A hair transplant can be done on various parts of the face and body but most commonly involves removing hair from the back and sides of the head and transferring it to areas of the scalp that are thinning. As the majority of hair transplant doctors will only use the client’s own scalp hair for transplantation the hair is not considered foreign tissue and will not be rejected by the body. For most clients, the process of hair transplantation is slow, but the hair eventually grows in. Overall, a hair transplant is a very effective way of restoring hair to the scalp, but several factors should be considered.
A hair transplant is the only way to add hair to the scalp which will be permanent and remain in place for the rest of the client’s life. A variety of hair transplant techniques have been around for many decades, but thanks to new technology, excellent methods which are less invasive and that use tiny tools have been introduced in recent years. Older hair transplant methods such as scalp reductions and scalp flaps are no longer considered effective by most doctors and newer techniques that are better and gentler have taken over.
There are two major hair transplant methods available today that are employed by doctors all over the world. One is the FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) method and the other one is the Strip method. Both methods are almost equally effective when it comes to hair transplantation. This is because what essentially differs between the two methods is the way in which the hairs are extracted, the insertion process can be almost identical. The Strip method removes a strip of hair bearing skin from the back of the scalp where after the skin is sutured back together. This method is considered time and cost effective because it is considerably faster than an FUE, which is known to be much more time consuming. With an FUE hairs are extracted one by one from the scalp, and due to the nature of this procedure, surgery can go on for many hours and the cost will be higher.
Once the new hairs have been transplanted the vast majority of them should take root, regardless of which hair transplant method was chosen. But the choice of doctor will play a role, as all doctors are not equal and do not do impeccable work. In some cases, when the hair transplant doctor is inexperienced or does a poor job, grafts can get damaged or dry out, and the transplantation can be less effective overall. While it is impossible to say exactly how big of a percentage of the hairs will effectively be transplanted, it should be a very high rate, preferably in the high 90’s. As long as the prospective hair transplant client does research and chooses the best doctor possible, the transplant should be very effective.
