Hair Restoration FAQs
Hair loss is tough for most people. Every day, you are watching how you care and style your hair to reduce the risk of causing more hair loss. This creates an emotional and psychological toll. It affects confidence.
We are here to help you restore your confidence, one strand at a time.
While there are no miracles for hair restoration, we do have more options available today than ever before.
I have answered the top questions we get asked in our consultations.
This depends on the cause of your hair loss, your health, your comfort with taking medication, and your ability to use more cutting-edge solutions (such as low light laser therapy or PRP injections).
No one treatment is better than the rest. However, only hair transplants can provide a permanent increase in hair density in areas of hair loss. All other options are limited by time and have to be continued indefinitely in order to keep any effect they have had on your hair density/growth.
I tell patients that everything in hair restoration takes time.
Our number one goal is to first stop the ongoing loss; that is called hair stabilization. Most treatments that give hair stabilization also lead to an improvement in the hair quality that is present. Our second goal is to recover and restore hair. This is basically bringing back hair follicles to their full ability, supporting multiple strong hair fibres. Most treatments will achieve hair stabilization within 1-3 months, whereas hair regrowth can take 6-12 months to see the full effects of the treatment.
A hair transplant will initially have a few weeks to months where the hairs seem to be just starting out, as thin soft new hairs, but these will gradually be replaced by the full thickness hairs by 6-12 months. The new growth will come in gradually and naturally.
For all treatments other than hair transplants, you can expect to improve the density and hair that is currently present. In some areas, follicles that were empty and close to dying out will recover and start growing hairs again. However, in areas where your scalp is shiny and smooth, most treatments will not recover much in these regions.
In hair transplants, the results depend on where we transplant and how many follicular units (FU) that we transplant. Generally, if we are recreating your front hair line, we will ensure that the hair line is appropriate for your age, sex, and ethnicity. Yes, hair lines do vary depending on all those factors. We ensure your hairline looks very natural, to the point where only a trained professional can tell that you have had hair transplanted. Immediately following hair transplant surgery, the newly transplanted hairs are small and need some time to recover and start growing again. We have over 98% survival of the hair grafts that we transplant. Within the first few months, the new hair is soft and downy, and is gradually replaced by strong, thick, resilient hairs. While everyone heals at different rates, most people will appreciate their new hair growth and density by 9 months post-operatively.
FOR LOW LEVEL LIGHT THERAPY – CAPILLUS LASER CAP, LASERCAP LC, OR IN HOUSE LASER THERAPY:
You generally follow the simple treatment schedule over the first 6- 12 months to see the results. This usually starts with more frequent treatments initially and tapers off towards the end of the year.
FOR PLATELET-RICH PLASMA TREATMENTS:
Usually 3 PRP injection sessions are done in the first 3 months. Results are maintained by doing one PRP session every 6 months afterwards.
FOR HAIR TRANSPLANTS:
Many people will only need one session to restore their hair. However, it is important to also work with Dr Pinette to find options to save your native hairs. If we transplant new resilient hair into the area, you still have your native hair in the area that is prone to loss over time. We need to save the old to complement the new. If you have a transplant but continue to gradually lose your native hairs, you may need another transplant in the future.
Depending on the degree of thinning or baldness, you might need more than one session right off the start, and this will be discussed at your initial consultation. We continue to follow-up with you after our transplant and we will reassess as we see your regrowth. Sometimes, our clients’ goals are to have a higher density or greater coverage from the transplant and that can require more than one session to do it safely and effectively. However, most times this can only be decided after we see the full results of the first transplant.
All hair restoration treatments will require maintenance in order to keep the results you have achieved and to prevent ongoing hair loss. If you stop the treatment, over time your scalp will again be affected by the genetic factors that cause hair loss and you will gradually lose hair again.
Hair transplant is the only permanent solution as we take resilient hairs from the posterior (back) scalp that are resistant to the genetic factors that cause hair loss. When these follicles are transplanted, they keep their resistance to hair loss and thus make up permanent hairs.
Hair Transplant FAQs
FUT is Follicular Unit Transplant. This is usually the term used for the strip harvest method. We take a thin strip of your best hair in the posterior (back) of scalp and close this area up with stitches. This leaves a thin scar at the back of the scalp when it heals, about as thin as a couple playing cards stacked on top of each other. We do not need to shave your head for this transplant and your hair can easily cover the harvest area so you are able to go out and about within a couple days and the stitches are covered up. FUT allows us to harvest the most hairs possible from the best density hair. Few hairs are damaged with this harvest technique, thus you get a great number of hairs that survive the transplant to the scalp (over 98%). This is the technique Dr Pinette and his team do at Pinette Hair Restoration Clinic.
FUE is Follicular Unit Extraction. This technique involves shaving the hair to the scalp and harvesting hair from a larger portion of the posterior (back) of the scalp. Harvesting of follicles is done by many small punch biopsies that each leave a tiny round scar behind. When your hair grows back, the small scars are not easily seen but it does take a week or two for the hair to grow beyond the scars. This technique can lead to more damaged follicles during the extraction process and the biopsies are often harvested from outside of the “safe zone”, which is the area where the hair is most resilient to loss in the future. Transplanted hairs have a high survival rate but more will be damaged during the harvest. Dr Pinette has trained in the FUE method as well but only offers FUT at this time.
Dr Pinette is happy to discuss the pros and cons of each method with you during your consultation.
At Pinette Hair Restoration Clinic, we take the time to carefully review how to prepare for your transplant, what you can expect on surgery day, and a step-by-step guide on how to care for your transplants afterwards. You will be given written instructions on all this advice as well. We generally like to meet with you 2-4 weeks prior to your surgical date to review all this information.
No. You can only use your own hair follicles to transplant.
Depending on the number of grafts, your procedure can take anywhere from 4-8 hours from the time you walk through the door to the time you leave. You will not be able to drive or work immediately afterwards. We recommend you take a day to rest and recuperate after the procedure to avoid any issues.
Hair transplant is relatively non-invasive and you can potentially return to work the next day. However, during your surgery, we often give you some medication to help you relax during the day, and it is often good to take the next day off to rest, relax, and heal.
During your pre-operative appointment, Dr Pinette and his team will review what you can expect and ask about your job to see when a return to work would be ideal. For example, people that work from home and are not exerting themselves to vigorously, might return to work within 1-2 days. Whereas, a physically demanding job may require 1-2 weeks before a return to full duties.
Our technique generally leaves a fine thin scar. It might be as thick as a couple playing cards stacked on each other. It is not usually noticeable once you have grown your hair after the procedure.
Each case is different and depends on the amount of scalp we need to cover and how many grafts we will need. The best way to determine overall cost is to come in to see Dr Pinette for a free, confidential consultation. We do have payment plans available as well.
This depends on the patient and how extensive the hair loss is. Many patients will only need one surgery. Others may need a couple. The limiting factors are usually how elastic (lax) your scalp is and how dense your hair donor area is. 85% of patients require one procedure.
The discomfort is minimal. Dr Pinette takes care to carefully numb the scalp with local anaesthetic before each step of the procedure and your comfort is our priority. You are given some mild sedatives which helps to you to have a relaxed comfortable procedure. Afterwards, we provide you with all the medication you will need afterwards to help with any discomfort or swelling. Some liken the discomfort afterwards to a mild headache and improves over the first few days.
Hair transplants use your own hair to naturally create your look and style from years earlier. There are only mild side effects such as light headache and minor bleeding.
Hair transplants are not connected to any serious risk although with any medical procedure, there is some inherent risk. Dr Pinette will carefully review pre-operative and post-operative instructions with you and provide written instructions so that you can get the best possible results. Dr Pinette guarantees his work, so if there is an issue, the doctor will correct it.
Women can be excellent candidates for hair transplants. Like men, it depends on the severity of the hair loss and the amount of hair in the donor area. We have worked with many women suffering from hair loss to change their lives for the better.
We take doctor/patient confidentiality seriously. Dr Pinette has your best interests at heart. All consultation and procedures are bound by this confidentiality and our entire team adheres to this strict confidentiality.