More than the struggle that one must endure prior to hair transplant surgery, there is a deeper pain that one gets after it and that is the shame that you actually did something to improve yourself. It may not sound logical, but for men who are not expected by society to take drastic measures for vanity’s sake, it can be a taboo to have undergone a hair transplant. For most patients, their biggest concern is for people to not notice anything strange about their hair and for the strands to come back as seamlessly possible.
This was particularly hard to do in the old days of hair transplant surgery because the surgeons had to create “plugs,” which were the large and circular grafts used back then. This technique ended up creating rows of unnatural-looking hair. But now that the procedure has become more sophisticated in its aim to bring back the lost hair in the most unnoticeable manner, the quest for a scarless hair transplant surgery has finally ended. Or has it? Find out more about this quest and the promise that follicular unit extraction has provided for this elusive dream.
What is Follicular Hair Transplant?
There is a good reason for follicular hair transplantation to be one of the most popular procedures for hair restoration and there are two ways of having it done on the patient.
To understand it better, the traditional method of strip harvesting involves the excision of a long piece of scalp from the back portion so that donor hairs can be placed on the recipient site. The donor area is then sutured together while the extracted hairs are placed in the affected area. Usually, affected areas are those around the crown and the back of the head. This then leaves a very unsightly linear scar that is found at the back of the head. Such a scar becomes more visible when the patient decides to sport a short hair style.
On the other hand, the other technique is unit extraction and this makes use of a small round punch for the extraction of the follicular units of three or four hairs. It doesn’t require the excision of a piece of scalp, rather it uses a special tool which directly extracts the follicles from the scalp. These are then transplanted to the affected areas. What is left with the patient are small circles that are expected to heal on their own. These small wounds would leave some undetectable white dots, hence the term scarless hair transplant.
The Real Scarless Hair Transplant
For the patients who are willing to go through the procedure itself, nothing is more important than to make the new hair as natural-looking as possible and the scars should be undetectable at best. It is what they really pay for. However, no technology up to this point in time can provide a totally scarless hair restoration surgery result. At best, it shall leave you with a scar that is almost invisible compared to the linear scar that is left by the strip technique, which can be seen with plain sight. On the other hand, you have the Follicular Unit Extraction that basically leaves dots which ultimately become almost invisible once they completely heal. This is the reason why this type of surgery is dubbed as the scarless hair transplantation.
Latest Versions
But that does not mean that the technology has stopped growing. In fact, there are some notable improvements with the strip technique that have enabled the surgeon to leave behind less noticeable scars compared to its predecessor. Such technology involves the use of trichophytic closure, which leaves a basically unseen scar. And when the hair finally grows out, nobody would be able to say that the patient actually had work done on his hair. Under the hands of a well-trained and certified hair restoration specialist, the scarring can still be reduced and the scarless illusion becomes more realistic. In fairness to the technology itself, a lot of the horror pictures of really obvious scars were made by doctors who lack in training or experience.
The Right Decision
Follicular Unit Extraction may not be the best solution for everybody who is balding. The level of efficiency and sophistication that the strip technique has reached has made it a formidable alternative and is now seen as another popular solution in the market. So how do you choose the right one for you?
The Concerns
Unit extractions is recommended for those who are accustomed to sporting the short hairstyles because there is a need to cover the scars that it produces. This technique is also better because it does not tighten the scalp because there is no need for sutures with this technique. Your surgeon should be able to walk you through the other details to help you identify if this one is for you.
Other areas you need to ponder on would be the time and money that you shall need for this operation. One thing about the Follicular Unit Transplantation or strip technique, it is a long process because the units are taken out one at a time and then individually transplanted on the target areas.
Money is also a concern because surgery is always a costly endeavor, requiring you to pay for as much as $4,000 to $5,000 for the small areas and up to $12,000 for the bigger ones. However, this should not dissuade potential patients right away. A lot of providers are willing to tailor fit your surgery to your budget and schedule. Just be open and transparent with them on your capabilities for the procedure.
And as always, please know your provider to the best of your abilities. This is one form of surgery that you don’t want to screw up because most of the time, the results are permanent or may need a lot more money to repair it. Never compromise quality over cost. In the end, the quality of the transplant will speak for itself and you’d be on your way to a new life with a full head of hair.
