TIM WELBAUM
Hear how Tim’s hair restoration changed his life
After a successful FUT procedure that Tim describes as “aging him backward,” he’s back for a second procedure to enhance his look. Join us as we talk to Tim, a combat veteran, about his hair restoration surgery results one year later, and walk through what his second surgical day was like at the Atlanta office.
TIM WELBAUM’S JOURNEY
Tim arrived at the Sandy Springs office for his procedure and began by reading over the consent paperwork and choosing his lunch from the options provided.
A technician on the surgical team brought Tim back to the procedure room, gave him a new shirt to change into, and had him digitally sign each consent form.
Next, the tech drew approximately 50 cc of blood to be used for platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections later in the day. The blood was placed in a centrifuge, which separated the red blood cells from the plasma and platelets, concentrating the growth factors.
Dr. Lee met with Tim, evaluated Tim’s scalp and took a new set of historical photos of Tim’s head from all angles. These photos are used to compare the pre-surgery and post-surgery appearance of Tim’s hair.
Following photos, Dr. Lee and Tim discussed the goals of the procedure, where Tim was most interested in having more hair, as well as the schedule of activities planned for the day.
After the hairline was decided, Dr. Lee used a surgical marker to draw the boundaries of the surgical areas. This special marker is made to last throughout the day, even when the scalp is washed and disinfected.
Next, Dr. Lee trimmed the hair in a small section of the donor area where the strip was to be extracted. The donor area is just above the occipital bone in the center and extends from behind one ear across to the other.
Dr. Lee then checked the laxity of Tim’s scalp to determine how much tissue was available for extraction. He measured and marked the desired area with the surgical marker and trimmed the border more precisely.
Tim then had his hair washed with surgical soap to cleanse the area thoroughly. This both eliminated tiny pieces of loose hair from the haircut and disinfected the scalp, which in turn minimized the risk of infection.
Dr. Lee then provided Tim with a sedative to help him relax and make it easier to hold still throughout the day. He also injected the first round of local anesthesia to eliminate any pain during the procedure.
With the donor area exposed and numb, Dr. Lee used a scalpel to excise the tissue containing the donor hair follicles. Since this was Tim’s second procedure, Dr. Lee extracted just above and below the existing faint line scar from his first procedure, meaning Tim will still only have one scar moving forward.
As soon as the tissue was extracted, Dr. Lee used sutures to close the resulting wound. At Anderson Center for Hair, our surgeons use a trichophytic closure – the same method used during a facelift – to minimize the appearance of the scar. The sutures do not dissolve and are generally removed 14 days after surgery.
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Meanwhile, the tissue that was extracted was viewed under a microscope. Our expert technicians slivered small sections of follicles from the larger piece, then trimmed individual follicles from each sliver.
When the sutures were complete, Dr. Lee moved to the front and top of the scalp. He again numbed the area with anesthesia and injected the PRP from the beginning of the day. The growth factors support and accelerate the recovery process.
With the PRP in place, Dr. Lee made one tiny incision for each new hair follicle. The location and angle of the incisions determine where and at what angle the placed hairs will eventually grow. This is the artistic part of the process where the aesthetic skills of the surgeon make the biggest impact.
While the sites were being made by Dr. Lee, our team of technicians simultaneously trimmed excess tissue from each of the follicles, sorted them by the number of hairs in the graft, and stored them in surgical liquid, on ice.
Each graft was then placed into a site on Tim’s scalp that was created by Dr. Lee, much like planting a seed into the ground, using tiny jeweler forceps.
Three technicians worked together to quickly and efficiently place the hairs, minimizing the time the grafts spent disconnected from their blood supply. Tim’s scalp was then cleaned up and covered with a surgical cap as his wife arrived to hear post-op instructions and drive him home.
