Frequently asked questions about hair transplants.
Will I feel pain during my hair transplant?
During the hair transplant, the area is anesthetized. Applying the anesthesia may be uncomfortable, but once the area is numb, you will feel your doctor lightly touching your scalp, but you will not feel pain.
Because of the medication and the relaxing music, you may fall asleep.
If you stay awake during the procedure, you can choose your music, podcasts, or the movie you like the most.
When can I return to work?
After a hair transplant, you can return to work in five days.
At this point in your recovery, the hair grafts are no longer as fragile, so it is safe for you to return to work, although ideally, you should take a break and resume your work activities ten days after your hair transplant.
What is alopecia?
Alopecia is a condition that consists of hair loss, either temporary or permanent.
It can affect only the scalp or any other part of the body.
It is important for you to know that all people lose between 70 and 100 hairs per day; this is completely normal. When a person loses more than 100 hairs a day, they need to be studied to rule out causes of alopecia. If this is your case, don’t worry, we will do a clinical evaluation to determine the cause and offer you treatment options.
Is the result permanent?
In a hair transplant, the grafts are taken from the area of the head considered a safe zone. This is because its characteristics make it resistant to the hormones that cause thinning and hair loss. Even after being implanted in areas with hair loss, the transplanted hair follicles retain their original properties and continue to grow throughout life. This means that a hair transplant can last a lifetime.
At what age can I have the transplant?
It is recommended to consider hair transplant surgery if you are 30 years or older. If you are under 30, you should first consider medications to stabilize hair loss. This is because there is a risk that younger patients will continue to lose hair after undergoing a hair transplant, which makes the result not optimal and increases the chances of needing a second implant to replace the new hair lost. If this is your case, we recommend a clinical assessment to discuss your best hair restoration options.
Can I expose myself to the sun?
You should avoid sun exposure after a hair transplant procedure. The skin on the scalp is delicate and will become even more sensitive after the procedure. The treated area will be irritated and inflamed until it has finished healing. Therefore, we recommend minimizing sun exposure for at least 3 months after the hair transplant, as this will prevent damage to the skin and the newly transplanted follicles.
If it is necessary for you to be in the sun, we recommend wearing a UV protection cap.
Does the result have a natural appearance?
One of the main concerns when considering hair transplant surgery is whether the results will look natural. It is a legitimate concern, especially because hair transplant procedures in the past, such as “hair plugs,” or the strip extraction technique (FUT) where a large number of attached hairs were implanted, did not always give patients the most natural results.
However, in recent years, the field of hair restoration has advanced with extraordinary results. The skill and experience of our hair transplant doctors, combined with some of the latest technologies, allow us to extract much smaller follicular units of hair, from one to four follicles, resulting in an appearance that can look so natural that it will seem like you never lost hair.
Can hair from another person be transplanted?
Although in theory it is possible to use hair from another person for your hair transplant, it is practically impossible. Hair transplants use only hair from your own body due to compatibility issues.
If you use hair from another person, your body will automatically develop an immune response to reject the foreign tissue and hair.
Normally, organ transplants require prior preparation of the recipient using drugs to suppress rejection. These medications have numerous side effects and long-term risks, so they are not prescribed unless there is a significant reason for immunosuppression.
Regardless of preparation, failure can still occur and the recipient’s body may still reject the organ. The risks of immunosuppressants outweigh the benefits in the case of hair transplants, making it impossible to use donated hair from another person.
How do I know if I am a good candidate?
There are several factors that may or may not make you a good candidate for a hair transplant and that determine the amount of hair needed for your graft.
The size of the area with hair loss and the amount of hair available for donation are the most important factors when determining the density and number of hairs needed to perform the hair implant.
- A good candidate is someone who has a greater amount of hair in the donor area of the scalp, that is, the back of the head. On the contrary, if someone has a low density, they are probably not a good candidate for a hair transplant, or they will have to work with a low density when implanting.
Other hair characteristics such as color, texture, and waviness or curliness will affect the cosmetic result, we explain why:
- The contrast between the color of the hair and the color of the scalp makes hair loss more evident.
- When observing hair texture, people with curly or wavy hair can generally expect better results with fewer follicular units used. The fact that the curls are so dense creates the impression that a larger part of the scalp is covered, creating a better result.
- Similar to hair texture, those with thick hair require fewer hairs to obtain the same cosmetic effect as those with finer hair.
It is important to consider all these factors together when determining whether you are a good candidate or not.
The quickest way to determine whether or not you will be a good candidate is to schedule an individual, no-obligation consultation with one of our expert doctors.
