Close Up Photos: Hairlines and Hair Transplant Scars

DONOR SITE SCARS

Follicular unit grafting (FUG), where the grafts are obtained from a single donor strip, has earned its status as the gold standard in hair transplantation since the late 1990s. With this technique, every graft is dissected one at a time under the microscope by a team of assistants then planted into tiny incisions in the scalp. When performed artistically, the results are truly natural appearing.

It is only through the binocular microscopic slivering and dissecting of each graft that the patient can be assured that: there will be minimal to no scarring of the skin in the area of the transplants; as much as 30% more hair will grow due to the more careful and accurate process of the dissection (with rates of hair growth as high as 90% and greater); healing will be quicker (typically 6 to 7 days versus 10 or more days until the crusting completely falls off); only 1 hair grafts will grow along the hairline; and, the overall result will be more natural because hairs will continue to grow in their natural state of follicular units.

The one purported disadvantage of FUG is that it results in a big visible donor site scar. The reality is that, for over 90% of our patients, by closing the donor site scar using plastic surgery techniques, the donor site scar is 2 mm in width or narrower. This permits the hair to be trimmed for most patients with as short as a #3, sometimes a #2, razor. One important recent modification to the scar closure technique, is what Dr. Epstein has named the HITS (Hair Induction Through the Scar) technique . This technique, which represents the application of a refined plastic surgery method for closing browlift incisions, facilitates hair growth through the scar, making it less detectable.

You can see many examples of typical donor site scars in the photo gallery below. While no one can be guaranteed of having such excellent results, for the great majority of my patients these are what they obtain.

You can also read about the differences between FUG and FUE (follicular unit extraction) by clicking HERE.

Part 1: Close up photos of hair transplant scars. Part 2: Close up photos of hairlines

You may click the magnifying glass for each photo to view a close up. You may
also view close up hair transplant hairline photos, as well as close up hair transplant scar photos.