After a long time of battling with a receding hairline or balding following your mid-life crisis, you have decided to explore hair transplant as a solution. It is important for you to know a thing or two about what it entails.
Hair transplantation is simply the transferring of hair follicles to the recipient area of the scalp from the donor area. Seeking the help of a trusted, experienced hair transplant specialist can offer you desirable outcomes in your hair restoration procedure. The procedure is associated with several medical terms, which also requires your attention.
Some of these terms include
Alopecia – This refers to baldness, which is the partial or full loss or absence of hair where it usually grows.
Alopecia Areata (AA) – This is hereditary in males and is considered to be the commonest form of hair loss. The immune system in this scenario attacks the hair follicles thus causing balding.
Alopecia reduction – Just as it sounds, it is a procedure to reduce baldness whereby a strip of the balding scalp is removed and the remaining scalp with hair is stretched into place.
Anagen phase – Also known as the growth phase and is characterised by active hair growth.
Anagen effluvium – This is the sudden hair loss caused by secondary factors such as treatments like chemotherapy. Hair usually grows back in such situations.
Androgenetic Alopecia – This is the medical term for the genetic male pattern baldness which is due to the testosterone hormone that affects the normal hair growth. It can be experienced by both men and women.
Body Hair Transplant – It is a transplant technique where hair follicles from different parts of the body are used for patients who have little or no donor’s hair. It is also used in patients with poor quality hair that cannot be used for the surgery.
Crown – This is the top most part of the scalp that begins where the head starts to curve. This part contains the spiral pattern of growing hair.
Dermal papilla – It is a group of cells forming the tissue that is found beneath the hair follicle.
Donor area – This is the part of the body where hair is removed from. Previously, hair was commonly sourced from the hairline at the back of the scalp and areas directly above the ears but with recent technology, parts such as the beard and chest have been included.
Donor dominance – Can be referred to as either a notion or theory that concludes that since the transplanted hair will grow well in the once bald area, the donor exhibits dominance traits over the recipient area.
Face to Scalp Hair Transplant – It involves using facial hair either from the beard or moustache as the donor area.
Female Pattern Baldness – Like with men, it is also the most common form of hair loss in women. It is usually recognised with the thinning of hair from the bald resistant areas; the back and the sides of the scalp.
Follicular unit – Is a group of 1 to 4 hair follicles naturally occurring on the human body. The unit has (oil) glands, tiny blood vessels, nerves, muscle and at times vellus hair.
Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) – It entails the removal of follicular units separately and moving them to the recipient areas in the process known as follicular unit extraction or FUE hair transplant.
Hair density – It refers to the number of hair strands found on a square inch. Hair density varies with different ethnic groups.
Hair follicle – Is the organ responsible for hair production in living organisms. They are determinants of an individual’s hair size and type.
Hair grafts – A term used for the harvested hair from the donor area that is to be transplanted.
Hair miniaturization – This refers to the thinning of one’s hair. People with such hair in donor areas make it hard for doctors to conduct hair transplant.
Hair transplant – This is the surgical process, which involves transferring hair follicles from the donor area to the recipient area. It can be also termed as a corrective surgery for baldness or hair loss. Apart from scalp hair restoration, another type of hair transplantation is the beard transplant.
Hairline – It refers to the lower edge of the hair along the frame of the face.
Ludwig classification – This is a classification method that is used to categorize female baldness into three distinct stages.
Male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) – This is the medical term for the genetic male pattern baldness which is due to the testosterone hormone that affects the normal hair growth. It can be experienced by both men and women.
Minoxidil – Also known as Rogaine is a solution that is smeared on the scalp to enhance hair growth for both women and men.
Multi-unit grafts – These are harvested hair follicles made up of 2-6 follicular units.
Norwood-Hamilton classification – It measures the stages of male baldness like the Ludwig does for females.
Punch graft – This is graft removed from the donor site to be transplanted to the balding scalp. Usually circular shaped.
Recipient site – It is the area of the scalp where balding has occurred and it is also the part where the graft will be transplanted on.
Scalp laxity – This refers to how easily the scalp tissues can stretch when tension is applied to them. High scalp laxity is a factor that contributes to the legibility of a hair transplant candidate.
Scalp reduction – It is a procedure whereby the bald area is detached and the remaining areas are joined through stitching. It is effective for small bald patches such as crown baldness.
Scalp rotation flaps – Is a procedure whereby the strip of scalp containing hair follicles is rotated and placed on the bald scalp area.
Senile Alopecia – This refers to the thinning of hair because of aging.
Stereomicroscope – A type of microscope that has high resolution and lighting used for working on harvested strips.
Strip harvesting – Is a technique where a strip of skin with hair follicles is removed and placed on the part of skin where hair loss has occurred.
Telogen Effluvium (TE) – Is the hair loss caused by stress.
Temples – The part of the scalp above both ears, which is usually referred to be a bald resistant area.
Temporal point – Are the two areas of hair located at the corners of the forehead.
Tissue expander – A reconstructive device used to make the scalp bigger to enable it to have more donor sites.
Trichotillomania – This is a disorder, which makes a person have a compulsive feeling to pull off their hair.
Vellus hair – A very fine, light colored hair that grows on the body in childhood and cannot grow to become long.
Vertex – Also known as the crown, it is the top most part of the head.
Now that the definitions associated with hair transplant have been demystified to you, you may ask what next? For you to access a wonderful experience, an experienced and trusted hair transplant surgeon is all you need. Dr. Serkan Aygin is a renowned surgeon who has been in the industry for the past twenty years. With this vast experience in the field, whatever worry you may have will be taken care of. Take the initiative today and make the best choice.
