Hair Transplant: Workable solution to baldness

More and more Indians are now opting for Hair Transplant, a workable solution to combat baldness.

Baldness Affecting the Young in India

Imagine going from hair thinning to baldness in a matter of months. That’s what happens to most youths in India.

No doubt, these young men have a stressful job, live in cities with high pollution levels and have a work-all-day and party-all-night lifestyle. But then isn’t that the norm these days in Urban India?

The expectation of all young men/women is that their bodies will take all the punishment and yet retain the bloom of youth.

But clearly when it comes to hair, the tipping point has been reached for young men. And the damage seems to be irreversible.

Few reasons that might cause hair loss in women.

Hair loss in females is seen due to a lot of causes including hormonal issues and imbalance, stress and strain, usage of wrong hair products, excess use of chemicals on their scalp and the list goes on.

Even though losing up to 80 strands of hair per day is considered normal, when it exceeds the limit, it has to be taken proper care of. Hair loss in females can be of two types.

• First one is genetic, which means that the person may tend to have been genetically exposed to hair thinning or balding.
• The other type is reactive, which means that the hair fall could be a reaction to any of the above-mentioned issues happening internally or externally the body. The body needs an adequate supply of iron to keep the hair healthy, without which the hair may suffer.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding too can add to the problem of excessive hair loss. Hair loss becomes a bigger problem in females when the hair doesn’t grow back, which may lead to excessive thinning of hair and balding.

Most young men who experience hair loss do get devastated when their scalp refuse to replace the hair it loses every day. And there are many who think that tis would never happen to them, and they feel less confident at work and in their social lives. Their education and professional qualifications cannot compensate for their changing self-image.

A study conducted by the University of Tokyo (published in the online journal BMJ Open) suggests that balding men were more likely to have coronary heart disease. A receding hairline did not seem to affect the risk and was much lesser compared to smoking obesity.

Related: How to keep your heart healthy.

Hair Transplant: Workable Solution

However, there are some solutions to this epidemic – hair transplant is one of them.

In fact, people experiencing baldness are astonished to hear that they could actually have a full head of hair in a few months. That is because, the scalp of most people still have the power to support and grow hair.

“I realised I was losing hair, and it really affected my confidence big time, which in turn affected my bowling,” Haryana fast bowler Mohit Sharma.

Cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Graham Gooch, Doug Bollinger and others have suffered the problem of hair loss too in their cricketing careers.

However, thanks to technological innovations, there is a solution for almost everything and you can have your hair and confidence back with hair transplant. Sourav Ganguly, Harsha Bhogle and Shane Warne all have undergone hair treatment (transplant) successfully and can provide guidance to the Haryana pacer.

Types of Hair Transplant Procedures

There are 3 types of hair transplant procedures (the more common ones):

• FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation): Requires the excision of a strip of skin.
• FUE procedure (Follicular Unit Extraction)
• DHI (Direct Hair Implant).
• During an FUE and DHI, a 0.6–1.0 mm punch is used to harvest groups of hair follicles. FUE and DHI do not require any incision

All that needs to be done is to take hair from the back of the head and replant them in the sparse areas of the head (mostly in the front and in the middle). Most hair transplant methods nowadays involve no cuts, no stitches and creates a full front line that gives a totally natural look. The patient’s own hair is used and the natural process is re-started.

It can take up to 8-10 months to see the full effects of a hair transplant, so you need to have patience to see the full results.

Hair Transplant Side Effects

While hair transplant does not have any serious/long term side effects, there is a definite a possibility of minor hair transplant side effects, such as pain and swelling, which cannot be ruled out.

Side Effects Of Hair Transplant Procedures:

• Facial Edema (swelling): Edema of the forehead and around the eyes is most common 2-6 days after the operation. Doctors recommend that you spend as much time as possible in a reclining position, and may suggest using a firm headband to prevent the swelling from spreading to other areas of the face.
• Hemorrhage (Bleeding): Excessive bleeding occurs in less than 2% of all hair transplant patients, and the risk is higher for patients who undergo the FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation)
• Infection And Itching: Itching is one of the most common symptoms of a hair transplant infection. Scalp infections are most common around the site of the sutures in FUT (not seen in FUE as it is a sutureless procedure).
• Temporary thinning of hair after a hair transplant procedure is known as “shock loss” or “shedding” (medical term is “temporary telogen effluvium”). The temporary thinning of hair, although alarming, is a temporary issue. Grafted hair falls out within the first 2 months of a hair transplant surgery and takes another month or so before hair growth resumes. You can expect to lose approximately 70% of the transplanted hair during this stage.
• Cysts (sac-like structures) after a hair transplant surgery (FUE and DHI) can also be caused by improper extraction techniques or the use of a blunt punch. At times, the hair specialist may try to harvest the maximum amount of hair from the donor area, which can make the scalp to show through.
• Risk of infection, scars, and pain are other possible side effects of FUT & FUE hair transplants.
• Pain, numbness, and discomfort. Your doctor may prescribe pain killers if there’s a lot of pain.

Preventing Baldness

A sensible lifestyle of exercise, sleep, proper diet and meditation can go a long way in fighting baldness. remember, prevention is always better than cure.

Nowadays there are also tests that can determine if you will go bald or not (Hair DX is ne such test). If the chances of a person going bald is high, preventive cure like the use of Saw Palmetto can be used (can control hair thinning for as long as 15 years), monitored by the Follicular Count Test.

Get the Confidence Back

Hair transplant is definitely a workable solution to baldness. Its a great way to get back your confidence, it makes you look and feel good, and readies you to take on the world.

Worried of thinning hair or excessive hair loss? You now have access to various techniques that reduce hair-loss and boosts hair growth. So why wait, now give your hair the perfect care it deserves.