home | facial plastic surgeon | staff | photo gallery | testimonials | contact us | faq | media

 

3252 Holiday Court, SUITE 206, La Jolla, CA 92037 | Phone: 858.658.0595

 

San Diego Hair Restoration Surgery

 

Hair loss affects 50% of men, and up to 30-40% of women. The specific cause of hair loss is unknown, and appears to result from multiple genetic factors as opposed to acquired infection or exposure to toxins in the environment.

 

 

Good candidates for surgical hair restoration or hair transplant include patients with relatively stable hair loss, good donor sites (generally in the back of the head or occiput), and realistic expectations.

 

 

Hair transplantation has evolved tremendously from the early days of "plugs," and now involves transplanting the hair as "follicular units" or 1-3 hairs per graft, as opposed to "plugs" of 10-20 hairs. This allows for creation of a natural appearing frontal hairline.

 

 

The procedure involves harvesting a strip of hair from the posterior scalp, and then meticulously dissecting the strip of hair into follicular units. The follicular units are then implanted in the intended areas which are previously marked to design an ideal and natural hairline. The donor site in the posterior scalp is closed with suture which is removed in approximately 10 days.

 

The hair transplant procedure is performed under local anesthetic, with oral sedation or an intramuscular shot of anesthetic for patient comfort. No deep or general anesthesia is required. Patients should expect to spend most of the day in the clinic, and should have a light breakfast.

 

 

Recovery from the procedure involves a gentle protective head wrap for one night, which is removed the following morning. Patients may then shower with gentle lukewarm water. Most patients resume regular activities within 2-3 days, avoiding strenuous activity or excessive sweating.

 

 

Transplanted hairs generally resume growth within 3 months and a full result is expected by 12 months.

 

Risks of hair transplantation are minimal and include bleeding, infection, and scarring. Depending on the patient's goals and available hair density for grafting, an additional session of transplantation may be planned after six to twelve months.