Does a hair transplant help prevent further balding?

[Derpicus]

I'm mainly asking because I had a consult today, and here's what I was told

"Basically you need to under stand that the hair loss is because of reduced blood supply secondary to the DHT effect. When we do hair transplant angiogenesis growth factor makes new blood vessels and as they are formed by hair if the permanent zone from your back area in the bald area so these vessels are permanent and they supply newly transplanted hair and already existing hair as well.
My advise is to have the hair transplant in the temples and restore your hairline so that this does not get worse so quickly."

This was for a FUE hair transplant, and what I got from it was that by getting one done while I'm at a early stage it'll help prevent balding. But I'm unsure if what he's told me is true.

[JoeTillman]

I'm mainly asking because I had a consult today, and here's what I was told

"Basically you need to under stand that the hair loss is because of reduced blood supply secondary to the DHT effect. When we do hair transplant angiogenesis growth factor makes new blood vessels and as they are formed by hair if the permanent zone from your back area in the bald area so these vessels are permanent and they supply newly transplanted hair and already existing hair as well.
My advise is to have the hair transplant in the temples and restore your hairline so that this does not get worse so quickly."

This was for a FUE hair transplant, and what I got from it was that by getting one done while I'm at a early stage it'll help prevent balding. But I'm unsure if what he's told me is true.

Who told you this?

When hair is transplanted to the recipient zone new blood vessels do indeed form but this is in response to the trauma of having existing blood vessels compromised by surgery. The blood supply is, to a degree, being rerouted. The scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body so blood supply is a non-issue.

To answer your question; the answer is no. Hair transplant surgery does not prevent future hair loss. In many cases, not only does hair transplant surgery not prevent further hair loss, it can in fact expedite additional hair loss due to follicular transection and overwhelming trauma for vellus hairs. That is why if you do a search you will find multiple, numerous examples of patients complaining of needing more hair surgery due to continued loss or permanent shock loss.

[k318]

sounds like you have been given bad advice there. To my knowledge:

1) having follicles transplanted will not initiate angiogenesis around existing hair follicles.

2) Even if it did it would not prevent further hair loss as many existing hair follicles will likely not be DHT resistant and thus will eventually miniaturise and you will lose that hair

This is why any reputable surgeon would advise that you go on medication (finasteride in particular) to prevent further loss in order to maximise the result you get.

You should get some more consults with reputable clinics so that you can determine the best path. Some patient coordinators on this site may be able to respond and advise you.

[Derpicus]

His name is Dr Wasim I. Sheikh MD. He works at NuImage Regina and he was going to be doing a Neograft FUE hair transplant if I did go through him. I should mention I am already on finasteride.

In response to Joe Tillman are there any sort of questions I should ask my surgeon? Is there a way to determine if I would suffer shock or trauma from the transplant? As I would really hate to go through such an expensive surgery just to end up losing more hair.

[JoeTillman]

Derpicus,

There is no way that future shock can be quantified but there is a gut feeling one gets from experience. It also has to do with how the recipient zone is prepared. If you have very low existing density then going in between existing hairs shouldn't be an issue thus shock loss, or at least any that is cosmetically significant, will be avoided. However, if you have fairly good existing density in the target recipient zone then shaving the recipient zone for a better field of view is one of the few things that can be done to prevent permanent shock loss. This allows the surgeon to see the angle of existing hairs so he/she can match those angles with the incisions thus avoiding transection which causes permanent shock loss (death) of native follicles. If you have any that are miniaturized due to DHT then they may be permanently lost due to the general trauma from the interruption of blood flow in the scalp but these are usually not a big contributor to the aesthetics of your hair to begin with. In other words, you won't notice if these hairs get knocked out.

Ask him the following questions:

1.) Why are there only three male patients in the online gallery?
2.) Since you've been performing hair restoration surgery for ten years, surely you have five patients that I can meet or speak with that can give testimony on their experience with you?
3.) What happens if I am not happy with the result? What will you do for me?
4.) Before you started using Neograft in 2013, how long had you been performing FUE?
5.) How many patients have you performed FUE on using the Neograft machine since you started in 2013?
6.) How many unsatisfied patients have you had in the past and what did you do to make them happy?
7.) I understand that the Neograft uses suction to remove the graft from the donor zone. Since the suction has to be rather intense to pull the graft out, what do you do to prevent desiccation?
8.) What causes shock loss and how do you prevent it?
9.) Who does the extraction, you or one of your technicians?
10) If you use technicians, how much experience do they have?

[Derpicus]

Just want to say thanks, those are great questions and a lot of them honestly slipped my mind. I'll be sure to ask him these questions and will try to keep this thread updated. I'm also sending online consultations to Hasson & Wong, as well as Rahal as I received a PM telling me they were great surgeons in Canada.

[JoeTillman]

Just want to say thanks, those are great questions and a lot of them honestly slipped my mind. I'll be sure to ask him these questions and will try to keep this thread updated. I'm also sending online consultations to Hasson & Wong, as well as Rahal as I received a PM telling me they were great surgeons in Canada.

Whomever sent you the pm was right. I have worked for both clinics and can attest to the quality work they both do. Dr. Wong was my surgeon for four procedures.