Is there any options for growing hair through my scar tissue? (Photo)

Question

I am 27 years old and I had a head accident when i was 5 years old and I have severe scar tissue on both sides of my head. They had to do a skull reconstruction. My hair grows slowly as it is but in my bald areas it grows really thin then breaks and falls out. I've tried lots of OTC hair growth solutions and the rest of my hair grows but not where I want it to. Also i would like to know what the average prices are in Arkansas on any options you offer. Please Help Me.

Alan Bauman, MD · Answer

Provided there is adequate blood supply to the area, in our experience, hair transplantation is a viable option to improve coverage to your scarred areas. Hair transplants into scar tissue due to trauma and injuries is a common request at our practice. Recently, we successfully performed this type of comfortable procedure on a 14 year-old who had a scar from a birth-defect--all while he sat awake and watched cartoons! In these types of cases we redistribute hair follicles from areas of high density into the scarred areas using a no-scalpel/no-stitch Follicular Unit Extraction method. General anesthesia is not needed in these cases.As suggested by other expert hair transplant surgeons, a small "test" procedure using a minimally-invasive FUE approach may be a smart idea to determine if a larger procedure would be likely to succeed. Keep in mind that there are significantly greater risks associated with the more invasive scalp reduction procedures as described in books from more than twenty years ago. Risks of these types of procedures using painful tissue expanders, flaps, large wounds, staples, stitches, multiple visits, infections requiring hospitalization and other complications will be described in the doctor's Informed Consent paperwork (which you should ask to read prior to deciding to have your procedure). Also, if that scalp reduction/flap/expander type of procedure fails (which has been known to happen) the ability to transplant becomes significantly reduced or impossible.Many changes like minimally-invasive hair transplants, board-certification specifically for hair restoration surgeons and numerous other changes have occurred in the field over the past few decades, so do your homework when choosing a surgeon or procedure.[Also, many surgeons may do these types of injury-reconstructions "ProBono" (free) or at a reduced rate so you may want to ask about that.]Good Luck!Sincerely,Dr. Bauman

John Peter Cole, MD · Answer

Your question is whether hair transplants grow well in scar tissue.  The answer is, yes.  Hair transplants perform fantastic in scar tissue.  It is probably better to begin with a lower density in scar tissue initially to recruit better circulation to the scar and if necessary do a second procedure later on.The first question is what is going on in your case.  If you hair grows to a certain length and then breaks, the most common reason is the mechanical and chemical trauma.  Mechanical can be from the way you style your hair, excessive combing, blow drying, etc.  Chemical results from shampooing, coloring, and products you use.  Even sunlight can damage hair.  Then there is also the possibility that the trauma you had as a child caused all of this scar tissue as you call it or you may have a different kind of hair loss due to medical reasons.  The next question is how much hair loss you have.  If you do not have much hair loss, you are not a candidate for hair transplants because you need to donate from one area to treat another area.  If you do not have hair to donate from one area to another area, you are not a candidate for hair transplants.  The first thing you need to do is see someone who can diagnose your problem and give you an idea of what is remaining in the donor area.  I recommend that you see Dow Stough, MD in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Finally, it is ridiculous to believe that tissue expansion increases the donor area or is the best way to solve your problem.  Tissue expansion is an aggressive procedure that can leave terrible scarring.  This does not improve your ability to cover scars because it does not increase the hair you have on your head.  Some would like you to believe that tissue expansion is magic, but it's not.  The most serious complications I've seen were those created by physicians who do aggressive surgery like this.  One certainly does not make a diagnosis and recommendation for an aggressive procedure like this over the internet.  You would need an in person evaluation to even consider a solution like this.  If you have a scarring alopecia or cicatricial alopecia, you should not have any form of surgery.  Go see Dow Stough.  He is an expert in treating hair loss.  He can give you a good idea of what your options area.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

U will not do well with transplants. For more than30 years we developed tissue expansion for defects as large as yours. We have used this on several thousand patients using tissue expansion. I need to see how much good hairbearingscalp remains. We wrote a textbook on this for plastic surgeons called Aesthetic and Reconstuctive Surgery of the Scalp.

Kapil Dua, MBBS, MS · Answer

See it is very difficult to suggest what is going wrong in your case & why the hair are falling out. There is a need to assess the same through a skin biopsy  & physical examination (donor & recipient side) as why your hair grow & break. I think after a physical examination and ruling out other problems, you can get a trial of 200 grafts hair transplant in the area and wait for results; thereon decide for complete sessions.

Ali Emre Karadeniz, MD · Answer

Surgical treatment options in traumatic cicatricial alopecia is to either transplant hair on the area, which could be chosen if the skin quality is good enough, or when the skin is severely fibrotic and thin, then a scalp reconstruction using tissue expanders. The latter technique is based on placing inflatable silicone implants under the health scalp, gradually inflating them by injecting saline, and when the skin is expanded enough similar to what happens in pregnancy, the implants and diseased skin are surgically removed and the extra hairy scalp recruited by the expansion is used to the cover the area. This is a multistage procedure that takes about a year to complete.

Is there any options for growing hair through my scar tissue? (Photo)

Answers (6)

Answer: The hair are falling

Answer: The hair are falling

Answer: Treatment Options in Traumatic Cicatricial Alopecia

Answer: Treatment Options in Traumatic Cicatricial Alopecia

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Is there any options for growing hair through my scar tissue? (Photo)

Answers (6)

Answer: The hair are falling

Answer: The hair are falling

Answer: Treatment Options in Traumatic Cicatricial Alopecia

Answer: Treatment Options in Traumatic Cicatricial Alopecia

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Hair Loss Treatment

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.