Srinagar, Mar 19: The Department of Dermatology and STD, Government Medical College here has achieved a major success by undertaking hair transplantation of nearly 400 patients with 100 per cent success rate, the officials claimed. 
 Giving details, the Head of the Department, Prof Qazi Masood, said the hair transplantation was started in SMHS, an associated hospital of GMC five years ago.
 “We received frequent patients suffering from male pattern baldness in early age with lot of distress and decided to start the procedure,” Prof Qazi said adding for some patients, getting hair transplantation done in private clinics and hospitals was impossible due to lack of finances.
 He said the hair transplantation was a surgical technique involving moving individual hair follicles from one part of his body (donor site) to bald or balding parts (recipient site). He said the Department started transplantation through strip harvesting.
 “In this process, a strip of scalp is removed under local anesthesia, the wound is then sutured back together and the piece of scalp tissue is then cut into small pieces of tissue called grafts which are then transplanted back into the thinning area of patient’s head. This method leaves a scar in the donor area, which should be covered by a patient’s hair (if long),” he added. 
 Prof. Qazi Masood said the Department later started hair transplantation through much more painless procedure referred as hair harvesting by punch technique.
 “In the process also called follicular unit extraction, individual follicles of hair are removed under local anesthesia in tiny punched of between 0.6 millimeter and 1.25 millimeter diameter. Each follicle is then reinserted back into the scalp in the thinning area using micro blade. Because this is single follicles and no large amount of tissue is removed there is no visible scar or post-surgery pain, with no stitches removed,” he said adding the recovery period was just seven days.
 Prof. Masood said the hair transplants could look as natural as normal hair and grow like it. “Contrary to hair weaving, artificial hair transplants and using a hair wig, the transplantation is much more viable,” he said while referring to a case wherein a persons wearing wig had suffered all over body allergy due to scorching summer heat.
 Prof Qazi Masood said the hair transplantation could be even done to girls or women who had suffered burn or other injuries wherein their hair had suffered extensive damage.
 He said the hospital was conducting the transplant procedure free of cost.
  “The transplantation cost depending up on the sittings done in any private hospital and can range up to Rs 1.25 lakh depending upon the baldness patch size,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 19 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:00:00 IST