A hair transplant works by taking hair follicles from a healthy site and grafting them to the recipient site.

A hair transplant refers to the process of taking hair from a healthy scalp or other parts of your body and grafting it to the bald or thinning region. Usually, most surgeons prefer taking the hair from the back of your head. You will be given a local anesthetic to numb and sterilize the area where the hair will be removed.

Once the area is numb, your surgeon will perform one of the two standard hair transplant procedures—Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) or Follicular Unit Execution (FUE).

FUT

The FUT procedure involves taking out a large piece of scalp with hair and then implanting it to the bald site. The steps for the FUT procedure are:

●     Your surgeon will remove a strip of around 6 to 10 inches from the back of your head. However, if you don't have plenty of hair back there, your surgeon can also go for other body parts.

●     The surgeon will stitch the part from where the strip was removed to prevent blood loss and other complications.

●     The hair strip will be broken down into grafts (smaller fragments). The number and size of the small pieces can vary based on your requirements. It is also possible that the segment may contain only one hair each.

●     Your surgeon will then make several holes on the recipient site using a surgical needle.

●     The grafting process is carried wherein the surgeon will take the removed hairs and insert them into the holes.

●     Lastly, they will cover the treated area with a bandage.
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FUE

The grafting process remains the same for FUT and FUE. The only significant difference is with the method of taking the healthy hair. Following are the steps for an FUE:

●     The surgeon will shave off some hair from the healthy site, usually the back of your head.

●     Your surgeon will then remove individual hair follicles from the scalp of the shaved area.

●     The procedure is continued with the grafting step as in FUT and finally using bandages to cover the surgical site.

Once the hair transplant process is over, it may take anywhere from a few hours to weeks for your hair to grow back and look natural. Around 10 to 40% of transplanted hair can develop and start looking natural within 3 to 4 months. When fully grown, the transplanted hair can remain permanently, and you won't have to bother again about baldness for several years.

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