Hair transplant is a surgical process used for the cure and correction of androgenetic alopecia. The process includes redeployment of the person’s left over hair on the scalp to cover the bald area. Normally, the hairs covering the area behind the head and between the ears are not affected by androgenetic alopecia. Hence, the hairs covering this portion of the head are used in hair transplantation.

There has been a lot of bad publicity regarding the aftermath of hair transplantation due to the crude techniques which were adopted initially for the surgery. Furthermore, the hair transplanted looked artificial as well. However, with the passage of time and improvement in treatment methods, the hair transplantation can give off amazingly natural and imperceptible results.

Both women and men can undergo hair transplantation. You can also opt for hair transplant if you have undergone hair loss due to congenital defect, scarring alopecia, or any such injuries. Hair transplant technique is not just limited to the scalp; in fact you can even undergo eyebrow transplantation as well.

It is highly recommended to obtain the desired information from the dermatologist when you intend to undergo hair transplantation as it may also be possible that you may not be suitable for the hair transplant at all. People with excessive hair loss or poor donor areas are not eligible to undergo hair transplant. Hair transplant basically involves the redeployment of your already present hair follicles to achieve a more cosmetically adequate output.

Your dermatologist would discuss the entire procedure and hair line with you prior to surgery. He/she will also mention you the variant procedures for the surgery as most transplant usually involves various surgical sessions. The complete surgical procedure may take from about several months to even a year.  However, you must make sure that you feel comfortable with your dermatologist and the hair transplant surgery he/she will be conducting for you.

Furthermore, you must also make sure that you do not pay any extra charges for the entire surgical procedure.

There are variant techniques for hair transplantation and different dermatologists may also have slightly different approaches for carrying out the entire surgical procedure. Normally, the surgery takes an entire day for its completion. Before the surgery, your surgeon would probably revise the entire procedure with you and would also take photographs of your scalp to be able to show you the “before” and “after” differences.

During the surgery, the donor area is usually anesthetized and a special scalpel is used to cut the hair follicles from the donor area to be used for redistribution. The portion of the scalp where hair is to be transplanted is cut off with the help of scalpel in thin strips at equal distances between the various cuts. After this, the skin is processed depending upon the desired results. Micro dissecting is the most recent technique in hair transplantation in which the hair follicles are implanted in natural clumps which contain 1-4 follicles. This technique helps to attain the most natural results. The time required for processing depends upon the donor skin strip and is usually carried out by several expert technicians.

When processing is almost near to completion, the scalp is prepared to accept the grafts. For this, a needle, punch biopsy, or cutting of thin lines with a scalpel may be the method. Scalp punch may be used to make small holes in the skin for the grafts to be introduced into these holes. This procedure is repeated by the surgeon and is usually carried out from the hair line to the backward direction.

Bandaging the scalp after grafting may or may not be necessary. However, the surgeon will guide you on how to take care of the implants. After the hair transplant surgery, you are not allowed to wash your hair for few days. Also, you are required to pay regular visits to your surgeon for any necessary guidelines or follow-ups.