Justifying The Cost Of Modern Hair Implant Techniques
There are a number of different hair implant techniques. The best methods use the more modern innovations developed over the last few years. Unfortunately these modern methods are more time consuming and therefore cost a lot more money. A number of hair clinics therefore promote older, less good hair implant methods in order to keep costs down. This is one area where choosing to relieve the pain in your wallet may end up giving you a real pain in your head.
Male pattern baldness tends to follow the same general process. Hair is gradually lost from the front and crown of the head until all that is left is a band of hair at the back of the head which is in the form of a horse shoe shape. People lose hair because of their genetic make up. Hair in individuals is lost at different rates in different people and once again this is controlled by the genes that we inherit from our parents. The hair is lost because for some reason the hair follicles in the vulnerable areas are sensitive to DHT which is produced in the hair follicles under the influence of the male sexual hormone testosterone. In an equally unexplained way the hair follicle at the back of the head are far less sensitive to the DHT produced and therefore have the ability to continue to produce hair throughout the person’s life time.
All hair implant techniques use the fact that hair remaining at the back of the head is more genetically disposed to carry on producing healthy hair, even if it is transplanted to another area of the scalp. The advances in medical science are mainly in the methods used to harvest the hair from the back of the head and then to implant them into the bald areas.
The cheapest way to transplant hair is to cut a strip of skin from the back of the head containing the follicles and then to insert this surgically as a strip of skin complete with follicles into the bald area of the scalp. As you can imagine, this is a painful procedure that takes a long time to heal. The 2 areas are also vulnerable to infections during the healing time. It is very difficult to get the new patch of hair to behave as if it is in the right place as the hairs tend to lie in the wrong direction and the new area doesn’t match up easily with any remaining hair on the scalp. Patchy is perhaps the best way to describe the results. There can also be problems at the back of the head, from where the strip was taken. Scar tissue can develop here and the strip area will also be visible when the hair is cut short.
The newest methods select and implant new hair at the follicle level. Only a few follicles are taken from the back of the head in a small group at any one time. These are then implanted into the bald areas. Magnifying and micro surgery techniques are used in both the harvesting and implant processes. This means that the follicles are taken in natural looking units and when they are implanted they can be made to lie in the correct way by inserting them at the appropriate angle and depth in the scalp. This is the time consuming part of the procedure and the reason for the higher costs. On the plus side the implants will look a lot more natural and match the surrounding hair. The low level of damage to the scalp caused by removing and implanting hair at the follicle level means that the amount of pain and healing time is much reduced compared to the strip method. The hair follicles are also harvested in such a way that the hair will just appear a little thinner rather than creating a huge patch of scalp where the hair is missing. Scarring is also much reduced after the healing is completed.
As can be seen, you have a choice between a modern, more accurate and less painful experience at a higher cost or an old fashioned method where the price might be right, but the pain and quality of results is very suspect. You need to make sure that the hair clinic you choose uses the most modern techniques. You should avoid those that try to convince you that keeping the cost down is everything. Often these hair clinics are making more money by promoting and selling these older methods.
Hair implant techniques have improved greatly but not all clinics will offer the most modern ones.. Only with all of the facts at hand can people be expected to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages without having to just accept sales hype. Further information on the alternatives for people looking into hair replacement and hair treatment can be found on T J Vincent’s web site
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