A hair transplant helps give you your hair back. The hair is taken from the neck and then put on the head, eyebrows or on the cheeks as a beard. Thus, you can get the look that you want. The transplant is a relatively expensive treatment, but in return you will enjoy it for the rest of your life.
Losing hair or not having hair on your head, missing eyebrows, or not being able to grow a beard can be very stigmatizing in our society. A society where you are largely judged on how you look – and where your appearance will have a great impact on your self-esteem.
Therefore, if you have begun to lose your hair or you lack hair on your face for some other reason, it will be natural that you try to replace it. The most pervasive, but also most durable method for it, is a hair transplant. In this case, hair will be moved from the neck or sides of your head to the place where you have begun to lose it.
The hair is not affected by the hormones that made you lose hair there in the first place. So you can be sure that you will keep your hair once you have it transplanted.
Who can get a hair transplant?
There are no limits to who has the right to want a hair transplant. It can be both for you who have been unlucky to lose some hair already at an early age, or you who have only lost it later on.
Either way, it can be a great loss if you suddenly lose your hair, as for many it is a big part of the identity. So, whether you are 18 or 55, there is the possibility of getting a transplant if you are upset about the hair loss. It is not a surgical procedure, and therefore there are not so many rules in relation to who can get a transplant.
However, there are a number of groups that are not allowed to. These are:
- Diabetic patients
- Epilepsy patients
- People with outbreaks of psoreasis
In addition, you must have written approval from your general practitioner if you suffer from cardiovascular diseases. In order to get the hair transplant, you must not take blood thinners for three days before and two days after the transplant. Your doctor must approve that you can.
If you have lost your hair due to cancer, it will be natural that you would like to have your old look again. But it can’t happen until a year after you’ve completed chemotherapy. In many cases, as a cancer patient, you also need to come up with a doctor’s note if you want a hair transplant.
Hair transplants are both for men and women
In relation to getting a hair transplant, it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman. Both sexes have the opportunity to get a transplant and thus get their old appearance back.
For many women, losing hair can almost be even more stigmatizing than for men. After all, it is not something that women do normally, and it can therefore be difficult to live without. Therefore, it is also a really nice opportunity for you that you as a woman have the opportunity to have hair transplanted.
How is a hair transplant performed?
There are generally two different methods of transplanting hair. They are called FUE and FUT or STRIP method. Both have its pros and cons, and therefore it is an individual choice which one will suit you best.
The difference between the two methods lies solely in how the hair is removed from your head and prepared for transplantation. There is no difference in how it is inserted into the scalp in the new place.
FUE hair transplant (The best method)
With FUE hair transplantation, the individual hair folle groups are taken out of your neck. The hairs are taken apart and then placed on your head. The big advantage of it is that you don’t get scar tissue from it, which is a huge advantage over the FUT method. Thus, it takes much less time for you to heal after such a transplant compared to the other.
The method also provides an opportunity to take finer hair and use for, for example, eyebrows, if you need a transplant there.
FUT/STRIP Hair Transplant (Cheaper Alternative)
The FUT/ STRIP method is done by cutting a piece of your scalp in the neck of about 20 x 2 cm. From pieces, the hair groups are removed under a microscope and then inserted into the head. The advantage of this is that it is possible to get hold of far more viable hairs than is possible with FUE.
However, the wound that is left on the scalp takes time to heal and you are going to get a scar afterwards. Therefore, FUE is clearly the most gentle method. With FUT/STRIP, you should expect that 2-3 days pass after the procedure, where your scalp hurts outright, a week when it is sore, and 6-10 weeks when you feel that the skin tightens.
Despite that, FUT/STRIP is still the most popular way to get hair transplants. This is due solely to the price. The treatment can typically be obtained for about half of what a FUE treatment costs.
How long does a hair transplant take?
How long a hair transplant lasts depends on which method you choose. The FUE method takes much longer than FUT/STRIP. This is because it takes much longer to move the hairs individually. If you need to cover a large area of hair, it may therefore require that you get several treatments.
At the same time, however, your skin should not heal when you get a FUE hair transplant. You can therefore get the treatments close to each other. If you need several treatments with the FUT method, wait a year. Otherwise, you may have problems with the scar tissue due to the previous treatment.
The time after a hair transplant
After a hair transplant, it’s also important that you take care of your new hair. In doing so, it can get the best start in life on another part of your head, and you can curb side effects like swelling and infections.
You do this primarily by sleeping with your head raised in the days after the hair transplant. In this way, fluid will not accumulate in the head as much, and you can therefore avoid swelling, which is a relatively normal side effect.
Do I feel pain after treatment?
Depending on the treatment you get, you may well be in pain afterwards. A FUE treatment will hardly be noticeable afterwards, but with a FUT treatment you will be able to feel for six to ten weeks after you have had some skin removed in the neck.
In the first two days you may be in direct pain, then you will be sore for about a week, and in the end you will just be able to feel the procedure as a tightening of the skin.
These things to avoid after a hair transplant
To counteract infections after a hair transplant, it’s important that you make sure to wash your hands before touching your new hair. In general, the hair is very sensitive in the first two weeks after. Therefore, you should also refrain from washing it in the first two days after transplantation.
In addition, it is important that you stay away from alcohol, vitamin pills, headache pills and sleeping pills that can affect the hair.
You should also avoid playing sports in the days right after the transplant. All kinds of activities that form sweat on the scalp, you should completely avoid. To protect your scalp and new hair, you should also not expose it to sunlight for three weeks after the transplant.
When does hair usually grow after a hair transplant?
It takes between three to six months before the hair starts to grow after a hair transplant. It is therefore something that is going to take some time and require some patience. Only after between 9-12 months will you really start to see the result of your hair transplant.
It is quite normal that at some point you lose the hair that you have had transplanted. It typically happens after two to eight weeks. It’s called a shock loss and isn’t something that you should be upset about. Although, understandably, it can be difficult.
The loss of hair is due to the fact that your hair goes into hibernation. Then it will slowly begin to grow again, and you will after some time get the hair splendor that you dream of.
