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Hair Transplant Donor Scar Revision

Today I will discuss about Hair Transplant Donor Scar Revision. A patient who came to me with a wide donor scar and 2 separate donor scars from 2 previous hair transplant procedures all performed by another physician. In my practice I never create a second scar unless it is absolutely necessary. This is another reason why it is so important to me that I create the smallest donor scar possible, so that when the patient returns for the next procedure I can include the previous scar in the new donor strip and get an adequate amount of donor hair follicles as well as leaving the patient with only a single strip scar.

Unfortunately  when this patient presented to me he had 2 separate scars and in some areas where there was only one scar it was much larger than it should be. What I did was consolidate the 2 scars into a single scar and took out the larger scar and made it much smaller. The photos below demonstrate the before and after of this patients donor scar.

My specialized technique of suturing the donor scar with a fine suture, as well as trichophytic closure, and fluid injected into the donor region, allow me to create the smallest possible donor scar in my hair transplant patients.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

R Hair Transplant Scar Pre Revision

R Hair Transplant Scar Pre Revision

R Hair Transplant Scar Post Revision

R Hair Transplant Scar Post Revision
L hair transplant scar pre- revision

L hair transplant scar pre- revision

L Hair Transplant Scar Post Revision

L Hair Transplant Scar Post Revision

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial and Hairline Design

Greetings,

Here is a new hair transplant patient testimonial. In the video I also describe my hairline design and my crown design.

Enjoy watching.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial and Hairline Design

Greetings,

Today I will post a new hair transplant patient testimonial of a patient (who happens to be a hair stylist himself)  discussing his experience choosing his hair transplant surgeon and his experience the day of the procedure. The video was taken immediately after the patient’s procedure. I also demonstrate and discuss my approach to hairline design in the video.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Patient Testimonial 2 Weeks After Procedure

Greetings,

Here is a new testimonial of a patient of mine, filmed 2 weeks after his second hair transplant procedure. The patient describes his experience from his first to second procedure and how his hair transplant procedure has changed his life. Enjoy watching.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Bad Hair Transplant Procedure

Greetings,

Today I will discuss a bad hair transplant procedure result that I recently saw in consultation. The patient was on vacation in Pakistan and responded to an advertisement for an inexpensive hair transplant procedure. The patient subsequently was told that he would receive 2000 grafts (which would equate to about 5000 hairs with typical density) for $500. The patient underwent the procedure and stated that he experienced significant pain during and after the hair transplant procedure. I took the photo below approximately 18 months after his hair transplant procedure in Pakistan. What you see in the photo is very sparse growth of grafts. A patient with no hair in the frontal scalp receiving 2000 grafts should have exponentially more hair growth then you see in the photo. You also see an aggressive hairline design, which means that they placed the hairline lower than it should have been placed in a patient with severe hair loss undergoing a first hair transplant procedure. I always tell my patients undergoing their initial procedure that I would prefer to be more conservative with the hairline and create greater density than getting aggressive with the hairline thus having to spread the same number of grafts over a larger area subsequently getting a lower density result. You can always lower the hairline in successive procedures, but once the hairline is placed too low, you have a problem. There are also 2 hair grafts present in the hairline. This should never be. Only single hair grafts should be placed in the hairline to create a completely natural result. Finally, if you look closely it appears that many of the grafts are emerging from a small crater around them. As if they are not flush with the skin, but coming out of a little hole. This is called “pitting” and occurs when the grafts are placed to deep. This also should not occur in a well done hair transplant procedure.

Unfortunately there are many more unqualified physicians performing hair transplants, or delegating the essential functions of the hair transplant procedure to unqualified personnel, then there are qualified Hair Transplant surgeons performing great work. The consumer needs to beware of these unscrupulous practitioners, both in the US and abroad in order to avoid a result like you see here. This patient can have repair work to fix this, but if it had been performed correctly initially, the corrective work would not be necessary. Unfortunately in this case the damage is already done, but hopefully others can learn from this and not make the same mistake.

Bad Hair Transplant Result

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Animated Video To Summarize Hair Transplant Information

Greetings,

I decided to commission an animated video which would convey all the basic Hair Transplant Information that anyone interested in Hair Restoration and Hair Transplants should know. It was an enjoyable project for me to create the text copy for the video and I believe it answers many of the basic questions that people interested in Hair Transplants may have. I hope you enjoy this video titled “Hair Restoration and Me”.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, M.D.

/1 Comment/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Hairline Design

Greetings,

Today I will discuss hairline design in hair transplant procedures. The hairline is one of the most important aspects of the hair transplant procedure as is it the most visible aspect to both everyone looking at the individual from the front, and the individual looking at themselves in the mirror. An unnatural hairline is a giveaway for a bad hair transplant procedure. The goal in a proper hair transplant hairline design is to create a new hairline that looks completely natural and undetectable to the human eye. It cannot look like a good hair transplant. It must look as if nothing has been done and the hair has been there forever. This is the artistic component of the hair transplant procedure. The most important factor in achieving the objective of a natural hairline, is the placement of only single hair grafts in the hairline. Additionally, the hairline must be created in an irregular pattern in order to not to draw any attention to straight lines which do not appear in natural hairlines. Also, the hairline must be created in the proper location (not too low, which can look unnatural as well) and taking into account future hair loss so that enough donor hair is present for future procedures. I always prefer to create a more mature hairline with greater density than a lower hairline that has lower density.

Hairline design is probably the most important aspect of creating a completely natural looking hair transplant. It is a very artistic process and one in which every physician will envision differently. It is of the utmost importance that you choose a physician who is skilled in the art of creating natural hairlines and that you have seen the results to confirm the point.

I will show a few examples of my hairline creations below in order to illustrate the point.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

When To Have A Hair Transplant Procedure

Greetings,

I am often when the best time is to have a hair transplant procedure. There are many different ways to answer this question.

Firstly, I prefer not to operate on patients much younger than 25. My feeling is that in younger patients with severe hair loss, it may be difficult to ascertain the final degree of balding the patient will have, so it is important to proceed in a very conservative manner with younger patients. I also typically recommend a regimen of Propecia and Rogaine in younger patients to slow down the progression of the hair loss.

Some patients come to me and wonder if they have enough hair loss to undergo a procedure. Every case is different, but in general if you can see loss in any region of your scalp there is a good chance that you are a candidate for a hair transplant in that region.

Finally, I am always asked what time of the year is best for a hair transplant. The answer to this is any time of the year is a good time for a hair transplant. The ideal time rarely presents itself, so the best time to have a hair transplant is anytime you are able to carve out a day. For the first 10-12 days after the procedure I do not want my patients engaging in any strenuous activity. Also, for the first 3-4 months after the procedure I prefer that my patients wear a hat when they are in the sun for extended periods of time.

There are many factors that come info play when deciding the best time to have a hair transplant procedure. Most importantly, find the right Doctor that you connect with, and then the timing will work itself out.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Donor Density- How It Affects The Hair Transplant

Greetings,

Today I will discuss donor density and how it affects the hair transplant procedure. Donor density is the amount of follicles per cm squared in the donor region. A secondary factor relating to density is the hair count, which is the number of hairs in the donor region. This is determined by finding the average follicular density per cm squared and then the average number of hairs per follicle and multiplying the two numbers. The average scalp has between 60-100 follicular units per cm squared and the average hair count is between 2.3-2.7 hairs per follicle. If the majority of the follicles are 2 hair follicles as opposed to 3 hair follicles then the overall hair count will be less. This is why not only the number of follicles is important, but the average number of hairs per follicle as well. The higher the hair count and follicle count, the greater the donor density. The greater the donor density the more hair that can be moved from the donor region to the areas of thinning. The donor region is an unchangeable area whether we do FUE or FUT to harvest the donor hair in the hair transplant procedure. This is why a high donor density and high donor hair count will lead to the ability to move more donor follicles to the areas of thinning.

I hope this helps to clarify donor density and how it impacts a hair transplant procedure.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair Transplant Procedures In Patients With Old Plugs

Hair Transplant Procedures In Patients With Old Plugs

Greetings,

It is not unusual for me to see patients presenting for consultation who have plugs from the old way of performing hair transplant surgery. The plugs were groupings of 5-15 hairs that were punched out of the back of the scalp, and subsequently punched into the areas of thinning. They were very unnatural and looked like “dolls hair” because hair does not naturally grow in clusters of 5-15 hairs. Natural hair follicles are typically 1-4 hairs per follicle, with only single hair follicles present in the hairline. These plugs were harvested using a primitive version of the harvesting procedure we now call follicular unit extraction or FUE. The major difference is that the punch tool used to harvest the plugs measured between 2mm-5mm in diameter, while the new tools I use to harvest my FUE follicles measure between .8mm-1mm in diameter. Besides the unnatural look that these plugs left in the recipient zone, they also caused a huge amount of scarring in the donor zone. Often times these patients donor density can be decreased up to 50-75% from their original density. For these patients wearing their hair very short is not an option as their donor density has been so depleted that they must wear their hair longer in order to cover up the thinness. In most cases the best way to treat these patients is to perform a strip harvest procedure and go right through the old plug zone. If there are areas that are unscathed (sometimes the sides are untouched) the patient will have more yield from these regions. Regardless, depending on the amount of scarring and door depletion, we can often harvest between 1500-2000 grafts from these individuals by taking a maximum safe sized donor strip. In some cases, this procedure may be performed more than once. We can then transplant single hair follicles into the hairline, camouflaging the plugs, and transplant follicular units into the pluggy areas throughout, creating a much more natural look. In some cases we can also perform FUE to plugs in the hairline to remove them completely or to reduce the number of hairs in the plug, and then recycle the follicles further back on the scalp.

The technology in hair transplant procedures has come a long way since the days of the old plugs. The good news is that using the latest technology at our disposal we can improve the look of the old hair transplant plug procedures.

All the best,

Marc Dauer, MD

/by Los Angeles Hair Transplant Specialist