STEVE’S HAIR TRANSPLANT
An illustrated story of one of our patient’s hair transplant experience |
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“This is easy.” |
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Steve has had a prior hair transplant. Today we are going to fill in his hairline a little and place grafts to cover the back. Venus checks Steve’s blood pressure. Although hair transplantation is very safe, patients vital signs are monitored during the procedure. |
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| First, Dr. Lewis takes some “before” pictures. |
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| The area behind the ears and low on the scalp is not subject to the balding process. This tissue can be moved surgically to another location such as the hairline or the thinned area above the tape in the picture. The hair in this donor site is clipped short before surgery. |
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| Because we use sedation and topical anesthetic, Steve just feels a mild stinging sensation as the scalp is made numb. Then donor strips are carefully removed from the permanent hair donor site. This is closed to make a usually very fine line scar. |
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| Obtaining the donor tissue takes 20 to 30 minutes. Then a temporary pressure dressing is applied. |
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| Here is a section of a strip of donor hair prior to dissection into grafts. The excess fat will be removed and little clusters of hairs called follicular units will be dissected into grafts. |
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| The assistants cut the grafts. Here, Jeannie is making grafts using the Mantis stereoscopic dissecting microscope. |
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| Meanwhile, Steve catches a little snooze while Dr. Lewis makes the incisions where the grafts will be placed. Paige keeps the count. Precise direction of the instrument is required for the hair to grow naturally and avoid damage to existing follicles. |
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| Steve’s grafts are ready. Here are some. They are kept in chilled saline solution to ensure survival. |
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| Steve uses the remote to select a movie to watch while his hair grafts are placed. |
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| Tanya and Venus place Steve’s grafts. This part can take a while, so it is good to watch a movie although some people prefer to doze off. A hair transplant takes a while, but the results are worth it. |
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| Dr. Lewis checks everything out before the dressing is applied. |
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| Tanya and Venus place a hat over Steve’s dressing. He will wear this overnight. |
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| Jeannie reviews Steve’s post operative instructions. He is ready to go home. The whole thing took about six hours. |
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| Steve is back the next morning, he didn’t need anything more than a Tylenol last night. |
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| Paige removes the dressing and shampoos Steve’s scalp. The warm water feels good. |
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| The Doc does a final check. Everything looks perfect. |
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| Steve and friend leave to enjoy a beautiful Northern California weekend. |
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Hair transplantation can be an easy, pleasant experience. We do everything we can for our patients’ comfort and convenience, in addition to going all out to provide excellent results.
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