Tag: Local Anesthetic

Is Hair Transplant Painful?

Many people who think about having hair transplant surgery wonder if the procedure is painful. Often people have sensitive scalps and the thought of someone making cuts there seems hard to think about for these people. There is disagreement as to whether hair transplant surgery is painful, though.

Some say that hair transplant surgery is similar to a visit to the dentist. This does not seem like a description of something that is pain-free. It certainly does not seem like a relaxing experience. Yet some feel that there is that degree of pain involved.

The injections of the local anesthetic into the scalp before hair transplant procedures are definitely painful to some degree. Anyone who has had a tooth pulled knows that, if the tooth is deadened properly, it is not the tooth-pulling that hurts. It is the needle going in with medication to numb the tooth that is the real agony.

Of course, to follow the dental analogy, after the numbing wears off there is plenty of pain where the tooth was before. With hair transplant surgery, there is pain after the surgery as well. Swelling is normal after hair transplant surgery and can even keep you away from work. Your skull may feel very unusual for weeks.

However, the pain of hair transplant cannot actually be compared to a tooth extraction. Hair transplant pain is decidedly less sharp and some do not even feel it as pain at all. Many people simply feel it as an uncomfortable feeling. If they do feel any pain, it is of a degree that can be taken care of with a few doses of Tylenol.

On the other hand, some people who have had hair transplant procedures done do not feel that there is any pain involved at all. They tolerate the injections of the local anesthetic well. They are not bothered at all by the procedure. In fact they often watch television or read magazines, being awake and alert the whole time.

Hair transplant surgery is surely less painful than it was in earlier times when larger sections of scalp were excised. This involved more cutting to take out the donor hair and more cutting to insert the donor hair into the recipient site.

Hair transplant surgery was a very painful procedure in the past. Not all doctors today have given up on older methods. This is one reason why you should ask a lot of questions when you look for a hair transplant surgeon.

Up-to-date techniques for hair transplant use only the follicular unit and not a large amount of surrounding tissue for the donor grafts. This cuts down considerably on the amount of pain experienced. The procedure is minimally invasive now, so that no more of the scalp is disturbed than is necessary.

Finally, having a hair transplant with an experienced and skilled surgeon is an important key to having a less painful surgery. A doctor who knows the best way to do the procedure will cause you less pain an produce a better result for you into the bargain.

How can Upper Back Pain be Helped

Upper back pain may not be as common as lower back pain but it may also induce severe pain and extreme discomfort. It is frequently caused by myofascial pain or muscular irritation and dysfunction on the joint. Degeneration on the upper back discs may occur but this condition is too rarely observed among upper back pain sufferers.

Both the myofascial pain and the joint dysfunction can best be helped with treatments in the forms of:

Active and passive physical therapy and daily exercise

Osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation

Massage therapy or deep massage

Acupuncture

Massage therapy

Injections with a local anesthetic on trigger points

Over the counter medications

Prescription drugs

The back bone is divided into several categories and each are at risk to different factors. As much as lower back pain is a condition that affects the lower portion of the spinal bones (lumbar), the upper back pain is mainly due to irregularities or impairments on the thoracic spine. While the lower spine and the neck are intended to allow us for greater mobility, the thoracic spine is designed to protect the internal organs that the section covers and to help the framework of the body to hold itself in its respective postures.

Because this section of the spinal chord are created for limited movement and more stability, it’s susceptibility to injuries and degeneration is much too less when compared with what the lower back is facing. Additionally, upper back may develop lesser disorders and like herniated spinal disks, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis.

Upper back pain may be the resultant of poor posture or extreme trauma. Interestingly enough, the most recent cases documented for upper back pain typically came from people who work continuously in front of computers. Upper back pain often occurs with neck and shoulder pain.

Rarely, thoracic disk disease is the cause for upper back bone. Though this often is the case with lower back pain, the case is the opposite with thoracic back pain since lesser mobility is created with this spinal bone part.

Another less occurring condition responsible for upper back pain is the trauma that may cause the fracture or extreme injuries on the thoracic vertebrae. In this case, there is no room for neglecting the condition. This needs immediate medical assistance via early diagnosis to measure the damage incurred and to formulate the ideal treatment plan.

The Two Types of Spider Vein Treatment

Spider veins are not nice to look at regardless of where they may be in the body. It can happen on the face but this usually appears on the legs. Fortunately, this can be remedied and people have to choose from two types of spider vein treatment.

The first is called sclerotherapy also known as spider vein injection. Here, the doctor will inject a scleroic agent into you the affected vein which is designed to make them contract and collapse.

This is done when the patient has medium to large spider veins. It is a painless procedure which is why anesthesia is not given. It is over within 15 to 45 minutes and you will have to go back for two or six more sessions to see its full effect.

Sclerotherapy was first used in Europe and then now being used by doctors in the US. This should only be done by a certified doctor to avoid complications.

The second type of spider vein treatment is laser. Here, the doctor will aim the beam over the spider veins so this will coagulate and shrink. This is very effective when the patient has small and medium sized spider veins.

Patients who decide to use laser surgery should know that you will feel a little pain when the procedure is being performed. Despite that, you dont need to be given any local anesthetic, pain medication or sedative.

In both types, you should expect the spider veins in the skin to get darker and become more visible. Within 2 weeks to a month and a half, this should already start to fade so it is slowly improving.

Some patients who have small, medium and large spider veins have to use combination therapy which consist of sclerotherapy and laser which will greatly reduce the cost for laser treatment.

The cost of sclerotherapy and laser treatment are not that far apart. A session of sclerotherapy may cost between $100 and $400 per session while laser treatment could cost $300-450 per session. But you have to remember that this could go higher depending on the number of veins that have to be treated, the doctor who is performing the procedure and where you are having this done. Doctors who have their own clinic can do it right there instead of having this done in the hospital.

The two types of spider vein treatment have similarities and differences. One cannot be substituted with the other because one type is designed to help patients who have small to medium spider veins while the other is to help treat those who have medium to large spider veins.

Which one will be performed on you will depend on the assessment of your doctor. To help with the cost of this procedure, you should see if your insurance provider will be able to cover it. You should know right now that many insurance companies do not shoulder this expense because their argument is that this is a cosmetic procedure.

While this is true, you can with the help of your doctor argue that you need one of the two types of spider vein treatment for medical reasons. Just remember that this should be backed up by pictures and documents so there is a big chance that your request for this procedure is approved.