SmartGraft Hair Transplantation

We take our full head of hair for granted when we’re young. Then one day, it suddenly seems we have either a bald spot at the back of the crown or widow’s peaks that rise higher and higher. Men seem to lose hair broadly, while women tend to see overall thinning, mostly across their frontal and temporal hairlines.

Solutions for balding have been ineffective at best, unsightly at worst — creams that may, marginally, grow hair; prescription drugs that only slow hair loss and have side effects; non-surgical hair restoration with PRP therapy; and surgical transplantation that creates an unsightly scar across the back of the head.

Now Dr. Petropoulos offers SmartGraft FUE hair transplantation. SmartGraft is the most advanced transplantation method available, with the highest success rates, and it naturally gives patients back a fuller head of hair.

What is SmartGraft hair transplantation?

Formerly, hair transplantation required that an extensive patch of scalp with hair be taken from the lower back of the head. Once the strip was surgically removed, the remaining skin was stretched back together and stitched closed. As you would imagine, this left a long scar at the closure line. Hair wasn’t able to grow there, so the scar was very visible, especially when doing things like swimming. Plus, the transplanted strip on the balding area didn’t look like natural hair growth. It looked more like a strip of sod.

Those days are over thanks to follicular unit extraction (FUE). In FUE, hair follicles are removed and transplanted one by one. After extensive research, Dr. Petropoulos chose the SmartGraft system of follicular unit extraction and subsequent transplantation to achieve the most natural-looking results with the highest hair viability success rates on the market today due to the ingenious intricacies of the SmartGraft System. Like NeoGraft, SmartGraft extracts one hair at a time (FUE), however, what sets SmartGraft apart and allows it to boast the highest hair survival rates on the market, is that SmartGraft keeps all its harvested hairs in a safe, nurturing environment before they are transplanted, rather than letting them dry out. This is temperature controlled and humidity controlled. Hence they demonstrate the highest survival rates. Also, the SmartGraft System keeps track of each and every hair that is transplanted.

Would I be a good candidate for hair transplantation?

Patients seeking FUE transplantation need to have an ample supply of functioning hair follicles on the lower back of the scalp. This is the area where the healthy follicles will be harvested for transplantation to the balding/thinning areas. These hairs from the back of the head (occipital area) are to be resistant to hormonal influences and subsequent balding.

What causes hair loss in men and women?

Hair loss is a fact of life for most men, especially as they get older. By around the age of 50, 85 percent of men will have some form of thinning hair or hair loss. Male pattern baldness is genetically driven and accounts for about 95 percent of hair loss in men. Medications such as finasteride and minoxidil can reduce hair loss in around 85 percent of people. But this does little for those who already have bald spots or a receding hairline. Plus many patients using these solutions undergo a massive hair loss for 6 months before their hair grows back.

When the term “hair loss” comes up, most people think of men. However, about 40 percent of people dealing with hair loss are women, an estimated 30 million American women. Unlike men, it’s rare for women to experience complete baldness. Instead, most women lose hair over the temples, frontal hairline or crown of the head, usually a slow thinning. Stress, birth control pills, childbirth, and alopecia are among the causes of hair loss in women.

How is FUE transplantation done?

You’ll arrive in the morning and meet with Dr. Petropoulos and her team, who will describe the entire procedure for you again, and answer any new questions you might have.

You may be provided with a light sedative. Next, local anesthetic will be provided to the donor area at the back of your head.

Then the SmartGraft device is used to gently remove the individual hair follicles one by one from the donor area. Each follicle has from 1-4 hairs in it. The SmartGraft device enables Dr. Petropoulos to immediately collect, sort, count, and store each graft in a sterile, temperature controlled and hydrated environment prior to implantation. The SmartGraft system thus ensures a high graft survival rate.

After the desired amount of hair has been harvested, the transplant recipient area is then locally anesthetized. This is the area that you and the Hair Transplant Expert Team had marked together at the very beginning. One hair follicle at a time is transplanted using the device.

It first creates holes for the donor follicles. A scalpel isn’t needed for this step. The hairs are then inserted into these holes. The system ensures the hairs will be placed at the right depth and the correct natural angle. Your transplantation procedure will take around five to six hours. You will go home thereafter and may return to normal social life after 2 days.

What are the advantages of the SmartGraft method of hair restoration?

SmartGraft has advantages over other restoration devices:

• It gives you better results in less time.
• It’s ideal for both men and women.
• SmartGraft has the highest hair viability rates on the market.
• It allows Dr. Petropoulos to implant hair grafts in just the right spots, easily.
• It can be used to harvest grafts from other parts of the body, such as the chest, back, and face, if needed.
• SmartGraft provides great results for eyebrows.

When will the hair start to grow on its own?

Your transplanted hair is very likely to fall out soon after the treatment over the next two to three weeks. This can be discouraging, but it is totally natural.

This doesn’t mean transplantation failed; it simply is a reaction to the trauma of transplantation. The follicles that survive (usually around 90 percent) will then fully take and will return to the anagen (growth) phase in 3-4 months. As the anagen cycle continues, hair will grow naturally through these transplanted follicles.

Will my hair look natural after transplantation?

Fully functioning hair follicles are transplanted to your balding areas. As mentioned earlier, these occipital follicles are not susceptible to the reasons that caused your balding, so they will grow hair normally which will be your natural scalp hair. This new hair will thus be immune to future balding.

Dr. Petropoulos and her Hair Transplant Team achieve the most natural results by ensuring to place the angle of the implanted hair in a natural way for each particular area and also taking care to follow the pattern of a natural hairline.

recovery after SmartGraft transplantation

Recovery is easy. There might be mild discomfort around the donor or recipient sites, and occasionally patients take a regular Tylenol for it. Both the donor sites and the transplant sites heal quickly and most people go back to work between 1 – 3 days

You may wash your hair in three days after your procedure. We’ll show you how to wash the transplanted area with water to keep the recipient area clean and to stop it from developing crusts on the implanted follicles; it’s important not to rub the follicles and not to use a towel to dry the area. And…. you are on your way to new youthful hair! Enjoy!

Schedule A Consultation

If you are interested in hair restoration with SmartGraft, call (978) 739-9500 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Petropoulos at our office serving Danvers MA, Boston, and surrounding areas.