Yes, the transplanted hair that is used is permanent. We take hairs from the sides and the back of your head, hair that is resistant to the balding process, and implant it in the areas of need. These hairs keep their characteristics from the back of your head, so they will be resistant to DHT, which causes thinning and balding. They can be implanted on the head, beard, or eyebrow area.
Because the “permanent” hairs are limited to the back and sides of the head, people have different sized donor areas. The donor area is decreased in size with increased thinning in the crown. One person, with thinning in the hairline but a full crown, will have a bigger donor area because there is more area to take grafts from that is resistant to balding. The bigger the donor area, the more grafts we are able to use to implant in the thinning and balding areas up top.
We also make sure to take hairs from as much of the donor area as possible. The grafts that are taken from the back and sides of the head do not grow back, so we take from a big area to ensure we do not thin out the sides and back. We do not want to take 2000 grafts from a small section of the head and leave an area of thin hair that looks abnormal. By spreading the graft extraction across a bigger area, we are able to make it look like nothing was done to the sides or the back of the head.
One thing to remember is hair loss is a progressive condition. It is important to establish a good look for each patient in the short term, but also important to plan ahead for the future. Everyone progresses to a different level of hair loss, but not everyone will progress all the way to a completely bald head. With our experience and recommendations, we make sure to help each patient achieve a look they are happy with now, which will also age with them in the event they lose more hair in the future.
