Afro Hair Transplant
Afro hair transplants for the African Caribbean, African American, and Black British community have specific differences to Caucasian or Asian hair. Due to the natural curl of the hair follicle, Afro Caribbean hair transplants are often the most complex of hair transplant procedures. The roots of Afro-Caribbean hair are also curly, which makes extracting for transplantation a highly-skilled art. However, they are performed using the same hair transplant techniques as Caucasian or Asian hair, even though their characteristics are different.
Consequently, it is crucial that you have an experienced surgeon on hand to assess your needs and then perform the procedure. Our dedicated team at Enhance Hair Restoration has a huge depth of knowledge, meaning we can achieve afro hair transplants with absolute precision.
Afro Hair Characteristics
There are many different types of hair and Afro hair is naturally curly with a rounded shape. Curly hair follicles cover more area on the scalp, making the hair appear thicker and fuller even when it’s sparse. It creates the illusion of a thicker head of hair, thanks to the twisted curls. Due to this, your surgeon may transplant less hair than in a straight hair transplant. However, this will vary on a case-by-case basis.
Afro-Caribbean hair tends to have a lower density than Caucasian hair, therefore, the technical skill required needs to be scrupulously precise.
It’s important to find a hair transplant surgeon who understands the distinctive features of Afro Caribbean hair to achieve the best results.
FUE Hair Transplant for Afro Hair
FUE, which stands for Follicular Unit Extraction, is a minimally invasive hair restoration process of taking individual hair follicles from your scalp and moving them to another part of your body.
Your surgeon works to remove a number of grafts, typically in groups of between one and four hairs from the sides of the head or down the back of the neck. These follicles are then transferred to the recipient area of the scalp and implanted using a powerful stereo microscope. This is a precise but commonly a minimally invasive procedure.
The FUE process is more difficult for Afro hair because the hair curls beneath the skin as well as the visible hair. The hair grafts take up more space and need to be placed in slightly larger incisions and not quite so densely. However, mixed race patients often have straighter, less tight curls, making it easier for FUE to be performed.
FUT Hair Transplants for Afro Hair
As an alternative to FUE transplants for an Afro hair transplant, the strip (FUT) method may be performed. FUT stands for Follicular Unit Transplantation and is also known as strip harvesting or strip procedure. Thousands of hair follicles are collected using precise techniques where hair is removed as a strip from the back or sides of the scalp. The donor strip is then dissected into individual follicular units of one to four hairs.
The surgeon makes tiny incision sites ready to insert the new hair grafts to restore a natural hairline, increase the density of the hair and reduce the appearance of balding.
The difference between FUE and FUT Procedures
Compared to Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), an FUE procedure leaves a less visible hair transplant scar because the technique involves removing individual hair follicles rather than a strip of scalp. Individuals with darker skin are sometimes more prone to keloid formation: a keloid scar is an enlarged, raised scar that can be, skin-coloured or darker than the surrounding skin. They can develop after very minor skin damage and spread beyond the original area of skin damage, so an FUE rather than a FUT procedure would be the preferred technique.
Test Your Afro Hair before a Hair Restoration Surgery
Donor hairs can often be destroyed during extraction, so ensuring maximum graft survival rates and minimising the possibility of ingrown hairs are imperative in order to perform a successful procedure.
Therefore, It is useful to check the structure of your hair prior to your Afro hair transplant. Our specialist surgeon will check the structure of your hair follicles to see the root size to determine the techniques which will be used during the extraction.
Choose a Professional Hair Transplant Clinic That You Can Trust
All of our hair restoration surgeries are performed at our UK locations using our state of the art facilities with the highest quality of procedures found in the UK.
Our surgeons will conduct meticulous afro hair transplant procedures with great success, so get in touch for your free initial consultation.
