Hair Replacement
September 21st, 2007 by 
Eric
Surgical hair replacement:
Surgical transplantation should be considered if you are experiencing thinning hair or baldness, hair transplantation is considered a permanent form of hair replacement. Anyone who has permanent hair loss may be a candidate for hair transplantation, including:
* Men with male pattern baldness
* Some women with thinning hair
* Individuals who have lost hair as a result of burns or other scarring injuries to the scalp, eyebrows, or eyelashes
Types of hair replacement surgery:
There are a number of techniques used in hair replacement surgery. Sometimes two or more techniques are used to achieve the best results.
* punch grafts - usually contain about 10-15 hairs
* mini-grafts - contain about 2 to 4 hairs
* micro-grafts - contain 1 to 2 hairs
* slit grafts - contain about 4 to10 hairs each
* strip grafts - contain 30-40 hairs
Complications of hair replacement surgery:
Individuals vary greatly in their healing abilities, and outcome is never completely predictable. Complications such as the following may occur:
* Infection
* Excessive bleeding
* Wide scars, called stretch-back scars
* Bumps that form at the transplant sites
* Unnatural, patchy look may result
* Additional surgery may be required
Surgical hair replacement procedures:
Treatment may be performed at an outpatient surgery centre, or, rarely, a hospital as an outpatient or an inpatient.
Hair replacement surgery is usually performed using a local anaesthesia along with sedation to make the patient relaxed, although general anaesthesia may be used for more complex cases involving tissue expansion or flaps.
