Many People Want to Know How Long a Hair Transplant Will Last. It Depends
How long does a hair transplant last? At Silicon Valley Hair Institute this is a question that we get asked all the time, and the problem is that there is no definite answer. However, a hair transplant can, indeed, last for your lifetime, but there can be a number of variables. No two people are exactly the same.
First, there are two types of hair transplants available – FUT and FUE. These stand for Follicular Unit Transplantation and Follicular Unit Extraction.
With FUT, a strip of hair is removed from the back of the head and divided into small follicular units of between one and four hairs. These are then transplanted by the surgeon into the areas of balding or thinning hair.
An FUE hair transplant is carried out by the ARTAS robot which was invented by a team led by Dr. Miguel Canales when he was the Medical Director of Restoration Robotics Inc. In this case, individual follicular units are extracted from parts of the head one by one, generally from the parts where the hair is known to keep growing.
No Visible Scar
This has the advantage that there is no strip removed from the back of the head, and thus no scar is visible. The transplanted hair follicles will retain their original characteristics and should continue to grow, so there should be no reason why they should not continue to do so for life.
However, when you ask the question “how long does a hair transplant last?” you have to remember that every individual is different and thus no treatment can guarantee a level of hair thickness and the lifespan of a patient’s natural hair. So, although we know that a hair transplant can last for a lifetime it is also necessary to be clear that a patient might possibly need more than one treatment over the course of many years. It may be necessary to add more volume, or perhaps address a new area of baldness.
So, you can see that asking the question “how long does a hair transplant last?” has no definite answer. It can be affected by any or all of the following:
- The density of the donor area
- Characteristics of the hair
- The severity of the hair loss to start with
- Donor follicular unit groupings
- The contrast between hair and skin color
- Laxity of the patient’s skin
- The size of one’s head
At Silicon Valley Hair Institute, our Dr. Canales is always happy to provide a completely free consultation for all patients. This will enable him to assess the condition of your hair and head, and advise you of the best treatment, while at the same time answering all your questions.
