How effective are different hair transplant methods?

While hair loss and hair thinning are both common results of aging, when it happens to you, you want to reverse the effects of it. It may seem like your world is over when you notice the first signs of hair thinning, but it doesn’t have to be, thanks to hair transplant procedures.

Hair transplants are procedures that will restore your hair growth. That means if you fall into this category of individuals, it may be a procedure that is worth exploring for you. And if you fall into this category, you’re in luck because this article is focused on the different hair transplant methods you can look into and what the effectiveness of those methods are!

Before diving into the effectiveness of different hair transplant methods, it’s important to first understand what a hair transplant entails and what the different methods are.

If you are exploring a hair transplant, what you can expect is for a surgeon to remove hair follicles from a more populated area of hair (like the back of your head) and implant those hair follicles into the desired transplant area. These follicles stick to the implant area because they are placed inside a tiny slit in that area.

When you arrive at a hair transplant consultation, one of two methods will be discussed with you. The first is follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS). With this method, your surgeon will remove a piece of skin from your donor area. They will then look at this skin with a microscope to separate the skin into microscopic follicle bundles that each contain several hair follicles. The surgeon will then take these follicle bundles and implant them in the desired area.

The second method is follicular unit extraction (FUE). This method involves a tiny tool that directly removes hair follicles from your donor area. Unlike FUSS, the scarring with FUE will be minimal and stitches will not be required. FUE is a longer procedure and requires surgeons to have more extensive training, but as a patient, you may prefer the results of FUE over FUSS.

No matter what hair transplant method you and your surgeon decide on, both are effective and will take several hours. With FUSS, the effectiveness goes up if the skin is removed from the side or back of the head. If that isn’t an option, also removing skin from the chin, back, or chest can be effective. With FUE, surgeons want to implant thick hair so if the hair on the back or side of the head is not thick, body hair can be implanted to increase effectiveness.

When body or beard hair was implanted into the scalp, FUE recipients were still satisfied with results 2.9 years later, as reported by the National Library of Medicine. On a scale of 1-10, the mean satisfaction score of the 79 participants was 8.30. A different study published in the National Library of Medicine, also cites that if recipients use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy with their FUE, the effectiveness of the transplant will increase. The PRP users had 75% more hair regrowth after 6 months than non-users.

If you’re ready to learn more about the hair transplant process, reach out to Dr. Zandifar at ZMDHair. Dr. Zandifar is a hair transplant specialist who understands how hair thinning and loss can affect your self-esteem, so he wants to help you look and feel your best.

Get in touch with ZMDHair to learn more today.