Hair Transplant

For whom?

Losing your hair varies in importance according to individuals: for some, it is just a detail without any real interest, for others, it is seen as a tragedy, say even a major handicap. Hair transplant is an answer to the preoccupations of those who refuse to accept hair loss.

Aims

The aim is to transplant the maximum amount of hair into the areas without it; one should know that:

• The amount of transplanted hair depends on the donor zone.
• The more abundant that zone is the greater the transplanted hair is.
• The thicker the hair is the richer and denser the zone to be covered will be.
• The area to be covered is important to be considered: the bigger it is, the more diffuse the transplant will be.
• During one session, we can transplant between 800 and 2000 elements and capillary implants, say even more, which is the equivalent of 2500 to 6000 hairs.

Before the operation

Before the operation, you need to take a blood sample for testing and you will send us the results by fax or by e-mail.

• Do not take any aspirin or anti-inflammation drug during the 14 days prior to the operation.
• The morning before the micro-transplant, you must wash your hair using normal shampoo and do not apply any adjuvant product (gel, spray, etc.)
• Refrain from smoking during the 24 hours prior to the operation (tobacco increases the risks of very poor healing of the scars or the risks of infection).
• Refrain from having any alcohol 3 days prior to surgery, and avoid having coffee the day of the operation.

Type of anesthesia

Hair transplant is carried out under partial anesthesia.

Duration of the hospital stay

1 night

Duration of your stay in Tunisia

3 nights

Surgical operation

The operation takes place in 3 stages:

Preparing the patient:

A hair cut with scissors at the level of the sampling area.

After a slight premedication, the patient is placed lying on his/her belly, with the head into a special cushion.

Anesthesia is partial obtained by “xylocaine adrenaline” injections and physiological serum at the level of this zone.

Sample taking and the preparation of grafts:

the technique of strips: hair is cut out in small grafts, according to the quantity and importance of the micro transplant. The sampling area is closed through the use of stitches or micro pins.

The transplant

The patient is then turned back and placed in a semi-sitting position; anesthesia is still partial; the grafts are inserted either in the holes that have been drilled by a rotating micro-punch, or in the slots/slits created by a needle, thanks to small clippers paying close attention to the initial orientation of the hair.

Duration of the operation

The operation lasts between 3 to 5 hours for the sessions devoted to micro-grafts that are most important.

After the operation

You can wash your hair as soon as a day after the operation.

Despite the prescribed treatment following the operation, you must know that your forehead may be swollen for 2 to 3 days after the operation (frontal edema); 10% to 20% of the patients develop such a symptom: it is not painful, but it may be important as to keep you away from any social interaction for 2 to 3 days.

Postsurgical pain is not important.

Surgical aftereffects

Small scabs are obvious to the sight for 10 days and then they will fade away bit by bit through the repetitive use of soft/mild shampoos.

A swelling at the forehead may occur (especially if the micro-transplant is at that zone) requiring appropriate treatments and a social retirement for a few days.

At the end of the month, most hair found in the grafts will fall. No need to worry as this is quite normal.

Some grafts may yield hair very rapidly, but as a general rule, it takes 3 to 6 months for the hair to reach its full fledged growth.

Sports activities are contra-indicated for 1 week; the gradual resumption of such activities is then possible without engaging into violent efforts and also with the thought of avoiding to engage into a sport causing risk to your leather hair tissue (soccer, boxing, aggressive sports, etc.)

For 8 days, you must wear a helmet when exposed to sun rays as a means of protection; afterwards a relative protection is recommended for at least 1 month, in case of direct and longer exposure to sun light.

You will have as many scabs as the achieved micro-grafts, such things will disappear in 1 or 2 weeks. You may however wet the stitched area by using the shower sprinkler in order to soak the scabs that have been formed. Very gently clean that surface with your hand using a soft shampoo. Afterwards wipe down this zone very gently using a dry towel. Apply some disinfectant spray once or twice a day in order to secure an adequate healing process of the scars. This small ritual must be repeated during two weeks.

In case of any bleeding, apply a clean tissue on the affected zone, and do not panic as this may happen after the operation.

Results

Transplanted hair will fall at the end of 1 month and then restart growing after 2 to 4 months.

The definitive result will appear according the desired length between six months and a year, the hair growth being from 8mm and 1cm per month.

Other sessions may be necessary starting the 6th month according to the desired density and the area to be covered.

Complications

The complications are rare within the framework of hair transplant.

The correction of baldness, though achieved for motivations essentially cosmetic, remains nevertheless a true surgical operation, something implied by the risks related to any medical act, no matter how minor it may be.

We must distinguish complications related to anesthesia and those related to the surgical act. One must equally know that, indeed, all techniques, all anesthetic products and the monitoring methods have made immense progress in the last twenty years, offering maximum security, mainly when the operation is carried out outside the emergency unit and on a person enjoying good health.

• As far as anesthesia is concerned, the accidents are rare under partial anesthesia.
• As far as the surgical act is concerned: by choosing a cosmetic surgeon who is qualified and competent, trained to carry out this kind of surgery, you will reduce to the maximum these risks, without completely eliminating them.

Fortunately, the true complications are rare following the undertaken operation, implemented within the set rules. In practice, the crushing majority of the operation happen without any problem and the patients are fully satisfied of the result.

It must be noted that a hair fall 2 to 3 weeks after the operation in the periphery of the transplant area is very frequent. It is compliant with a temporary rule. It is not a real complication.

Despite its limited occurrences, you must nonetheless be aware of the possible complications:

• Hematoma : most of the time without serious consequences; they can be evacuated if too important.
• Infection: very exceptional after an operation of the scalp, with the exception of rare micro-abscesses that develop on a stitch and such infection is easily treated by minor local treatments. Similarly, the breakage of stitches is exceptional.
• Anomalies of scar healing: very rare at the level of donor’s grafts.
• Epidermis cysts: they may seem over the transplanted grafts and will be eliminated by themselves spontaneously. If not, they can easily be removed and do not affect the quality of the end result.
• Diminution or loss of sensitivity: it may concern the sampling area, and in most cases the phenomenon is temporary.
• Pain, very rare, usually cured through an analgesic protocol. It may also be a case of a sensation of pressure which will vanish quickly.

Edema or swelling appearing after the hair transplant over a preceding part does not represent a complication because it is traditional and predictable. It does however disappear very quickly (48 hours) provided the head is not bent forward.

Work interruption

There is no need for interrupting the work: the recovery stay spent in Tunisia following the operation is very beneficial and enables most of our patients to resume their professional activities as soon as they return home.

Fees

The fees of a session of a hair transplant are: 1600 euros.

To learn more, visit our website entirely devoted to hair transplant in Tunisia: www.chirurgie-greffe-cheveux.com