Follicular Unit Hair Transplant

For those of you who do not know, who Sanjay Dutt is, I can tell that he is a big star in Hindi film industry, has done memorable roles in many movies and has led an eventful life so far. For those of you who do not know, who Kanch Cheena is, I can tell that I also did not know about it till a short time ago. Now, I know that Kancha Cheena is the name of  principal  negative character of a Hindi movie called Agneepath. To play the character of Kancha Cheena, Sanjay Dutt went bald. The next logical Q would be, why am I, a cosmetic and hair transplant surgeon , blogging about this? Well you can see the reason in picture no.1 above........ See that nice 'U' shaped scar on the back of his scalp. That's exactly how a hair transplant scar looks like, when strip method is employed. Since this scar had piqued my curiosity, I did a little more googling and came up with this. and this... Mr. Dutt, Circa 2008 Mr. Dutt, Circa 2010 and.. Mr. D...

It is a common knowledge that baldness occurs in degrees and is a gradual phenomenon. Since it is not possible to convey the extent of baldness in words, a classification system was developed by Dr. Norwood. This is the most commonly used sytem today, although other more complicated systems are also available. Broadly speaking, Norwood classification attempts to divide baldness in seven stages with stage I  being normal adult hairline and stage VII being total possible baldness. Although, there are many flaws in this system, it still gives a basic idea regarding the extent of baldness in an individual. Stage I Essentially normal adult male hairline (not to be confused with 'juvenile hairline'). Temporal recessions are well defined   with frontal hairline in normal position. No miniaturisation in crown region. Stage II The frontal hairline shows slight recession(< 2 cm), with more pronounced recession in  temporal area. The "A" vari...

A question frequently asked by many of my hair loss patients is, " Should I plan for hair transplant now? or Should I wait a little longer?" I wish, I had an easy answer to that one. Alas, the real answer is so convoluted that even doctors will find it difficult to grasp. Let us first consider the reasons or indications for hair transplant.  You should plan a transplant if, You have Androgenetic alopecia stage III to stage VII. Your hairline is not appropriate for age or you wish to achieve younger   looking hair line You have burn alopecia or traction alopecia.  You have eyebrow, eyelash or facial hair loss. Now, for each of the above mentioned indications, there is a stronger underlying indication. That is the first question you should ask yourself. And that question is, " How bothered am I with my hair loss?" If you are fine with a bald pate; do not let others bully you into a transplant, whatever be your age. But if this hair loss ...

Before  I start telling you about foods that help you build healthy hair, I want to tell you that food is not magic. It's not even medicine, so do not expect miracles with the food items listed below. They will help you get good hair if you take them adequately over a long period.  As a general rule, all the food articles that are good for your body are good for your hair. That means a balanced diet rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals. Also remember to follow a healthy lifestyle. Always remember, exercise is good for your hair also. Protein   Well, 99.9% of hair is protein. If you have low protein intake your hair will be thin, dull and unevenly pigmented. These kind of changes in hair (called " band sign") actually form a part of diagnosis in chronic protein deficiency.  Eat Sufficient amount of good protein everyday from both plant and animal sources. What to Eat:  Pulses and legumes especially soybean is good for hair. Also, white meat li...

Early in the morning, when I open the news paper with my first cup of coffee, I am sure to find one cricketer or another trying to sell me something. From soft drinks to real estate, everything that can be sold is being marketed. Latest in this series is the endorsements for hair transplant surgery and medical procedures.  In this era of consumerism, hair mills with deep pockets are enticing people with celebrity endorsements and full page advertisements. During a day's work, some patient in my clinic would surely ask me for the inside scoop on Sehwag's hair transplant. All I can tell them is that he is not my patient. And of course, every one has an opinion on that. What is it about cricketers and hair transplants that has had the whole country buzzing? First of all is the exposure that the hair transplant procedure has got. Plastic surgery procedures  in India are like sex. You may have it as much as you want, just don't talk about it. And God save you if you...

Hair transplant in modern times was probably first described by a Japanese plastic surgeon Akuda as a reconstructive procedure in his burn patients. He used to harvest hair plugs from permanent donor area which were then implanted in scarred areas of scalp. It was not used for male pattern baldness. However, due to censorship applied during WW II, these reports and techniques were not available to the rest of the world.  Dr. Norman Orentreich in New York City was the first to use this technique for male pattern baldness in 1950s. He laid the foundation of modern hair transplants and defined the basic principles of hair transplant. He noted that the hair coming from the permanent zone maintained the characteristics and growth pattern of the area from where it came rather than changing to the implanted area characteristics. He called it the 'principle of donor dominance' which is the fundamental feature of hair restoration surgeries. This image is from Dr. O'Tar Nor...

In simple words donor zone is the area from where the tissue is being borrowed for placement in another location. In hair transplant this is a ribbon shaped area centered over a bony prominence in the skull called occipital protuberance. This area described as  "Universal Safe Zone"  forms the basis of hair restoration surgeries. It extends from the area around ear going back towards temples over to the occipital protuberance and is best seen in Norwood VII patients. Norwood VII is the "Universal Safe Zone" for scalp hair. The height of donor area is around 5-6 cm in midline and it is approximately 30-35 cm long. If we were to utilise all of it there would be no hair left in the donor zone of a class VII patient. However, it is possible to utilise around 50% of this hair without a visible reduction in hair density on the back. This means a total usable area of around 90-100 square cms.  Assuming an average density of 100 FUs /cm squ...