Hair Transplant

Westlake Dermatology's Houston clinic performs surgical hair transplantation for male and female patients with androgenetic alopecia and other forms of permanent hair loss. The practice uses follicular unit extraction (FUE) or follicular unit transplantation (FUT/strip) techniques, harvesting individual follicular units from the permanent donor zone at the back and sides of the scalp and implanting them in thinning or bald areas at a density, angle, and direction matched to natural hair growth. Results are permanent and natural-looking, as transplanted follicles are genetically resistant to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and maintain their growth characteristics in their new location.

Hair transplant surgery at Westlake Dermatology West University Houston provides a permanent surgical solution for androgenetic alopecia and other forms of stable, non-scarring hair loss, using the patient's own donor follicles — harvested from the occipital and lateral scalp where hair is genetically programmed to be resistant to DHT-mediated miniaturisation — and transplanting them to thinning or bald recipient areas where they will continue to grow for life. The two principal donor-harvesting techniques offered at the clinic reflect different approaches to follicle extraction with distinct trade-offs: follicular unit transplantation (FUT), also called strip harvesting, involves the excision of a narrow ellipse of scalp from the mid-occipital donor zone under local anaesthesia. The excised strip is dissected under stereoscopic microscopic magnification by a team of trained technicians into individual follicular units — naturally occurring groups of one to four hairs, the sebaceous gland, arrector pili muscle, and surrounding connective tissue that form the basic anatomical unit of hair growth. FUT yields the largest number of grafts in a single session (3,000–5,000+ grafts) and is particularly appropriate for patients requiring high-volume coverage, but leaves a linear scar in the donor area concealed within the surrounding hair. Follicular unit extraction (FUE) harvests individual follicular units directly from the donor scalp using a small circular punch instrument (0.7–0.9 mm diameter) that cores around each follicle, allowing it to be extracted individually without a linear incision. FUE leaves no linear scar and allows the donor zone to be worn at shorter hair lengths; it is favoured by patients who prefer to wear their hair very short or who are concerned about visible scarring. The trade-off is a slightly higher follicle transection rate and more time-intensive extraction compared to FUT. Graft implantation — common to both techniques — involves creating recipient sites in the thinning or bald areas using fine blades or custom implanters at precisely determined density, angle, and direction to reproduce the natural growth pattern, hairline design, and cowlick of the patient's native hair. Hairline design is among the most artistically demanding elements of hair transplant surgery, as a well-designed hairline must be both natural in appearance — with appropriate irregularity, temporal framing, and transition from sparse to dense hair — and age-appropriate, accounting for the probable future progression of hair loss. The transplanted grafts enter a temporary resting phase (telogen effluvium) in the first three to four months after transplantation before resuming active growth; visible results begin at approximately four to six months, with the full extent of the transplanted hair visible at twelve to eighteen months post-procedure.