Causes of hair loss and principles of treatment, Modern methods of hair transplantation, Who is recommended for FUE hair transplantation

Causes of hair loss and principles of treatment  

The problem of hair loss occurs at any age in men and women. The main causes of hair growth disorders include:

• Genetic factors
• Hormonal disorders (increased levels of male sex hormones - androgens, thyroid pathology, adrenal pathology)
• Age changes
• Medications (antidepressants, anti-inflammatory drugs, birth control pills)
• Skin changes after operations, injuries, burns (mainly cicatricial changes)

At the initial stages of baldness, remedies are used that stimulate the restoration of one's own hair - shampoos, creams, tablet preparations, remedies from the arsenal of alternative medicine and alternative medicine. If these types of treatment are ineffective or if you want to achieve a lasting result in a short time, hair transplantation is performed. Currently, dermatologists and aesthetic medicine surgeons prefer new methods of hair transplantation that do not damage the donor areas. To achieve a qualitative result, not individual hair follicles are taken from the donor areas, but grafts.

A graft is a structure that consists of 3-4 hair follicles and a surrounding layer of protective tissue. In the place where the graft is taken, a healing process necessarily takes place, the result of which depends on the surgeon’s qualification, the correct choice of the donor area and the hair transplantation technique.

Modern methods of hair transplantation:

 FUT and FUE The most promising innovative hair transplantation techniques are FUT and FUE. FUT (follicular unit transplantation) is a patchwork method of hair transplantation or a strip method. In the FUT method, a skin flap is used for transplantation from the back or side of the head. Hair in these areas is the most viable and resistant to hormonal factors. With hair transplantation using the FUT method, the surgeon receives a large number of high-quality grafts for subsequent transplantation relatively easily. The separated skin flap is examined under a microscope and divided into individual grafts using stereo-microscopic equipment.

Despite the ease of donor hair sampling, the FUT method has a number of features that you should pay attention to before deciding on the choice of treatment method:

 A linear scar remains in the area of ​​the skin flap, the postoperative suture requires special care and an additional visit to the surgeon to remove the fixing threads In the postoperative period, it will be necessary to limit physical activity for 1-2 weeks The isolation of grafts from the skin flap and their additional processing require time. Prolonged stay outside the body reduces the viability of grafts and affects the final result of treatment Donor hair in FUT hair transplantation is taken exclusively from the head. If the density of hair at the back of the head is reduced, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of donor material FUE (follicular unit extraction) hair transplantation has no such limitations. With the FUE method, the donor area is minimally damaged, since not a large skin flap is removed from there, but individual grafts.

Who is recommended for FUE hair transplantation?  

FUE hair transplantation has a number of advantages that allow the patient to easily endure the transplant procedure and achieve a natural look of the restored hair:

• There is no visible linear scar in the donor area, pinpoint scars heal quickly after grafts are taken and are completely masked by the surrounding hair
• The procedure is minimally traumatic, so the postoperative period takes only a few days.
• Due to the absence of a wound in the donor area, the patient does not need to contact the surgeon for re-examination or removal of sutures
• The absence of a scar after the operation allows the patient to choose any type of hairstyle in the future, including a short haircut; moreover, with the FUE method it is possible to cover up old hair transplant scars with the FUT method
•  In the absence of a sufficient amount of healthy hair on the back of the head, donor grafts are taken from any part of the body
• Donor grafts are practically not processed before a quick transplant to a new site, which increases their viability and engraftment quality.
• The FUE method is used in patients with too dense skin for FUT or with an increased tendency to scarring.

Relative limitations to FUE hair transplantation are:

•  Lack of a surgeon of sufficient qualification, insufficient equipment of the clinic
•  Complete absence of areas for the collection of donor grafts
•  Atypical hair growth and skin structure making it difficult to harvest high quality grafts
• The need to transplant more than 6000 grafts (in this case, a team of several surgeons and assistants will be required to participate in the operation)
• Inflammatory skin diseases in the area of ​​graft sampling or transplantation