Like good health and youthful looks, nowadays dense, lustrous hair on the scalp is a sine qua non for almost all of us. Gone are the days when a bald scalp was accepted as nature’s wrath with little in our hands to correct it.

With the advent of modern technology and increasing research in this field, not to mention a significant surge in demand due to increasingly growing awareness and desire to have dense hair on the head, hair transplantation is now one of the most sought after treatments amongst men and women of all age groups. However, most patients are clueless on what parameters they need to research before going in for this procedure. Correct knowledge will prevent the masses getting fleeced by various quacks or inappropriately qualified, self-proclaimed hair transplantation surgeons and clinics.

The following few questions need to be answered before a patient actually takes the plunge.

Who is qualified to do hair transplantations?

A hair transplant is not just a medical procedure that requires high degree of technical skills, but also an artistic one, aptly termed as a combination of “art and science“.

The most basic qualification to perform a hair transplant is being a licensed medical doctor along with some additional qualification such as an MD in Dermatology or Plastic surgery. A board certification can be of value. The American Board of Hair Restoration surgery is the only recognized organization by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) that offers certification for doctors specializing in hair transplantation.

Apart from this a qualified hair transplant doctor is someone who has extensive training in hair transplant surgery, understands hair loss well and has many satisfied clients. Looking at one’s before and after results can be a testament to one’s skills.

Finally, ethics is the key. Too many clinics have aggressive salesmen to push patients into treatments that a surgeon might otherwise think is dangerous or inappropriate. Ethical judgment on when not to operate is very important.

Which procedure of hair transplantation should be chosen?

Worldwide, two basic techniques are done for hair transplantation. The Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) or the strip technique, and the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique.

FUT: As the name suggests, a linear strip of skin is excised from the back of head (donor area) and hair units are harvested from that strip, which are then implanted over the bald area with the help of forceps and the creation of reception holes or slits. After the harvesting of the strip, the donor area is sealed with stitches. Understandably upon healing a linear scar will be seen despite the best of cosmetic work. Complications like bleeding, pain, swelling, infection may also occur.

FUE: This is a refined technique whereby punches with a diameter of 1 mm to 1.5 mm are used to extract follicular units and these units are then implanted one by one on the bald area after creating reception holes or small slits. In this procedure no linear scar is formed and stiches are not required. Patient can resume normal routine activities within three to four days.

Are the results permanent? When can the patient expect to see full results?

The transplanted grafts follow the principle of “donor dominance” i.e. they retain the characteristics of the donor. Since the hair roots are extracted from an area of scalp resistant to baldness, on implantation they remain resistant and do not fall with passage of time. Results can be expected between nine to 12 months.