Hair Transplant Treatment: Does It Work?

Are you getting thinning hair? Is your hairline receding? Maybe you've already exhausted all options, and yet you still can't find a solution to your problem.

Enter hair transplant treatment. These treatments are usually done in order to correct balding or to add thickness to thinning hair. In today's post, we'll see if it's effective and whether or not you should resort to this treatment!

What's a hair transplant treatment?

True to its name, a hair transplant treatment is done with the objective of transplanting hair into areas that don't have any or have thinning strands.

More than half of all men and women from all over the world have experienced hair loss in one form or another. For a lot of people, hair serums are enough to slow hair thinning. Others have to use stronger topical medications like Minoxidil, an FDA-approved over-the-counter treatment that is well-known for hair regrowth.

Meanwhile, some have to resort to more extreme measures, such as a hair transplant treatment.

History of hair transplant treatments

(c) Pixabay

This remedy to thinning hair was first done in 1939 by doctors in Japan. They 'plucked' individual strands from the scalp and grafted them onto individual hair follicles, also on the scalp. The treatment was successful enough and thus gained worldwide acceptance after just a couple of years.

By 2014, there were already around 1 million treatments being performed per year, a 76% increase from 2006. 358,000 of these treatments are surgical, while the remaining 697,000 are non-surgical. 89% of all treatments were done on the scalp, while 11% were for other parts of the body, including eyebrows.

How does it work?

(c) Unsplash

Doctors will take a section of hair from the thicker parts of the body, usually the scalp, and then graft it onto the balding part of the scalp.

Local anesthesia is used so that the patient will not feel the process, but it's still recommended to take pain relievers like mefenamic acid or ibuprofen before the treatment to lessen the pain. If you're scared or nervous, you may also request general anesthesia so that you can sleep through the procedure.

According to studies, it takes roughly three-four months for 10%-80% of the transplanted hair to grow back fully.

Here are some tips that will help you during the recovery period of your procedure:

• Don't take on any hard activities or exert much effort, especially exercise, in the first 3 days.
• Don't wash your hair until after a few days after the procedure.
• Use only mild shampoo for up to 6 weeks or so.
• Don't brush your hair too hard for the first few weeks.

Do hair transplant treatments work?

Compared to hair serums and medications, hair transplant treatments are generally more successful in terms of hair regrowth.

However, it's worth noting that this treatment doesn't work for everyone, and it also doesn't guarantee long-term effectivity. Even transplanted hair could thin over time, which means you'll have to do another treatment. Some people also have hair follicles that are already dormant, which lessens the chance of a successful treatment.

In addition to this, hair transplant treatments don't work for people who are losing hair due to treatments like chemotherapy, or have scalp scars that are too thick for new hair to penetrate.

Are you interested in a hair transplant treatment? Have you already gotten one? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!For more hair articles, don't forget to check out our ZALA blog!