Procedures

Hair Replacement Surgery

Throughout time, people have expressed diverse feelings about thinning hair and baldness. This can play a very negative role in how one perceives themselves. As self-esteem is directly proportional to what one's own sense of self-image is, it is important to be sensitive to those people with thinning hair or baldness. Many men and women are seeking Hair Replacement Surgery, which involves transplanting your own hair to the thinning or balding areas. This is a permanent solution to thinning or baldness. Male pattern baldness and female pattern thinning are very common problems seen at the Chernoff Plastic Surgery, Laser and Wellness Center.

For the 2 out of every 3 adult men and smaller number of women who experience balding, hair loss and related grooming problems can cause decreased self-esteem. Baldness is typically due to a combination of hereditary, aging, and hormonal factors. Occasionally, patients that are the victims of burns, injuries, tumor surgery, radiation therapy, scalp diseases, or nervous conditions are also candidates for Hair Replacement Surgery.

Hair Replacement Surgery is rapidly becoming one of the most commonly performed procedures in North America. Hair Replacement Surgery is one of the distinct specialties that sets the Chernoff Center for Plastic Surgery apart. Dr. Chernoff and all of the surgeons within the Center are fellowship trained in Hair Replacement Surgery and are sensitive to a natural result. The "Indiana cornrow" look is not an acceptable result in Hair Replacement Surgery. As with any cosmetic procedure, the nicest results are the results that no one knows have occurred. We do not want anyone to know that you have had Hair Replacement Surgery.

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO BALDNESS?
There are several alternatives to baldness, each with varying success. Therapies with different medications, massage, or manipulation of the scalp are typically unsuccessful. Newer drugs have been introduced for the treatment of baldness, and these have seen varied results. These drugs commercially known as Rogaine and Propecia were found to grow minimal amounts of very fine hair in variable percentages in their preliminary studies. They have had some benefit also in patients undergoing Hair Replacement Surgery but these are results are also somewhat anecdotal. There is no shortcut to anything. If a story sounds too good, it typically is. The only permanent method of replacing a patient's hair is to transplant his or her own existing hair from their donor area, which is usually at the back of the head, to the recipient area of thinning or balding.

One popular alternative to thinning hair or baldness is the hairpiece. Many men in the public eye wear hairpieces. Hairpieces provide a painless and instant transformation to a full hair-bearing appearance but they have their own set of drawbacks. The wearer can become totally dependent on the hairpiece with constant checks to see that it is on straight and secured properly. The hairpiece comes off unexpectedly, the wearer may become the subject of ridicule. Most hairpieces look terrific but the wearer typically feels self-conscious when not wearing the hairpiece. The average hairpiece also requires replacement every few years and regular maintenance. Consequently, nonsurgical hair replacement can over a lifetime cost between $20,000.00 and $40,000.00.

HAIR GRAFTS
The most common procedure performed involves hair grafts or hair microplugs. There have been tremendous advancements in the field of hair grafting surgery. The most commonly accepted procedure performed by physicians doing Hair Replacement Surgery in a contemporary manner is to utilize micrografts or individual hairs in transplantation.

Several of the most contemporary techniques set the Chernoff Center apart. The most important aspect of successful Hair Replacement Surgery is the adequate planning of the hairline. This requires an artistic flair as well as the scientific knowledge base to properly execute the procedure. The planning of the hairline is a joint effort between the surgeon and the patient.

Hair Replacement Surgery in the 21st century requires an experienced team. The team assembled by the Chernoff Center has well over 10 years of experience in surgical hair replacement. The surgeons are assisted by highly experienced nurses. The surgeon first removes long narrow strips of hair-bearing skin from the back or the side of the head. This is performed under a twilight anesthetic. This method allows for many grafts to be performed in a single session and leaves the least noticeable scar in the donor region. From these strips, large numbers of grafts are cut utilizing a newly automated instrument that not only magnifies the hair but cuts them in very precise and differing sizes based upon what is required for each patient. Very few surgeons have been trained in utilizing this new instrument, and this is currently an area of expertise at the Chernoff Center. The laser diamond scalpel is also utilized when harvesting the donor hair. The donor region is then closed with very fine stitches, which are removed in 10 days.

The laser diamond scalpel is then utilized to make very fine incisions in the scalp in a predetermined manner as planned with the patient. The micrografts are then placed into the recipient area utilizing very fine forceps. It is very important to plan not only the direction of the recipient hole but also the direction that the hair is placed within this hole. This is important in order to give the patient a head of hair that can be properly styled afterwards.

It is typical with any session to transplant between 500-1000 hairs depending on the length and width of the donor strip and the patient's own density of hair. Upon completion of the transplantation, a head dressing is placed on the patient. This is removed the next day. The majority of patients undergoing hair grafting procedures describe their amazement as what little pain they feel. The dressing is removed the next day. Patients can wash their hair that day and typically go back to work within a few days. There is frequently some swelling in the area of the temples or around the eyes, and rarely bruising around the eyes can occur.

The transplanted hair follicles have a viability of over 95%. Typically, a percentage of hair follicles get angry that they were transplanted. While they do not die, they invariably spit the hair out that was growing from them. It then takes 4-6 months for a hair to regrow from these follicles. Because of this well-accepted phenomenon, it usually is 4-6 months from each transplant session before the patient will realize the full effects of what they have had done.

The hair grafts are spaced far enough apart so that nourishment from surrounding blood vessels is sufficient to ensure the survival of the grafts. An excessive number of grafts, placed too closely together, would fail to grow. The first hair grafting session typically sets the hairline while subsequent sessions placed 12-16 weeks apart are utilized to increase density.

Hair grows at the rate of ‡" per month, so one must plan on waiting about 4-6 months before those transplanted hairs are long enough to be styled. For discretion, hair grafts can be placed in areas that can be covered by combed over existing hair. A minimum of 3-4 grafting sessions is usually required to fill an area of baldness. Most patients need more sessions of grafting as the balding process progresses. The quality of the results of the hair grafting depends on the particular characteristics of the hair, the balding pattern, and a properly designed hairline as well as the hairstyle.

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