Featured Image Credit: u/Mrcinemazo9nn/Reddit
If you were ever curious as to how hair transplants work, prepare to be mind blown.
An animation was recently posted on the subreddit r/Damnthatsinteresting by Mrcinemazo9nn that demonstrates how hair transplants work.
The process involves extracting hair follicles from the back of your head, where the dense parts of the hair are growing.
'These are carefully removed one by one, each containing a few hairs. Then, they are meticulously implanted in the balding areas,' the narrator explained.
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According to the video, each follicle is placed in a way that matches the natural growth direction of your hair.
'Placed' is a bit of a sugar-coated way of putting it. Once the grafts are prepared, the surgeon creates holes or slits with a scalpel or needle, before attaching the hair follicles.
Once the follicles have adapted to their new location, they'll begin to grow and fill in. The whole process takes about four to eight hours.
Some viewers have wondered whether the transplant means the original area loses hair.
One respondent explained: 'Yea, the hair on the back of your head has much more hair per cm2 than anywhere else on your head. So they take some follicles from the densest part and move it to the balding area.
'The back of your head ends up with less hair but still more dense than the top and sides.'
However, what the video doesn't show is the large amount of blood that comes with the procedure.
Judging the simplicity of the video, another view pointed out: 'Lol, they forgot the gratuitous amounts of blood. Don't watch the videos of actual transplants, they are gruesome.'
What also isn't shown is the injection process prior to the surgery. According to WebMD, the surgeon first cleans your scalp before injecting medicine to numb the back of your head.
Other social media users aren't so sure about the procedure and have said: 'Id just stay bald. I like being able to get up and go. I'm not poking my scalp that many times look like it hurts.'
Within two to three weeks after surgery, the transplanted hair will fall out, but new hair growth can be noticed within a few months. Experts say most people see 60% of new hair growth after six to nine months.
