 |
| Photo by PR Photos |
Yes.
New minimally-invasive hair transplant techniques like NeoGraft FUE and careful hairline artistry actually makes this possible. Many of our patients at Bauman Medical Group keep their hair transplant procedures 'a secret' for a variety of reasons.
The NeoGraft FUE hair transplant procedure allows athletes like Tom Brady to avoid having stitches in their donor area. Therefore, he could return to training and workouts in as little as three days and NeoGraft FUE leaves no 'tell-tale' linear scar, so very short haircuts are possible later on.
And, while a 'total shave' certainly allows us to move thousands of FUE grafts during a single hair transplant procedure, smaller 'stealth-shaves' in the donor area can be easily hidden with about an inch of hair length if a very short haircut is simply not feasible for the patient.
At my clinic, we carefully perform "stealth shaves" at the back of the scalp the day prior to the procedure. Little by little the hair is shaved always making sure the surrounding hair easily covers the area to be harvested. During stealth-shave procedures, approximately 1000-1500 FUE grafts can be transplanted.
A small 1/4-inch shave is hidden easily with about an inch of hair. Sometimes more than one small area can be shaved and still remain hidden immediately following the procedure. Here's an example of FUE/NeoGraft harvested areas hidden immediately by the surrounding hair after the procedure.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanbauman/4111813653/
Afterwards, the healing process in the donor area is completely covered by the hair surrounding the harvested area. Since we are only harvesting a small percentage of hair from the shaved area, those hairs left behind will return to their normal length in just a few weeks and normal hairstyling can resume.
In the recipient area (where the transplanted hairs are implanted), scabs remain for about a week. Depending on the length of the surrounding hair and the location of the transplanted area, creative hairstyling or a baseball hat might be needed for a few days. Once the scabs flake off, there is no sign of the transplant having been performed!
Because transplanted hair grows in slowly beginning in about three months, as long as careful planning, artistry and precision was used at the hairline, the transplanted result should be 100% natural. Initially, thin wispy hair grows thicker and healthier over time. Day by day, the improvements take a full year to grow in.
Tom Brady's visit to a New England hair transplant clinic has not been confirmed, but it is possible he could have had a secret transplant - even with all the photogs watching!
Dr. Bauman's tips for keeping your hair transplant a secret:
1) minimally-invasive NeoGraft FUE - so there's no tell-tale linear scar
2) grow your hair to 1" in the donor area to hide a 'stealth-shave'
3) wear a hairstyle or hat for one week to cover the transplanted areas until the scabs flake off.
4) choose a surgeon and staff who can create an aesthetically-natural and undetectable hairline.
5) use healing treatments (like hyperbaric oxygen, low level laser therapy, protein sprays, Acell/Matristem, copper-peptide solutions, etc.) to accelerate the body's recovery.
