Hair transplant in Los Angeles

What is hair transplant in Los Angeles?

Baldness, also known as alopecia, is a very abundant problem seen in both men an women, even if the first are much more prone to suffer any kind of this disease. This means a gradual loss in hair be it complete or partially. For those that have any type of baldness, there are several methods they can go to, one of them being the most efective, which is the hair graft in Los Angeles or hair transplant. Hair graft supposes a surgery in which the area affected by baldness is replaced with a donor area from the same patient, in which the hair follicles are exchanged do the growth in places where it didn’t occur anymore is now stimulated.

There are many factor to consider when practicing hair graft surgery in Los Angeles, as is the patient’s age, the state and the density of their hair in both the donor area and the area to be treated, and some other important points. Firstly, the reasons that cause alopecia in both genders must be known:

• Age: As white hairs, which appear due to the loss of melanin and are a visible sign of aging, the protein fibers that form the hairs also diminish, in a way that weakens the hairs beside making them lose color.
• Stress: Stress is a great influence in hair loss, being the cause of at least three types of alopecia. These are the types of alopecia where the person does not surfer a total or permanent loss if it does not become a cronic problem, as it only shows a lack of density while the stress is present.
• Bad nutrition: If a person removes vitamins and proteins from their diets, it is likely they will eventually suffer from nutritional deficit alopecia, because it is harder for the body to produce new hairs. Having a healthy, strong hair gors hand in hand with consuming the right food, specifically meals like fish and dark chocolate that help in this area.
• Weight loss: Joining bad nutrition with excessive weight loss, be it because of the diet mentioned or also constant intense exercise, it accelerates the loss of protein in the body due to sweating, generating more grease in the hair, which is already weak because of lacknof protein, making it more vulnerable to falling.
• Carelessness in hair trearment: Carelessness in the hair can be seen in different ways, be it on the quemicals used in it like in hair dyes, that weaken hair fibers, or when usong heat on it like with hair driers or straighteners. It can also be seen in the called alopecia by traction, ohappening when a person uses hairstyles that put too much tension on the hair for long periods of time,
• Diseases: Some times, alopecia is not a individual affliction, instead is the consequence of a bigger disease that produces hair loss. We can name diabetes, hich helps this loss due to high levels of glucose in the blood. We can see alopecia in lupus too, which attacks the hair and this becomes fragile and thin. It can also be cause by medication of said diseases, like antidepressants, birth control, beta blockers, antiinmflamatory, and others, and by the consequences of quemotherapy, as this completely stops the hair growth while the treatment continues, and lastly, radiotherapy on the head, depending on how much radiation was used in the zone.

In women, alopecia can appear due to a couple of reasons:

• Pregnancy: Even if during the pregnancy opposite occurs, due to hormones that promote hair growth, after this ends the effect is reversed, when said hormones diminish significantly, causing such an abrupt change that the scalp is weakened. This cases of  alopecia are very common and represent a big prt of women who have given birth.
• Menopause: This time, the hormones released are known as androgenic or masculine hormones, and because of them, the hair’s life cycle becomes shorterwhich makes it fall more often than usual..

In men, alopecia is much more common than in women, and is mainly generated by the genetic predisposition they may have. If a man has a direct relative that suffers from baldness, in most cases he will eventually develop it too when he reaches a certain age. Besides, they show large amounts of androgenic hormones which can increase or accelerate the loss.

Any of these reasons can start alopecia,  so the next step is determine the specific type of baldness that a person is suffering from. Among the types of alopecia we find:

• Androgenic alopecia: It is, by much, the most common kind of alopecia, representing the 90% of all cases of balding in men younger than 21, and 50% in men older than 40. It is a gradual loss of hair in which this turns thinner and limper, reaching the point it falls completely in areas like the crown and inlets, creating the shape known as “horseshoe” or “M” shape in men. In women, in is usually shown as diminished density. Androgenic alopecia is also known as pattern hair loss or hereditary alopecia because is can be shown along the family tree of the person that suffers from it.
• Alopecia areata: This type of baldness is not hereditary, besides, the presence of it cannot be explained by any factor like this, but others like stress. The scalp of those who suffer from alopecia areata is swollen, and the hair loss can be found in round patterns that grow gradually. It usually appears in younger people, of around 20 years old.
• Telogen effluvium: This type is also known as diffuse alopecia, and just like alopecia areata, the hair is thinner and more brittle, but this one focuses mostly on the density of the hair, as there are not any patches to be seen, it is the lost of strenght in the hair the person already has until this falls and does not grow back. It is the type sern in patients that go through chemotherapy and other treatments, and also in people with malnutrition.
• Scarring hair loss: Being the least common but the one that holds the most consequences, in this type of alopecia, usually cause by other diseases, the hair follicles are replaced with scarring tissue, and makes it impossible for the hair to grow back if this is not treated in time. It can also appear with inflammation, redness, peeling and pain in the scalp.
• Fibrosin alopecia: The hair affected by fibrosin alopecia can last years without showing visible signs, and it slowly turns weaker, specially in the frontal and lateral areas of the scalp. It is mostly seen in women during menopause.

Which are the techniques used of hair grafts in Los Angeles

The hair graft durgery can last from 6 to 10 hoyrs depending on the level of alopecia and the type of surgery that will be done, because of this, it could be considered as an relatively extensive procedure. For the types of alopecia that can be treated with a transplant, there are two possible techniques for hair grafts in Los Angeles:

• FUT Technique: It is possibly the most popular one of the two since it works for many of the different alopecia cases seen, and the result is natural and satisfactory for the majority of them. It carries the name of “strand technique” since the donor zone is used to extract a strand that holds healthy hair follicles that stimulate the growth in the affected area. The first step is to create an incision in the area, extracting the 1 centimenter wide and 20 centimenter long strand, and stitch the wound. Another benefit of a hair transplant is that the scar y practically invisible. Once the incision is sttiched, the strand is separated in follicular units, being two or three hair per unit, and these are inserted in the bald spots of the scalp in strategic way that adapts to the patient’s needs when speaking about direction and quantity.
• FUE Technique: This technique uses micropunch to make the incision in a smaller size than the technique before. FUE is defined as Follicular Unit Extraction, because these are removed individually from the first step, instead of being separated larer. Firstly, the head is shaven, something it is not seen in the FUT technique, and a series of incision of around 0.8 millimeters are made, to insert them after in the balding area.

Finishing a hair graft procedure, the intervened area is bandaged and the patient will be able to go home the same day.

Who can undergo a hair graft in Los Angeles

The ideal patient in the cases of hair transplants are those that have been affected by the cause of baldness named previously and suffer from any type of alopecia. That us why it is recommended to people whose hair is beginning to fall or is already in the middle of advanced balding. Besides, there is a list of requirements gor any possible patient that, even if they are ot necessarily rules, if the person falls within this profile, the result for their situation will be improved. Said requirements are:

• Age: If a person of under 30 participates in a hair graft surgery they might need a new one later on as the alopecia might not me completely defined and ended the fall stage of the hair. On the other hand, for people older than 45 the transplant might not even be enough for the hairloss that has already ocurred. That is why the ideal years to be involved in a hair transplant is between the ages of 30 and 45.
• Abundant donor area: As the donor area comes from the scalp of the patien themselves, the zone must be able to etract the necessary grafts for te donation to fill the empty spaces and still be many in itself. That is why the scalp and donor area are examined closely before the surgery.
• Good health: A necessary requirement for any procedure and not only hair grafts, the patient must be healthy enough to not put themselves in danger during the surgery and for them to not hold the probability of any complications during or after. The person must take care of their health or they might not be able to go through the hair graft surgery in Los Angeles.
• No diseases: As an addition to the latter, the patient’s respective type of alopecia must not be cause by diseases or disorders outside of the alopecia itself, like stress, lupus, or trichotilomania. They first must treat the origin of the baldness to be able to consider hair grafts.

Before hair grafts in Los Angeles

Once its determined that the patient can continue, the preoperative  stage starts, where the preparations for the surgery are just as important as The cares during and after it, as it will determine the person’s health when getting the hair grafts in Los Angeles, and their capacity of dealing with the invervention. The preoperative process starts with a series of examinations and hair evaluations, of which we can name:

• Tricoscopy: An essential part for the diagnosis of alopecia, it is the analysis of the hair under a device that allows the surgeon to obtain the information they need about the state of the scalp. There is no previous preparation needed, and it is done with the hair dry and the device directly in the head, or using a gel or special liquid to aid the analysis.
• Trichogram: It represents another way to analyse the patient’s hair. This time, it will be necessary to take a sample, unlike the tricoscopy where there is no need to take a strand of hair. With this strand, the specialist will place it under a microscope, paying attention to the shape and integrity of it. Sometimes it is only required to cut the hair, and other times, the root of the hair have to be examined as well, the dtrand has to be removed carefully.

Besides these, the surgeon can also request a blood analysis to control the levels of glucose, sodium, potasium, hepatitis test, AIDS and, in general, the bleeding that can occur during the surgery; and the clinical history of the patient, because their family background is an important factor in the appearance of alopecia.

It is required that the patient adjusts their daily habits before hair grafts in Los Angeles, like quit smoking if the patient is a smoker, stop consuming alcohol or drinks with cafein or nicotine, and consulting the consumption or suspension of medicine. They must also avoid applying hair products like gel or sprays, or topic solutions like Minoxidil, as they might cause severe bleeding. It is recommended that the patient does not get involve in exercises like cardio, but they should massage the area where the transplant will occur, with horizontal and vertical movements to stimulate the zone and make sure the scalp is in good condition without any kind of alteration, as this may cause the suspension of the surgery.

The day of the operation the patient must be in fasting, without consuming any type of food or drink, and their last meal must have been light and easy to digest.

After hair grafts in Los Angeles

As it is known already, hair graft surgery is an outpatient operation where the patient will not recieve hospitalization and will be able to return home the same day of the surgery. With this, the postoperative procedure begins, which is an important part that will determine the result with the hair grafts in Los Angeles. It is important that the person follow the recomendations to take care of their health amd the state of the area treated. The evolution of the postoperative can be done like this:

• First days: The scalp or any area treated will be inflammed and can show a few inconveniences. The patient must avoid touching it or brushing it with any object, and they must kee their head elevated, specially when they sleep, so the anestesia can be effective during the first night. In the second or third day the patient must return for a revision, where the bandages placed after the intervention will be removed, and they will wash the patient’s hair for the first time.
• First weeks: Scans might appear in the area due to the incisions, which will last for a couple of weeks before falling by their own, which does not involve any major worry; they might also feel an itch in the scalp. From the first weeks, the patient will be able to return to their usual activities like working and return to their daily rutine.
• First months: At this point, the hair will begin to grow naturally, increasing the density of the hair little by little. However, it is not until the fourth month when the hairs will begin to grow stronger and more resistent, like the definive ones.

 

As time passes the patient will be able to recover the right to cut their hair, to consume alcohol and medicines like the ones mentioned before. Like this, there’s only left the wait until the results from the hair graft in Los Angeles show.

When do the results show for a hair graft in Los Angeles

Just as seen in the postoperative, the hair graft results are not immediate, and are also not fast to get. First, the hair must go through the growth and fall stages until they reach the density and thickness desired, and this time the hair will be stronger and not as suscetible to falling. This way, the patient will hace to wait at least a year before the definitive results appear.

Besides the wait, the hair transplant in Los Angeles is a surgery that provides efective and natural results in the scalp or any area that is to be treated. Because of this, it works as the ideal solution for alopecia and baldness in general.

Risks of hair grafts in Los Angeles

Even if many other cosmetic surgeries involve major risks than a hair graft, the few complications that might arise in this type of procedure should not be ignored, even if the gravity of them are not as worrisome. Among the possible risks are:

• Bad scarring: Scarring is an important process when healing the incisions made when extracting the donor zone. In some cases this can get inflammed more than it should and, even if it is not a big cut, it can be more visible than the patient can wish. Being more common in patients who are smokers, it is the reason why they must leave the habit before the operation if they do not want to deal with a situation like this.
• Infections: If the person does not maintain proper hygiene, it is possible that the zone where the incision was made gets infected, turning the postoperative into a more delicate process. Any surgery where precise cuts must be made have a slight chance of it happening.
• Loss of sensitivity: As in a hair graft operation the nerves are involved besides the scalp on it’s own, the scarring area might observe a loss of sensitivity, many times temporary and revovered after a few weeks, but in some cases it can be permanent, even when the chance of it happening is low.
• Facial edema: When bleeding is involved in a surgery, the surgey may inject more blood or the liquid called physiological serum for it not to be on a bigger scale. Said serum may produce swelling on the face, which is also temporary, and the times it happens represents a very small part of cases.

Important point about hair grafts in Los Angeles

• In some cases, the alopecia can result in total baldness, which makes it impossible to find a donor zone in it. If this is the case, it is possible to use as a donor zone another part of the body with active hair follicles, including the pubic zone.
• The type of hair has a lot of influence during and after the operation. In the DHI technique, curly hair may be harder to insert and design than straight hair. However, curly hair, specially if it is dark and thick, shows better density and a better result than it’s counterpart.
• It does not exist any posibility for the hair to fall again after participating in a hair graft in Los Angeles. This is due to the hair follicles being replaced, and the once placed above it will grow permanently and will be more resistant to the hormones that promote it’s falls.