Q: If you have already had a hair transplant, once cloning becomes available, will you be able to transplant the cloned hair into the first transplant’s scar on the back of the head? I like to wear my hair short, especially in the summer, and also would feel more comfortable knowing there is no scar in my head.

A: Yes, as long as the scar is not thickened, cloned hair should grow just as normally transplanted hair would and would be a great way to address any residual scarring from the procedure.

Q: I never kept my hair really long, what length can I wear my hair after a hair transplant to hide that I had a procedure?

A: Hair transplants, whether using the strip method to harvest the donor hair or by extracting individual follicular units one-by-one directly from the scalp, will leave some scarring. If the hair is long enough so that the underlying scalp is not visible, these scars will not be seen.

The quality and density of a person’s donor hair will affect this coverage and determine how short a person may keep his hair. In some cases the back and sides can be cut to a few millimeters, in others it would need to be kept longer. Since there is no scarring in the recipient area (the front and top of the scalp where the grafts are placed) the hair in these areas may be kept at any length.

Q: Is using Minoxidil combined with Retin-A better than regular Minoxidil for Hair Loss?

A: Minoxidil has been prescribed (off-label) in combination with other medications, such as topical retinoic acid (Retin-A), to enhance its penetration into the skin and thus increase its effectiveness. This combination of medications, however, can significantly increase the absorption of minoxidil into the bloodstream and may increase the risk of potential side effects.

Q: I was wondering if it was possible to use Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) on the old plugs instead of graft excision.

A: Graft excision generally works better than FUE in removing old plugs and mini-grafts. In these grafts, the hair is not aligned due to the scar tissue that forms from the large recipient sites. Because the hair direction is altered from the scar tissue, there is much more damage when the grafts are removed with FUE.

Q: Hi Dr. Bernstein. My question is: if you have a surgical scar or incision on your head that is relatively large, is it possible to do a hair transplant into this scar? A: Hair can grow well in a scar. Since scar tissue generally has a somewhat lower blood supply than normal tissue, we [...]