what to expect
Your
Hair Transplant Process
If you have finally made the important decision to get a hair transplant, there are some important steps to follow to ensure you get the best results from your procedure. These apply from the minute you have your first consultation to when your post-op visit (offline or online) is completed.
1. Hair Transplant Pre- Consultation
You will receive a pre-consultation, either at the Dr’s premises or online, to discuss the current situation, your hair and your habits. This gives us the ability to assess whether or not you are an ideal candidate for the transplantation procedure and to discuss other alternatives with you.
2. Your Pre-Procedural Consultation
If your consultation is at the Drs premises, the friendly, professional reception team will be there waiting to welcome you on arrival. They will firstly organise some high-resolution photographs and examine your scalp and hair. The photographs are used as a visual record of your scalp condition prior to any later procedure.
Your Assessment & Evaluation For Treatment
The very next step is a private meeting your doctor to discuss what you hope to achieve.
Your doctor may ask many questions in order to collect all the information on your current situation. These can cover your age, medical history, inherited symptoms, the condition of your scalp, daily habits and many others.
Following this in-depth assessment, you will have a full physical examination of the area affected, whether this is your scalp, beard area or eyebrows.
Your doctor will normally use some specially designed equipment for the examination, such as a micrometre and hand-held microscope. These allow your doctor to closely investigate things like:
- Scalp condition
- Hair density
- Follicular density
- Size of your donor and recipient areas to calculate your donor capacity
Using the above information, and looking at your gender and ethnicity, type of hair, hair loss level, and your expectations, your doctor will be able to forecast the procedure necessary and the results expected. This forecast also considers the results achieved by other patients with similar data. This allows an assessment and calculation of the specific areas where hair will need to be transplanted.
On full evaluation of all this information, your doctor will discuss the objectives and outcomes of the procedure, along with any other treatments needed to improve the overall health of your hair.
Testing
After this, there will be some tests needed to allow assessment of your overall state of health. These will usually include a scalp test and blood test, with the results reviewed with your doctor.
Planning
If these tests are satisfactory, your doctor can then proceed, and create your personal hair transplant programme. Depending on the chosen procedure, your doctor might also choose to shave the specific donor areas and obtain further information. In addition, they may also check your hair and the density of follicles in some different areas.
Once the necessary information has been collated, your doctor can proceed with marking out the specific sections where work will be carried out. There are some cases where your actual hairline needs to be amended. Your doctor then draws the ideal shape, which will also be based on the structure of your face and your preference. They will also take into account your personal expectations. Your surgeon can then discuss with you the overall chances of achieving your desired outcome based on the analysis of the overall situation.
Once you are happy and have agreed with the potential outcome, you will have more photographs taken to assist in the the procedure. Following your appointment, the full medical team will discuss your case and prepare for the planned surgery.
3. Procedure
When you arrive at the hospital to have your procedure the staff will welcome you and show you into a recreation room. Here, you can choose from a range of entertainment you can use for relaxation during the procedure. Also, your doctors will assess you for your stress thresholds so that you can be medicated accordingly.
Set Up Of Surgical Rooms
When you are waiting for your procedure, the professional medical team will ensure that tools are sterilised, and everything is ready for the operation. Before this starts, you will be asked to change into a surgical gown.
The team will ensure you are settled comfortably on the surgical chair.
Throughout the procedure, monitoring equipment will keep track of all your vital signs. You will usually receive some local anaesthesia around your donor areas using a number of small injections.
Follicle Extraction
Whether you are having an FUE or DHI procedure, some hair follicles will need to be extracted from donor areas. A tool called a Micromotor Punch is used for this purpose, which comes in various sizes to fit the size of your hair follicles. The extractions themselves are completed manually, reducing the potential risk of damage to the scalp or the donor area. Once the specified number of grafts have been removed, you will have antibiotic cream applied to avoid any infection risk. If you need a break during the procedure, please just go ahead and ask!
Graft Analysis
After each removal, the graft is carefully analysed, and its viability assessed. They are placed in petri dishes containing a Liposomal ATP and Hypotermosol solution as they need to stay moist. These are suspended over a cooling device as they await the implantation procedure itself.
Incisions
When your doctor is ready, you will be moved into a comfortable position that allows good access to your recipient areas. These areas are then anaesthetised, and small incisions will be made bearing in mind the size of your donor grafts. Accuracy is increased by using a tool called the loupe magnifier. Your doctor will also consider the hair surrounding the area and the correct angle for the implantation. This allows the creation of natural hair growth in a pattern which matches your existing hair. Once adequate incisions have been made, it is time for a lunch break for you and the medical team.
Graft Implantation
Following this, you will all return ready for the actual implantation procedure, which entails positioning all donor grafts into their prepared incision sites. These need to be carefully placed in the correct direction determined by your doctor and technician will be assigned to carefully watch and monitor the process. Special equipment is used to make sure no damage occurs to the delicate grafts while they are being placed. Once the procedure is completed, a technician will check each and every graft, ensuring they are all placed in the planned pattern.
Application
On full completion of this process, your doctor will inspect each inserted donor follicles once again.
Kit
Before you are released from the hospital, you will be given a set of post-op care instructions together with a full aftercare kit. This contains handy items like an ice pack, gauze, liposomal ATP spray and various medications. Your doctor will also fit you with a special head cap to protect implant areas.
4. Post Procedural Consultation
You will usually be requested to return to the hospital following 48 hours. Here, you will receive a full check-up along with special hair treatments or prescribed dermatological scalp treatments.
5. Post Consultations
Following this post-procedural consultation, you are free to return home. We would then expect to have follow-up consultations every month, for a minimum of 6 months, allowing us to monitor your hair growth and answer any questions or concerns you might have during this period.