Hair transplant general questions

[MyNameIsRich]

Hey, im new here. 21 years old and though I'm not losing my hair (yet?) I've always been a worrier of losing it, due to suffering from BDD.. And generally having shitty thin hair. I've been doing research to Deal with things as and when they happen.

One question I need to ask as I don't understand, do the donor hairs that are removed to be transplanted grow back? Or are they moved from one zone of the hea to another?

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

No they do not grow back in the donor area. They are transplanted into the recipient area, however, the surgeon can remove a good size strip and it will look virtually undetectable in the donor area.

[TakingThePlunge]

Richlol,

 

Welcome! It's never too early to begin thinking about hair loss. Better to be prepared for the worst and pleasantly surprised if you never go bald.

 

To answer your question, the hair follicles that are removed from the donor ear do not grow back to repopulate the donor area of the head. They are permanently relocated.

 

In the case of follicular unit transplantation (FUT), a strip of scalp is removed and the resulting wound sutured or stapled closed. This strip of scalp is then dissected under microscopic magnification into hundreds or thousands of naturally occurring 1 to 4 hair clusters known as follicular units.

 

The other method of hair transplant surgery is known as follicular unit extraction (FUE). In this procedure, the follicular units are removed individually.

 

Donor hairs are a non-renewable resource. Each patient has a finite number of follicular units that can be transplanted. For that reason, it's important that patients work with doctors to form long-term hair restoration plans.

 

Click on the links above for more about each technique.

[MyNameIsRich]

I understand... I'm finding it really hard to believe that people who have a completely bald top pre OP are able to have 1-2 HTs and maintain hair at the back of their head at the same time, if it's a nonrenewable source?

[mattj]

I understand... I'm finding it really hard to believe that people who have a completely bald top pre OP are able to have 1-2 HTs and maintain hair at the back of their head at the same time, if it's a nonrenewable source?

 

This is possible because when the hair is transplanted it doesn't need to be at the same density as it was in the donor area to achieve good coverage. Once each follicle is separated under microscope, they will be planted at typically 30 to 60 percent of the original density.

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Illusion of denity!

[ziggy00]

I just wanted to add that if you have BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder), you may want to take periodic pictures of your hairline every few months. It will give you an objective view of your hair's progression. When you have evidence of what your hair is actually doing, you might be able to lower the stress of guessing if you're balding or not. Let the camera worry about it, not you.

 

And check on this forum how people photograph their hair. There's an art to it.

[MyNameIsRich]

I just wanted to add that if you have BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder), you may want to take periodic pictures of your hairline every few months. It will give you an objective view of your hair's progression. When you have evidence of what your hair is actually doing, you might be able to lower the stress of guessing if you're balding or not. Let the camera worry about it, not you.

 

And check on this forum how people photograph their hair. There's an art to it.

 

Thanks for the input, I have been doing this for around 6 months now, I wish I had started doing it sooner. Currently I'd say nothing to worry about, but i have episodes (my hair is pretty shit as it is/hairline also) where I feel like im losing my hair and its really obvious to everybody who sees.

I guess bad haircuts are to blame, I had one a few months back and that really tormented me for a good few months until now, now its grown out.

FML, I wish I didn't care about hair, haha