Hair transplant: Questions and answers

By Prof. Dr. Soner Tatlidede 2019-09-17

When thinking about getting a hair transplant, many questions can arise about the process and about the results after the surgery. Hair transplant costs in Turkey are really affordable, but still many people need to learn more about the treatment before taking the step of getting a hair implant.

We at Clinicana are always keen to help our patients, so here you are the answers to some of the most common queries that we receive from our customers: surely they will be of great help to you. Also, do not forget to make use of our online consultation service: is totally free!!

Is it possible to have a sexual relationship after a hair transplant?

The short answer for this question is "yes": you can have a sexual relationship 5 days after the hair transplant surgery, because all nutriments taken after the procedure must be directed before to healing of the wounded areas in the head.

After the 5th day, the hair bulbs are stabilized so having sex won’t affect them and make them fall. Just avoid directly touching, scratching or hitting the transplanted hair. Also, warn your partner not to touch the implanted area.

Is finasteride important after the transplant?

Finasteride is an oral drug for male and female hair loss. Anyways, if the medication is stopped the hair loss will continue. Do not forget that finasteride has several adverse effects, including bigger chances of developing prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction and a decreased libido.

Answering the question itself, It is not important to keep taking finasteride after the hair transplant, because the transplanted hair is not affected by dihydro-testosterone hormone (DHT) which causes hair loss; this is because the planted bulbs are taken from the back of head which are resistant to this hormone. You can discuss this with your doctor in case a prescription of this drug after the procedure.

Is the FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) technique good for men of African origin?

It´s possible to use the FUE technique in African hair cases. The hair bulbs may have a different direction under the skin, but the use of this technique by a skilled and professional doctor may allow taking the bulbs out without need of cutting.

The extraction of the first bulbs can give enough information about how the rest is put. The doctor may use a bigger needle if the bulbs are very sinuous, but still you can have very good results.

Can a hair transplant restore normal hair thickness?

Before having the procedure, you may wonder: will I regain all my head hair after transplanting? In fact, you can’t have all your hair back through hair transplantation. You have to know that this surgery is like a redistribution of your own hair from one place to another, so you don’t get a new hair. Hair transplant can give you an aesthetic improvement, but that´s all.

Let us say that you want to regain 35% of your original hair thickness in one session. You can have a hair thickening treatment -that is, putting hair bulbs close to each other- if your donor area has enough hair bulbs. But this procedure (hair thickening) has some limits, for example: what is the size of the donor area? How many hair bulbs does it have?

If your baldness is at stage 6 according to the Norwood-Hamilton scale and you want to regain your original hair thickness which is 200 hair/cm², from where will the transplanted hair come from? You have only a limited number of hair bulbs in your donor area, and the doctor must evaluate the case to obtain the best result out of the few transplanted bulbs you have.

Unless we may use cloning, hair transplant with unlimited number of bulbs will stay impossible. In case you have a stage 3 baldness on Norwood scale, you can recover your original thickness, but only after many procedures.

Will the hair in the donor area grow again after a transplant with FUE technique?

You must consider that when using the Follicular Unit Extraction, when bulbs are extracted they will disappear in the donor area and never will grow again. Any way, if you have thick hair in the donor area you won’t notice the blank spaces, specially if the FUE technique has been done correctly by professionals.

When will I see hair thickness after the transplant?

After the hair transplant, the planted bulbs will stay in resting stage for 2-5 months. When hairs grows again they will look thinner, but their diameter will grow bigger after 6 months. Final results are expected to be seen approximately after 1 year.

Will hair grow from all the hair bulbs transplanted?

Saying it in other way: how many of the transplanted bulbs will stay alive? Well, the percentage of the transplanted bulbs that will stay alive depends on many factors:

• The doctor’s experience
• The experience of the medical team that will help planting the bulbs
• The bulbs temperature when they are out of your body
• The bulbs humidity when they are out of your body
• The solution that the bulbs will be kept in
• How the bulbs will be treated when they are outside your body
• How much time the bulbs will stay out of your body before being implanted again

The fact is that there are many factors that interfere to precise the percentage of bulbs survival. Hair transplant surgeries are not all the same, just as doctors are not the same. It is better to discuss it with your doctor and ask him how to have the largest possible number of unharmed bulbs.

Don´t forget that hair goes on growth cycles, and after the transplant it will continue on the same cycle by 3 months, depending on the phase it stopped at; after that, hair will go on with the rest of the hair cycle during 18 months, so this would be the appropriate time to see the final results of the surgery and the rate of implanted bulbs survival. If all hair transplant steps were done right by a professional and skilled doctor, it is possible to have a higher growth rate.

Which is the best clinic in Turkey for a hair transplant?

Now you probably understand why is so important not only to find answers to your questions about a hair transplant, but also to choose the best hair transplant clinic you may find. Clinicana is located in the best and most modern hospital in Turkey, and our patients are delighted with the results, as you can check by yourself just taking a look to the Hair Transplant in Turkey: Reviews section. Come and see!!