Just what are lasers used for in hair transplant surgery? What are the differences between a laser hair transplant and other more traditional methods of hair loss prevention? Just what are the advantages of using lasers and are there any drawbacks to this technique?
Well, quite simply, the primary role of lasers in the field of hair loss treatment is to make small and highly accurate incisions in the delicate scalp tissue into which harvested hair can then be transplanted. The key metric here is accuracy, and this is undoubtedly the primary advantage of the use of laser technology in this type of hair replacement procedure. Traditional hair transplant techniques rely on the use of mechanical punches to penetrate the scalp and, while this technique can be extremely effective in the hands of a skilled and experienced practitioner, the accuracy and control afforded by laser technology greatly enhances the consistency of the incisions and therefore the consistency of the results.
The lasers, which are almost always pulsed CO2 lasers, accurately vaporize scalp tissue with an extremely short burst of energy. This energy pulse can be quite painful, but the problem is easily overcome by the application of a little local anesthetic to temporarily numb the transplant area. Because the laser is extremely focused, there is very little damage to scalp tissue surrounding the incision and subsequent healing can be quite fast. However, the heat generated by the laser can effectively cauterize the incision and, while this might superficially seem to be a distinct advantage – after all, the manual “punch” method of producing scalp holes can be rather bloody and somewhat gruesome to behold – this tendency to cauterize and prevent blood loss is not necessarily a good thing.
The success of any hair transplant depends on an excellent supply of blood to the newly transplanted follicles. The traditional “punch” transplant technique, whilst rather bloody, does not heat the wound nor restrict subsequent blood flow. The risk with laser incisions is that heat generated by the cutting procedure can sear the blood vessels surrounding the insertion site and so compromise post-operative blood flow to the newly transplanted follicles.
However, despite these issues, there is no doubt that when properly executed by skilled practitioners, the results of laser hair transplantation can be extremely effective, and the popularity and performance of this rapidly developing method of hair loss prevention seems likely to grow.