The Difference Between a Good and a Bad Hair Transplant

Modern hair restoration techniques and treatments are able to produce hair that looks completely natural. However, while the science and practice of hair transplants has progressed to an all-time high, undergoing hair transplants from an underqualified or inexperienced doctor can still produce undesirable results.

At Arocha Hair Restoration and Transplant Center, our team works under the leadership of Dr. Arocha, a diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons. His firsthand experience with hair loss and lengthy career devoted exclusively toward correcting hair loss means he is capable of providing expert care and precise results that you will not find at any other practice.

What Makes a Good Hair Transplant?

A good hair transplant should provide results that are indistinguishable from surrounding hair. In other words, the untrained eye should not be able to notice that you have received a hair transplant at all. With the modern techniques of follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE), healthy hair follicles can be successfully transplanted into any balding area of the scalp without any noticeable signs. An experienced hair transplant surgeon will also know how to place the transplanted follicular units in a manner that will grow in naturally alongside the surrounding hair.

FUT involves the removal of a strip of skin along the back and sides of the scalp for the purpose of extracting healthy follicular units to transplant in other areas of the scalp. This technique produces a scar from where the excision is sutured closed, but a knowledgeable and experienced hair transplant expert can minimize scarring through expert excision and advancing suturing techniques.

During FUE procedures, a small circular punch removes follicular units one-by-one, avoiding the need to remove a strip of the scalp. This technique does not require stitches, but it can produce small circular scars from where the follicular units were harvested. However, these scars are tiny and generally unnoticeable, especially when the procedure is performed by a qualified professional.

What Makes a Bad Hair Transplant?

A bad hair transplant could result in a number of undesirable results, including obvious or excessive scarring, noticeable implant clusters, or unnatural hairlines. An inexperienced hair surgeon might over-harvest the same area of the scalp during an FUE procedure, leaving suboptimal amounts of hair in the donor sites. During FUT, an excision may be made in a visible location that creates a noticeable scar, even with surrounding hair growth.

Creating a natural-looking hairline can prove difficult and is pivotal for producing a successful hair transplant. Old hair transplant procedures utilized large grafts that became infamous for their “pluggy” appearance and were easily noticeable to even the untrained eye. Modern techniques can produce completely natural results and you should expect nothing less than the best from your hair transplant surgeon.

If you are dissatisfied with the results of a previous hair transplant procedure, visit Dr. Arocha at Arocha Hair Restoration & Transplant Center. Dr. Arocha specializes in corrective hair transplant surgery to update older transplants that no longer look natural or to fix mistakes from a poorly performed transplant. If you are interested in hair transplant surgery but are worried about being at the receiving end of a bad transplant, schedule an appointment with Dr. Arocha to set your mind at ease. Call us today at 713-526-HAIR or 713-526-4247 to schedule your consultation.