History Of Hair Transplants And Are You A Candidate?

During the 1970s, large grafts were termed “plugs”. However, there were studies about the possibility of smaller grafts. In 1984, mini-grafting was finally perfected. Mini-grafting was performed using strips of donor tissue, meaning, the bald-resistant hair is actually stripped off from the back of the head and trimmed to fit the desired hair display.

Not much longer and smaller grafts were used for hair transplant. They are called Micro-grafts. Let’s discuss these briefly here, but note that you will find an entire chapter that deals with micro-grafting in depth. These grafts contain only 1 or 2 hairs and were often used for the patient’s frontal hairline. A combination of mini- and micro- grafting was also developed because it looked more natural. Mini-micro grafting included planting larger grafts (the mini grafts) at the center and smaller grafts (the micro grafts) were planted to “surround” the mini grafts. The mini-micro grafting eventually erased the plugging technique and became the standard hair transplant/ restoration procedure until the mid-90s. Technically, mini-micro grafts required more grafts and more sessions. However, it was famed for its “fullness result”.

The Gold Standard

Mini-micro grafting popularity grew exponentially until the mid-90s. In 1995, FUT or Follicular Unit Transplantation was introduced. It was described as a “very refined and meticulous surgical procedure”. It included transplanting hairs in their natural “follicular groupings”. These follicular groupings have to be made. Intensive magnification is needed by the surgeons to accurately visualize the original groupings from the donor tissue. Afterwards, these hairs will be isolated and cut to form the grafts.

At first, FUT faced massive opposition from America’s leading groups of physicians. They were simply skeptical about it. However, when FUT patients started posting their raves on the Internet, the demand for FUT started to swell. When the demand accelerated exponentially, it was only then when the physicians labeled FUT as a mainstream procedure for hair transplant. It stayed in mainstream until the 21st century. In fact, it was even termed as the “gold standard” in hair restoration by America’s top surgeons.

Are You A Candidate?

So now you’ve read about the evolution of hair transplant surgeries. By now, you have learned that the journey towards achieving the most accurate and natural process wasn’t a walk in the park. Before you decide if you should get transplant surgery, take a look at the following list:

You are a candidate for a hair transplant if you:

a.)    Have been losing your hair due to normal male baldness. This usually starts from the front then is followed by a receding hairline.

b.)    Have experienced a facelift or other cosmetic procedure that affects the scalp and causes baldness

c.)    Have lost your hair due to burns or trauma

Remember that hair transplant surgery is still surgery. Listen very carefully to the surgeon and be sure to follow his/her instructions.