What To Expect

While women embrace dramatic change and physical makeovers, most men are creatures of habit who want to look their best without appearing vain. Women love to show off their new look after a trip to the hair salon or the mall, but guys hate to people to think that they are over-concerned with their looks, often happy to wear an old shirt for years or keep the same hair cut their whole adult life. The philosophy behind hair restoration is to reunite you with the thick head of hair that you had as a younger man, not to change your looks and create someone new. It's about turning back the chapters of a book, not rewriting the story.

Dr Rawnsley understands that many patients are professionals who want to advance their career or get ahead of the younger competition and cannot afford to be away from work after the surgery. Therefore all procedures are done under local anesthesia with minimal recovery time and discomfort. Patients can drive themselves home from the practice and get back to their normal activities quickly.

The surgery generally takes between three to six hours and involves first injecting the abundant donor area at the back of the scalp with local anesthesia, hair is then removed from there in a strip and suture is placed over the spot that is covered by the remaining hair. Receptor sites in the thinning areas are then created and hair grafts are placed delicately into them. The experience should be a comfortable time when patients can eat, watch a movie, sleep or listen to music. As the local anesthesia is injected slowly, pain is minimal, medication might be needed immediately afterwards but there is no discomfort by the next day. Patients should restrain from strenuous activity until sutures come out 8-10 days post surgery. Full growth is expected within six months.