Hair Restoration Process and Hair Growth Result Summary

Dr. Pistone's Follicular Unit Transplantation process is a relatively simple outpatient procedure. From start to finish, it can last anywhere from four to seven hours. It is virtually painless. Like other surgical procedures, hair restoration follows a complete pre-surgery evaluation that explores a patient’s medical history and confirms that the patient’s goals are realistic.

Modern hair transplantation surgery, performed by Dr. Pistone, is predictable and the results are exceptional. Due to advances in surgical transplantation techniques, hair loss in men and women is no longer permanent.

Since 1984, Dr. Pistone, a pioneer in the fields of dermatology and hair restoration, has been honing, refining and perfecting the scientific and artistic techniques essential to recreating soft, natural, living hairlines. The final result is your own hair re-growing along your natural hairlines. Dr. Pistone is one of only a small percentage of hair transplantation specialists who are qualified to successfully perform Follicular Unit Transplantation.  

Follicular Units

Hair grows in tiny bundles called follicular units – well-formed structures in the scalp. A follicular unit consists of one-to-four terminal or fully thick hair follicles. Each follicular unit also contains one-to-two fine vellus hairs, sebaceous (oil) glands, a small muscle, tiny nerves, blood vessels, and a fine band of collagen that surrounds the unit (the perifolliculum). A follicular unit is a hair bearing structure of skin, which must be kept intact to insure maximum growth. In genetic balding, healthy terminal hairs are gradually replaced by hairs of smaller diameter and length referred to as miniaturized hairs. These miniaturized hairs eventually fallout.

Preoperative Procedure

Prior to your procedure and on the day of your procedure, Dr. Pistone will walk you through the procedure, review instructions and address any questions you might have. Preoperative photographs will be taken. Dr. Pistone will then finalize your personal, strategically optimal design, initially outlined during your consultation. After the plan has been carefully reviewed and confirmed, the actual procedure will commence.

Step 1: Donor Hair Harvesting

The donor area, located on the sides and back of the scalp, generally one centimeter wide and anywhere from four to twenty-five centimeters long, will be marked, trimmed and anesthetized. All the while you will be relaxing comfortably while watching a movie of your choice.

The donor area will be closed using a trichophytic closure technique to ensure optimal healing. Sutures or staples are generally removed in seven days. Sometimes, in special situations, dissolving sutures are used. Dissolving sutures do not have to be removed. The resulting incision line scar will be minimized and easily concealed by your own hair. The method of donor hair removal practiced by Dr. Pistone allows for constant adjustment of the angle of incision to avoid damaging the adjacent hairs and thereby makes available the most hair for transplantation.

Step 2: Graft Preparation

The next step is to carefully dissect the donor strip. The donor strip, under the extreme magnification of the stereoscopic microscope, is dissected into miniature slivers. This requires a great deal of skill, manual dexterity, training and experience, all prerequisites of Dr. Pistone's medical team. The slivers are then meticulously segmented into follicular units avoiding damage or transection to the adjacent hairs, the sebaceous glands and the hair roots. Dr. Pistone, employing this technique, is able to harvest up to thirty percent more hair and increase the survival rate of the transplanted hair exponentially. This is essential. We all have only a limited amount of donor hair, none of which should be wasted.

Step 3: Transplantation

Once the grafts have been carefully prepared using stereoscopic microscopes, they are ready to be transplanted. Specialized instruments are used by Dr. Pistone to create tiny little slits - no bigger than a pinprick. These tiny little slits are artistically created by Dr. Pistone – always cognizant of angle and direction in order to mimic the natural hairline. A follicular unit graft is then skillfully inserted – neatly and snuggly tucked – into the newly created opening. The grafts are so small and are placed into such minute pinprick sized slits, that there is minimal blood circulation disruption. This allows for the grafts to be densely packed, again, in order to mimic the natural hairline.

Growing New Hair

In the first one to three weeks, your transplanted hair will appear to be growing rapidly, while in actuality the follicles are in a dormant phase recovering from the shock of the transplant and many will be in the process of temporarily falling out. Your hair will then  start growing after about three months. When your hair does start growing, the shafts may look thinner than usual and may have a curly or kinky appearance,  but as your hair reaches a length of about one-half inch, it will thicken.

Slow initial growth often proves a boon for patients, who generally prefer that friends and family not perceive a sudden, major change. After eight months to a year, the benefits from your hair transplant will be apparent, achieving 90% of your total result after a year and continuing to thicken for another year.