The hair transplanted by DHT technique is permanent, this technique works on donor dominance phenomenon, which means the graft is taken from those parts of the scalp & body which do not shed and the hair keep its native characteristics and remain permanently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv5X7UVwS7E

Cost Variation between Different Hair Transplant Centres

The cost of hair transplantation varies from one centre to another.  This variation exists due to the different quality of the resources used by different centres. Many centres reduce the price of the surgery to attract masses. Most of the players play on a “Price War Strategy” with each other to win over more clients.  But at the same time most of them also reduces the quality of the resources to increase their profit margins.

A high quality hair transplant surgery is only possible when a highly qualified team carries out the surgery, under the presence of a well qualified doctor.

A quality conscious hair transplant centre incurs costs such as training costs, cost of more effective medicines, solutions, usables, costs for running the centre and the most important quality control and management costs.

Being focused on the quality aspects of the surgery, DHT Clinic incurs all of the above mentioned costs willingly to provide a high quality hair transplantation surgery.  Dr. Pradeep Sethi and Dr. Arika Sethi trained from AIIMS, New Delhi, perform these surgeries themselves by exceeding the international quality standards.

As one patient said: “You never remember the price of a good surgery and you never forget the price of a bad surgery.”

The price per transplanted follicular unit graft is Rs 40-90 depending upon the technique that a person wants to go for.

We estimate the numbers of follicular units as accurately as we can in advance of surgery but, as the density of follicular unit varies all over the scalp, the actual number of follicles transplanted may be slightly higher or lower than our estimates. A careful audit is kept during surgery and you will only be charged for the actual number of follicular units transplanted.

Why there is price variation between centers for the same Hair transplantation surgery?

The price varies between centers, because of the variation in expertise of the team, experience of the doctors and whether the doctor himself is doing the surgery or getting it done by hired technicians or all together a travelling team is doing the surgery and the centre is arranging the cases.

The price also depends upon the quality of instruments and quality of usables used in the surgery. The patients have all the rights to know the quality of the instruments used in his surgery, the actual transection rate (permanent cutting of the roots) in the surgery. Whether the centre is using sharp or blunt punches. Punches are from a good international company (like Cole instruments, Harris instruments and Ellis instruments) or prepared in China/Korea or local.

Blunt punches of Harris system are best with least transaction rate. They are very costly at the same time. Sharp punches of Cole instruments are also extremely good but with high price. If the doctor using these best quality instruments then all these has a cost. Special patented instruments are used to avoid the root handling during plantation, lest there is chance of crushing the root leading to permanent loss of roots.

Best quality instruments are required in the three steps of hair transplantation; extraction, storage and plantation. Each step is very crucial, should be in front of the doctor simultaneously.

The cost also involves the training exposure of the team. If the team is regularly updating themselves in national and international conferences, then their quality of surgery will be much better. The patients can find about all the doctors in the Indian (http://www.ahrsindia.com) as well as International hair restoration society (http://www.ishrs.org).

Transplanting roots and growing them is the main purpose of hair transplantation. At the same time the transplanted hair should grow in the right angle, with optimum density and the new hairline should not look artificial. These things come with attending national and international workshops and conferences.

Due to low quality (low cost) instruments, there will be permanent damage of the hair roots. This means; if there is a target of 1000 grafts; it is possible with poor quality instruments/team that they have punched 1300 times. This means 300 roots were cut through and through but did not come out! This is called transaction of roots (permanent loss from the scalp!). Out of these 1000 roots some 700-800 roots will grow with poor quality instruments used for transportation and plantation.

We use the most advanced and efficient instruments available. We use the Cole instruments(http://www.coleinstruments.com), Harris instruments (http://hsccolorado.com/SafeScribe.aspx), & Ellis instruments(http://www.ellisinstruments.com/), which are the best and most efficient instruments available for hair transplantation in the world.

It is obvious that if any hair transplant centre is using less efficient instruments available in market at low cost, then the cost will be less compared to us because we do not compromise on quality.

To summarize, the best quality surgery is not possible in cheap price.

Practical Hair Density possible in Hair Transplantation

On an average, an adult human scalp contains 100,000 follicular units in total.  In baldness, there is already 50% loss of follicular units in the bald looking area. On an average the density of a non bald scalp is 80-100 follicular units per square cm. This density varies from person to person.

Hair transplantation can hide the baldness in single sitting, but it cannot provide the natural density in one session. In hair transplantation, doctors can plant 25-35 follicular units (FU) per square cm, which is much less than the normal density, though this much density can hide the baldness with artistic planning of the grafting. For normal density, a second sitting of 25-35 follicular units (FU) per square cm is required. Sometimes, a third sitting may be required for natural density.

In the front hairline, usually single FUs are grafted for natural look. In this area, 35-45 FUs can be planted in 1 square cm. In the crown and vertex area, the double and triple FUs are planted.

With over enthusiasm if more than 40-50 FUs are planted in 1 square cm then the chances of growth will be less because there will be competition between the grafts for blood supply.  This competition among FUs will result in death of a lot of hair follicles as well as necrosis of skin. That means permanent loss of follicle and permanent scar on head. This can be better understood with an example: In plantation in our garden, we are always advised to keep a minimum distance in between the plants for optimum growth; else most of the plants die.

For doctors, dense packing is an ongoing learning process; the goal is to achieve density while staying within the scalp’s safe limit of vascular damage. 

Direct Hair Transplantation

DHT the most advance technique in hair transplantation

“Baldness” is the term used to describe the state of lack of hair on the head and androgenetic alopecia is the commonest cause of baldness. Approximately 50% of men are affected by the age of 50 years. One of the hallmarks of androgenetic alopecia is the conversion of thick terminal hairs into miniaturized; extremely thin (vellus) hairs. This process of miniaturization (i.e., shrinking of hair volume and growth length) is usually an indication that one is undergoing hair loss. The main mechanism for miniaturization relates to the shortening of the growth phase, i.e., the hair becomes “lazy” and does not grow to its full term. It typically begins in the frontal scalp and the vertex (crown area).

A significant proportion of women also suffer from hair loss. Unlike men, hair loss in females does not have any social acceptance. The chief complaint of women with female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is the ‘see through’ appearance of frontal hairline. These women suffer in silence for years together. The causes of hair loss in females can be: Female patterned hair loss (FPHL), telogen effluvium, hormonal imbalance, poor diet, diffuse alopecia areata. The progression hair loss in females (FPHL) is different from that of men. They experience diffuse thinning with no bald regions. Their frontal hairlines are relatively stable. 

Hair transplantation is a cosmetic surgery which provides extra hair ranging in number from 1000 to 5000 to the bald scalp. The hairs along with the roots (follicular units) are taken from the back of scalp and are transplanted on to bald area on the frontal scalp and the vertex. The modern methods of hair transplantation involve transplantation of individual follicular units and provide completely natural appearance. These hairs remain life-long. They grow and undergo cutting just like natural hair. However, the progression of baldness is not arrested after surgery and the transplanted hair grow after 3-4 months. A combination of medicines and surgery thus provides the best final result. There are two methods of surgey:

Follicular unit transplantation (FUT): A horizontal strip, 1-2 cm wide and 10-20 cm long is harvested from the back of head, and dissected under stereomicroscopes to yield follicular units. It leaves a single linear scar hidden by the hair at the back of head.

 Follicular unit extraction (FUE): The individual follicular units are harvested from the back and are then transplanted on to the frontal bald area. This propels the field of HT surgery one step closer to the elite minimally invasive status.

DHT (direct hair transplantation) is the latest innovation in the existing FUE technique. The idea behind DHT has been conceived and implemented by us at National Skin Clinic, Dehradun. It promises to yield better results


DHT before and after hair transplantation images