Hair Transplant Surgery for Transgender Patients
Your hair can be a very personal part of how you see yourself. If you are transgender and dealing with hair loss, you may have already made significant changes to bring your appearance closer to who you know yourself to be. When thinning hair or a receding frontal area does not fit that picture, it can be especially frustrating.
We understand that coming in to talk about it can feel personal too. You should not have to explain or defend how you want to look. Our job is to listen, understand what is bothering you and determine whether there is a hair restoration option that can realistically help.
At Leonard Hair Transplant Associates, Dr. Matthew Lopresti personally meets with patients considering hair transplant surgery. Your consultation is about you, your hair, your goals and what can reasonably be accomplished with the donor hair you have available.
Hair Restoration for Transgender Women
If you are a transgender woman, you may still have a pattern of hair loss that developed before or during your transition. You might have recession around the front and temples, thinning across the top of your scalp or more advanced hair loss that you have been covering with different hairstyles, hats, hairpieces or wigs.
For some women, that hair loss can feel particularly noticeable because it does not match the way they see themselves or want to present themselves.
Hair transplant surgery may be able to restore permanent hair to areas where it has been lost and help create a softer, more natural appearance. But designing that result involves much more than simply moving the front of the hair forward. Dr. Lopresti considers your facial proportions, existing hair, donor supply, degree of hair loss and the possibility of future hair loss before designing a plan.
Most importantly, there isn’t one feminine look that every patient should have. Your hair restoration should look like it belongs to you.
Hair Restoration for Transgender Men
If you are a transgender man experiencing thinning or recession, your concerns may be different, but the conversation begins in much the same way. We want to understand what you are seeing, what is bothering you and what you would like to change.
Hair loss can continue to progress over time, so Dr. Lopresti will look beyond what is happening today. He will evaluate your current pattern of hair loss, available donor hair and long term goals before determining whether hair transplant surgery or a non surgical approach makes sense.
You may come into the consultation knowing exactly what you want. You may also come in unsure of what is possible. Either is completely fine. That is what the consultation is for.
Your Donor Hair Helps Determine What Is Possible
One of the most important parts of your consultation is something you may not have thought much about before: your donor hair.
Hair transplant surgery uses permanent hair generally taken from the back and sides of your scalp and moves it into areas where hair has been lost. Because that donor supply is limited, it needs to be used carefully.
Dr. Lopresti will evaluate how much donor hair you have, its quality and the areas you would like to restore. Sometimes what a patient wants can be accomplished in one procedure. Other times the available donor hair or extent of hair loss means a different approach makes more sense.
We would rather have an honest conversation about what is realistically possible than make promises that your donor hair cannot support.
Should You Have FUE or FUT?
You may have already researched hair transplant surgery and come across FUE and FUT. We offer both.
Follicular Unit Excision, or FUE, and Follicular Unit Transplantation, or FUT, both use your own permanent donor hair. The main difference is how that donor hair is obtained.
You do not need to decide which procedure you want before coming in. In fact, we would rather you didn’t feel like you have to. Your donor area, hair loss, hairstyle preferences, goals and long term plan all help determine which approach may make the most sense for you.
The technique should fit you. You should not have to fit the technique.
Your Consultation Is a Conversation
We know that discussing your hair, appearance and transition can involve things you may not normally talk about with someone you have just met. You can share as much as you are comfortable sharing.
Dr. Lopresti’s role is to understand what you want to accomplish and give you a realistic assessment of whether hair restoration can help. He will personally evaluate your hair loss and donor area, discuss your options and explain what you can reasonably expect from treatment.
And sometimes the right answer is that surgery is not the best option. You deserve to hear that too.
There is no pressure to make a decision during your consultation. The purpose is to give you enough information to understand your options and decide what feels right for you.
Transgender Hair Restoration in Boston
Leonard Hair Transplant Associates provides hair restoration consultations for transgender patients in Boston and throughout New England. Whether you have been thinking about hair restoration for years or have only recently started researching your options, you are welcome to come in and have a conversation with us.
We cannot tell you what your hair should look like. That’s personal.
What we can do is listen to what you want it to look like, evaluate what is possible and help you understand the options available to get you closer to it.