Traction Alopecia and Hair Transplants

I am 20 years old as of January of this year and I am female. I always had very long very full very beautiful and healthy hair but in my later years of high school i began doing a lot of processing to change the color on numerous occasions, this resulted in, while still long, very damaged stringy hair. One day I made the decision to cut it and it was more healthy than it had been in a very long time and very very full, however I was not confidant with the length and made the incredibly stupid decision to get hair extensions, of course I only know how stupid it was now that the damage is done. The type I had were individual pieces adhered by small metal tubes that were then clamped to stay in place, and I would say I had approximately 200 of them in at one time. I have noticed an incredible loss in the fullness of my hair not just in the ends but in my scalp. I feel that I’ve lost approximately 50-70% of my hair which I hope is me overreacting but I have lost many nights of sleep and it’s taken a toll on my sanity and my life. I am exploring the option of hair transplants since they say that is the only solution for traction alopecia which i’ve diagnosed myself with. I will be seeing a dermatologist in a few days so I will have more details but I was hoping you could tell me a few things about the transplants. From what I’ve read they are said to have good to excellent results in patients with traction alopecia but I would like to know:

1. Will the transplanted hairs have the capacity to grow to the desired length?
2. Some transplant doctors practice a method where they are able to put grafts in between existing hairs which is what I will require since the thinning is all over. I am wondering, will it be necessary to cut the existing hairs short? I am hoping this is not the case.
3. The only hair that has not been touched by the extensions and is healthy enough to be used as donor hair is in the front and is not a very large section. I am wondering, can the same donor area be used more than once if more hair is required to fill the missing spaces than the donor area can create at one time?
4. This hair is 100% certain to grow back just as full as before, yes?
5. Is there any scarring that will arise as a result of this? Do the risks for scarring increase if the donor area is used more than once?

I hope that you will reply to this message because I am very distraught and extremely depressed which I’m beginning to fear may lead to further hair loss caused by stress, and am rigidly searching for answers to this problem. Thank you for taking the time to read about my story and I’m hoping to hear from you soon.

You’ve likely seen your dermatologist by now and have a better idea of the degree of your hair loss, but I hope these answers to your questions help a bit.

1. Yes. Transplanted hair will grow to the same length as the hair in the back of your head, since that is where the hair is being moved from.
2. No. We routinely leave the recipient area long and do not cut the areas where we are going to do the transplant.
3. Unlikely. Hair for transplantation is taken from the side and back of the head. I would have to evaluate your alopecia before giving you an opinion.
4. Almost. Nothing in this world is 100% certain, but I would expect that hair transplants will grow at a 98% confidence factor.
5. Yes. The donor area does scar and the degree of scarring depends upon many things, including:
   1. the number of surgeries
   2. the size of the donor strip
   3. tissue factors unique to each person
   4. the surgical technique used