Hair loss is a problem that has plagued men for a long time. Even dermatologists admit that there is no specific medicine for male pattern baldness. As soon as the hair starts to fall out, it is basically difficult to make it stop, even with medication can only last for a while. However, as “middle-aged shedding” gradually becomes younger, many young people in their twenties and thirties are also suffering from it, causing many adverse effects on personal image, job search and love. They, more than middle-aged people, are eager to repair their hair and regain recognition. Cosmetic surgery experts say that such a wish is not difficult to achieve. As long as the hair loss is not particularly severe, a hair transplant can enable a bald scalp to be covered or re-grown and free from the worry of shedding again. What’s more interesting is that in addition to hair, missing eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair can also be “grown”. Four types of hair can be “transplanted” The use of medicine is the main means of treating male hair loss. Chinese medicine emphasizes kidney supplementation, Western medicine believes that androgen suppression, but either way, regrowth of hair is always difficult to maintain. And once the patient stops the medication, the hair loss will be repeated. Is there a way to give hair more vitality? Professor Yan Ling, director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, says that hair transplantation can solve this problem to some extent. So-called hair transplantation is the process of transplanting healthy hair follicles from a person’s occipital area (i.e. the back of the head) to the area of their hair loss, thus allowing the hair to grow back. In addition to male pattern baldness and traumatic hair loss, hair transplantation can also be used for restoration of eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair. But the results vary from person to person. Yan Ling said that since it is an autologous transplant, the amount of available hair is limited, so the smaller the area of missing hair, the better the transplant results. “As long as the hair loss is not very serious, you can usually achieve the hair density that you had before the hair loss through transplantation. However, some patients have too large a blank area on their head and not much hair available, so the transplant can only be selectively ‘planted’ so that the uncovered becomes covered, making the blank less obvious. As for the loss of eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair, the use of hair transplantation can basically make up for the lack of how much. However, the transplanted hair has the characteristics of hair, grows long and must be trimmed regularly to keep it neat.” Hair transplantation is “labor-intensive” During consultations, patients often ask: “Hair grows one by one, so you have to grow it one by one, how troublesome is that?” If you really plan to do this surgery, you really have to be prepared to fight a long battle. Experts say that hair transplantation does not have to be a single hair follicle as a unit, the defective area can also be planted together with three or four hair follicles, but even so, it is still an extremely tedious and delicate surgery. It takes about 3-4 hours to do just one hairline area, and the larger the area of deficiency, the longer it takes, usually 5-6 hours is not uncommon. (It is impossible to complete without three or four hours, and it is not uncommon to stay in the operating room for more than ten hours.”) Hair transplantation mainly includes the following procedures: 1. Scalp cutting: cutting a certain area (not more than 2 cm) of scalp and hair along with the hair follicle. Manual operation is emphasized because it has the least damage rate to the hair follicle and the highest survival rate, but it is not possible to have no waste at all. 2. Suture of the donor area: the scalp is directly sutured from the occipital injury. The linear scars produced later are usually inconspicuous and easily concealed by the surrounding hair. 3.Separation of hair follicles: The hair follicles are separated out with a razor blade under 1-2 times magnification. This process is both time consuming and eye-consuming, and the key is to achieve maximum utilization without damaging the hair follicle stem cells. 4.Hair transplantation: Punch a hole at the location of hair loss and then gently put the hair follicle units into the hole one by one. Since the so-called “hole” is a thin line that can be easily closed, there is no need to sew after transplantation. Hair transplantation to regeneration has a “process” After the hair transplantation, Mr. Zhou saw the hair loss area grow dense new hair on the 10th day after the surgery. He was overjoyed and rushed to report to his friends and relatives, but unexpectedly the hair started to fall out one after another after a few days. Mr. Zhou thought there was a problem with the surgery and went back to the hospital for a follow-up, but the doctor said it was a normal process and that he would see significant results in 3-6 months. Why do you have to wait so long? Yan Ling explained that hair growth is a process of anagen – regression – resting phase. Hair loss means it enters the resting phase, but after 3 months, the growth phase will come again gradually, and grow to 70% in 6 months, 90% in 9 months, and basically 90% of the transplanted hairs can grow in about a year. So, patients just need to be patient and wait. Moreover, the transplanted hair grows according to the characteristics of the donor area (i.e. occipital area), so the patient no longer needs to worry about the risk of hair loss, which is a true “once and for all”.