Angle and depth of the transplanted hair

If time and care is invested in the creation of a proper recipient site a completely natural appearance is achievable.

On the other hand, carelessness or lacking attention to the direction and depth of implanted hair can cause great and lifelong concerns to patients.

Among several others, three factors are crucial to achieve a natural result:

• The direction and angle of the transplanted hair
• The depth of the transplanted hair
• The age of the patient (see age considerations)

In many clinics the recipient sites are made perpendicular (90 degrees or vertically) to the skin giving a highly unnatural look. Visible scarring, cobble stoning, bleeding, pain and pitting after hairtransplantation are all known issues that can easily be avoided if the surgeon is ready to use the required time. The best FUE hair surgeons focus on the result rather than the speed itself.

A natural hairline is critical

For a natural hairline it's important that only 1 and 2-hair grafts are used in the hairline. The grafts should be placed in a rather acute angle to the skin.

In many cases the grafts should point laterally in the lateral aspects (temples) of the hairline while they should point more anteriorly/forward in the middle part of the central forelock. However, each person is different and the design should be adjusted accordingly.

Unfortunately Dr. Hussain has seen too many patients with a completely unnatural hairline with no proper direction of the grafts. In some cases the patient has to spend a considerable amount of time each day combing his hair to try to hide these serious shortcomings.

You may also want to read about density & coverage.

Lateral slit incisions

Tiny, custom cut blades called lateral slits are used to create incisions for each transplanted hair follicle. By carefully controlling the angle, direction and depth of these incisions a very natural pattern and direction for the new hair is created, even in the hairline and temples.

The lateral slits are usually .7-1.0 mm wide allowing dense packing if required. A handle is used to prevent the slit from making the recipient incisions deeper than required, thus preventing the follicles from being placed too deeply. Literally every single recipient site and each single slit is created individually with regard to direction, angle, depth and width.

The grafts are implanted at various angles depending on the exact location and any existing hair. The lateral slit makes a natural look possible and ensures minimal deep vascular injury (with its associated bleeding and postoperative pain) at the level of the galea. Grafts should never be implanted vertically.