A NORMAL HEALTHY HEAD CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 1,00,000 HAIRS WITH AN AVERAGE DENSITY OF 100 PER SQUARE CENTIMETER. MALE PATTERN BALDNESS REFERS TO LOSS OF HAIR USUALLY OCCURRING AFTER THE AGE OF 25. ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA, WHICH MEANS A COMBINED EFFECT OF GENES INHERITED FROM PARENTS TESTOSTERONE REFERRED TO AS ANDROGENS OR MALE SEX HORMONES. THE GENETIC INFLUENCE IS FOUND MORE FROM THE MATERNAL SIDE.

MALE PATTERN BALDNESS USUALLY OCCURS FROM SIDES OF YOUR FOREHEAD REGARDED AS BITEMPORAL RECESSION, WHICH GRADUALLY PROGRESSES BACKWARDS. HOWEVER THE BACKSIDE OF YOUR HAIR CONTAINS PERMANENT ZONE OF HAIR, WHICH DOESN’T FALL EVEN AT EXTREMES OF OLD AGE. IN THE LATE 1950S, WHEN NEW YORK DERMATOLOGIST NORMAN ORENTREICH BEGAN TO EXPERIMENT WITH FREE DONOR GRAFTS TO BALDING AREAS IN PATIENTS WITH MALE PATTERN BALDNESS. HE DEMONSTRATED THAT SUCH GRAFTS WERE "DONOR DOMINANT," AS THE NEW HAIRS GREW AND LASTED JUST AS THEY WOULD HAVE AT THEIR ORIGINAL HOME. WALTER P. UNGER, DEFINED THE PARAMETERS OF THE "SAFE DONOR ZONE" FROM WHICH THE MOST PERMANENT HAIR FOLLICLES COULD BE EXTRACTED FOR HAIR TRANSPLANTATION. TO EXPLAIN THE ABOVE THEORY IN LAYMAN WORDS, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRANSPLANTED HAIR FROM “SAFE DONOR ZONE”, WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THEIR LIFE IN THEIR ORIGINAL HOME THAT IS BACKSIDE OF THE HAIR, WHICH IS PERMANENT.

HAIR CAN BE TAKEN FROM THE DONOR SITE BY TWO METHODS- STRIP METHOD & FOLLICULAR UNIT EXTRACTION (FUE). STRIP METHOD MEANS A STRIP OF SKIN 10-15 CM LONG AND 1-1.5 CM WIDE ALONG WITH HAIR FOLLICLES, IS EXCISED FROM THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD WHICH GIVES A LONG SCAR ON BACK OF YOUR HEAD. SINGLE FOLLICULAR UNITS ARE THEN SEPARATED OUT OF THE STRIP TO TRANSPLANT TO THE RECIPIENT SITE. FOLLICULAR UNIT EXTRACTION (FUE) IS THE MODERN TECHNIQUE WHERE YOU EXTRACT SINGLE FOLLICLE UNITS OR GRAFTS FROM IN BETWEEN, WHICH USUALLY HEALS IN A WEEK OR TWO SO THAT THERE IS NO SCAR. THE EXTRACTED FOLLICLES SHOULD BE KEPT IN A COOL TEMPERATURE AROUND 4-5 C AND CAN BE TRANSPLANTED DIRECTLY WITHOUT FURTHER PROCESSING.

THE EXTRACTED FOLLICLES CAN BE IMPLANTED TO THE RECIPIENT SITE DIRECTLY USING IMPLANTERS OR BY MAKING SLITS BEFOREHAND.

AFTER TRANSPLANTATION, THE DONOR SITE IS COVERED WITH A BANDAGE AND PAPER TAPE, WHICH IS USUALLY TAKEN OUT AFTER 48-72 HOURS. AFTER REMOVAL OF BANDAGE, YOU NEED TO APPLY ANTIBACTERIAL OINTMENT (MUPIROCIN OR NEOSPORIN) FOR 7 DAYS. THE RECIPIENT SITE IS LEFT OPEN OR COVERED WITH LOOSE CAP SO THAT THERE IS NO INJURY TO THAT PART. HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO SPRINKLE THE PART WITH NORMAL SALINE EVERY 2-4 HOURS. AFTER 48-72 HOURS ONCE THE TRANSPLANTED HAIR IS SET IN, THE AREA IS CLEANED WITH BABY SHAMPOO. APPLICATION OF MINOXIDIL LOTION 5%/10% IS RECOMMENDED FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR AS IT INCREASES THE BLOOD SUPPLY TO THE TRANSPLANTED HAIR FOR BETTER GROWTH.

AS ANY OTHER MINOR SURGERIES, HAIR TRANSPLANTATION CAN HAVE COMPLICATIONS DURING SURGERY AS TO ALLERGIC REACTION TO ANY MEDICINES, ANXIETY, PALPITATIONS, BLEEDING WHICH ARE INDIVIDUAL VARIANCES. AFTER THE SURGERY, SOME PATIENT CAN FEEL PAIN OVER THE DONOR AREA OR RECIPIENT SITE, WHICH IS AGAIN SUBJECTIVE OR INDIVIDUAL VARIANCE, WHICH CAN BE CONTROLLED WITH PAINKILLERS. DUE TO LOCAL ANESTHESIA INJECTED TO THE DONOR & RECIPIENT AREA, SOME PATIENTS CAN DEVELOP SWELLING OF FACE SPECIALLY FOREHEAD & AROUND EYES WHICH USUALLY DISAPPEARS IN WITHIN A WEEK. AFTER FEW DAYS, CRUSTING CAN OCCUR IN THE RECIPIENT SITE, WHICH CAN BE CLEANED USING SHAVING FOAM. APART FROM THESE, SOME PATIENTS CAN HAVE MINOR PAIN, TINGLING SENSATION, FOLLICULITIS OVER THE DONOR OR RECIPIENT SITE LASTING UPTO 6-8 WEEKS.