Short Hair after Hair Restoration through Strip

Follicular unit transplant through strip technique is considered the golden standard for hair restoration in both men and women suffering from male or female pattern baldness and it continues to be practiced and used on thousands of patients around the world. The only remaining con to this procedure is the linear scar that remains in the donor area. Although patients understand the benefits of hair restoration surgery, they sometimes seem to be taken back because of the remaining scar. But for those who go through with their transplant, especially men, they ask if there is another way to avoid having such a visible scar or not have a scar at all? What are the chances of the scar widening and becoming more visible?

Most male patients like to keep their hair at a shorter length. However, the length of hair is obviously up to the patient’s best disclosure. In some cases, any hair length under 1/4” or #2 buzz clip may make the scar more apparent. A hair stylist can also give you better suggestions on hair length and combing techniques depending on the width of the scar and density of hair.

The linear scar that is left after a hair restoration procedure through strip technique is really inevitable but can be made less visible depending on your hair transplant surgeon. Most facilities that do hair transplants practice a technique known as trichophytic closure for their patients. Trichophytic closure is a technique used where hair follicles will penetrate through the donor scar which, in turn, minimizes its visibility and detect ability. This can be compromised if the scar ends up stretching or widening. Another study conducted has shown that BOTOX can be used to prevent further stretching or widening of the donor scar and must be applied by a professional physician for best results.

The only other option available to minimize scarring is through a different hair transplant technique called follicular unit extraction (FUE). This technique is done by selectively extracting follicular units and refining them for hair transplantation. The result is undetectable and the downtime is even less than that of follicular unit transplantation through strip technique. This procedure can also be used to fill in existing scars where hair use to grow or the donor scar area. Findings on this type of procedure were originally published when conducted on patients with neurological scar revision.
->Read More...