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Hair restoration surgery is a surgical procedure that takes hair from the back of the scalp where the hairs are thicker and grow for a longer period of time and moves them to areas of thinning or balding. The hairs will continue to grow like they did from the original donor area providing a natural result that blends with the patient’s existing hair.
There are two types of hair restoration surgery including Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT or LSE) and Follicular Unit Excision/Extraction (FUE). Dr. Bender is proud to be one of the few surgeons in Houston to offer both types of surgery and feels it gives her patients the opportunity to use the best technique for their individual case. FUE is a newer technique and is considered to be less invasive. That being said, FUT and FUE have their own advantages when it comes to the type of hair and hair restoration goals. FUT is not as widely available as FUE likely due to the advanced skill and technique required to perform it. Dr. Bender’s surgical background puts her in a unique position to excel at both of these techniques.
Both treatments have the same goal of utilizing natural hair groups, called follicular units, that can range from 1-4 hairs. The focus of any transplant is not on extracting as many grafts as possible but in extracting quality grafts and using them as efficiently as possible. Every person has a finite supply of donor hair and it is the hair restoration surgeon’s job to use this supply carefully and to not over-harvest the donor area and cause a new area of thinning that did not exist before.
Both techniques consist of the same steps which include:
1. Harvesting grafts
2. Microdissection of grafts/graft preparation
3. Recipient site creation
4. Graft placement
A female hair transplant has unique characteristics that distinguish it from a male transplant. For one, the areas in need of density are usually along the top of the scalp, along the part, or along the existing hairline. The focus is usually on improving fullness and density in these areas of thinning. Women are also slightly more prone to shedding of hairs, but not follicles, in their post op period and can be reassured that this hair will grow back along with transplanted hairs. Additionally, women may desire coverage of prior scars from procedures such as a facelift, browlift, hairline advancement, etc. A targeted hair transplant can be a very effective procedure in these cases.
The transplanted hair will stay in place and grow for the first 10-14 days. After that point, most of the hair will fall out but the follicles stay in place. Hair will start to re-grow in 3-4 months. By 6 months, there should be evidence of improvement and usually you will see close to a final result at 12 months. Transplanted hair will retain its longevity from the donor area and should grow for the length of time that it was genetically programmed to grow for.
Please come in for a consultation to find if one or both techniques could be right for you!
This is a type of hair restoration surgery where the physician makes a small cut on the back of the scalp to obtain the donor hair follicles which are then prepared and placed into the areas of thinning or balding.
This is a type of hair restoration surgery that is done by removing individual hair follicles commonly from the back of the scalp to transplant them into areas of thinning or balding.
We recommend around 1 week off work after surgery although you can work from home before then if applicable. We do recommend not scheduling any big meetings or presentations for 2 weeks if possible.
A hair transplant is done comfortably under local anesthesia with a sedative. You will be awake but you should not experience any pain.
