Hair loss affects about 35 million men and 21 million women in the United States alone. More than 40 percent of men will have noticeable hair loss by age 35, and 40 percent of women will have significant hair loss by age 60.

The NeoGraft FUE procedure is effective for hair transplantation for both men and most women.

FUE (follicular unit extraction) has been the method of choice for hair transplantation since the 1990s because it results in the most natural appearance and does not have the look of a sprigged yard.

The automated NeoGraft is the most modern way to perform the FUE technique.

It allows the procurement of many more grafts than manual FUE, as well as a more precise method of removing grafts.

The FUE method does not require removal of a large strip of scalp from the back of the head, and there are no sutures, staples or resulting linear scar.

This minimally invasive procedure is performed under local anesthesia, and the recovery and discomfort are minimal.

The result, when skillfully performed, is completely natural with no visible scars.

One has a choice of getting up to 2,500 grafts at one sitting (each graft contains from one to four follicles and hairs).

Or, one can get 500 or more grafts at each session and plan a road map for when the next NeoGraft session will be scheduled.

Each patient requires a different number of grafts, according to his or her particular degree of hair loss and long-term goal.

The road map plan spreads the grafting over time and might be more affordable for some.

The future grafting sessions can be done at the patient’s convenience.

The hair grafts are taken from the “donor” site in the back and sides of the head. These are areas that continue growing hair for most, if not all, of a patient’s lifetime.

When grafted, they continue a similar growth pattern after transplantation.

One patient equated it to planting trees. It is therefore a lifetime investment.

E. Ronald Finger, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon with offices in Savannah and Bluffton. www.fingerand associates.com or www.hairrestoration savannah.com