1. Is it Successful?
Yes! Hair transplantation has been continually refined over the last 40 years and Toronto, Canada has a proud record as leader in developing and refining advances in this field. In experienced hands, approximately 90% or more of the transplanted hairs will grow in their new position, permanently giving you fuller thicker hair. Hair transplantation does not achieve your original hair density, but generally provides good to excellent coverage.
Yes! Hair transplantation has a justified reputation of being a very safe procedure. Very few patients experience minor side effects such as swelling and temporary numbness in the transplanted area. Bruising is uncommon.
No. The procedure is carried out under local anesthetic and mild sedation (which makes you drowsy, but still aware) so that virtually no discomfort is felt during the procedure. Mild analgesics are prescribed afterwards to relieve any minor discomfort felt over the 24-48 hours following the procedure. Ice packs may be used for the first 48 hours after the procedure to minimize mild swelling that may occur on day three that can last for a day or so.
You will be left with a pencil thin scar in the donor area (the area from which the hair was harvested). The donor area is closed with fine sutures which are removed one week later. The surrounding hair covers the scar so making it virtually invisible. Even your hairdresser will have trouble finding it! The graft sites in the upper scalp heal with almost no scarring due to the way they are placed and the size. In any case, any small scarring is effectively covered by the transplanted hairs.
The number of procedures depends on the size of the area to be treated, the density required and the donor area. These factors will be discussed with you during the initial consultation. It may be as few as one megasesssion. Some of our clients come back for a second, a third, even a fourth procedure to add more density to their hair, or to fill in the thinning hair (original hair that they have continued to lose over time). In this way, there is no appearance of baldness.
After the procedure, small scabs or crusts form on the grafts. These protect the grafts. After 10-14 days, the crusts will flake off by themselves. At this time, most of the transplanted hair seen above the scalp will initially be shed. This is normal. The hair roots, however or the follicles below the skin will produce new hairs after 8-12 weeks. Each graft, in general, will produce between 1-4 hairs. At first, only a few hairs are visible, but main hairs are growing beneath the skin and they will appear gradually during the first six months. The results are gradual at first; they are subtle but very certain.
Patients may have hair restoration surgery at any age. It is often better to start when you are not completely bald, so that you can use the existing hair to camouflage the procedure. However, because hair loss tends to be both gradual and progressive, it s often unwise to start surgical treatment in a patient who is very young. A second procedure usually can be done for these young patients as he/she continues to lose pre-transplanted or the androgen sensitive hair. Medical treatments such as Finasteride and Minoxidil may be offered to men with mild to moderate hair loss to help reserve thinning hair in the crown. Hair transplants can be used to fill-in the front hairline and thicken the front half of the scalp. Medical treatment can then be used to maintain hair behind thetransplants and possibly enhance the long-term reluts of hair restoration surgery. The Hair Doctor can design and individualized plan to fulfill your specific needs.
An ideal candidate is someone with dense hair in the permanent fringe of hair bearing scalp. A patient with light coloured hair and pale skin as opposed to dark hair and pale skin may appear to have a denser look. Patients with very wavy curly hair may require fewer sessions than someone with straight hair. While hair transplants look very natural, the end result may not achieve the density or total coverage that you had when you were a teenager. Results can vary from patient to patient. We can discuss your expectations at the initial consultation, which is always free.
Comprehensive notes are provided for each patient upon completion of the procedure. In addition, a follow-up appointment will be made for the patient seven days after the procedure, when the sutures are to be removed. Further check-ups (at no additional cost) will be provided, as you require.
10. Are there any guarantees of success?
Yes! We are so confident of the skill and experience of our team with our leading edge techniques that we guarantee to replace any translanted graft at no charge, if it fails to produce hair after a reasonable time, provided that adequate donor hair exists. Life time guarantee!
To get the complete picture on your hair loss condition, we encourage you to call our clinic. You can schedule an appointment to see Mr. Nikola Samac, Medical Director at the Toronto Clinic. These consultations are always informative, confidential and obligation free. Photographs of our results are available and Mr. Samac will arrange for you to see first hand and speak first hand with someone that has gone through the procedure.
Hair Loss