Does a Doctor have to perform every aspect of a hair transplant? Why would it be important for a Doctor to perform a hair transplant?
A hair transplant requires skills to achieve a natural result for the patient. These can include many artistic and medical attributes. Requiring high levels of skill and understanding of the skin, anatomy, and bone structure. To name a few. Who performs your hair transplant will depend on several factors. From start to finish a hair transplant is a team performance. Is it important? who performs what and when during a hair transplant.Is another important factor.
Most hair transplants take a day to two days to perform. One factor is graft numbers. The time required to extract and place the number of grafts. The technique used. Along with the instruments used. Resulting in dictating the duration of the procedure. For example, the difference between manual, motorised and robotic techniques.
Four Stages Of A Hair Transplant
A hair transplant has specific key areas. Each area requires the highest standard of care. Under magnification. For instance, the extraction and removal of the hair follciles. The cleaning and care of the grafts. The recipient site making. Then, finally the placement of the grafts.
Graft Extraction – The method differs depending on the technique used. FUE, Follicular Unit Extraction or FUT, Follicular Unit Transplant.
Graft Cleaning and Preparation – the trimming, cleaning and dividing into their natural size groupings
Making of the Recipient Sites – slit making includes depth, angle and orientation.
Graft Placement – following the recipient sites and guidance of the Doctor as to where place the specific sized hair units from the hairline back to create a natural look and desired coverage and hair density
Starting with graft extraction. Although there are obvious differences in the extraction both hair transplant techniques require specific medical skills. There needs to be an understanding of the skin. This reflects on how it reacts to being cut and subsequently how it heals. The need for depth control and the angle of the incision.
Not a concern solely
What is Transection?
This occurs as part of a hair transplant procedure. A well-performed hair transplant will ensure
A punch surrounds the hair units in the hair transplant donor area. The punch cuts around the edges to remove the hair units. Without understanding it is easy to damage the hair unit and not realise. Understanding the exit point of the hair shaft, understanding the direction under the skin, and understanding the skin characteristics and how they change. Gone unnoticed and without an understanding of the importance of these and many other factors will result in a high % of damage or
Donor Area Transection
Unchecked the result of
What Impacts on Transection Rates?
The speed of the FUE Extraction – the faster the extraction the more chance of
The skill and understanding of the person punching the hair units – if the task is simply to punch around hairs anyone can do this. This requires little skill and no understanding of the hair and skin characteristics. The skill comes in understanding the hair angle, orientation, sitting position, punch depth required.
The mechanic of the punch – a manual punch is tactile allowing the user to feel each punch made easily, the depth, angle and the incision. This can then be altered as required to maintain a clean punch. The greater the automation then potentially less control the user has.
The number of hair units required – the larger number of grafts/follicular units required will impact on maintaining a low transection rate. The more grafts means a higher chance of over harvesting, splitting and damaging the hair units to reach the number. A high number in one procedure can be over approximately 3000 FUE grafts.
Without due care and technical understanding transection can potentially rise to near 50% of the removed or remaining hair follicles. As a result this can leave the donor area impaired to the point little to no further hair can be removed safely.
Graft Care to Graft Placement Transection
How To Minimise the Transection Rates
With the experience of time, knowledge of research and teaching, and the understanding of practice the skills to perform a hair transplant are perfected. Some skills may come naturally while others are perfected over time. This can make the difference in what field of medicine a Doctor finds their calling. A broad understanding of the skin and hair characteristics is required to perform a hair transplant to the highest standard. This includes the checking of the team´s work throughout their tasks of the procedure.
Without knowing the pitfalls to look for, without understanding the variants in skin and hair characteristics there is no skill to the FUE technique. The FUE hair unit punching is simply an exercise in creating incisions around hair units. This approach allows an untrained, unskilled potential novice the opportunity to appear productive and competent in the task. As the result, success is measured on how many hair units can be removed. Not by how much damage is caused, how many punches are made and how many hair units are transected.
Do You Pay For What You Receive?
An important question to research before deciding on a Clinic and Doctor to perform your hair transplant procedure.
As discussed, there are ways for a hair transplant to be made more efficient, and for more grafts to be removed faster. Is this to the detriment of the potential result and is it impacted on whom performs what during the hair transplant?
A hair transplant compared to other cosmetic surgery procedures is slow and requires a larger team to perform. If a hair transplant could appear simpler to perform, less drawn out, more efficient it could appear beneficial to the patient. Another idea. If the emphasis is removed on an FUE hair transplant
The less skill the instruments and tools to perform an FUE hair transplant should reflect on the cost of the hair transplant procedure. This can be seen on low-cost hair transplant websites. The emphasis is on numbers, high numbers usually and being able to book in without or with little notice. This is possible due to the ranks of under-prepared staff performing the FUE procedures. Having a large team of staff allows a large number of hair transplants to be performed in one day.
What´s Important To You?
Regardless of the cost, check who perform what aspects of your hair transplant procedure. A hair transplant is elective surgery and you have the choice to pay the cost you wish but should demand the level of quality and skill often denoted by the fee attached.
Key Areas Of Concern With The FUE Hair Transplant:
The Qualification of the Person Punching the Hair Units
The Speed of Extraction
The Number of Grafts Extracted
The Size Of The Extraction Zone
The type of mechanism used for the FUE punch – manual, motor etc
The Number of Staff Punching Hair Units At the Same Time
Is There Anyone Monitoring The Procedure
The Average Hair Unit Size Extracted
How Many Hairs Compared To How Many Grafts
How Many Punches Compared To How Many Grafts
If you wish to settle for low-cost then understand what this could entail including the supplements and free add-on offers. With this in mind, regardless of the cost, you can decide on the importance you place on your hair transplant result, the individual´s that perform it, and your long-term well-being.
