A patient who previously had a hair transplant from another clinic recently emailed our office. “I had hair restoration surgery … and my hair has never grown in the area and I have followed all of the instructions carefully. Are there other ways to get my hair back?”
As simple as a hair transplant procedure may seem, there are some factors that can lead to suboptimal growth. Most patients who are considering or have had a transplant are concerned about the survival of their newly transplanted hair. These problems can be divided into two factors:
- Patient factor
- Technical problems
These two things can potentially determine what your hair transplant outcome will look like.
Patient factor
- The patient factor can be confirmed by intentional or unintentional damage caused by the patient or sometimes by the negligence of a hair transplant surgeon. Certain skin conditions can result in the loss or complete damage of newly transplanted hair transplants. Some examples include alopecia areata (AA) or scarring alopecia (CA) as well as other diseases. In some cases, these conditions may have existed before or after the transplant. For this reason, all hair transplant surgeons should ask special questions regarding a family history of hair loss. If no history of hair loss is known or if the patient has atypical baldness, a biopsy can easily determine their condition. The conditions ahead can be easily determined by microscopic and macroscopic evaluation of the scalp and hair.
- Postoperative hair transplant plays a very important role in the final results of a hair transplant procedure. Newly transplanted hair physical trauma and other forms of hair trauma include pulling out or scratching newly transplanted hair and can cause you to lose your newly transplanted hair. For mental illnesses such as trichotillomania, in which the patient tears his hair, it is better to consult a psychologist who will help you with these problems.
Technical problems
- Problems with Hair Transplant Preparation and Handling: During the hair transplant preparation phase, an inexperienced technician may accidentally handle hair transplants more than he can tolerate. The most common effect is damage to the proliferated follicle cells during the division, harvesting or implantation of the transplant, which prevents the hair from growing or not.
- Graft Care Problems: Once the hair is removed from the body, the follicles should be stored in a physiological solution suitable for their survival until they are placed in their new location. The solution should be stored between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius to prolong the life of follicular cells and slow down cell metabolism.
- Complications during the implantation phase: If the hair transplant sites are too narrow, the technicians may inadvertently manipulate the physical properties of the hair transplant too much and influence the ultimate potential for hair cell growth.
By maintaining our high standards, we have been able to increase the quality and quantity of transplanted hair. After about a year the results are usually clearer, so if in doubt we recommend re-evaluation by a good hair transplant surgeon. After the reassessment is complete, your hair transplant surgeon can help you treat the disorder that led to your less desirable growth results and even tell you what may have caused your disease.