National Hair Institute, Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation & Restoration,  Melbourne, Sydney, Australia

 A Step-by-Step Explanation

Hair transplantation is a minor form of surgery that transfers healthy hair bearing skin from the back and sides of the scalp to the balding areas. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you visualize the whole procedure.

• You start with a review by your surgeon, during which he will explain the process and answer any questions you might have.
• Then we provide you with some mild sedatives to help you relax. At the same time, we will attach some monitoring equipment to you. This helps us ensure that you are safe and comfortable during the procedure.
• Next we select a narrow strip of donor scalp from the permanent hair zone. The donor scalp is then anaesthetised (frozen) using a local anaesthetic. This ensures that the procedure will be virtually pain-free.
• The narrow strip of donor scalp is removed surgically, and given to our technicians to allow them to prepare the follicular grafts. (A follicular graft is a small number of hairs together with the surrounding sebaceous glands.)
• While our technicians are preparing the grafts, we restore the donor area by joining the edges of skin together. This will heal within a period of days, leaving only a fine scar, which is, in any case, covered by the surrounding hair.
• The aesthetic pattern for the grafts has been planned by Dr White in advance, so that the small needlepoint holes can be made and the follicles can be planted in them. You can go home immediately after the procedure is finished. We recommend that you have a dressing over the area where the thin strip of scalp was removed. This is for one night only, and in some cases the dressing is not needed.
• Because we use very small grafts, this ensures that the blood supply remains strong and healthy. The need to maintain a healthy blood supply to the hair is another reason why we do not use the larger grafts (plugs) that were used formerly.
• The use of the small follicular unit makes it possible for us to achieve the pleasing natural look that we strive for at all times.

 Donor area

Q. What happens to the donor area at the back of my head?
This is a common question when people are given a brief explanation of the procedure. As you can see from the photos, utilising the elasticity in the surrounding skin we suture close the area that has been removed. The tape that is used to hold your hair out of the way during the procedure is then released and your existing hair falls into its natural position and covers up the area that the hair bearing skin was removed from. In most cases leaving a very fine incision mark that is barely noticeable immediately after the procedure.

Q. What happens to the donor area once it has been removed?
Once the donor area has been removed and sutured/stapled together, it is given to our experienced technicians for careful dissection under our stereoscopic binocular microscopes.