Hair Transplant Procedures

Hair restoration can help eliminate the most visible sign of aging – hair loss. A hair transplant procedure at the Aventura Center, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida, could be exactly what you need to feel like yourself again! Dr. Sam Gershenbaum, a Board Certified hair restoration surgeon, provides several hair loss treatment options for men and women who are troubled by this condition. Of these options, hair transplant surgery is the only permanent treatment for hair loss. The joy of having your own permanent and natural growing hair cannot be duplicated by any other means.

Hair transplant procedures are relatively minor operations that take hair from the back of the head and move it to areas requiring more hair. The fringe, or back and sides of hair on a balding scalp, is used for the donor hair. The hair transplant donor area contains hair follicles that are genetically programmed not to shed due to the influence of testosterone’s conversion to DHT. This stable donor hair, when transplanted, will continue to grow throughout one’s life.

Hair transplant surgery has improved dramatically over the past decade. The days of plugs, corn rows, and doll’s hair are gone. The age of follicular unit grafting has arrived. The ideal hair transplant results in a natural appearance and an undetectable hairline. This natural result is achieved through follicular unit hair transplant surgery, the most advanced technique used today. At our hair transplant facility in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Gershenbaum utilizes the latest techniques and technology for his patients.

Hair follicles naturally grow as single follicles or in groups of two, three, or four hairs. These groups of hair follicles grow in an irregular pattern and are called follicular units. Follicular unit hair transplant procedures preserve these naturally occurring groups and transfer them, one by one, from the donor area to thinning or balding areas.

Through the use of these different sized hair grafts, along with new and improved instrumentation, a completely natural result can be created that is appropriate for each individual patient. Modern techniques also allow the transplantation of a large number of grafts, greatly reducing the number of procedures needed to attain the desired results. Understand, however, that there are many factors that must come together to get the ideal result. In essence, it is very easy to take hair from the back of the scalp, transplant it to the front and have it grow. It is so easy that there are vast numbers of physicians from varying backgrounds and specialties performing this procedure daily. There are, however, very few surgeons who have the knowledge, skill, and artistic ability to render completely natural results on a consistent basis.

In addition to using follicular unit grafting, the most advanced hair transplant technique, the surgeon must design a proper hairline that will look appropriate over the many years that lie ahead. Transplanting these follicular units with the proper angles and direction, like your own natural hair would normally grow, is paramount in obtaining a natural result. Furthermore, the expertise of the team and technicians who are preparing and placing the grafts cannot be overemphasized. This is an area in which the Aventura Center excels – the hair transplant team at our practice in Miami is experienced at performing these critical aspects of transplantation.

In the field of hair transplants, one surgical technique will not suit all patients. Many factors must be considered to choose the most appropriate hair transplant procedure, or combination of procedures, to obtain the ideal result. Consideration must include:

Hair loss cause
Donor hair - density, texture and color
Scalp elasticity and skin type
Age
Potential for future hair loss
Family history
Configuration of the head and face
Ethnic background
Medical history and healing history
Patient’s goals, desires, and expectations
Budget

New hair transplant techniques naturally give rise to new terms, which can be confusing. There is different terminology and different techniques used by the many International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS). Some surgeons use the terms "micro and mini grafting" and "follicular unit grafting" interchangeably.

Micro and mini grafting uses one, two, three, and four hair grafts, as does follicular unit grafting. However, true follicular unit grafting avoids separating hair follicles from their naturally occurring groups or units. Although there are variations in techniques used by individual surgeons, ultimately it is the proper surgical skill and artistic eye, along with an experienced staff, that provide the most natural results.

The best advice is to start to combat hair loss early. This may include medical treatment alone or in combination with hair transplant surgery. Medical hair restoration treatment may greatly diminish the progression of hair loss over time, while hair transplant surgery (when started early) will gradually replace thinning hair to avoid the outward signs of baldness or extreme recession. Also, existing hair will easily hide the areas of newly transplanted hair and the gradually growing new hair will go unnoticed.

Hair transplant surgery, as performed at our center near Fort Lauderdale, is more affordable when completed over time. However, the patient’s expectations and understanding that hair loss is a life-long process is paramount. When performing a hair transplant procedure on someone in his or her 20s or 30s, the decisions for hairlines and crowns must consider the future progression of hair loss. Many younger patients simply do not conceptualize the future progression of hair loss and insist on maintaining their youthful hairline, unknowing of the consequences. A 27 year old with a low transplanted hairline will come to realize, as the progression of hair loss continues, that at age 50 his hairline is unnaturally too low. Too many poor choices and decisions with younger hair transplant patients lead to unnatural results at a later age with need for corrective surgery. The importance of making proper decisions early on can’t be stressed enough.

Hair Transplant Results

After receiving hair transplant treatment at our center in Miami, it generally takes 4 to 6 months to observe early growth. Full results are not achieved until eight months to one year after hair transplant surgery. It is important to understand that hair transplant surgery most certainly will add more hair and density to the areas grafted. It will not have the same density as the side and back of the head.

Hair transplant surgery will not generally remove the signs of hair loss and thinning. There will always be space for additional grafting if requested and donor hair is available. In some individuals in their active stages of hair loss, the grafted hair will grow in and remain permanently as they continue to lose hair - in essence trading permanent hair for hair being lost with no appreciable net gain. Medical treatment with Propecia and/or Rogaine can help remedy this problem. Stabilizing the progression of hair loss with Propecia and/or Rogaine, and hair transplant surgery is recommended to most patients. Obviously, Propecia is reserved for male patients only.

To schedule a hair transplant consultation, please contact the Aventura Center, in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, today!

Home