Hair loss can be a terrible thing to deal with in real life. It depreciates both your physical and mental well-being. Although it may occur due to factors like genetic and hereditary in most cases, there can be multiple other factors, too, for which men and women suffer from hair loss. Studies say that approximately 60% of men and 50% of women suffer from hair loss worldwide due to factors like stress, pollution, traction alopecia, and even hormonal imbalance this.
The pattern baldness generally occurs due to genetic reasons and is mostly hereditary. There might not always be systemic or generic internal disease for hair loss; in most cases, it is due to predetermined health issues and genetic factors. However, still, there are several reasons for which a person may suffer from hair loss. Life difficulties like illness, emotional trauma, pregnancy, menopause, puberty, protein-deficient diets, thyroid diseases, iron deficiency anemia, and secondary syphilis can also cause hair loss.
Hair fall treatment options
But technological breakthroughs have made it possible to resolve such conditions by treating conditions with medicines and several treatment procedures like PRP treatment, Hair Transplant, Hair grafting, etc. Now several kinds of medications are available that can help reduce hair fall and boost the hair re-growth.
However, with the dawn of modernization and technological advancement, hair transplant surgeries are the most effective treatment in response to hair fall or pattern baldness.
What is a hair transplant procedure?
It is a permanent procedure that involves extracting hair follicles individually or in multiple numbers (by removing a strip of scalp skin) from a place on the body. The donor area usually has a dense and healthy growth of hair (at the side or the back of the head) and grafting them surgically on the balding area. The place where hair follicles are being extracted is called the donor site, and the place where they are grafted is called the recipient site.
Types of Hair Transplant
There are mainly two methods that have been considered by doctors across the world to be the most effective way of hair transplant surgery- Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT).
- In FUE, hair transplant methods, the surgeon extracts individual hair follicles from the donor site using designated tools and then grafts those follicles one by one in the recipient site as required to match the density and growth angle of the surrounding hair.
- The FUT is a comparatively more straightforward process. In this procedure, a strip of scalp skin containing hair follicles is cut off from dense hair growth. Those follicles are then separated, employing a sharp knife and divided to serve the essential need and then grafted into the recipient site.
Side- effects of hair transplant
As much fool-proof and effective as hair loss treatment, there are a few side effects of hair transplant surgery. The doctor must educate the patients on these side effects before proceeding with the surgery.
1. Itching
This is probably the most mainstream side-effect of hair transplant surgery. The scabs formed while performing the surgery cause the areas to itch. Although it is best advised not to touch those areas, let alone scratch. It will eventually fade within a few days. The doctor might prescribe the patient some medications to help him or her to feel a bit of relief from this problem.
2. Swelling
Swelling is a common side effect related to the hair transplant procedure. Most patients experience swelling near the neck, back of the head, and around the eyes immediately after following the surgery. But these are temporary side effects and can be resolved if patients strictly adhere to the surgeon’s instructions.
3. Bleeding
Minor bleeding takes place from the donor site while performing the surgery and ends within a few hours.
4. Hair Shedding
Hair shedding during the recovery period is very reasonable. There is no need to get worried when you see the transplanted hair falling off from their place. They are meant to fall, as they make up space for new hair to grow from that same place.
5. Formation of cysts
Cysts are small pimple-like structures that are formed on the surface where hair follicles are transplanted. This, too, is normal and disappears after taking proper medications.
The above discussed are mostly short-term complications as they disappear within a few days or weeks. Also, they vary from person to person and can be well taken care of with proper medications.