A host of new treatments that show promise in improving healing and hair growth, as well as reducing the appearance of scarring will now be offered to our CIT (Cole Isolation Technique) patients. CIT is a non-strip hair transplant procedure invented, and performed exclusively, by John P. Cole, MD. These new treatment offerings include ACell’s MatriStem, PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), and micro-needling. All CIT patients are encouraged to take advantage of these promising new interventions.

ACell

ACell’s MatriStem regenerative medicine is creating huge buzz in the hair restoration industry. Matristem is a product that is primarily used to treat damaged tissue, and to minimize scar tissue formation. This FDA-approved technology encourages tissue formation at the site of damaged tissue. Unlike stem cell therapy, the use of MatriStem does not require the harvesting of tissue and is, therefore, much less costly than stem cell therapy. MatriStem will be used on CIT patients to significantly reduce patients’ post-op recovery time, permitting an even swifter return to daily activities. This product offers exciting promise to our hair transplant patients.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

PRP therapy involves the injection or topical application of plasma containing five times the amount of platelets found in circulating blood. PRP is derived from each patient’s own blood which is separated to form a high concentration of platelets containing over thirty growth factors. These factors have been shown to promote faster healing, collagen synthesis, and the formation of new blood vessels. When applied, PRP can enhance donor site wound healing, reduce donor scarring and enhance healing at the recipient site. We are exploring the possibility that PRP may help patients maintain their native hair, and possibly even improve graft yield following a hair transplant procedure. One study found that PRP treatment enhanced graft growth by as much as fifteen percent. Although we cannot predict the true value of these possibilities at this time, we are hopeful that we will uncover further benefits, such as these, with PRP therapy.

Micro-needling

Micro-needling is a collagen induction treatment that can be used to improve the appearance of scars. Tiny surgical steel needles on a hand-held roller are used to stimulate collagen production in the dermis layer (second layer of skin). Use of the roller causes collagen and elastin to be produced in the dermis as skin, and a small number of blood vessels, are pierced. Collagen and elsastin proteins directly improve the appearance of skin. This treatment will not typically cause swelling, and any trauma to the skin is minimal. Results from this process vary from patient to patient, but the treatment may be beneficial for patients with minor to extensive scarring in the donor area. Compared to other interventions, such as laser treatment, this process offers a much less expensive and invasive form of skin rejuvenation.

The Cole hair transplant group now offers Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) to his patients. Platelet rich plasma, (PRP) is derived from the patient’s own blood and is rich in growth factors. Because it is derived from the blood, it is termed autologous and is safe. It is a cell based therapy using the patients own growth factors. The growth factors are concentrated however. The concentration of platelets is increased often over 5 times their natural concentration. This results in a super concentration of beneficial growth factors. The benefits of this therapy have been understood for years in many disciplines of medicine, but only recently have they been applied to hair restoration surgery and hair restoration in general. There are numerous reports that PRP promotes faster healing, but it is still to early to say that it increases hair coverage or a higher yield of graft growth.
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If I’m not totally sure to have a hair transplant, what are some good resources to help understand the process?

Understanding the process is of the utmost importance when considering hair transplant surgery. Many men have wound up with less than desirable results due to lack of information and/or the sales techniques of unscrupulous clinics.
The forhair.com website is a good place to start. There is a voluminous amount of information there with which a person may educated themselves about hair transplantation, the various methods of “harvesting” the hairs for transplant, and also about expectations and outcomes of the procedure.
The non-surgical treatments for hair loss are also discussed at length; this website has more written information that most potential candidates could read in many weeks. The information is truthful, in depth and free from the slick marketing techniques of many clinics.

Check these Hair transplant information and resources:
Forhair.com–Hair Transplant Information
Forhair Hair Transplant Forum
Hair Transplant Guide
IAHRS.ORG
Hair Transplant Information on this site:
Hair Transplant On Hair Loss Press

Are many hairs transected as the surgeon makes extractions on the donor during hair transplantation?

Good question. The answer is that it varies wildly from surgeon to surgeon and clinic to clinic. We take great pride in having achieved some of the lowest transection rates in the hair transplant world.

Our transection rates with CIT are averaging less than 3% which is very low compared to the industry as a whole. Some published papers on FUE and other single graft harvesting techniques cite transection rates as high as 50 to 70% from their own clinics! This is a travesty, and should be mentioned only to be condemned. .

Single blade strip surgery has average initial transection rates (in our hands) of about 2%; again, it is all over the map depending upon the experience and expertise of the surgeon, and at least for strip, upon the experience and expertise of the surgical staff. One of the most important variables is the surgical technician staff; after the strip is harvested, the tissue is processed by these technicians. Their transection rates can range from 5% up to as much as 50% of the grafts, and is dependent on their training and skill. This is why quality control in a hair transplant practice is so very important (but unfortunately is not the norm by any means). In our practice, CIT has a lower transection rate <3% than strip; in strip cases, our technicians’ transection rates, plus the transection during harvest, averages 5%. So for us, even this relatively low strip transection exceeds our even lower CIT transection!
Remember that the training and expertise of hair transplant surgeons runs the gamut, from beginners with virtually no experience to speak of, to veterans with thousands of cases and thousands of quality results under their belts. However, there is one other factor that comes into play, which is standards. A physician may have years of experience, but set the standards in his practice very low. In this situation, sloppy work and poor technique, combined with minimal staff oversight and quality control, may produce high transection rates and other conditions that lead to mediocre results at best, and cosmetic disasters at worst.

We are proud of the high quality and dedication to excellence that we are known for!

I had hair transplant procedure a week ago and I’ve note that the hair is still growing in the grafts. Does this mean the hair has been accepted and that it will continue to grow?

Following hair transplantation hair in the grafts will continue to elongate for about 10 days. Some of this may be continued hair growth, but it also reflects a move toward anagen effluvium. In anagen effluvium the dermal sheath begins to contract and move toward the surface of the skin much like an accordion. This shortening of the dermal sheath will push the bulb of the hair shaft toward the surface of the skin. Therefore, some of the elongation of the hairs is not due to growing, but rather due to a contraction of the dermal sheath toward the skin surface.

Once the dermal sheath contracts, the hairs will either begin to shed on their own beginning in two to three weeks after the transplant. Some of the hairs will continue to rest on the surface of the skin for a prolonged period of time. Eventually the scalp skin will either begin to form a wall around the resting, non-growing hair, or the scalp will form a pustule or pimple like reaction that will eventually burst and the non-growing hair will exit the skin with the exudate from the pimple or cyst like structure.

It is probably a good idea to minimize the number of the cyst like structures that you get because they represent unnecessary inflammation. Inflammation may not always be a good thing. In theory inflammation might sometimes lead to an autoimmune response toward one’s own hair and this in turn may compromise future graft growth.

In order to minimize inflammation, we generally recommend that patients begin removing non-growing hair fragments beginning three weeks after the hair restoration procedure. The best way to manage this is to aggressively wash the scalp with soap and a wash cloth. Non-growing hair will come out easily like removing a pin from a soft stick of butter. Growing hairs on the other hand must be plucked and it takes a good bit of force to accomplish this.

Sometimes hairs do continue to grow following a hair transplant without ever going into the resting phase, but it is unlikely that you will see more than 10% go into the resting phase. It is far more likely that the hairs will shed. Occasionally hairs almost shed, but then continue to grow. We can easily recognize these hairs because they have a dark tip that is coarse followed by a narrow constriction that is of lighter color. This is followed by a gradual darkening of the hair shaft and increase in hair diameter once again. We call these hairs that exhibit signs of this trauma pol pinkus hairs and they are a sure sign of recently transplanted hairs that have continued to grow.