Afro Hair Transplant

Afro hair transplant, also commonly referred to as “Black Hair Transplant” or “African American Hair Transplant”, has been advancing in popularity in the past years. FUE or FUT can be preferred as African American Hair Transplantation techniques. Afro hair transplant might cost between £600 and £12,000.

Afro hair transplants are generally known for their complexity regarding their ways of application. People of African Caribbean, African American, or Black British origin can benefit from this implantation method. Afro hair transplant is not even closely related to Caucasian or Asian hair; it has certain differences so it is really important that your clinic is experienced on this issue. Even though the hair shows differences in terms of its main characteristics compared to those of Caucasian or Asian origins, Afro hair transplant is performed by using the same hair implantation techniques.

This type of hair is able to curl under the skin. This even makes it harder to perform some kinds of implantation methods such as FUE hair transplantation. Some might think that straightening the hair by using chemicals may be a good starting point but unfortunately, those chemicals are not able to straighten the hair under your skin. In such a case, this leads us to the fact that the hair grafts taking up more space than the usual volume. This condition requires the opening of slightly larger incisions on the skin. Due to this issue, the incisions will not be placed as densely as the other ways of hair implantation.

In addition to these, FUE hair transplantation does not also seem much likely for these types of operations. For Afro hair, this procedure is quite difficult and nearly beyond the realm of possibility. On people of mixed races, however, FUE might be performed since those people usually have more relaxed, less tight curls. Patients are still able to choose FUE or DHI as their methods of hair transplantation but they must be aware of the fact that their doctor can switch to FUT method in a possible case of difficulty on extracting hair follicles with FUE technique.

Patients are also able to book a trial session for FUE to see if it works or not. Those who go under Afro hair transplantation are also prone to inheriting a condition called Keloid. This medical condition typically manifests itself with large and thick scars on skin even after minor tissue traumas. For FUE, this problem is nearly beyond consideration and not possible yet it might become real in Black patients who have chosen to go through strip hair transplantation. In either case, it is rather an uncommon condition.

Things to Consider Before Applying for Afro Hair Transplant

The type of your hair loss matters greatly when it comes to any hair transplantation procedures. Hair loss may stem from a lot of different root causes. In general, hair loss can exhibit itself in different patterns depending on your sex. Male hair loss pattern appears differently than female hair loss pattern. Whether this loss is permanent or not has several variants. For instance, hormonal imbalances might be the main cause of your hair loss. For this reason, you must consider seeing your doctor for hormone tests before applying for such a surgery. Once your imbalances are treated, your hair loss is also going to stop and your lost hair will grow back.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also have a tremendous impact on hair loss as well as hormonal issues. Your hair will reach its healthy state again when those nutrient deficiencies are treated. Your doctor might start your treatment by prescribing vitamin and mineral supplements such as zinc, B12, or vitamin D. He or she may also demand changes in your nutrition plan by offering a diet high in those nutrients in order to prevent further malnutrition. In cases where diet is not enough, your doctor will try to fill your nutrient deposits with supplements. They may also say that you need to follow a diet high in protein.

Traumatic experiences or stressful events might also be the main cause of hair loss. Some people are prone to shedding hair when they encounter stressors such as heavy working schedules, family problems, relationship issues, depression or the loss of their loved ones. The hair tends to grow back when the patient learns how to handle those situations more lightly. Psychological help might be needed in such kinds of cases.

Putting aside those treatable causes, the main reason of hair loss might also lay in the chronic condition. Traction alopecia, for instance, is one of the most common and obvious reasons of hair treatment surgeries. In traction alopecia; tight breads, weaves, or any processes containing harmful hair chemicals and treatments targeting to change the shape of the hair can be count as the main reasons of this condition. Traction alopecia is defined with a hairline that is receding usually at the top of your temples. The main reason traction alopecia occurs is the fact that the hair follicles are put under a constant and long term stress by putting them together tightly. This condition is usually common among women; yet some men can also suffer from this condition.

The loss that stemmed from traction alopecia cannot be compensated for but having hair transplant is the ultimate way to gain that receded hair line. Patients are also able to choose the hairline they desire in this procedure.

On the other hand, though, it might just be your genetics playing the biggest role in your hair loss problem. This is called Androgenic Alopecia where people lose their hair and the situation does not have a solid explanation. This situation sometimes can manifest itself so strongly and densely that the possible donor areas at the back of the patients’ head might also be lost. It is highly recommended that you consult a clinic as soon as you notice or verify that you suffer from androgenic alopecia since hair transplantation is the only way to stop it. The sooner the treatment, the better are the results.

If you are being treated for cancer at the moment, chemotherapy or radiation treatment is most possibly the root cause of your hair loss. Hair transplantation will not take place under such a condition; even if it does, it will not treat the condition and it will result in failure. It would be your best choice to wait until the end of your treatment because your hair will start growing back in its old health and strength once you do not need to receive those treatments anymore. You will not even need to undergo any hair transplantation surgeries.

Deciding and Starting Your Treatment

Before you decide on having afro hair transplantations, you must also choose a clinic and a doctor. Choosing a clinic might especially be hard in those days because there are many underdeveloped clinics who claim that they provide the best hair transplantation procedure. If you are doing your research by using the Internet, you should be more than prepared to see paid advertisements and severe information pollution. That is exactly why your research carries a vital importance on your hair implantation journey. You must carry this task deliberately for your own welfare. Once you find a clinic, you should aim at examining their pre and post-operative results. You may also search for the comments of previous patients or get in contact with them to discuss their experience and satisfaction. As soon as you choose your clinic, you are expected to book an initial consultation appointment to start the process.

Initial Consultation Appointment

During the initial consultation appointment, you must be able to discuss your issue with an open language. You must fully realise that your expectations regarding this procedure should be as realistic as possible in order to prevent any unachievable ideals.

Your hair and hair skin will be analysed by your doctor. You must have the sufficient amount of donor sited on your skin for a successful operation. The number of hair grafts must be adequate. The donor site must be able to provide hair both for the implementation site and the donor site itself. The grafts that are taken from the donor site will not grow again, so the remaining follicles must be in adequate abundance in order not to make the back of your head look barren.

The staff in your doctor’s office might also take photographs of your hair in order to compare it with other before and after results, therefore providing you some clarification about the actual results that you can expect from the procedure. The initial consultation appointment is also going to have a price due to the depth of the evaluation. Your surgeon may demand the things mentioned below:

• Your full medical history.
• Underlying skin conditions that increase the possibility of scarring (Keloid).
• Your chronic conditions.
• The medications you currently use.
• The medications you have recently used on a regular basis.
• Any herbal remedies you have been using like herbal teas and supplements.
• Any vitamin, mineral, and food supplements you have recently used.
• Your realistic expectations regarding the surgery.

Preparation for the Afro Hair Transplant Surgery

As soon as you decide going under afro hair transplan surgery, you will be responsible for watching out for several things that have the possibility of affecting your results and your healing process.

• If you are a smoker, you must quit smoking immediately. This is recommended for all types of hair transplantation surgeries. Smoking before and after the surgery might lead to serious complications. It will most probably slow down your healing process and reduce your chances of having a safe surgery. Smoking prevents oxygen from being carried in your blood cells, thus causing your scars to heal more slowly. It is highly recommended that you quit smoking at least 6 weeks before and after the hair transplantation procedure.
• You must stop drinking alcohol, too.
• You must also stop using medications that may operate as blood thinners. These medications include aspirin, Advil or Ibuprofen. You must as well give up your herbal remedies for a while.
• Given that you strictly follow those instructions, the chances of you experiencing any complications are rather lowered. Hair transplantation is often considered as a safe procedure.
• Hair transplantation patients are generally treated as outpatient, which means that they often do not need to stay in hospital after the procedure. However, you should arrange for someone who can drive you back home and attend you the first 24 hours following the surgery. This person could be a family member or a close friend that you can trust.
• You should choose loose t-shirts which have broad collars or clothes that you can fasten with buttons to prevent any post-operative damage on your tender tissues. They will provide you with comfort after the surgery.
• You can use air transportation after the surgery. You can book your tickets in accordance with your stay.
• Nearly all of the patients are able to go back to work after two days. So, you can take your leave accordingly in the light of this information. Yet, if you are a heavy labour worker, this time frame might show some extensions. You may want to wait at least for a week in such a condition.

The Day of the Surgery

First thing first, you and your doctor should reconcile on the issue of the method that is going to be used on you. As mentioned earlier in the text, FUE, DHI, or FUT techniques might raise the questions regarding which one is the best for your results.

Since most African origin men have very short hair, FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) may not be the best choice for them. It will most likely result in visible scars and they will be noticeable through such a short hair structure. For such kinds of cases, FUE method is the most proper and suitable type of hair transplantation surgery. Nevertheless, most African origin women and those who have longer hair prefer FUT hair transplantation procedure. As mentioned before, this is due to the structure of Afro hair and the threats it poses on the wellness of your hair tissues.

Since Afro hair is of curly shape, both on and under the skin, patients are prone to experiencing follicle damage. This might lead the transplant to be less effective. For this reason, you must choose a surgeon experienced in Afro hair transplantation as well as in FUE, DHI, and FUT methods. For the majority of afro hair transplant patients, FUE is not the most suitable choice. During surgeries in which the FUE method is used, doctors use a straight incision/extraction device. The task of the device is to enter the skin and extract the follicular unit. Therefore, the chances of your curly hair being damaged during the process are enormously high.

This is the exact reason why doctors prefer FUT method for African origin people. You should keep in mind that only a qualified, experienced surgeon can perform FUT whereas FUE can be performed by any qualified doctor. Some clinics might try to sign a paper that does not guarantee that your grafts would not grow and you may not be aware of it. So, you should pay special attention to reading all that is put before you.

During Afro Hair Transplant with FUT

First thing first, your doctor will determine a donor site and its size in the shape of a strip. The piece of skin in the same shape as decided will be removed from the back of your head. During this process, your surgeon will estimate a certain amount of grafts and then examine the density of the area. After all of these, the strip can finally be taken. In addition to these, your head needs to be washed before the procedure. Some parts of it will also be shaven.

You are not going to be under full sedation but it will require local anaesthesia. The procedure itself might take a couple of hours. Once the area is shaven and washed, your doctor will use sterilising solutions on the skin of your head and then inject the anaesthetic substance. Most patients are able to sit still and they are not usually bothered. During the injection some might feel more and some might feel a little pain, some might say they feel pain but it goes quickly away. Once the anaesthetic is injected, you will not feel anything during the whole procedure. The amount of injections that are required will show variance in accordance with the size of your donor area and your recipient area.

If you are really worried and full of anxiety regarding your injections, your doctor might give you some medications to make you more relaxed. Only a qualified surgeon can take the mentioned strip out of the patient’s head. Therefore, this FUT method can only be performed by an experienced surgeon, especially experienced in afro hair transplant. The strip will be taken and then you will be stitched up. Stitching the donor site needs extra diligence and nerves of steel. This part may take up some time because your doctor will try to ensure your final look is good. The stitching should also be performed by the surgeon.

After that, your surgeon will move onto creating incisions on the recipient area. Afro hair transplant incisions are created in the same way as all skin types. It will roughly take 1 or 2 hours to open incisions yet this depends greatly on the required number of grafts. You are not going to feel any pain but you might still hear the blade going in and out. The grafts on the strip will also be taken out and they will be shaped to fit into the opened incisions. This shaping will be performed under the microscope by experienced hair technicians. What is being done here is the transferring of hair stem cells.

Once they are shaped, they are going to be implanted in the recipient area, where your surgeon created the incisions. It is a time-consuming process but it will worth it. After all of these, the areas that your surgeon operated on will be cleaned and bandaged. Your doctor will often be in touch with you during the first week in order to handle any complications as fast as possible.

During Afro Hair Transplant with FUE

Being one of the preferred methods of hair transplantation on African-American patients, FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) method is surely going to make the hair appear as naturally thicker. The best part about it is the fact that this is provided without any invasions. However, you must be ensured of the fact that your surgeon is licensed to apply FUE as well as having lots of experience regarding this method. This is very important for supporting the natural growth pattern of your hair. Your surgeon’s experience level will determine if they are able to work with you hair’s natural growth direction and angle in harmony. This is the thing that provides natural growth mimicking.

During FUE, your scalp will be sedated with local anaesthesia as the first thing. After local anaesthetics start showing their effect, your surgeon will initiate the extraction period. This is going to be performed with special blades or forceps. After the sufficient amount of grafts is collected, they will be placed inside incisions on the recipient area. Those incisions will have been opened in the first place before the extraction.

During Afro Hair Transplant with DHI

Being another type of effective hair transplantation methods used on African-American patients, DHI (Direct Hair Implantation) is kind of regarded as an elevated version of FUE.

During both FUE and DHI, the extraction technique remains the same while the incision and implantation phases are applied in different ways.

Like all other hair implantation techniques, the first step is to sedate the scalp locally. The hair follicles, then, are harvested manually with the help of an extraction device that has a 1 millimetre diameter. Extracted follicles are transferred to the recipient site and that does not require any incisions. By doing so, hair follicles wait outside the scalp for a shorter amount of time, thus increasing the chance of graft survival. The pen that is used for this operation is also known as Choi Pen and it is able to contain 1-4 hair follicles at a time. Yet, the use of Choi Pen requires an experienced, qualified and professional surgeon and team. All of them have to act in accordance with the precise direction and angle of the hair.

Recovery from Afro Hair Transplant

Usually, recovering from Afro Hair transplantation takes only a few days to recover in a complete sense. Like all other procedures, patients can go back to their homes as soon as the surgery is completed. It merely takes two days to return to their daily routine however some activities still should be avoided for a certain period of time. Taking a few days off from work might help a great deal to the patient if they are not comfortable with visible scars and crusts on their scalps.

You should definitely follow your doctor’s advice after the surgery. Here are a few tips so as to provide you a safer and more comfortable recovery period:

• Wait for a few days before washing your hair. Talk to your doctor about the proper time to wash and use the products that have been recommended by your doctor only.
• Avoid extreme weather conditions such as freezing cold or extreme hot. Try not to get exposed to direct sunlight. These might interfere with your recovery a great deal.
• Try gently applying ice packs to your operated areas. This is gradually going to take the swelling and bruising away.
• Avoid smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages at all costs. These things interfere with your blood flow and inhibit the oxygen from being carried in your blood cells. Therefore, they slow down the healing process of your scars.
• When combing your hair, pay attention to being as gentle as possible and do not perform rough movements. Otherwise, you might damage your grafts. Try to do this at least for 3 or 4 weeks.
• Avoid extreme physical activities and swimming for a few weeks.
• Try getting enough rest and sleep to promote maximum healing.
• You might need pain killers, antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medications along the way. Always make sure that they are prescribed by your doctor or your doctor knows about them.

As with all hair transplantation procedures, your new hair will fall out two-three weeks following the procedure. This is completely normal and anticipated so you do not really need to panic. New hair will start growing after 3-4 months. It will take 8-12 months until your hairline reaches its desired shape.

How Long Will My Results Last?

Hair transplantation lasts for a life time if your results are successful. You will experience a shock loss where your transplanted hair is also shed but this will give way to the growth of new hair. So there is nothing to worry about when you experience shock loss after the surgery.

What Is the Cost of Afro Hair Transplant?

The cost depends on the clinic, on the doctor and other variants such as the country or the region. Whatever the cost, you must always choose an experienced surgeon in the area of Afro hair transplant for the best results.

Which One Is the Best Method for Afro Hair Transplant? FUT or FUE?

Doctors recommend FUT method due to the nature of African origin hair. It is usually curly and it keeps curling under the skin, therefore making the implantation process even harder for surgeons. Nevertheless, some patients might require FUE method if they have especially shorter hair to prevent scarring. African origin men usually have shorter hair.

Will I Be Able to Go Back to Work?

People are able to go back to their regular activities after 2 days. However, it also depends on your job. If you have a job which is especially challenging in the physical sense, you may want to extend this off time.

If the Best Method for Afro Hair Transplant Is Fut, Can I Have It in Every Clinic Then?

No. You can have FUE hair transplant performed by doctors but FUT needs to be performed by surgeons only. The clinic you choose must have an experienced, qualified surgeon who has licence to perform FUT method hair transplantation.

Are My Chronic Illnesses an Obstacle Between Me and My Hair Goals?

No. Hair transplantation operations are considered as safe. Although there is a risk for complications in every surgery, these are not very likely to happen. If they ever occur, you must contact your clinic right away and they will handle it.

What Are the Possible Risks and Complications?

In African origin patients, there is a risk of Keloid scar formations. This is usually a condition typically inherited by African descent people. The curly shape of the African descent hair might also lead to ingrown hairs or folliculitis (inflammation of the hair follicles). On the other hand, bleeding is one of the most common risks. Patients might experience a minor bleeding. Itching and certain infections might also follow. In such cases, your doctor will prescribe medications.

How Long Does the Afro Hair Transplant Take?

It usually takes between 5 and 8 hours. The time frame often depends on the amount of grafts.

Will It Be Painful? If So, Will I Be Sedated?

Most of the patients do not report a painful experience. This is due to the fact that hair transplantations are generally performed when the patient is under anaesthetic medications. You will not be fully sedated but you will be injected with local anaesthesia. Injections do not also cause much pain as reported by the patients.

When Can I Wash My Hair Again?

You should wait for a couple of days, if possible, a week. You must only use hair products that are prescribed by your doctor. It is also recommended to avoid extreme weather conditions, extreme physical exercises and extreme sunlight. These all can interfere with your healing process.