Step by Step Procedure
Please click on one of the following links to get detailed information about a certain part of the procedure.
Preparation of the Donor Site.
Harvesting the Donor Area & Suturing
NHT Medical Center prides itself on using what we call the “Twilight State Anesthesia” technique to provide our patients with the safest and most comfortable procedure. We have the patient in the sitting position during donor harvesting. Then we close the donor site with a suture.
Donor Strips
The hair grows in groups. It may yield one to four hairs. These groups are called follicular units. A single follicular unit will contain 1 to 4 hairs. If a patient has a lot of hair then they will have a lot of 3 to 4 hair follicular units. If a patient has very thin hair, typically this patient will have 1 or 2 follicular units.
Hair grows for three to five years then it will shed. After three to five months it will regrow again. During this period we can’t see the hair by just looking at it. When the strip is removed, then we are able to see the follicles. These are the small dots in the tissue. This is about 10 to 15 percent of the total hair. So if the grafts were cut too small, a lot of the hair follicles will be removed. This is why we will use bi-follicular units often to yield as much hair as possible. Studies compare chubby grafts and skinny grafts.
Cutting Under the Stereoscope
Sizes of Grafts
- 1 to 2 hair Single follicular unit
- 2 to 3 hair Single follicular unit
- 3 to 4 hair Bi-follicular unit
Making the Slits
For the Hairline and Frontal Area
There are two different types of slits, horizontal and vertical.
The horizontal slits are made for one or two hair grafts. This creates a softer and more natural hairline. The next three lows of vertical slits are for 2 to 3 hair grafts. Then behind those rows, there will be 3 to 4 hair grafts to create the thickness and dense part of the hairline.
For the Vertex
The cowlick/vertex area is the center where the slits will be made by the surgeon in a circular/spiral direction. All the silts are made for 3 to 4 hair grafts.