Hair Restoration

Losing one’s hair can be devastating to both a patient’s appearance and self-esteem. In the past 10 years, hair restoration for both women and men has undergone major advances. No longer does hair transplantation result in the obvious and unattractive “hair plug” appearance.

At the Johns Hopkins Center for Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, our physicians have studied the advancing techniques in hair restoration and even conduct research studies to develop better methods to improve success rates. Because our facial cosmetic surgeons focus on the face, they have the aesthetic experience to plan hair restoration so it looks natural and individual for each person.

Is hair restoration for you? The goal of hair restorations is to fill in or recreate the thinning hairline, as well as fill in patches on the scalp where hair loss is noticeable.
Important factors to be discussed with your surgeon include:

• Your skin and hair
• Ethnic background
• Age

Making the Decision for Hair Restoration

What you should expect:

1. During the preliminary consultation, your surgeon will take a thorough medical history, as well as assess the your mental and emotional attitudes toward hair restoration. Because a realistic attitude is crucial to the success of the procedure, realistic expectations will be discussed.
2. Your surgeon will examine your hairline and scalp and even may take a sample of your hair.
3. After the decision to proceed with hair restoration is made jointly by you and your surgeon, the surgeon will describe:
1. The technique indicated
2. The surgical facility
3. Possible complications
4. Costs of the procedure

The duration of the procedure depends on the number of hairs being transplanted, but on average takes 4 or 5 hours.

It can be performed in our office and is generally very well tolerated.

Understanding Hair Restoration

Following is a general description of the way hair restoration is performed by our expert cosmetic surgeons. Remember each patient’s individual needs are considered before your surgery. 

• With the use of mini- and micrografts (also known as follicular units) our surgeons can restore a more youthful hairline that looks completely natural. This same technique can be used to add volume to thinning hair in women.

What to Expect After Hair Restoration Surgery

Immediately after the procedure the sites of the transplanted hairs are visible as very small wounds. These heal quickly, and within a few days are no longer distinguishable from the surrounding skin. They can be camouflaged well by surrounding hair, if there is still some in the area. Patients are allowed to wear a loose-fitting cap is they like.

Follow-up Care
Follow-up care is vital for this procedure to monitor healing. Obviously, anything unusual should be reported to your surgeon immediately. It is essential that you keep your follow-up appointments with your surgeon. 

Our Maryland facial trauma surgeons offer innovative approaches to treating these post-traumatic deformities. Combining advanced craniofacial techniques with rapid prototyping technology and stereolithography corrective templates and models are made and used in pre-operative planning and intra-operative design of restorative surgery.