Founded in 2016 by James Murphy
Increasing in popularity the world over, transplants can provide an effective solution to hair loss to some providing that fundamental criteria is met. No matter the quality of the result, scars are unfortunately a guaranteed byproduct, however, can be rectified with scar micropigmentation.
The type of scarring depends on the type of transplant carried out. For either type, (FUT or FUE), our SMP scar camouflage can be used to conceal any unsightly areas by the careful placing of impressions amongst the scar tissue to remove the contrast between skin and hair.
This involves removing a rectangular strip from the back of the head and dissecting it into grafts. The section at the back is then stitched together, leaving what is known as a ‘strip scar.’ These scars usually range from around five to twenty centimetres in length, and five to fifteen millimeters in width.
This more modern method involves removing single follicles at a time from the rear and sides of the head. A good way to visualise this is to imagine a miniature version of an apple-corer! The small tool punches into the skin, cuts out the follicle and retrieves it. The skin heals leaving a small circular scar a few millimetres in diameter.
Sometimes both techniques are adopted in order to maximise the graft yield. Scar micropigmentation is effective for scars of either transplant type.
Despite the availability and low costs of transplants, scalp micropigmentation is increasing in popularity. Using SMP for scar camouflage can be so effective that transplant scarring is not really much of a concern anymore.
A hair transplant can be an excellent solution for some people, yielding fantastic results. As they grow in popularity however and awareness is increased, we are becoming equally aware of their drawbacks too. There are many success criteria involved, and all of which must be met in order to achieve a full head of hair from a transplant. I’ll list them below.
For someone in the early stages of hair loss, ie receding at the front with nothing more than very minor thinning elsewhere, a hair transplant may prove successful due to not requiring many grafts to address the issue and recreate the hairline and fullness. In this instance, for example, 1500 grafts may suffice and give the client a pretty much full head of hair. For a client whose hair loss is more severe, let’s imagine number seven on the Norwood scale, those 1500 grafts would be a drop in the ocean and would not result in anything more than very thin and sparse coverage across the scalp.
“Just use more grafts then!” Well, unless blessed with an unusually excellent donor area, the client will be limited. It is very rare for those who are past the point of moderate hair loss to be able to achieve a satisfying result or the look of fullness. There is a limit to the amount of hair available in the donor area.
The surgeon’s expertise plays a huge role in determining the success of a hair transplant. The surgeon will need to strategically place each follicle in the correct location and at the right angle to ensure hair grows at a natural direction, and the fullest possible result is achieved.
Some grafts fail, but generally speaking the more experienced and skilled your surgeon is, the higher the percentage rate of successful growth for your grafts.
For the most part, Finasteride (brand name Propecia) is recommended to clients in conjunction with a transplant.
Finasteride is a drug which blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (or DHT).
DHT is responsible for male pattern baldness, so taking this drug does effectively halt hair loss if male pattern baldness is your issue, however it comes with an array of horrendous possible side effects. Some users experience no side effects, some experience mild and temporary issues, but many unfortunately get hit by detrimental, life changing and permanent side effects. There’s only one way to discover if you are predisposed to these issues, and that’s by rolling the dice and taking the medication! Trying this myself several years ago is one of my biggest life regrets to this day.
If you opt not to take this medication then you must accept that most of whatever natural hair you have remaining that the transplanted hair is added to will eventually fall out as you continue your hair loss journey.
The science, research and sheer skill involved in the hair transplant industry is phenomenal. There are some extremely talented surgeons and technicians all over the world and the work they carry out is mind blowing.
You should be lucky enough to achieve a fantastic result if you meet all of the following criteria:
We must face the reality though that a hair transplant, for many, cannot provide a full head of hair or anything close. As they have grown in popularity and become mainstream, we see that the amount dissatisfied customers largely outweighs the satisfied.
More and more people now opt for scalp micropigmentation instead due to the guaranteed density achieved, freedom of hairline design & fullness, and lack of downtime/pain/scarring involved.
If your interested in our scar micropigmentation why not contact us today!
