5 Steps to Increased Confidence
  The Decision
  Preparing for Surgery
  The Concept
  The Donor Area
  The Recipient Area


  Introduction
  Post-Op Redness
  Pimples
  Shedding of Grafts
  Removing the Staples or Sutures

As your follicular units are being separated from the donor area, the surgeon now begins to prepare the recipient area. A saline solution, containing local anesthetic and epinephrine, is injected into the area, to "plump up" the scalp; this makes it less likely for the needles and scalpel blades to lacerate blood vessels below the layer of the hair bulbs, and thus interfere with nourishment to the new grafts. Further, this also diminishes the amount of bleeding that may occur. As the local anesthetic begins to take effect, the recipient area obviously becomes numb. Many patients have described the sensation as if they were wearing a helmet. You quickly adjust to the feeling in a matter of minutes.

The surgeon will then proceed with the creation of the recipient sites where the grafts will be placed. The sites are created utilizing tiny scalpels (these tools may vary from surgeon to surgeon as many have invented their own devices) and incisions are made in the pre-determined areas. The size of the incision will depend on the angle and size of the graft to be placed. Some surgeons will ask you to hold on to a counting device and click the counter each time 100 incisions have been made. This allows for the surgeon to keep an accurate count so that the number of grafts prepared will be an exact match to the number of recipient sites created.

Once the surgeon has created the necessary sites, surgical assistants will then take over and strategically place each graft in a determined position and angle that will provide the patient with a natural looking result. At this point, you are literally relaxing and watching a movie and chatting with the assistants.

At the end of the procedure, the surgeon will usually come back and review the final results to ensure everything went according to plan. Post-op instructions are then provided and the healing process begins.