As long as you don’t suffer from spot baldness or diffuse pattern alopecia, you are free to decide to undergo mustache transplant treatment.
Similarly, with other hair transplant procedures, patients should avoid using any blood thinners such as aspirin for around a week before the procedure. This is done in order to avoid any potential complications such as excessive bleeding during or after the procedure is performed. The newly transplanted hair follicles have a better survival rate if all necessary precautions are taken before the mustache hair transplant takes place. Herbal teas, any intake of vitamins or anti-inflammatory medicine also needs to be avoided for a week before the mustache transplant.
Mustache transplant procedures can be performed by using different techniques, the most popular of which are Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE and Direct Hair Implantation or DHI.
As with most hair transplant techniques, the patient’s back of the head is used as the donor area for the mustache transplant. With the FUE procedure, the hair transplant specialist will use a small punch to harvest grafts from the donor area. Between one and four hair follicles are harvested in every graft. The grafts are then further divided into smaller units containing 1-2 hair follicles by the hair transplant technician. Once that part of the procedure is done, reception holes can be created in the mustache area, with the hair transplant specialist carefully following the natural hair growth of the patient. Follicular Unit Extraction provides some of the best results nowadays with very little to no scarring in the donor area. The only downside of this procedure is the fact that it takes longer than other techniques, and it can only be performed by a highly trained hair transplant specialist, making it a bit more expensive.
Direct Hair Implantation is quite similar to Follicular Unit Extraction with the only difference being that a micro-punch is used to harvest the hair grafts from the donor area. This micro punch is only a couple of millimeters in width, making donor scars practically invisible once the recovery period is over.
Mustache transplant recovery is quite quick. After the hair growth, the treatment patient is free to go. On the second day, he can resume his normal activities, including working. However, more strenuous activities should remain limited for some time. One of the key pieces of advice regarding the mustache transplant recovery period is keeping the mustache area dry in order to provide good conditions for the development of new hair.
While hair grafting through follicular unit extraction leaves only tiny incisions, still there is a small possibility of a minor infection, easily suppressed with antibiotics. Apart from this, abnormal swelling and bruising may appear after mustache transplant. In this case, it is recommended to contact your hair specialist.
Mustache transplant side effects can include swelling in the donor area as well as in the transplant area, but this is a normal reaction after any hair transplant procedure. Patients experiencing extensive swelling will be administered antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine for a few weeks after the procedure. It’s important to note that the newly transplanted mustache hair will fall off in around two weeks after the hair transplant is performed but they will re-grow in around two to three months after the recovery period is complete.
It is estimated that in the hands of skilled hair specialists, 90% of hair grafted in a mustache transplant procedure will survive. The most important factor for the survival of grafts is the experience and skills of your doctor, so choose wisely.
Naturally, patients want to experience a significant change before and after the mustache transplant. In the hands of a skilled hair specialist, mustache hair transplant should finish with a dramatic change. New hair will start to grow naturally after two-three months from this facial hair transplant procedure, and you will be happy to see a fully-grown mustache in the place where there was no hair before.
Is Mustache Transplant Procedure Safe?
Yes, in comparison to other cosmetic medicine procedures, mustache hair transplant is relatively safe, the only (and rare) risk being a minor infection. Therefore, there is nothing to be worried about.
Will I Be Happy from My Mustache Transplant Results?
Assuming that you choose a good hair specialist (for example from the list above union you will be pretty much satisfied with your new look after mustache transplant. In the hands of a professional, 90% of hair grafts should survive.
Why Follicular Unit Extraction for Mustache Transplant?
While it is a somewhat longer procedure, FUE treatment guarantees no permanent scarring as well as allows for free shaping of the new mustache. Therefore, most of the mustache transplants are performed with the follicular unit extraction technique.