Baltimore hair transplant specialist, Dr. Jeffrey E. Schreiber, performs the most up-to-date techniques of hair restoration procedures right in the comfort of his Baltimore, Maryland office! Hair restoration can recreate your hairline or restore lost hair anywhere on your scalp. Each hair graft is separated out under a microscope, so not even your barber or hair stylist can tell if you've had a hair transplant.
The hair transplant procedure is considered a "minor outpatient procedure" and begins with gently removing some of the permanent hair-bearing skin from the back of your scalp after the area has been completely numbed. This area is then very carefully closed with fine sutures that will be removed in 10-14 days. Next, each and every hair follicle is carefully dissected out under a microscope. The hair follicles are actually part of a hair graft or "follicular unit" and each graft contains anywhere from 1-4 hairs. Dr. Schreiber will then gently numb the areas that are to be grafted, and he will then create the millimeter-sized sites for the hair grafts to be placed into. Then, each hair graft is very carefully placed into the bald of thinning areas of your scalp. Maryland hair transplant specialist, Dr. Schreiber, also takes great care to place the hair grafts at the same angle as any already existing hair follicles to give the most natural look possible. The hair grafts do not require any stitches to stay in - your skin make a natural "glue" that holds the grafts in place.
Recently, another method has been developed to get the grafts for a hair transplant. This is known as follicular unit extraction or FUE. Various machines have been developed to perform the FUE. Examples include the handheld instruments and the FUE machine. With these devices, each individual hair graft is taken one by one instead of all at once with the strip method. The advantage to this is that there is no scar in the back of the head after the procedure. Having said this, the strip method can leave a very inconspicuous scar especially when there is are above and below it to cover it up. I explain to my patients that they have several options when it comes to obtaining the grafts. If they plan on getting very short haircuts or even shaving their heads in the future, then FUE is the way to go. It's more expensive, but again there is no donor site scar. If the patient wears his or her hair long in the back and does not plan on shaving the back of the head, then the strip method is great, too. This does leave a scar, but it is very hard to find after it's healed and the process is less expensive.
Many Baltimore FUE patients ask about survivability of the grafts with the various methods. We take great care of the grafts once obtained from the back of the scalp and we do everything we can to minimize trauma to the grafts. This has allowed us to see wonderful results from all methods of hair transplantation that we do.
This modern technique of hair restoration avoid the "pluggy look" that was commonly seen in hair transplants done several years ago. It may take 1-3 sessions to get the exact look you want, but Dr. Schreiber is confident that you'll be extremely excited about how you look after just the first session of your hair loss treatment.
Hair restoration is very well tolerated under just local anesthesia! Dr. Schreiber will not "put you to sleep" and you can even eat breakfast the morning of the procedure. You will be awake, but Dr. Schreiber will prescribe you some oral medication to take that will relax you throughout the day. Also, there is usually very little discomfort during the hair transplant procedure. The entire process can be lengthy, so please plan on spending anywhere from 4-7 hours with Dr. Schreiber. After about 1 day, small crusts will form where each of the grafts was placed, and these will fall off within 10-14 days. For added information about your Baltimore hair transplant recovery, visit www.plasticsurgery.org or www.surgery.org. You'll start to see hair growth in 3-4 months, and these hairs will continue to grow for most, if not all, of your life!