Regardless of your ethnicity or hair type, you will likely experience hair loss at some point in life. Men and women of all races and nationalities notice pattern balding due to various factors that trigger social anxiety and lack of confidence. Regardless of the causes, Care4Hair services patients of all ethnicities per the needs of their hair types and textures. Individuals of African or Caribbean descent often have curly or afro-textured hair that requires greater precision when transplanting. Afro hair is tightly curled and has a distinct C-shape that our doctor and his team of Miami hair specialists are equipped to restore and have done so for various African American and Afro-Caribbean patients to date.
Baldness And Hair Loss In African American And Afro-Caribbean Patients
While hair loss does not discriminate between ethnicities, individuals with afro-textured hair may be more likely to experience hair loss due to the natural fragility of their hair type. Other causes of hair loss in African American and Afro-Caribbean patients include:
Traction Alopecia: Traction alopecia is hair loss caused by repeatedly pulling on the hair. This form of hair loss affects one-third of African American or Afro-Caribbean patients who often apply constant heat to the hair or wear tightly braided styles, such as cornrows, dreadlocks, extensions, and weaves.
Androgenic Alopecia: Androgenic alopecia, also known as male and female pattern baldness, has a common genetic cause. Unfortunately, hair loss caused by pattern baldness is seldom reversible but can be remediated with a hair transplant.
Age & Hormonal Changes: Men typically begin to notice a receding hairline when they reach 50, while women suffer noticeable hair loss after menopause. Birth control pills, low thyroid function, nutrient deficiency, childbearing, and breastfeeding all affect hormones and result in thinning hair.
Sudden Weight Loss: When patients lose a significant amount of weight in a short time, the body experiences a shock to its system; this affects the hair growth cycle and causes hair loss and hair thinning.
Lifestyle Factors: Lifestyle factors such as smoking, poor diet, and high daily stress often aggravate hair loss. If carried out for long periods, hair loss caused by these factors will require hair transplant surgery to remediate fully.
Afro-Textured Hair Restoration Challenges
Human hair is divided into three broad ethnic groupings in surgical hair restoration: Asian, Caucasian, and African hair. Each class has distinct characteristics concerning diameter, density, shape, and growth pattern. When it comes to African American and Afro-Caribbean textured hair, its distinctive appearance and structure make graft extraction and transplantation challenging for inexperienced surgeons. The hair bulbs of curly hair can be damaged when the proper techniques are not utilized.
The shaft of afro-textured hair is thicker than other hair types, with the curl extending to the root. Therefore, the curvature of the root must be considered when removing donor tissue. Otherwise, the root will be damaged, and the transplantation will prove ineffective. The follicles must also be re-inserted carefully so that the new hair matches the surrounding hair when it re-grows; the angle at which they are embedded on the scalp determines the curl of the new hair growth.
Are you considering a hair transplant but still hesitating to take the next step? Dr. Golio will answer the most common questions about the typical hair transplant procedure in these videos.
Your Options For Ethnic And African-American Hair Transplant In Miami
If you have explored hair transplantation options, you might be familiar with the two primary hair restoration techniques: Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). The main difference between FUE and FUT is how the hair follicles are extracted from the donor area.
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Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)
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Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)
FUE is presently the more common technique for afro hair transplantation. The surgeon extracts individual hair follicles from the donor area rather than removing a section of skin. These follicles are then harvested into micro-incisions on the recipient areas of the scalp for permanent growth. The FUE technique leaves less visible hair transplant scarring and yields permanent results with a quicker recovery time.
The surgeon cuts a section of hair-bearing skin from the back of the head during a FUT. Since this incision is several inches long, it must be closed with stitches or staples. The surgeon then dissects the skin into separate follicular units that are transplanted individually into the recipient area. This method was preferred in the past but has been replaced by Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). Care4Hair performs the FUT hair transplant for specific patients who require it but with the advancement of FUE technologies, the FUE technique is a more viable option for an afro hair transplant.
While curly, textured hair presents some challenges during transplantation, patients of African ethnicity hold advantages when undergoing a hair transplant. They are excellent candidates for eyebrow and scalp hair transplants because the curly hair and minimal color contrast between scalp and hair yield more natural-looking results. Since curly hair creates the appearance of higher density, it takes fewer hair grafts to achieve visible results. Patients with afro-textured hair often have darker skin tones than their straight-haired counterparts. Therefore, they have a lower contrast between their scalp and hair, allowing the transplanted areas to blend much better.
Afro Hair Transplant Risks
There are other risks associated with an afro hair transplant surgery, such as:
Bleeding
Numbness
Itching
Swelling
The formation of cysts
African American and Afro-Caribbean patients are more at risk of developing keloid scars on the scalp as the punch marks from the FUE extraction heal. Keloids are benign growths that appear abruptly above the skin due to an extra production of collagen the body supplies to protect the wound. It is vital to disclose your entire medical history to the doctor during your initial consultation so he can inform you about the potential risks and evade any unnecessary complications.
Hair Transplant Recovery
The FUE technique is most commonly used in hair transplantation and requires a short recovery time. Within the first few days, patients may experience some redness, swelling, and discomfort at the transplantation site, which can be managed by prescribed pain medication and antibiotics.
The transplanted hair is expected to go through a “shedding phase” a few weeks after the procedure. The hair will fall due to the follicles entering a resting phase, the body’s natural response to the surgery. This release is standard and does not suggest that the FUE transplant failed to work; the grafts will maintain their health so long as the authorized aftercare steps are taken.
Permanent results become more noticeable after 3 to 4 months when new, healthy hair begins to grow in the recipient areas of the scalp. The majority of the new hairs will show in 5 to 6 months and will grow thicker and longer in 10 months. Final results should appear one year following the surgery.
African-American Hair Transplant Cost In Miami
The cost of a hair transplant at Care4Hair in Miami is not determined by differences in ethnicity or hair type but rather, by the necessary amount of grafts and hair transplantation technique needed to meet your specific hair restoration needs. The extent of your hair loss, the size of the coverage area, desired hair density, and other variables impact the number of grafts required, as well as which method is best suited for your procedure.
The average African American or Afro-Caribbean patient can expect to pay an average of $6.00 to $10.00USD per graft for an FUE hair transplant in the United States. Care4Hair charges an average of $2.00 to $3.50USD per graft. The overall amount of grafts you need will be determined by the surgeon at your first free consultation.
The best hair transplant candidates are patients with dense hair in the donor area. Patients 25 and over between 30-50 are usually excellent candidates since hair loss stabilizes then. Men without shaving bumps typically have a higher success rate when undergoing afro hair restoration surgery since the transplanted hair is not damaged as it grows. It is best to schedule a free consultation with Care4Hair’s specialists in Miami for personalized feedback regarding whether or not a hair transplant is right for you.
Ethnicity does not determine the number of sessions needed for your hair transplant procedure. Regardless of ethnic origin, every patient will require either one or multiple 2-4 hour sessions or one long 8+ hour session, depending on the scope of work.
The amount of procedures required depends on your personal goals and degree of hair loss. While some patients achieve a natural look with 500 grafts, others may require 2,000 grafts. The hair specialists will work with you to determine how many procedures you need to complete the ideal results.
Care4Hair administers a local anesthetic so your hair transplant procedure will not be painful.
In general, most patients can go back to work 24 to 36 hours after the procedure, depending on whether their job is physically strenuous or not. However, some patients prefer to take a week off to focus on the healing process entirely. There will be some initial swelling and discomfort in the recipient area a few days after the surgery. The donor zone will appear fully healed in about ten days as hair begins to grow again.
Since the harvested hair follicles are genetically programmed to keep growing, the results of an FUE hair transplant surgery are deemed to be permanent. An experienced hair restoration specialist like our doctor always enforces post-procedure care instructions for all his patients to ensure optimal results.
FUE hair transplants can be safely performed on a patient of any age. However, Care4Hair recommends patients be at least 25 before considering this procedure since hair loss is still fluctuating. Patients between 30 and 50 are considered optimal candidates since hair loss begins to stabilize at this age.
