Baltimore Plastic Surgeon Provides an Alternative to Traditional Hair Transplants

BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwired - Apr 30, 2013) - Dr. James E. Vogel, a Baltimore plastic surgeon, seeks to integrate artistry and his surgical expertise to exceed his patients' expectations. In addition to facial rejuvenation and cosmetic body contouring, Dr. Vogel offers hair transplant procedures to help patients regain a full head of hair. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a new transplant technique offered at his practice that individually removes follicular units from a donor site while allowing patients to wear shorter hair once the surgery is complete.

Dr. Vogel notes that FUE is an alternative surgical option to the traditional "strip harvest" method for hair transplantation. FUE uses a specialized tool designed to extract follicular units while leaving them entirely intact. Key advantages of the FUE donor harvest technique include:

1. A much less tender donor area following surgery
2. A shorter recovery time following surgery
3. The ability for the patient to wear shorter hair in the donor area following surgery

According to Dr. Vogel, for patients who require a very small number of transplants, FUE may be ideally suited for their needs. Additionally, he says patients who have been severely donor depleted, or have a "tight scalp," as a result previous strip over-harvesting are also good candidates for FUE.

When prospective hair transplant patients visit Dr. Vogel's private Baltimore plastic surgery practice, he discusses all of the patient's options. Dr. Vogel says that due to the vast amount of information available on the Internet, many patients visit the office with pre-conceived notions of hair transplant procedures that may or may not be accurate. For patients who want to wear their hair very short, have limited donor sites, or have a tight scalp, FUE may be the best choice for treatment.

While FUE typically has a shorter recovery period and often causes much less discomfort, some patients will need to shave a portion of their hair and then wait for the donor area grow back. When applicable, Dr. Vogel employs a "stealth" technique of shaving a small area to help patients retain coverage during this period of hair growth. At his practice, 25% of his hair transplant cases are FUE treatments and Dr. Vogel notes that as FUE techniques continue to improve, he expects a rise in popularity of the procedure.

About James E. Vogel, MD, FACS

Dr. James Vogel is a graduate of Bowdoin College and earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He completed his general surgery residencies at Tufts New England Medical Center and the University of North Carolina, followed by a plastic residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. During his tenure as a plastic surgeon, he has been voted a "Top Doctor in Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine and regarded as a leader and innovator in the field of cosmetic surgery. Dr. Vogel is available for interview upon request.