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The treatment:

This procedure should be carried out by a surgeon with relevant skills and experience in an establishment registered with the Healthcare Commission.

Hair transplants take place under local anaesthetic, and each session of the treatment can last anything from two to eight hours, depending on the number of hairs that are transplanted. In one session, it is common to transplant 1,000 to 2,000 hair follicles - but larger areas of hair loss may require up to 4,000 follicles hairs a session. As each session can take several hours, many  people choose to have two or three different sessions.

The surgeon anaesthetises an area of the head where the hair grows thickly. He or she then takes hair from there, in clusters of one to eight hair follicles - and transplants the hair to where it is required.

Once the surgeon has finished the hair transplant, he or she closes up the area where the strip of hair was taken from and covers it with bandages.

The results:

Most hair transplants are successful although it can take anything up to nine months before the hair takes root and begins to fill in. It is not uncommon for the transplanted hair to fall out after several months - and then start to regrow.

Once the hair starts to regrow, it should look natural. The hair should be placed in the direction in which the hair would normally be growing in that location.

The risks:

General risks associated with surgery - see Considering cosmetic surgery?

There is a low risk of infection or scarring - either from where the hair was taken or where it was transplanted. Occasionally, the transplanted hair may not take root and grow.

• Considering cosmetic surgery?

Before you start:

You must have realistic expectations of your hair transplant. If you start off without very much hair, a transplant will not give you a full head of hair. The thicker and denser your hair, the better the results will be.

Also see:

• Scalp surgery