Hair Restoration Surgery Myths

The techniques and, consequently, the results of the evolving field of hair restoration have been very impressive over the past few decades. Unfortunately, much the general public still perceives hair transplantation as being comparable to the plugs of hair seen in dolls or the placement of bristles in a toothbrush. The truth is, one does not 'see' the results of modern hair restoration surgeries, because they look so natural. The 4mm multiple-punch autographs, each containing 8 to 20 hairs, were first described by Orentreich in 1959. Not until Bradshaw's description of minigrafts in 1984 and Limmer's first use of follicular units in 1988, did the results of hair restoration surgeries begin to achieve a more natural appearance.

The two most widely utilized methods of hair restoration surgery are microscopic dissection of follicular unit grafts and the increasingly popular technique of follicular unit extraction (FUE). In the traditional method of microscopic dissection, the follicular units are removed from the donor area in the occiput (back of the head) by single-bladed elliptical excision microscopically dissected beneath the binocular stereoscope. The donor tissue is trimmed into follicular units and implanted into the balding area using a needle tunnel or small slit incision.

In the FUE method, a specially designed surgical punch is used to remove single follicular units from the donor area for transplantation to the recipient site. This surgical technique has the advantages, at least theoretically, of "a more rapid recovery, minimal or undetectable scarring, more rapid graft growth, and the possible expansion of total available donor sites." The disadvantages include a significantly increased surgical time necessary to transplant any fixed number of follicular units and a steeper learning curve for the surgeon in order to achieve excellent results.

If you would like more information about hair restoration surgery or want a referral to a surgeon, who is a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, access http://www.ishrs.org/hair-doctor.htm