Do hair transplants really work?
YES! YES! YES! When performed properly, hair follicular units have a 98-100 percent survival rate.
Why aren't the newly implanted grafts affected by normal hair loss?
Have you ever looked closely at a man with severe hair loss? If so, you'll notice men with severe hair loss still retain their hair on the back (below the crown area) and the sides of his head. This is because this region is totally resistant to DHT (dihydrotestosterone), which is the cause of 97 percent of all hair loss in men. It is from this dht resistant region that your donor follicular units will come from. When these dht resistant follicular units are implanted into your hair loss affected region, they maintain their resistance to dht. However, you must be sure to strictly follow our hair transplant recovery instructions.
Are there risks associated with hair transplant surgery?
Hair transplant procedures are performed as an out-patient surgery in our Medical Facility under local anesthesia. Although a commonly safe procedure with minimal complications, as with any surgery, there are risks. These risks, although rare, will be discussed prior to your procedure. The most common one is a slight rush for about 10 minutes or so do to the anesthesia makeup, but this is temporary and well-tolerated. Some patients experience this and some don’t.
What patient preparation is needed prior to surgery?
Prior to having a hair transplant procedure with our surgical center, we have some basic and simple guidelines that we ask our patients to adhere to. All pre-op and post-op instructions are customized to each individual patient based on their individual health status…etc. Our Patient Coordinator would be happy to discuss your pre-op instructions with you and then our Director of Medical Procedures would fully explain your post-op instructions to you. For your convenience, these instructions have also been posted on our Hair Transplant Recovery page.
Is the procedure painful?
Hair transplant procedures are performed in a Doctor's office under local anesthesia. The only time our patients may feel a little pain or discomfort is when the anesthesia is administered in the donor area and the recipient area, which only takes a few minutes. Any discomfort that patients may experience is well tolerated by both are male and female patients. After that, our patients have a variety of movies to choose from and watch as our Medical Team implants their follicular units.
Are lasers used during the procedure?
We briefly experimented with the use of lasers to assist in hair transplant surgery a number of years ago but found them to be highly inferior to our tried and true method. What happened was this: when we used the laser to make the apertures (where the new follicular units are implanted) it was so hot it cauterized the aperture and cut off the flow of blood. Then a hole still had to be punched for blood flow. The last thing a newly implanted follicular unit needs is a cutoff of blood flow. When we experimented with lasers, we had to go back and rework the aperture to create needed blood flow for the implanted follicular units. In our clinical opinion, lasers are inferior and we do not use them during our procedures. Lasers are a great thing to be used for other types of procedures, but not for hair transplants. Lots of centers use this as a new sales tool to try to get you to do your procedure with them.
What happens after the procedure?
The transplanted hair will develop a tiny dot scab as it heals and will look like little slits or bumps. These tiny dot scabs will then fall off and shed the newly implanted hair in 7-14 days. Yes, the newly implanted hair will normally come off with the scab, but don't worry. The newly implanted follicular units will then fall under your regular hair growth cycle and your new hair will start to grow out in 3-4 months, but according to medical text book it will take 4-6 months. We have seen diabetics take a little longer to come out because they heal a little slower. It just depends on how fast your body normally heals. Your new hair will then grow at the rate of 1/4 to 1/2 inch per month.
Will I need time off from work?
Since most of our patients come from all over the world, many of them fly or commute into Fort Lauderdale the day before or the morning of their surgery and then return home hours after their surgery. You can return to work the following day if your schedule calls for it.
Can you give me hair like Brad Pitt's?
Hair transplant surgery only redistributes your “own” existing dht resistant hair to hair loss affected areas. We cannot give you hair like a movie star or make your hair line like it was at 18. However, we can give you back your own hair in a pattern that is natural looking, undetectable, more youthful and appealing to everyone and to you every time you look in the mirror.