Q: I underwent hair transplant 3 years ago. But the scars on the skin, due to the surgery are still visible. The doctors said they would go away over a period of time. But they haven't. Could you suggest the best treatment for these scars?

A:Presumably, the hair transplant (HT) was done using larger grafts, which leave visible scars in the recipient area of the instruments used to make the slit. It also depends on the colour of the skin of the scalp and the hairs. Nowadays, HT is done by the follicular unit technique, which does not leave any visible scars and the results are cosmetically very good. Unfortunately, there is not too much that can be done to improve this. You can increase the density of the transplanted area by doing another session of follicular unit grafting, where the hair should cover the visible scalp and not leave gaps to see the scars in hair transplantation done by the follicular unit technique, the hair transplanted in the bald area is permanent, do not fall, grow like normal hair and subsequently need haircuts. You can apply oil or shampoo to them and comb them to your desired style. The operation is done on an out patient basis and the patient goes home immediately after the operation. It takes 4 to 6 hours for one session where approximately 500 grafts (i.e.2000 hairs) are transplanted. The charges for my team for transplanting 500 grafts are Rs. 25,000/-(@ Rs.50/- per graft). The Nursing Home charges are Rs. 5000/-to 20,000/- (@ Rs.10/- per graft), for using the O.T. instruments and medicines. We have transplanted more than 800 cases till now, and all are very happy. For large areas of baldness, we have transplanted upto 2000 grafts (i.e. 5000 to 6000 hairs) in a sitting in 6 to 7 hours. There are no side effects of hair transplantation.