FAQ

1. Why choose Ultragreffe?
Doctor David Clas is the only Montreal area hair transplant surgeon who will personally perform every step of the transplant procedure. All hair transplants are performed by Dr Clas himself who will be intimately involved with each patient’s care from initial consultation to the postoperative care. Unlike in most other clinics, Doctor David Clas is a board certified surgeon and he is capable of performing every step of the transplant procedure. Doctor Clas will personally evaluate every patient and perform each hair transplant procedure himself. You will not meet with any salesmen or middlemen. Doctor Clas will personally control every step of your procedure. He will obtain your grafts using the latest and best techniques. He will dissect a significant number of follicular units. Doctor Clas will personally make every graft site to control placement, density and angle of every single hair. This personal involvement will result in a better transplant. We pride ourselves in the quality of our scars and the finesse of our transplants.

2. Will it be possible for others to see that I have had a hair transplant?
A successful hair transplant cannot be identified. Even your hairdresser may not know that you have had a hair transplant. The transplanted hairs are your hair, they are identical in appearance and texture to your remaining hair, and will blend in with your remaining hair. In some patients, a careful examination of the scalp will reveal the scars from the donor sites. Of course, your friends who know you well will wonder why you have more hairs! Some patients clip their hair very short after their transplant so that their new hair growth will be hidden with the regrowth of their other hairs.

3. Will I need any special care after a hair transplant?
No special care is required. Transplanted hairs are your hair. They are natural and will remain in place for the rest of your life. You can wash, blow dry, cut, style and colour as you chose. You will be freed for life from worries about hair loss.

4. Am I a good candidate for a hair transplant?
Almost all men and women can be candidates for hair transplants. Your health, age and distribution of hair loss and remaining hair must be considered before planning a hair transplant. Some men with extensive hair loss and small donor areas need to have realistic goals about how much hair can be transplanted. Similarly, some women with generalized hair loss must accept some constraints in the types of hair styles they can latter use. We tend to avoid transplanting patients younger than 25 years old because of concerns about the magnitude of their future hair loss. Your must remember that hair transplantation does not increase the number of hairs that you have; it only redistributes them to where they help you the most.

5. Are hair transplants permanent?
Yes, hair transplantation is permanent. Even the baldest man still has some residual hair at the back of his head. These hairs are permanent. This is why we use these hairs in transplantation.

6. Will my hair transplant be painful?
In general, there is little pain. During the first injections of local anaesthesia, you may feel some slight burning pain. Doctor Clas will use several techniques to maximally decrease your discomfort.

7. Will there be a scar?
There will be a small crust that forms at each graft site. These will be visible until they fall off about ten days after the transplant. Once the crusts fall off, there will not be any visible scarring. Scars at the donor site will be easily hidden by your hairs. There will be either a linear scar or multiple round scars at the back of your head. A careful examination of your scalp will be necessary to see these scars.

8. How long does the hair transplant procedure last?
The length of the operation will depend on the number and difficulty of your transplant. Most cases will be performed in four to six hours. Large megasessions or complex cases can take longer.

9. How many hairs will I need?
The number of hairs that you need will depend on the size of the bald area that must be covered and the appearance that you desire. We will determine the number hairs that you will need during your evaluation. Patients will require a hair transplant of at least 500 follicular units or about 1000 hairs in order to make a difference in their appearance. Most patients will require 1000 to 2000 follicular units to restore their hair. There is a limit to how long a patient can remain in a chair for his transplant. Multiple sessions may be required in order to cover an extensive area. Multiple sessions may also be required in order to achieve high density of hair. Your budget must also be considered when planning your hair restoration procedure. Doctor Clas will discuss this with you when planning your operation.

10. When can I return to my activities?
The day following your hair transplant we recommend that you plan a slow day. After that, you can undertake your usual activities. You should not undertake any vigorous activities for about a week after your transplant.

11. Will the transplanted hair grow right away?
The transplanted hairs will fall out in most patients about one month after the transplant procedure. It is actually the hair roots that are being transplanted. New hairs will start to grow and take about three months to be visible to you in a mirror. Most new hairs will be visible by about six months. By ten to twelve months after your transplant, almost all new hairs will have grown.

12. Will I be able to have other hair transplants later?
Most patients can have multiple transplants. You may need another transplant because you want a fuller appearance or because your hair loss progresses with time. The laxity of your scalp and the size of your donor area will determine how many transplants your can safely undergo over the years.

13. Must I use Rogaine or Propecia?
Transplanted hairs are permanent and require no medications to keep growing. This is not true for your remaining hair. Hair loss is an ongoing process. The use of medications can slow future hair loss. We strongly recommend combination medical therapy for most of our patients.

14. Are there any complications of hair transplants?
Complications are very rare following hair transplantation. The most common complication is swelling of the forehead or around the eyes. This is not dangerous. It is simply water that appears in the tissues after two or three days and will last two to three days. It is important to keep your head elevated during the first week after your transplant. There can occasionally be bleeding from a graft site or the donor site. Applying pressure with a clean paper towel will stop the bleeding. Some patients have numbness around the donor site or the graft sites. This will return to normal after several weeks. Rarely, some patients can develop little cysts from ingrown hair follicles. You can pinch these to express the hair or come see us and we will treat them for you. Very rarely, there can be multiple cysts. These may require antibiotics. You must call us at any time should you experience the slightest problem.

15. Are lasers useful in hair transplantation?
Lasers were popular over ten years ago. They were used to create hair follicle insertion sites in the transplanted area. At the time, it was claimed that they were faster than micro slits and that they caused less bleeding. Lasers decrease bleeding by cauterising or burning tissue. Lasers rapidly fell out of favour for several reasons. Hair density and growth are lower with lasers than with micro slits. Lasers can cause areas of dead skin (necrosis) if the hair follicles are placed very close together. The manufacturers of these lasers no longer market them.

16. Is there an advantage to Follicular unit extraction (FUE) versus Follicular unit strip excision (FUS)?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both procedures. These terms are used to describe two techniques commonly utilized to produce follicular unit grafts. Once the grafts are obtained, the technique used to implant them is identical with both procedures. Follicular unit extraction FUE) uses small 0.7 to 1.0 mm punches in order to individually extract follicular units. Follicular unit strip (FUS) involves removing a strip of scalp. Both procedures leave scars, hundreds of small circular scars for FUE; one linear scar for FUS. FUE takes two to three times longer and is usually twice more expensive than FUS. Follicular unit extraction sessions are generally limited to less than 500 follicular unit grafts, while FUS will routinely produce over 2000 follicular unit grafts. There is substantially less growth after FUE than FUS. Follicular unit extraction is appropriate for smaller cases, or when the scalp is no longer sufficiently loose to allow for Follicular unit strip excision. Follicular unit strip excision is the best choice when a large amount of hair needs to be grafted. Dr Clas will discuss these options with you during your evaluation.

17. Is there such a thing as a non invasive hair transplant?
In medicine, non invasive means that the skin is not penetrated or cut. Some clinics claim that they perform noninvasive hair transplants. Other clinics claim that their procedure is scalpl free. We feel that these statements are misleading. The term “non invasive” is used to describe follicular unit extraction or FUE. Follicular unit extraction is not performed by excising a strip of scalp as in a standard hair restoration procedure. Instead, small punches are inserted into the scalp in order to individually remove hair follicles. This is definitely invasive. Furthermore, exactly as in standard hair restoration, small slits need to be created to place these follicles where you need them. These slits can be made with special scalpl blades or with needles. Again, this is definitely invasive. Instead of one linear scar at the back of the head, there will be hundreds to thousands of individual punch scars. There is no such thing as a non invasive hair transplantation. All follicular unit hair transplantation, whether follicular unit extraction or follicular unit strip extraction is minimally invasive surgery.