Questions on Hair Transplants for Women

Now the female pattern baldness [FPB] has been identified as the gender equivalent to male pattern baldness [MPB] more and more women are exploring hair restoration through hair transplantation. Because FPB is an inherited genetic predisposition similar to MPB; women can now enjoy the same natural benefits to reduce hair loss as men.

FPB and MPB are hereditary conditions in which a negative androgenic hormonal effect occurs in scalp hair follicles. The result is over a period of time the follicle produces a weaker and finer hair. This is called miniaturization. This process can occur until the follicle produces no hairs at all; eventually resulting in a pattern of baldness. Most women however experience FPB differently than how men experience MPB. Usually it manifests as an overall thinning of the scalp hair; as opposed to the distinct balding pattern seen in most men by the age of fifty.

Parsa Mohebi, MD reviews some questions asked by women considering hair restoration surgery.

How many grafts/hairs would I require for a good restoration? Could you please point to some examples?

Although for most cases with only frontal hair loss we recommend 1500-2000 grafts on average, your personal recommendation can be above or below that number depending on your eligibility, extent of balding area, history, donor density and scalp laxity.

What is the cost for hair transplants (including everything – procedural cost, fees, everything)?

I understand you will not be in a position to get me the exact figures without a personal meeting but I need to have some rough idea to estimate my costs.

A hair transplant procedure performed at US Hair Restoration is calculated based on the number of grafts recommended to you. To determine what is recommended for your specific case, we recommend attending a free consultation with Dr. Parsa Mohebi at your earliest convenience.

Can the whole procedure be done in one sitting?

Yes. Overall, most hair restoration procedures performed by at US Hair Restoration will be completed in one day. Occasionally patients may need more density that is not possible to create in one session or they have extensive hair loss that requires more than one hair transplant session.

Does FUE still have shock loss risks?

Yes, regardless of the technique of harvesting hair we recommend some sort of medication to prevent shock loss after hair transplant surgery.

In regards to your in-depth questions on exact number of grafts, donor hair growth, care after hair transplant, etc:

I recommend calling to schedule a free 30-60 minute consultation in which we can explain more detailed information to you personally and recommend an accurate number of grafts for your specific case.

FUE Hair Transplant for Hair Restoration

FUE hair transplant one of the newest approaches to hair restoration surgery. FUE is mainly a response to those patients who don't want to have a line of scar on their donor area. Many patients ask me about the best method of hair transplant. They specifically want to know whether the best hair transplant is follicular unit transplant through strip or Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).

FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) is a great method for harvesting hair grafts directly from the donor area without the need to produce a linear scar on that area for hair transplant surgery. The convenient process is doing a follicular unit transplant through removing a strip of skin from the back at donor area, which may leave a detectable linear scar. FUE hair transplant was initially introduced by Dr. Woods in Australia.
Hair transplant with FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction is also called Follicular Isolation Technique (FIT) by some hair transplant surgeons. One of the advantages of FUE transplant is that patients will not get a linear scar on the back and donor area of head. FUE has some disadvantages such as the need to clip the donor hair very short before hair transplant procedure. The spots from harvested hair follicular grafts where hair units are removed appear as very small red spots for 2-4 days after hair transplant. However they usually don’t leave a detectable scar and people who had FUE hair transplant can even shave their head without any detectable hair transplant scar on the donor area.
When Comparing FUE or FIT with strip procedure for FUT we do not remove the strip of skin from the donor area. Patients will not have donor complications seen with the strip technique such as discomfort in donor area after surgery, the need for staple or suture removal and presence of linear scar. FUE transplant is the best procedure for people who want to keep the option of shaving or keeping the hair on the back very short. We don’t believe that every patient is a good candidate for FUE. Patient who are interested should be tested with FOX test which is raking a few biopsies from donor area and assure that the grafts are intact. If grafts could be removed without transecting the hair follicles, the patient is positive for this procedure and we can schedule the main procedure.
There are another important limitation in FUE hair transplant surgery. We can not get high number of grafs through FUE hair transplant as we do in strip procedure. The number of grafts is limited in FUE and you cannot perform mega sessions as you do with strip FUT hair transplants. Hair transplant cost for is another concern for many people that is higher for follicular unit extraction. The cost of FUE in US Hair Restoration is almost twice the cost of hair transplant with a strip follicular unit transplants.