Thank you for your question. You submitted a question without some photos but it is interesting
how you are phrasing the question. And basically you want to know how to appropriately guide
your perspective hair transplant in the way to do your transplant. You also describe in
your question that you anticipate doing 3 to 4 transplants which seems very optimistic
and very realistic to a degree. Well certainly, I can give you some guidance
on how I discuss this question with my patients. I’m a board certified cosmetic surgeon and
fellowship trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Manhattan
and Long Island for over 20 years. And I have been doing hair transplant for many years
as well as I’m also the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration centers which may be of
interest to you because this is part of a strategy that was actually derived from helping
improve hair transplants.
So to begin with, it is good that you want some guidance but I think the ultimate reality
is understanding what the limitations are in your situation. When we discuss hair transplant
with the patient and when we are planning the procedure on that day, basically I look
at the area at the back of the scalp of the hair and I count an average of what the density
is in a given area so that is my area of harvesting. The higher the density, the more hairs you
can harvest. And also, what is factored in is the quality of the hair in terms of the
caliber. Fine hair versus thick hair, straight hair versus curly hair or wavy hair and then
comes the optimal place to the hair. Now this is where you have to do a little bit of projection
as to what will your hair look like if there is no intervention to stabilize hair loss
and that’s where I think there is an opportunity.
When you go for a hair transplant, understand that if you continue to lose your hair, you
will be chasing the results until you run out of donor. The donor area is a limited
bank and the geometric space of the scalp is much larger than the donor area so it is
about strategy. So for men who said, “I want my hairline forward” that is a problem
because that can be a challenge especially when it is an unrealistic level. As a general
rule, it’s about 4 finger widths above the eyebrows. It is where the hairline starts
but I’ll introduce to what we tell our patients before we even begin with transplant.
The majority of men who come to our practice, with the interest of hair transplant, are
men with thinning hair. Well for men with thinning hair, we have a treatment called
Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration is a non-surgical alternative to hair transplant
for men and women with thinning hair and what we are doing is combining Acellular matrix
which is used for wound healing with platelet-rich plasma (PRP). This combination and a special
method in placement system that I have developed allows me to actually get coverage in the
right candidate, the equivalent of 2 hair transplants. It is hard to believe but it
has actually been my objective observation based on doing decades of hair transplant.
The problem with hair transplant especially if you have existing hair is there is collateral
hair loss. When you are working in an area where this is existing hair placement, let’s
say like 15,000 grafts, you are making 15,000 holes. And when you make 15,000 holes, you
are going to traumatize and lose a certain number of your existing hairs. Before Hair
Regeneration, we all accepted this as part of the reality replacing a dying or a thinning
hair with a thicker hair, but now we have Hair Regeneration, we have the density already
there and we can make those hairs thicker and get better coverage. Once you are able
to stabilize hair loss and maximize whatever is your potential, then a hair transplant
becomes a more rational treatment because now you are dealing with a more stable canvas.
So I would suggest in addition to your research, in interviewing doctors that you look for
a methodical approach, a realistic approach, a low pressure approach. And unfortunately,
in many situations become the equivalent of used car selling and understand and get a
sense of realistically what you can achieve. I would also encourage you to learn more about
medical intervention as well as treatment like Hair Regeneration. So if you are going
to need hair transplant, you can maximize the value of the transplants. Incidentally
we found that we have patients who come in with thinning hair who is considering hair
transplant, they will actually, once we do Hair Regeneration, most of them don’t go
further and are very happy with the way we are able to help them and also they are able
to avoid transplant all together. With Hair Regeneration, the earlier we catch someone
the better it is.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!