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New Technology May Limit Hair Transplant Scarring
For many men, hair loss continues to be a traumatizing problem. While there are medications, Propecia and Rogaine does not work for everyone. And surprisingly not very many men opt for getting a hair transplant. This is because the surgery has a bad reputation for leaving nasty scars and are not necessarily effective in stopping hair loss. But there might be a new hair transplant technique that will involve minimal scarring.
Dr. Carlos Wesley is a hair restoration surgeon with an office in Manhattan. For the past few years he has been using his own time and money to develop a new machine that can take hair follicles out from underneath the scalp. Right now, the common method for hair transplants involve quite a bit of scarring. Although better than the heavily scarring techniques used in the 1980s and 90s, the current Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) method still leaves visible marks. FUE involves punching holes in the scalp to remove donor follicles. These holes become permanent scars than can stretch and look noticeable. The FUE method also isn’t extremely precise and can damage the hair follicles being extracted causing part of the transplant to fail.
The Piloscope
Dr. Wesley has developed a machine he calls the piloscope which is capable of extracting hair follicles from underneath the scalp instead of punching holes in the scalp. He does this by making a tiny incision on the back of the patient’s head and then inserting the piloscope’s arm into the incision to extract hair follicles. In comparison to the FUE method, the scalp looks virtually untouched with just a tiny incision that can easily be covered up by hair.
Even so this method isn’t perfect. Like other hair transplant procedures that take donor follicles from the back of the scalp, not too many follicles can be taken out before noticeable gaps in the hair appear. Also some veteran hair transplant surgeons are raising doubts about the ability to reach enough hair follicles with such a small incision. One points out that if multiple incisions are needed, then it defeats the scar-minimization purpose of the piloscope. Therefore this procedure isn’t for those with large areas of hair loss.
The procedure won’t be cheap. Dr. Wesley estimates that it could cost around $20,000 out of pocket but for many this life-changing procedure is worth every penny. Although he just announced the piloscope at a conference in October, over 1,000 people have already called his office to volunteer for the next clinical trial. Dr. Wesley himself says that he hopes to have the piloscope widely available to hair transplant surgeons by 2016.
To learn more about the latest hair restoration techniques and surgeries visit hairlossspecialists.com. If you or anyone one you know is suffering from hair loss and would like more information on restorative options, please contact us today to set up a private consultation with a qualified specialist near you.
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