SINGAPORE HAIR TRANSPLANT

Q: Whose hair will be transplanted onto my head? Does this work like organ transplants where there’s a donor and a recipient?

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A: Unlike the case of organ transplants, in a hair transplant you are your own donor. If you received hair, follicle, and tissue from someone else (other than an identical twin), your body would reject them without immune-suppressant drugs. You donate your hair from what are called your donor sites.

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Q: Where are my donor sites?

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A: Male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness are terms that include the word pattern. That’s because there is a pattern to the baldness. You’ve probably noticed, especially in men, that no matter how much hair they lost in the front, top, and crown areas of their heads, the sides and backs of their heads retain hair and sometimes a great deal of it. The sides and back are far less affected by the action of DHT upon their hair follicles. These areas are the donor sites from which the hair you donate to yourself is removed, along with the follicles and some surrounding tissue.

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Q: Where will my donor hair be placed during the hair transplantation process?

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A: Once it’s been extracted, it is transplanted to the balding parts of your scalp, into tiny slits that the doctor has created with his or her surgical tools. The donated hair, hair follicles, surrounding tissue, and skin are called grafts, and each graft contains one or more hair follicles with accompanying hair, tissue, and skin. No two heads are alike, and you will see that the art of hair transplantation is just as important as its science or medical aspects.

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Q. If patients have significant hair loss, will they get a full head of hair after a hair transplant?

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A. In most cases, the answer is no. Hair transplantation procedures redistribute and move existing hair – not create new hair. In the surgical procedure, your Singapore plastic surgeons take your existing healthy hair (usually located in the back and on the sides of the scalp) and move them to the part of the scalp that is bald. There is usually not sufficient hair in the donor area to replace all the lost hair in the recipient area. So it is not quite possible to provide a full head of hair. However, hair transplant can often produce a dramatic improvement in how you look to others and to yourself.

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Q. Is the procedure painful?

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A. Most patients are pleasantly surprised by how minimal the discomfort they experienced from the surgical procedure. Patients are given local anesthesia in the donor and recipient areas. Most patients find that once the anesthesia is given that they feel little or no pain or discomfort during the surgery. Any discomfort they feel after the surgery are usually some amount of soreness and numbness which is temporary and nearly always minimal. Our hair transplant doctors will provide pain mediation to help patients relieve the discomfort following the surgery.

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Q. How long will it take for the transplanted hair to grow?

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A. Typically it takes between four to five months following surgery before the transplanted hair follicles begin to grow new hair. After that it will grow about half an inch per month which is the same rate as the donor hair. The transplanted new hair growth is usually very thin, like baby hair, at the beginning. Then it will gradually become thicker and fuller over time. Within 6 months of the procedure, the transplanted hair can be groomed and combed in any fashion you like. Your transplanted hair will be fully mature after about a year following your surgery and will continue to grow for a lifetime.

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Q. How long will the transplanted hair continue to grow? 

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A. The transplanted hair is taken from the hair from the back of the head. Even though it is moved from the back of the head to the recipient area, the transplanted hair will still have the same life span as any other hair follicle. Typically, a hair follicle sheds every three to six years and then grows back from the same root. The transplanted hair continues the same life circle.

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Q. Is the hair transplant procedure dangerous?

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A. No. Hair transplants are very safe procedures with few side effects. It is minor surface surgery, literally only skin deep, and one of the safest surgical procedures ever performed.

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Q. What are the risk or common side effects after hair transplant surgery?

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A. These are the common side effects that some of the patients experienced following the surgery.

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Itching. It is common for patients to have itching occur on areas treated following the hair transplant surgery. This itching is temporary and last not more than a few days. Using shampoo to wash your hair daily will help ease the discomfort.

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Swelling. In most cases, patients have experienced some form of swelling in their forehead and around their eyes. This swelling is temporary and lasts for only three to five days. Very rarely, a black eye may develop. Swelling does little harm and lasts no more than a week.

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Infection. It is a common practice in Singapore for hair transplant doctors to give their patients antibiotics before and after the procedure to prevent infections from even starting. While rare, infections when occur can be easily treated with antibiotics.

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Hiccups. Interesting, a rare side effect is hiccups after the surgery. It usually lasts only several hours.  Some may extend to a few days and if left untreated the hiccups can keep you from eating or sleeping well. If this does occur, your doctors will prescribe a medication to ease the hiccups. It is good note that hiccups are very rare and less than 5 percent of the patients have this side effect.

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Scarring. The extend of scarring depends upon skill of the surgeon performing the transplant, the way the procedure is done as well as the sensitivity of your skin. Keloid scarring following the surgery probably occurs only because you are genetically inclined to have it.

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Cysts generally occur in the recipient area when the hair follicle damage and push deeper the skin layer. Cysts are usually pimple size, not more than 2 or 3 mm in diameter, and are mainly benign in character. They disappear by themselves after a few weeks or immediately after various simple medications.

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Numbness. In some patients, numbness may be experienced in the implanted area due to the placement of new hair follicles in the area which may result in a temporary loss of sensation in the area. However, this is normal and only temporary and most patients regain sensation in the treated area after a few months.

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Q. Do I need to take time off from work and what is the healing time?

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A. Technically speaking, there is little or no time off required from work following the hair transplant surgery. Most patients feel well within a day or two after the procedure, although some numbness and mild soreness can be expected for couple of days following the surgery. Some patients who may be conscious of how they may look may elect to take time off from work for the first few days. There are also other patients who return to work immediately the next day and some may wear a cap or hat to mask the temporary scabs that were formed around the micro incisions.  Due to our advanced technology, the incisions are less invasive than past procedures thus enabling a more rapid recovery and healing.

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Q. How do I  take care of my new hair follicles after the hair transplant procedure?

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A. Our doctors will provide you with a set of post-procedure care instructions which will provide you with guidance on how to wash your scalp and take care of the newly implanted hair. As a general advice, we generally do not wash the treated area for at least 7 days and only wash with gentle shampoo thereafter to try to cleanse off any scabs on the treated area. Becareful not to pick or peel off any scabs as this will result in the loss of hair follicles which were implanted! The scabs should drop off naturally or during hair wash over time so do not be stressed with it. We will also recommend application of olive oil on the scabs 21 days after the procedure in case any scabs still remain on your scalp - this will help to loosen the scabs and enable them to fall off naturally.

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We hope these help to ease your doubts with FUE Hair Transplant. Have your hair transplant done safely at Singapore Hair Transplant. Contact us today.

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