Q: It is my understanding that as a person loses his or her hair, the skin of the scalp undergoes a number of changes, namely there is a loss of fat, an increase in cellular atrophy, and of course the dreaded perifollicular fibrosis (now that’s a mouthful). It seems to me that these changes, in [...]

Q: I have read about something called “tumescent anesthesia” but didn’t understand what it is. What exactly is it? A: Tumescent techniques were first popularized in liposuction surgery where large quantities of fluid containing adrenalin were injected into the person’s fat layer to decrease bleeding before the fat was literally sucked out of the body. [...]

Q: What causes graft popping during a hair transplant? A: Popping, or the tendency for grafts to elevate after they have been placed into the recipient area, is caused by a number of factors including: Packing the grafts too closely, particularly when they are placed on a very acute (sharp) angle with the skin Rough [...]

Q: Is it true that smoking is bad for a hair transplant and why? A: Smoking causes constriction of blood vessels and decreased blood flow to the scalp, predominantly due to its nicotine content. Also, carbon monoxide in smoke decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. These factors both contribute to poor wound healing [...]

Q: Does dense packing hurt grafts? A: There is no absolute answer to this question. In a hair transplant, dense packing has a risk of decreasing yield if there is a significant amount of photo damage to the scalp (which alters the blood supply) and if there is a tendency for the grafts to pop [...]