Frequently Asked Questions

The term “common baldness” usually means male-pattern hair loss. Male-pattern hair loss is the most common cause of hair loss in men. Men who have this type of hair loss usually have inherited the trait (hair follicles receptive to DHT bonding). Men who start losing their hair at an early age tend to develop more extensive baldness. In male-pattern baldness, hair loss typically results in a receding hair line and baldness on the top of the head.

With your logical thinking mind, you are probably asking “how can they afford to offer hair grafts at $3.75 each?” Simple answer: Low Overhead. The Hair Restoration Centers doesn’t spend millions of dollars on infomercials and television ads. The staff at this firm is great. They are down to earth, super-friendly, caring, and as nice as can be. Wait until you walk in the door. You’ll be blown away by the feeling you’ve been close friends with them for years.

At your initial free consultation, HTC’s trained staff will carefully evaluate your present hair pattern to determine the best possible design for your new grafts. Not everyone is a hair transplant candidate, so if we feel a hair transplant is not in your best interest, we will tell you so! The procedure will be completely explained and you will know in advance all costs involved. In most cases, the hair implantation procedure takes only a few hours. Since only local anesthesia is used, you will be home the same day.

There are several products on the market today that promise regrowth of hair. Unfortunately, most of them are ineffective, costly, and certainly not permanent. Of all the options currently available, hair transplants are the only permanent solution and the Hair Restoration Centers makes them more affordable over a lifetime then other types of FDA recognized treatment methods.

Patients report only a small amount of discomfort associated with a hair transplant procedure, (when the local anesthetic is first given). Further, all patients are given a relaxing medication prior to the procedure which improves the hair transplant experience.

That will depend on the extent of your hair loss and the number of implants per surgery. It takes about 4 months to see the new growth. That is a good time to return for further evaluation to see if more sessions are indicated.

Although there may be some redness and swelling for a few days following your procedure, it is usually not very noticeable. Existing hair, if possible, may be combed over the grafted area to hide them while they are healing. You may shampoo gently 24 hours after your procedure. Sutures in the donor area are to be removed by a licensed physician only and are usually removed in 10 days. This can be done by your own doctor or at the Hair Restoration Centers office.

The old hair plug days of “Doll” hair are long gone. Hair transplant technicians today (worldwide) use various techniques that transfer one to five hairs maximum (per graft) from the donor area to the recipient area. By implementing these techniques, your new hair will look and feel natural and no one will know the difference unless you tell them!

The largest number of grafts the Hair Restoration Centers can implant at one time may vary between 2,500 and 3,000. Larger mega sessions then this are rare since your doctor & medical staff needs to allow adequate room in between each new hair graft for blood supply. In a subsequent hair transplant procedure, our doctor and staff can then implant new grafts in between the hair grafts from the first session to provide greater density and fullness.

The time it takes to complete a procedure depends on the number of hair grafts implanted. Please call us for more information on how long the procedure lasts

Like most types of out-patient surgery, you will not be able to drive home immediately after your surgery. In addition to the local anesthia, patients are given a mild sedative to help them relax, prior to their procedure. Patients who want to leave immediately after the surgery should bring someone with them.

It is perfectly normal for the newly implanted hairs to fall out during the healing process. Understand that by being transplanted, they have gone into a sort of shock or trauma which moves them (ahead of schedule) into the resting phase of the 3 stage Hair Growth cycle. All of this is completely normal and you should not worry as the dermal papilla of the hair root is firmly implanted in your scalp and will regrow again. In some rare cases, the newly implanted hairs will scab as they heal – but not fall out within the next few weeks following your surgery. Sometimes, the hair stays in place, but this happens only rarely.

To a new hair transplant patient, waiting for his hair to grow in can seem like an eternity. For those of us who have been there, we are anxious to see our new “look.” In 3 to 6 months on average, patients will notice their new grafts growing in, slowly at first and not all at the same time. Hair grows at the rate of 1 cm to 1/2 inch per month and despite the claims of some products, there is no vitamin or herbal treatment that can cause your hair to grow faster. Just be patient and keep in mind that for some hair transplant patients, waiting 8 to 12 months is necessary.

Because it can take 6 to 12 months for your new hair grafts to grow in, you need to wait that long before you can have another procedure. The faster your new grafts come in, the sooner you can have a second procedure. Your hair transplant doctor and staff need to be able to see the new grafts coming in so they can more effectively map out where to implant the hair grafts from your second session.

Both finasteride and minoxidil are treatments for hair loss that have been reported to be successful in growing new hair. Minoxidil has a 1 in 3 success rate for crown hair growth in men and finasteride reports a 2 in 3 success rate for new hair growth on the crown region. Even though finasteride may not work for all men, it is generally accepted as a treatment to stop further hair loss. If your goal is just to keep the hair you have without losing more, and getting new hair growth with hair grafts, finasteride is an excellent co-treatment option along with hair transplants. Any new hair growth that finasteride can provide should be considered a bonus.

Laser technology assisted hair transplants were popular in the 1990s and used as a sales tool to promote the various clinics using them. However, practical experience and reporting by hair transplant doctors, as well as several studies including a major study done in Germany, show that lasers create more problems then they solve. For example, the heat of the laser can actually cauterize the aperture area where the new grafts are to be implanted. This is the last thing you want since new hair grafts desperately need a good blood supply to survive. Cauterizing the area seals off the blood flow and starves the graft.

The Hair Restoration Centers employs a strip harvest method for grafts. This strip is taken from the back or sides of your head. The donor area is then sutured back together. Our hair transplant doctor, Scott Frayser, is highly experienced at removing donor strips and makes every attempt possible to minimize the scar that will remain. If you shave the back of your head, the scar could be noticeable. If you wear your hair 1 cm or more in length in the back, then you should have no problem covering it up.