Tag Archives: hair transplant

ACell + PRP Injection Therapy for Female Hair Loss

Posted on April 20, 2012 by admin

Hair Transplant specialist and ACell pioneer Dr. Robert Niedbalski consults a female patient with thinning hair and performs ACell + PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) and performs the ACell + PRP Injection Therapy. Dr. Niedbalski is located in Tacoma, WA and is a Diplomate of the American Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ABHRS) and a Member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS)

Posted in News | Tagged acell, Dr. Niedbalski, Hair Loss, hair transplant, Platelet Rich Plasma, PRP, Seattle, Tacoma, WA | Leave a comment

When considering hair restoration – Is FUE the best option for You?

Posted on April 7, 2012 by admin

What is FUE?
Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a specific method used to remove donor hair follicles for transplantation. Individual follicular units are extracted one at a time from the back and sides of the scalp leaving tiny round scars about 1mm around. Follicular Units may be extracted using a variety of incision techniques including manual, power assisted and robotic fully automated.

FUE technique is an alternative to Follicular Unit Transplant, or FUT, where donor hair is removed as a narrow strip of scalp about 10 to 15mm wide, and separated into individual follicular units under a microscope. FUE and FUT are simply different methods to remove donor hair follicles. The technique used to place transplant grafts into bald/thinning recipient areas of the scalp is a separate topic, and is not addressed by the method of acquiring the donor hair. FUE is relatively new to hair restoration surgery, and has proven to be a versatile graft harvesting method and an excellent complement to the FUT strip method.

So how do you decide if FUE is right for you? Consider what matters most for you. What are your expectations for hair restoration as you consider the FUE method?

Donor scar visibility -
Compared to a linear donor scar, the “mosaic” of dot scars created by FUE are preferred by patients who:
•   Prefer short hair styles.
•   Notice scalp showing through their hair even with a longer style.
•   Are at risk for thickened donor scars due to excessive scalp tightness or laxity.

More conspicuous immediately after surgery -
The entire donor area needs to be shaved for most FUE procedures. If your hair is not already trimmed high and tight, you will be explaining your new hairstyle to a lot of people.

Scalp comfort -
Multiple small round FUE incisions are spread out over a larger portion of the donor scalp compared to a single strip incision, so FUE patients experience:
•   Less pain in the donor scalp
•   Faster healing and no sutures or staples to remove
•   Return to physical activity more quickly.

Added Value -
Scar management – FUE is an excellent method to disguise scar tissue that can’t be simply excised. Using FUE, bald scar tissue can be removed and replaced with hair bearing grafts.

Expanded donor hair supply – patients with excessive donor scars, scalp tightness, and/or patchy donor density have very limited options with traditional strip harvesting. FUE accesses areas that FUT can’t including upper and lower fringe of the donor scalp, beard and body hair for patients who have a shortage of donor hair

Fine hair can be harvested from the nape of the neck or temporal scalp for eyebrow and eyelash restoration.

Limitations of FUE

Hair Type - FUE is not as successful for patients with tightly curled hair because the curved “root” of the follicle is easily transected during extraction.

Graft quality - FUE often strips fat and other connective tissue from the lower portions of the follicle making the grafts more susceptible to damage from dehydration and physical injury during placement into the recipient sites.

Graft quantity - damaged graft rates are significantly higher for FUE compared to grafts prepared under a microscope with FUT. With the FUE method, the average number of hairs per graft is reduced due to difficulty removing the entire follicular unit.

Convenience - the number of grafts placed during a single FUE transplant session is limited due to the additional time required to precisely remove each individual graft. Larger sessions over 1500 grafts may need to be performed over consecutive days.

Financial - FUE is usually more expensive than FUT.

At Northwest Hair Restoration we asked our patients what would satisfy their hair restoration expectations and then compiled their responses into a single document. Having a list of the most common expectations can help you focus on what matters most to you. Ideally, seek out a surgeon who is experienced with both donor harvesting techniques.

Posted in News | Tagged Dr. Niedbalski, Follicular Unit, FUE, hair restoration, hair transplant, Seattle, WA | Leave a comment

NeoGraft compared to other FUE hair transplant techniques.

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

By Dr. Robert Niedbalski
Northwest Hair Restoration

Recently a patient inquired about NeoGraft and what were the pros and cons compared to other FUE techniques.

I replied that I perform both Follicular Unit Extractions (FUE) and Strip Harvest techniques for hair transplantation. I do not use the NeoGraft machine because I prefer the power punch system developed by Jim Harris from Denver, CO (one of the foremost FUE experts in the world).

NeoGraft has marketed their machine primarily to physicians who are not trained in hair restoration surgery and are looking to add a new profit center to their practice. These new hair restoration physicians are then sent to a seminar or workshop for a couple days of training. After this brief training NeoGraft often provides the physicians with a team of traveling hair transplant technicians who often perform most if not all of the procedure. Patients may not be aware that their physician has limited hair restoration experience and that the technicians are performing many aspects that should be performed by a highly trained surgeon. As someone who has been training physicians how to perform advanced hair transplant surgery techniques for the last 12 years, I know it takes 200-300 surgeries before the novice surgeon has enough experience to produce consistently good hair transplant results (regardless of the method used to harvest the grafts).

Key Points to consider as you review the benefits of hair restoration technology:

Any technology is only as good as the person who implements it. NeoGraft does not produce excellent hair transplant results – an experienced hair restoration surgeon does.

More expensive technology is not more effective – the technology cost of removing FUE grafts can be as little as:

$4 disposable hand punch.
$3000 power punch
$80,000 NeoGraft
$200,000 ARTAS robotic device.

Among the above devices, (when used by an experienced hair surgeon) studies prove there is absolutely no difference in:

Graft quality
Graft quantity
Rate of graft production (with the exception of the $4 manual punch)

Graft Harvesting Is Only Half Of The Equation – Excellent hair transplant results depend on the intricate process of creating recipient sites for the grafts.

Only Artistry and Surgical Skill determine:

1. The direction and angle of transplanted hair growth
2. Shape and composition of the hairline
3. Overall appearance of naturalness

The Theme Is Experience - there is no substitute for it. Technology is not a shortcut that can overcome the value of having an experienced hair transplant surgeon perform your hair restoration procedure. Rather, it is simply a tool that enables good surgeons become more efficient.

Posted in News | Tagged automated, FUE, hair restoration, hair transplant, NeoGraft, Seattle, Tacoma, WA | Leave a comment

Hair Restoration More Popular Thanks to More Non-Invasive Techniques

Posted on November 5, 2011 by admin

Here at Northwest Hair Restoration, we have seen an increase in the popularity of hair restoration procedures over the last couple of years. Local increases in hair restoration seem to mirror a national increase that shows surgical hair restoration procedures jumping 11 percent in 2010 compared to results from an International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS) practice census in 2008. Dr. Robert Niedbalski, hair transplant surgeon and medical director of Northwest Hair Restoration, attributes the increase in hair restoration procedures at his practice to the medical breakthroughs in the field that allow for more impressive results in a shorter period of time.

Dr. Niedbalski is the only doctor in the Pacific Northwest to offer non-invasive ACell – platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to regenerate hair in men and women in the early to moderate stages of hair loss. This hair regeneration technique was discovered by Dr. Gary Hitzig, who Dr. Niedbalski collaborated with to offer to his patients in the Seattle – Tacoma, WA area.

Using the FDA-approved ACell wound healing powder MatriStem® MicroMatrix™ and a blood serum combination, Dr. Niedbalski is able to activate stem cells present in scalp tissue and significantly increase the rate of hair re-growth. The breakthrough hair restoration technique has in some cases dramatically multiplied the number of hair follicles in an area that has previously stopped growing hair. Dr. Niedbalski expects similar results when used to restore eyebrows.

“In some cases, surgery may not be needed to regenerate hair, which was something unheard of just a couple of year’s ago.” said Dr. Niedbalski. “Within six months after undergoing a hair transplant or ACell-PRP injections, many of our patients tell us that they look years younger and have more confidence,” said Dr. Niedbalski.

According to the 2011 ISHRS practice census, males are still the predominate patients of hair restoration surgery (86 percent), although female patients have increased 24 percent since 2004 to 14 percent. The majority of patients fall between the ages of 30-49 years old.

Posted in News | Tagged acell, Dr. Niedbalski, hair restoration, hair transplant, Matristem, surgery, Tacoma, WA | Leave a comment

ACell + PRP Injections – 4 Month Follow Up

Posted on October 26, 2011 by admin

Below is a before and after comparison of a patient who had hair transplant surgery in the front and only ACell + PRP injections in the crown. Follow up is at 4 months. ACell/PRP injected into the entire crown *Note microscopic view of scalp hair density. (View enlarge images full screen)

Below is a different patient Donor Area Follow Up – 4 months post op Donor closure with ACell

: Donor area healing – 4 months post op. Note dark new hairs growing through previous strip scar.

Posted in News | Tagged acell, hair transplant, Injections, Platelett Rich Plasma, PRP, Seattle, Tacoma, WA | Leave a comment

Dr. Niedbalski on World Progress Report

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin

Hair Transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Niedbalski discusses hair transplantation on World Progress Report. The segment includes patient stories featuring before and after photos, a peek into the operating room, Dr. Niedbalski’s philosophy and enthusiasm for treating hair loss and comments on his ground breaking work with ACell Martistem for treating hair loss and enhancing hair transplant surgery.