Hair Transplant, Hair Restoration & Repair
110 East 55th Street, New York, NY
Telephone: 212-826-2400
Q: I hear you leave staples in sometimes up to three weeks. Why do you leave staples in that long?
A: My reason for leaving some staples in longer is that the tensile strength of the wound continues to increase (significantly) during the first three week period after surgery — actually, it will continue to gain strength for up to one year post-op. To give the wound the best chance to heal, on average, I take out alternating staples at 10 days and the remaining staples at 20 days.
Q: I am considering having a hair transplant. Does my hair need to be cut?
A: In all hair transplant procedures, we are able to transplant into areas of existing hair without it having to be cut. The question of whether hair needs to be cut in the donor area depends upon the way the donor hair is obtained (harvested).
With a Follicular Unit Hair Transplant procedure using single strip harvesting method (FUT), only the strip of hair that is removed needs to be cut. When the procedure is finished, the hair above the incision lays down over the sutured area and it become undetectable.
In Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), particularly in sessions over 600 grafts, large areas of the donor area must be clipped short (to about 1-2mm in length) in order to obtain enough donor hair.
Q: Do patients need to wear a bandage after the surgery and for how long?
A: In a properly performed follicular unit hair transplant, the patient can remove any bandages the day after the procedure and gently shower/shampoo the transplanted area.
The bandages do not need to be reapplied.
The reason the dressing can be removed so soon is that follicular unit grafts fit into tiny needle-size incisions that heal in just one day.
Q: I would like to have the donor area from an old hair transplant repaired so it does not show the scar when I cut my hair shorter. What are my options?
A: Widened scars can be improved in two ways: they can be re-excised to make the scar finer, or hair can be placed into the scar to make it less visible.
Q: I have had a hair transplant done in the hairline of 1,000 or so FUE grafts. However, as the hair sheds, under natural light the recipient skin seems bumpy with incisions and holes that are noticeable. Do these tend to go away with time once they have healed?
A: If a follicular unit transplant is performed properly (using either extraction or a strip) there should be no bumps or surface irregularities. When the hair restoration is totally healed, the recipient area should be appear as normal looking skin.
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