Hair loss is a fact of life for many men as they grow older. It’s estimated that over two-thirds of the men in America will have experienced appreciable hair loss to some degree by the age of 35. However, just because balding is a fact of life, doesn’t mean that people have to live with the eventuality of going bald. One way to partially reverse hair loss is to undergo hair transplant surgery. This is not a new process, hair transplants have been practiced since the 1950s, but you might not know much about the process. And with any surgical procedure, it’s important to know as much as possible before you begin the process. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic overview about hair transplants.
Generally speaking, there are two primary types of hair transplant surgeries. In both cases, hair is removed from one part of the head and transferred to the part of the scalp that is balding. However, the procedures for each surgery type are very different. Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (also known as FUSS), is when a strip of scalp from a non-balding area is surgically removed and placed in incisions in the balding area. The other primary type is follicular unit extraction (also known as FUE), and is when individual hairs are harvested and transplanted to the balding area of the scalp. The idea behind these procedures is that transplanting actively growing hair to the balding part of the scalp will simulate the growth of new hair.
As with any surgical procedure, there are pros and cons to be found. The pro of a FUE transplant is that it is less invasive than a FUSS transplant. This is because the FUE transplant only plucks a few hairs at a time, whereas a FUSS transplant literally removes a section of scalp, hair and all, to be transplanted. This can lead to a higher risk of complications developing, can cause scars, and most of all, it takes longer to recover from. While healing time for a FUE procedure varies, typical recovery is around four to five days.
In conclusion, hair transplants are generally conducted in one of two ways. Either a section of scalp is transplanted in a FUSS procedure, or individual hairs are transplanted using the FUE process. Both procedures can accomplish the task, but FUE has slightly more pros since it does less damage to the scalp, heals more quickly, and has far less risks of complications developing than FUSS. These are important basics to keep in mind when considering hair transplant surgery for yourself.
