Dear Dr Reddy,

I have had a 2300 graft strip surgery 3 months ago to the front and temple region. I am not happy with the density and also the direction of the hair. I have heard that with the specialised implanter used in H+ technique, you can achieve better density and also better direction than traditional strip procedures.

My question is can the density and direction be improved and if yes, how soon can this be done after my first surgery?

Thanks for your question. Before I start answering your question, I would like to reassure you that 3m is still very early days to determine the success or failure of your strip surgery. I do not belong to the school of thought that FUE is better than strip surgery. My belief is that both surgeries should complement each other.

Moving on, yes we use a specialised implanter pen that helps in achieving better control over the angle and direction, whilst protecting the vital structures of the graft.
With regards to density, a couple of factors influence the density. Logic says that to achieve the desired coverage a surgeon should aim to achieve 50% of the density of the donor area. Any density beyond that would not provide any additional benefits.
So the answer to your question is that we can achieve the desired density in one procedure with the H+ technique.

With regards to answering your second question, I always advice my patients to wait at least 6 months before contemplating the second procedure.
The reasoning behind this is that you have to wait 6m before you could assess the success of the first surgery and hence you can plan your second surgery better, without disturbing the healing process.