Rather, you can prefer to come in the formal shirt that you can easily wear without touching your head.
You should plan your day and arrange for proper transportation to and from the surgery center so that you will not suffer from extra tiredness after the surgery.

If you suffer from being diabetic, you should take some advice and discuss with your doctor to learn how to handle your insulin management on the day of surgery.

Not only alcohol or smoking but also even coffee is a threat for your hair transplant surgery process. You should not drink coffee the day of your surgery.
You should have a good breakfast or lunch on the day of hair transplant surgery. You should not come to the hospital empty stomach. It would be better if you have a light and digestible meal before the treatment. Yet, you need to avoid caffeine and spicy food to eat.
If you are planning to cut or color your hair, you need to postpone your plan a bit later than the surgery. The thing you need to do is to leave your hair long in the back and on the sides to cover staples after your procedure.
If you have any medical problems or related issues, then you have to make sure you inform your doctor before the surgery. Informing the doctor about your current condition in advance would be helpful for further steps.

If you will have Body Hair Transplant (BHT) treatment, it is suggested to shave the probable body donor area such as the chest, pubic, armpit, back, and thighs hairs 4 days before your surgery date.
Here is a small piece of advice for those who are afraid of the surgery. You can listen to music on your mobile phone during surgery if it is allowed.
You should sleep well; you need to sleep at least 6-8 hours before the day of treatment.
It is better not to go alone for the surgery. At least one of your family members or one of your close friends is recommended to accompany the patient.

Process of Hair Transplantation

There are three basic principles that can be listed as harvesting fair follicles, creating incisions, and lastly transplanting hair follicles.

1. Harvesting Hair Follicles

While The FUT technique is related to removing a small strip of tissue from the back of the head and extracting the individual follicular units from this strip, for FUE, it is different. The former method is for each follicular unit individually taken directly from the scalp, which is through small circular incisions.

The Types of Hair Transplant Surgery

There are two transplant methods of Hair Transplants. While the former one is called FUT, the later one is known as Follicular Unit Extraction.

Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

Follicular Unit Transplantation is one of the common ones you will receive after the surgery can vary from some points. These conditions depend on the type of hair you have, the quality of your hair, and your hair color, and the size of the transplant site.

If you want to get this procedure properly, there are some steps your surgeon should follow. First of all, the surgeon should remove a piece of your scalp by using a scalpel or any other device from the back of your head. The strip size is typically about 6 to 10 inches long. It will be determined by your doctor but it should stretch from ear to ear. This is the criteria.

Secondly, your doctor now is close to the area where the scalp was removed with stitches. And then, your doctors and their assistants should separate the scalp strip into smaller pieces with the device that may split the piece up into smaller fragments. They are called grafts which some of these grafts may contain only one hair each.

After that, using a needle or blade might be needed, which depends on your personal situation. In fact, the surgeon makes small holes in your scalp where hair will be transplanted. The doctor should insert hairs from the removed piece of scalp into the holes. This step is known as grafting. Ultimately, your doctor then needs to cover the surgical sites with bandages or gauze whichever you prefer.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)

This type of hair transplant has also some steps to follow carefully. To begin with, they have to shave off your hair on the back of your head before your surgery has started. After that, your doctor will take the individual follicles out of your scalp skin. You will realize even the tiny marks where each follicle was removed.

Consequently, as with the former one, the Follicular Unit Extraction procedure, the doctor needs to make small holes in your scalp, then cover the surgical site with bandages or gauze.

The Advantages of the FUE Technique

There are many advantages of the FUE Technique, which makes it more popular among the patients. Here are only a few of them for you:

Hair transplantation can result in a natural-looking appearance you always dream about. That is why it is known as a permanent solution for treating moderate f you have severe hair loss.
It is a comfortable technique since it is designed to make you sure with the least amount of discomfort by leaving no external scars after the procedure.
This hair transplant technique offers you faster recovery times like how you dream about. You can return to their daily routine as soon as possible and are able to keep living your daily life.
If you think that your doctor and clinic selection are totally correct, and then you are safe with the right operation plan, no damage will be caused in the donor area and no change in the appearance even after multiple operations.
98% of the transplanted grafts will grow as normal hair. The thing you need is just to be patient.

2.Recipient Site Preparation

If the clinic team decide to apply you the classic FUE technique, you need to know that the snick is created with the help of some steel blades. With these slit blades, the incisions should be created with precise accuracy since it is the natural direction of hair growth.

At the end of the day, this will allow the transplanted grafts to grow out in their natural direction.

During the operation, you will have the hundreds of cut your doctor and the team did. That is why they should change these steel blades with new ones from time to time for the hygienic and health conditions.

On the other hand, when it comes to the blades of FUE, such a problem will not come to the scene since they are smoother and sharper.

For each patient, according to hair follicle thickness, just a few blade tips will be needed to prove security. It is determined according to your own health history.

3. Transplanting Hair Follicles

The final stage, known as transplanting hair follicles, is where the process of transplanting the follicles one at a time at a certain angle that is 40-45 degrees, within the incisions at directions.

All three phases mentioned above have certain specific technicalities and the most important part is that you will have experience differently within all stages.

If it is FUE, you can be sure that there is nothing to leave any points since it may require other operations later.

Here are two hair transplant pieces of equipment that might help you during the process:

Hair Growth Helmet Therapy Device, Lolicute Hair Regrowth Treatment Cap

This device will give you a great opportunity against your hair loss problem by a promoting hair regrowth cap massage equipment.

Hair Growth Helmet Therapy Device functions can be listed like this: Haircare after the hair transplant periods, hair loss treatment for the newcomers and the ones who suffer serious hair loss problems, hair loss cure specifically for women.

If you have baldness problem, you can still use this device. For the male pattern baldness, and baldness cure, alopecia treatment, it is also knowns as effective as other methods.

There are many advantages to this device and cap. In fact, hair growth machine provides a safe treatment which is no heating effect. Apart from that, there is no damage to the skin and no side effects. That is the most common reason why many people choose these types of equipment.

Lolicute Hair Regrowth Treatment Cap works with most effective wavelength 678 nm, which have been clinically proven effective for Thinning Hair Treatment. You can easily use this cap and store it. There is also a large treatment area with short-time therapy. In other words, it is quite easy to use.

I am sure about the fact that you will also love its design with high-density diode and good ventilate design. It has also deep penetration by the LLL (low level for hair restoration treatment with its function of relieving itchy scalp conditions.

This hair transplant device has the power to decrease recovery time when you use in conjunction with the hair transplant. It is wavelength is 640-678 nm. and you can use approximately 20 minutes.

Medsor Impex Hair Transplant Follicular Unit Extraction Machine

This product ensures you Fue Ultra sharp punch with its size that is Punch 0.7mm 0.8mm 0.9mm 1 mm 1.2mm. There is high graft success rates the least tissue damage.

It is also advantageous for you to have friction-free graft extraction. The maximum speed of rotation this machine can reach is about – 35000 revolutions per minute.

This product is equipped with the smooth regulator of speed and the switch of the direction of rotation, which is another function why it is recommended by many people trying it.

Apart from that, the motor is seen as one of the most powerful with 65 Watts. It will also let you carry out easily procedures of hair Transplant correction of hair Transplant and a maximum frequency of rotation of the motor of 35, 000 revolutions per minute. I will allow you to carry out easily procedures during your hair transplant period.

However, you should take it from somewhere if it is needed because the nozzles (drills) are not included in the package. Unlike the nozzles and drills, the pedal for rotation inclusion and switching off is included in the package.

For the convenience of the master, you need to know that the power supply unit can be placed on a working little table both in vertical and in the horizontal position. That means, this device can be completed with the foot press pedal which is turning on the device when pressing it.

In short, Medsor Impex Hair Transplant Follicular Unit Extraction Machine one of the most popular models of the devices Strong.

Stages of a Hair Transplant Process

Regardless of the type of surgery, there are some main stages the doctor should follow.

The first stage is called a consultation. This is the stage where the doctor develops the patient’s operation plan and then creates a hairline design. You doctor should inform you about do and do not before the hair transplant surgery. For the sake of proper progress, you should follow each step carefully.

This is for the preparation stage has started. According to the warning you search online or your doctor has suggested you do, you should get prepared for the surgery. This stage is about the processes of sterilizing the operation area and the local anesthetics.

The process of extracting hair grafts from the donor area of the patient is called extraction. There is a device shaped like a balloon called a tissue expander. It is inserted beneath hair-bearing scalp laying next to a bald area.

The tissue expander might be slowly inflated with saltwater within a couple of weeks. It might cause, do not worry, the skin to expand and grow new skin cells. This causes a bulge beneath the hair-bearing scalp, especially after several weeks.

4This is the process of creating recipient sites by following the direction of the existing terminal hairs, which is explained more detailed above. It is known as recipient site creation.

Transplantation is the process of placing the grafts in recipient sites at right angles to hair direction. You should choose the best doctor and clinic for the best results.

This stage, which is a post-care process, is the processes of wound-dressing for the transplanted site. PRP Therapy should speed up the healing process of the operation site.

The last stage is the things what to do after the surgeon. You should read carefully the things to do and not to do after the surgery. For example, the washing process is a critic point to be carried out for 15 days since both the donor and the transplanted area will be sensitive during this period, you should be very careful.

Methods of Hair Transplant Surgery

Here are the most common methods of hair transplant surgery.

1. Flap Surgery

If your hair loss problem is severe, here is the right address. For instance, when your problem requires large tissue flaps but not small grafts flap surgery, your doctor might suggest your flap surgery method. Yet, you might need to stay in the hospital for hair transplant graft surgery to have general anesthesia needed.

Flap surgery is the one for the surgeon implants balloon-like devices, generally known as tissue expanders, under the skin of a hair-bearing section of scalp. After that, it is time to use in order to make the area to grow more skin cells.

After about two months, you will realize how your hair scalp has grown enough extra skin for transplant surgery. Actually, the bald section of the scalp is cut and then removed. That means the newly grown area of hair-bearing skin is partly cutaway because of being moved to its new location and stitched the new place. It should retain a good blood supply because the flap is never fully severed from the scalp.

2. Hair Transplant Graft

The operation generally includes that the hair on the donor area of your scalp is trimmed short to make it easier for you to handle. In fact, the surgeon anesthetizes is the one the hair grows thickly.

Subsequently, the surgeon needs to take small sections of the hair-bearing scalp in order to transplant them to the area you want. In short, there are various instruments used to harvest the donor skin. For instance, a round punch can be used.

This way of hair transplant surgery is usually performed under local anesthetic, with each session of treatment can last from two to eight hours. Of course, it depends on the number of hairs that are transplanted. A session might take several hours and many people choose to have two or three separate sessions to be done properly.

3. Scalp Reduction Surgery

This one is suitable to treat bald areas on the back and top of your scalp. If your problem is about the part towards the front of the scalp, it does not work for it.

The surgery includes the local anesthesia is administered to the scalp. You will see that because of the surgeon cuts, your bald skin will take in shape into a U or Y shape. After that, your scalp is loosened and brought together with the incisions.

What to Do After Hair Transplant Surgery?

The things to be careful about after the hair transplant surgery are as important as the process itself. You should carefully read the warnings below so that you will not make anything wrong after hair transplant surgery care.

You should be patient about the process. Although many patients who have had transplants are dismayed to find that their new hair falls out within six weeks after surgery, this condition will be normal in its perfect time. You might realize your hair growth each month longer and longer. After hair falls out, it might take another five to six weeks.

The first rule is about eating habit. It is important not to eat any ice cream or aspirin so that you can stay away from alcoholic drinks from almost a week (which is the best time) after the procedure.
If the season gives you some opportunity you should apply snow to your forehead every 2 hours and for 15 minutes to avoid swelling.
It is also important to avoid saunas steam and sunbaths for at least three weeks after the hair transplant procedure.
You might face some swelling. If you want to avoid swelling, you should sleep with his head in 45 degrees and especially for three nights after the hair transplant procedure.
You need to try to avoid using hair dryers not to take any permanent damage in the first two weeks especially if it is with hot air.
You need to take a bath gently. Pouring water or adding pressure to the area where the follicles are planted might be very dangerous.
During the first three days, you should nor cover your head. You can only use the hat if it is given to you only very little pressure.

You should be able to return to work or normal activities in about 3 days. Just take your time to get rest well during the first days.
You should avoid weight lifting. It is because of carrying high weights for two weeks after the surgery might be harmful to the process.
Here is another point to be careful about. You should avoid sexual contact as long as possible at least one week.
Using a comb will not that easy after hair loss surgery. When combing your hair, you have to do it carefully and gently to avoid moving the planted area.
You can dye your hair, and also you can cut it or curl it but you should be very careful not to damage your hair scalp.
You should know that peels might start falling off within one or two weeks after your surgery, or this may take longer. If you want, as an alternative you can try to use Bepantol to soften the peels.

It is impossible not to take a bath for a long time but you need to take a bath gently by trying not to pour water or add pressure to the area where the follicles are planted.
You should avoid too hot or too cold places; for example, you need to stay away from saunas steam and sunbaths for at least three weeks.
Lastly, some hairs falling are also a part of the process. Please do not worry about it until it gets a significant amount of hair fall. If so, you can visit your doctor.

The Risks Associated with Hair Transplant Surgery

It is impossible to deny the risks of hair transplant surgery. You should be careful about the possible risks you might encounter to take some precautions or not to get worried when you have it.

The risks can be listed as general anesthesia, including allergic reaction. There might be some surgical risks such as bleeding or infection, and some severe scars, raised, and itchy.

Furthermore, you can encounter some nerve damage including permanent loss of sensation, and death of the skin grafts, which includes tissue death along the wound. You should immediately inform your doctor if you realize one of them listed above.

Finally, you can also expect after the operation, the risk of bruising and swelling, and possible numbness with pain, and discomfort.

If nothing about the hair transplant surgery process convince you to have it, you can use some other alternatives to hair transplant surgery. There are some non-surgical alternatives such as prescription medications such as creams, wigs, hairpieces or hair extensions, and accepting that hair loss is a natural part of aging by talking to a counselor or psychologist to overcome your concerns about your appearance.

Those would be helpful for your condition. You should also check cold laser therapy as a way to hair transplantation:

Cold Laser Therapy with Hair Transplantation

Hair Transplantation with Laser Hair Therapy is the low-dose laser treatments related to circulation and stimulation. It works successfully since it encourages hair follicles to grow hair. By doing so, it is another option for you to have a hair transplant.

Cold Laser Therapy, indeed is suggested by many experts due to its strong sides that are speeding the healing time and helping reduce side effects. Redness and swelling are some examples of these side effects. In addition to decreasing side effects, it also reduces the pain within the operated area by promoting hair growth there.

As one of the high technological hair transplant surgery ways, laser therapy helps reduce the recovery time of the patient and also provides good pain control, which provides you a shorter and better time of wound healing.

Apart from that, laser therapy is associated with reducing scalp tissue DHT. Under these circumstances, it may help hair fall be slow, or even finished permanently. As a result of this, it will help your hair growth to improve.

It is very good to know that laser hair transplants a treatment has the approvement of the FDA since there are many advantages of Cold Laser Therapy with Hair Transplantation. These advantages can be listed as:

For 85% of patients, the progression of hair loss stops, which is a quite high rate of patients compared to other hair loss treatment ways.
At the end of the day, you will get fuller, shinier, and thicker hair since it works very well when it comes to increasing hair elasticity and strength at the same time.
The blood supply starts to work for the first time. It increases averagely by 54% after just one treatment, which might help you to choose this way of hair transplant.
This method delivers light energy that comes directly from different positions without the loss of light properties to prove an appropriate dosage. As a result of this, it decreases the side effects of hair loss surgery that most patients are afraid of.