70 Follicular Unit Excision with Black Patients and Kinky Hair
Book
Editors: Unger, Robin; Shapiro, Ronald
Title: Hair Transplantation
Print ISBN: 9781626236936; Online ISBN: 9781684202737; Book DOI: 10.1055/b000000335
6. Edition © 2023 Thieme. All rights reserved.
Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., New York
Subjects: Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery;Dermatology
Thieme Clinical Collections (English Language)
Summary
Patients with curly or kinky hairs have the same curvature inside the scalp, from mild to extreme curl, known as a C-shaped hair follicle. This makes harvesting grafts, with minimal transection—with strip or follicular unit excision (FUE)—more difficult. To overcome this challenge during FUE harvesting, the physician needs to be especially careful. When performing FUE, the author uses a four-step FUE technique to successfully harvest grafts in patients with African hair characteristics. A semisharp punch or a motorized device with a flat FUE punch is the preferred tool.
Key words
elliptical shape - tight curls or coils - moisturize - C-shaped curl - traction alopecia - oxidative stress - microinflammation - four-step FUE technique - flat FUE punch - semisharp punch- 2 Mayer M. Hair transplantation in black patients. In: Unger W, Shapiro R, Unger R, Unger M, eds. New York, NY: Thieme; 2010:431–435
- 3 Dr. Monte and Dr. Harris. Hair and culture. Available at: www.harrisface.com/hair-and-culture.html
- 4 Perling LC, Cowper SE, Knop EA. Traction alopecia, central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia. In: Sperling LC, ed. An Atlas of Hair Pathology with Clinical Correlations. 2nd ed. London: CRC Press; 2012:61–72, 120–126, 127–131, 150–154