Hair plugs
Hair loss has been one of the most common problems in human beings since ages. Its main causes can be attributed to age, illness, use of certain medicines and hormonal imbalance. Depending upon the various causes, the methods of treating the hair loss problem also varies. The most preferred technique is the use of hair plugs.
The hair plug surgery technique has its origin in Japan where follicular graft units were used for replacing hair on damaged regions of eye-brows. The hair plug transplantation technique had first started in the 19th century. The natural growth of hair consists of follicles, each comprising of 2 to 4 strands of hair. The hair plug surgery thus involves the transplantation of hair follicles. A tool known as trephine is used in hair plug surgery for slicing a region of skin, full of healthy follicles, from the donor scalp. The main idea in doing hair plug surgery is that the hair in these regions is genetically developed to have growth throughout a person’s life. A part of skin is also sliced off from the bald region of the scalp. This part of healthy skin, called the hair plug, is then surgically replaced in the bald areas or the recipient site, of the same person. There are two ways for harvesting the donor site- the strip harvesting and the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique. In the former hair plug technique, a strip of scalp is removed and replaced at the target region while in the latter; each follicle is individually removed, using micro-tools, and inserted at the recipient site. The FUE method of replacement is thus comparatively less painful as it involves lesser amount of tissue to be scraped off from the scalp. In both the cases, the hair plug surgery is performed under the effect of local anesthesia. Gradually, hair growth can be observed at the transplanted site. The hair plug surgery can be most successfully done on people with partial baldness but also having a healthy hair growth in some regions of the scalp. The individuals with complete baldness do not form a part of the hair plug surgery because in such cases there is no availability of donor site for getting healthy hair for transplant.
The cost of hair plug surgery is devoid of the gender of a person, but depends upon the area of surface to be covered and also the hair plug technique used. The cost also varies from one country to another. For example, a graft may cost 4-5 USD in United States while it may range below 1.5 USD in countries like India. A single session of the hair plug surgery may include 2000-4000 grafts. It is therefore, always advisable to visit a doctor before going through the hair plug surgery. This helps to get an idea about the total number of grafts required to be transplanted successfully on the scalp, the number of sessions required for the hair plug surgery and also the total cost involved.
There are hardly any side-effects of the hair plug surgery. Mild headaches and pain or infection may prevail for short term after the surgery. This could be easily dealt with proper medication.