What is the crown? The crown, also called the vertex, is the highest point of the head or the area on the top of the skull. Baldness and hair fall in the crown area is pretty common, especially among adult males. Most men start experiencing some or the other form of hair fall after the age of 40. This shedding of hair initially begins from the hairline region and then attacks the crown. A few men might experience a thinning crown, but no hair falls from the hairline. When the crown hair starts to fall, this is a major cause of anxiety and loss of confidence in men.

Crown Baldness

Baldness in the crown generally occurs after you start losing hair from the middle and front parts of the scalp. Most men go through this type of baldness between 50-70 years of age. The hair fall generally starts from the center of the vertex and then spreads to the surrounding areas. 

Major difficulties that might occur in crown transplant surgeries

A crown transplant does not have a very easy procedure, and there are quite a few complications that can take place in such surgeries. These include:

1. Since hair grows from different angles at the whorl point, the transplant needs to be done in a way that the hair pattern in the crown area is recreated and it must be ensured that the angle of the newly transplanted hair matches the angle of the natural hair on the head.
2. The hair needs to be strongly interlocked, especially in that area where the transplanted hair overlaps the rest of the hair in the crown region.
3. The crown covers a big area of the head and around 6,500 grafts are needed to cover it up completely. The donor’s head area has a limited number of follicles, and the number of grafts required is much more than the existing number in the donor’s head area.

Crown Hair Transplant Timeline

FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) Technique: An FUE technique is the most modern and one of the best techniques of crown transplant, which doesn’t leave any scars or side effects. Approximate 4-6 hours are required for the whole surgery and a little rest after that. 

However, the donor might experience some redness or some amount of hair loss after the initial days of surgery. But this is something that is experienced by all people who undergo this surgery and there is no need to worry about it. A shaving machine on the newly transplanted hair is strictly prohibited for at least 6 months after the surgery, however, you can use scissors to cut the new hair after about two weeks from the operation.

New hair generally starts coming out of the transplanted hair follicles within 2-4 months of surgery, and within 6-10 months, a considerable amount of hair starts emerging in the crown area of most patients. You can say that after around a year, the maximum number of new hair would have grown on your scalp.

Another method is the FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation), which involves the removal of a strip of tissue from the back of the head, and the hair follicles from this strip are harvested in a clinic by specialists. This method allows a greater number of grafts to be transplanted in one session, as compared to FUE.

Pros And Cons Of Crown Hair Transplant Surgery

Here are some of the major pros and cons of crown hair transplant surgery that you should know about:

Pros

1. In cases of men, crown hair transplant generally gives long term benefits for male pattern baldness.
2. Going through a lifetime of medications and other treatments costs a lot if compared to transplant operations which is a one-time expenditure.
3. The process essentially allows hair to grow naturally, which has long-lasting benefits, in cases of both, men and women.

Cons

1. Hair transplant surgeries also include the risk of some common side effects, like itching, swelling of the scalp, and infection of the hair follicles.
2. There have been some instances wherein the patients lose their transplanted hair, referred to as ‘shock loss’. Even though this is a very rare phenomenon, there are possibilities of its occurrence.
3. Some people develop wide scars on the scalp after these transplantations.
4. Bumps on the scalp are also pretty common since the chances for hair follicles to die off before hair regeneration are very small.

What are the Temporary Side Effects of a Hair Transplant?

Let us make you well versed with some temporary side effects that you might encounter before you decide to go for a crown hair transplant:

1. After the surgery, temporary inflammation and itching are quite common among the patients. But, this is only short-lived and disappears after a week or two in most cases.
2. Some people also suffer from severe bleeding in the implanted area i.e. the crown, which requires medicines, gels or creams to be treated.
3. Lack of sensation in the crown and swelling of the scalp are also common effects that happen because of the severing of nerves while planting the hair follicles during the surgery. This numbness might persist for a longer time as well, till the nerves recover from the transplant which might take 5-6 months in some cases.
4. Shock loss: There is a risk of temporary loss of transplanted hair also attached with a crown hair transplant. However, it is generally quite insignificant compared to the number of newly transplanted hair.

Alternatives to Crown Hair Transplant

If you do not want to go for a crown hair transplant, there are other alternatives also to treat your hair loss problems. Medications like minoxidil and other oral medicines can be used by a doctor’s prescription. In fact, some of them can be used even without official prescriptions. New technologies like the Laser Light Comb, Low-Level Laser Therapy, etc. are also prospective solutions that are known to benefit people.

Other temporary solutions to this crown hair loss problem include a wig, hair sprays, and extensions, etc. However, a transplant is a permanent solution to your problem and you might go for it if you like. The best you can do is go for natural remedies for hair fall solutions, and preferably an ayurvedic treatment. It will not only help in fast growth and speedy recovery of the hair, but never has any side-effects. The only drawback it suffers from is time. It takes a long time, and on the other hand crown hair transplant results can be seen immediately after the procedure. 

Also Read: A Guide To Hair Transplant