Transplant Questions

[KRAMER]

I am about a NW3 but I have been able to hide it so far unless the wind blows. I have a bowl type haircut and my hair is blonde. I have been thinning for a few years now but my cut has helped me to hide it. My question is, if I decide to get a hair transplant, will they shave my head? Or, can I keep my hair and use it to conceal the transplant?

 

[Guest]

Kramer,

Nice to see you back here. I will try and help answer your questions, but ultimately it will be up to the surgeon you end up choosing.

First off, they will consider the size of the procedure. Then they will help you determine how many grafts will be needed and where they need to be implanted in the recipient area in order to achieve the level of density you need. They also consider how much existing hair is within the recipient area because they do not want to transect any of that hair when they are creating the tiny recipient sites for the new grafts. They may want to cut the hair down so they can see the degree of angulation of the existing hair as it protrudes from the scalp.

Really, the more existing hair one has in the proposed recipient area, the more probable that area will be shaved, and especially if there is a fair amount of new hair being added.

But if you are doing small amounts, restoring temporal lobe areas where there is not much existing hair, then in all probability you should be able to keep your hair long enough to help hide the grafts. Hope that is of some help.

 

[KRAMER]

Thanks..I am going in for a consultation in July with a dr. that specializes in brow bossing. I have a very large and protruding forehead..kind of comes down in a slant. Caveman like... Anyway, I will get that surgery done first and then look into the transplants. Here is another worry though. In order to do this procedure, they cut into the skin at the hairline. Will this hinder my hair transplant procedures in the future.

 

[Guest]

Do you mean a "brow lift"? If so, I would first get some feedback from several reputable hair transplant surgeons before you commit to the brow lift. Generally speaking, browlifts are chosen by those who do not have male pattern baldness but were genetically disposed to a larger forehead producing the illusion of a higher hairline. Have you already been diagnosed with male pattern baldness or is it real obvious to you?

 

[KRAMER]

Well...I have a large forehead and male pattern baldness. This procedure is called brow bossing. They actually shave down the bone that is located right above the eyes.

 

[Guest]

That's interesting because it does not sound like they are decreasing the surface area between the brows and the frontalis but rather, reducing some of the bone mass. Feel free to correct me if necessary.

 

[KRAMER]

You are correct. It won't actually reduce the size of forehead, it will just take a little attention away from it because it protrudes so much. As in a sideview.