Thinking About a Hair Transplant? What to Expect From Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

For the follicle-ly-challenged, hair, or the lack of it, becomes a constant drumbeat - a background din casting a shadow over your head (so-to-speak) and over your life.
Men and women in this situation grasp at any straw for relief. They surf the internet looking for miracle cures, spend millions of dollars on over-the-counter and prescription medications to stop hair loss and re-grow their hair, they join hair clubs, subscribe to elaborate hair systems, wear hairpieces, toupees and wigs and basically do almost anything to get a natural-looking head of hair.
To achieve this result, some may opt for a medical hair transplant. Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) is state-of-the art technology using a patient's own hair.
Thanks to modern advances in technology and technique, patients can expect soft, natural-looking and realistic results.

A hair transplant is typically done on an out-patient basis in the physician's office and can take anywhere between 4-6 hours.
For those who decide to go the surgical route, here's what you can expect from your FUT hair transplant procedure:

• The physician and his team make you comfortable; you will have a selection of movies to watch during the procedure, or you can listen to music.
• The physician 'harvests' hair from your donor area, or 'safe zone.' This is the area not affected by male pattern baldness. The quality and quantity of your donor hair will affect your final outcome.
• The physician designates a viable section of hair with a small mark where he or she makes a small incision.
• He or she administers a local anesthetic before the donor hair is removed so you will not feel the incision or the suturing.
• Next, the physician removes the designated section with a blade incision and closes it immediately with self dissolvable stitches.
• The donor strip is dissected into individual follicular units with the help of a stereo microscope. This instrument enables the physician to work in a very detailed, precise manner facilitating a high re-growth rate of the transplanted units.
• The physician then creates tiny incisions, as many as 5,000 in the size of pinpricks, all over the balding area, or recipient site, where the donor hair will be implanted.
• He or she then takes these individual units and inserts them into the incision sites in the same angle and direction as the hair's natural growth pattern. This is where a surgeon's artistry comes into play.
• The small size of the incisions minimizes any bleeding or disruption to the blood supply. The newly transplanted hair follicles should heal rapidly and any irritation will typically clear up during the first week. Small scabs will form at the graft sites and disappear after 4-7 days post-op.
• Most patients can to go to work the next day. It is recommended to not do any heavy lifting above 15 lbs. until the stitches have been removed, usually 8-10 days after surgery.
• You can expect the newly transplanted hair to grow approximately 25% in the first three months, 50% by month six and between 90-100% at the end of the first year.

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