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| Q. Location: California I had a hair transplant about 8 months ago and feel that the hair is not growing as fast as I’d like. Should I think about getting another transplant? I am 54 and an African American female. |
| A. While it is possible for you to experience some growth after 8 months, the bulk of the growth should have manifested by the 8 th month. Reasons for poor growth could range from poor surgical technique to a cause for your hair loss that was not addressed in the first place. Female hair loss can often be a result of other diseased conditions or states which if treated properly may alleviate the hair loss or even reverse it. A hair specialist (preferably a dermatologist) should be seen for a good history taking and examination as well as a comprehensive blood test or even a biopsy to rule out any of several causes of hair loss in women which includes for example: Thyroid diseases, Iron deficiency, polycyclic ovaries and other androgenic states, etc. If these conditions are causing the hair loss and are not addressed properly, a hair transplant procedure would likely fail. I would advise you revisit the surgeon that performed your transplantation 8 months ago to discuss these points and if necessary visit a dermatologist to do a complete work up before contemplating further surgery. Remember you have a finite donor supply and doing another wasteful surgery would not help your donor pool. |
| Q: I’m from UK.i want hair transplant by using body hair .do u have any branch in UK London.. if u have any information about it plz reply me thanks |
| A: I do not have an office in the UK. However, I routinely treat patients from the UK and other parts of the world. My clinic is located within 20 minutes drive of Los Angeles international airport and there are several hotels within 1 block of my clinic for the convenience of my patients. Most of my international patients have been quite impressed by the ease of the whole process. Out of town patients have found this page on my website to be use full https://dermhairclinic.com/accomodations-and-travel-dermhair-clinic/ |
| Q. What are the options for improving the appearance of a strip surgery scar? |
class=”style1″>A. It is good to start of knowing that a strip scar once created cannot be made to disappear. The best solution is to avoid it all together. The following approaches are all available options and they all have pros and cons: class=”style1″>1. Revision. If the scalp is lax enough and for scars wider than 1cm in the average, this is an option to consider. The scar is excised and closed again. Measures to take in improving the odds of a better scar includes the following: class=”style1″>i. Adopting a trichophytic closure technique if possible class=”style1″>ii. Avoid revising a scar that is closer to the nape than the nuchal crest iii. Avoid scalp stretching positions and actions for a prolonged period of time after surgery class=”style1″>iv. Adopting better closure techniques. Double layer closure is preferable The pros include the possibility of retrieving some grafts for transplantation in the process. The cons include the higher likelihood of stretch back which may even be worse than the original scar. Damage to neighbouring follicles in the process of scar excision. A more involved recovery period. class=”style1″>2. Grafting the scar with hair follicles. I have found beard hair to be especially well suited for this purpose as shown in the following examples of my previous patients:https://dermhairclinic.com/video-gallery-repair-2-hair-transplant-strip-surgery-scar-repair-using-fue-bht.html https://dermhairclinic.com/video-gallery-repair-bad-hair-transplant-scars-repair-and-severe-bladness-restoration-by-fue.html The pros include less danger of scar getting worse (no chance of stretch back), and it is perhaps the only option in cases of low scalp laxity. class=”style1″>Cons: poor growth in scar. In this case repeat procedures may be called for. 3. Tattooing. This is done by a clinical tattooist and should be done conservatively in gradations. The tattoos should be made to appear like dark dots instead of a solid block. This methods is best used in conjunction with scar grafting (#2 above) as was done in this patient of mine to very effective ends: https://dermhairclinic.com/video-gallery-repair-2-hair-transplant-strip-surgery-scar-repair-using-fue-bht.html It is also worth considering in scars that are very thin but whitish. 4. Steroid Injections: this is recommended in hypertrophic or keloidal scars, were repeated injections of triamcenolone is used to flatten the scar to the level of the remaining scalp. It can be done after scar revision, or if grafting of the scar is preferred, it should be done before the grafting is done. |
| Q.I do not like my transplanted hairline and I want it reversed by FUE. You can remove hair from any part of the body Dr Umar, so I expect you can do this easily. |
Most transplanted hairlines can be improved by camouflaging them with better quality and properly placed grafts. There may or may not be a need to remove some vexing plugs or grafts to make this work best. This is a far more practical and easily attainable goal than trying to completely reverse a densely transplanted hairline. Reversing a densely transplanted hairline by and FUE method is not an unattainable goal and in fact it can be done. However, the patient needs to be aware of the caveats involved and take into consideration these caveats in making a decision on the best repair route. 1. Whereas I can take hair from your neck for example, there is no attempt to remove all the hair in your neck in doing so. Normally a substantial amount of hair is left behind. Attempts to remove hair completely from a scalp area is fraught with problems: i. You would require several sessions (number unknown) of extraction with enough time given between sessions for each extraction wound to heal completely ii. The reason several sessions is required is because if we attempt to extract every visible hair, you would have extraction wounds that merge with each other to create a large unsightly wound and scar. iii. Even after several sessions you must reconcile to the possibility that not all the hair would be gone when all is done. iv. You already touched upon the certainty of scarring and irregularity in the area in the wake of these sessions. While this can be improved by resurfacing laser, there would always be tell tale signs of the procedure, which may or may not be acceptable to some. v. Also anytime such a procedure is performed in an area, the same area will not be grafted with hairs at the same time. It would be given time to heal before any grafting is contemplated since the yield is not as good if not done this way and the result would be patchy courtesy of the extraction spots. vi. The cost of this procedure is different from your “per graft” costing of the surgery you have already been assessed for. Depending on the duration of each procedure, there would be an additional cost of $5000-10,000 for each session of transplant reversal, which would be added to your already assessed cost. |
| Q. I would like to use a concealer to camouflage evidence of my transplant in the first few months following my surgery. I am considering the use of Toppik and or Dermatch. Do you advise this? |
| I strongly advise against the use of concealers including Toppik and Dermatch following the procedure. I am of the opinion they could have deleterious effects on the yet to grow follicles. They can cause inflammation and even an infection in a newly transplanted area, and foreign body granulomas in later periods. |
Q. I am a hairpiece user. I am particularly concerned about the transition period between the transplant date and when the result would manifest. I would not like the drastic change that would be evident from the look of the hairpiece to a bald look after the transplant in the period before the new grafts grow out. I would like to use my hairpiece in that period. What do you advice? |
The most optimal condition is to use no hairpiece completely after the procedure. Because of the mechanical forces exerted by the hairpiece and suffocation factor, the yield can be affected by its use. This assumes no use of tapes or glue. If this is a major lifestyle decision, at the 6-8 week mark you may use hairpiece in the day time (12 hours) and remove it at night (12 hours). The hairpiece in that event has to be anchored with clips and not glue or tapes. Again, the safest approach would be to avoid use of the hairpiece in the grafted area all together. |
| Q. I have a lot of gray in my head donor area. I would like to use only dark hair for the HT. IS that possible? |
| It is possible to selectively extract mostly dark hair. It is impossible to assure that only dark hairs manifest in a transplanted area using donor hair from an area dominated by gray hair. Also note that this selectivity could impact the number of available donor hair for the procedure. |