What Is A Hair Transplant?

Have you ever wondered why so many men have the same balding looks: thinning hair, or no hair on top, and plenty of "fringe" on the sides and back of the head?

In most men, the hair on the sides and lower part of the back of the head will remain, even in advanced male pattern baldness. That's because follicles in these locations are not adversely affected by DHT, the byproduct of testosterone that causes hair loss. Since characteristics of individual follicles don't change, permanent hair will remain permanent (not harmed by DHT) even when transplanted to another part of the head. This permanent hair from the sides and back of the head is your donor hair.

In hair transplant surgery, permanent hair, your own donor hair, is redistributed to cover the thinning or bald areas of the head. Since no new hair is actually created and existing hair is just moved around, there is no "net" increase in total hair volume. Even so, a skillfully performed hair transplant can make a person look as though he or she has more hair.

Hair transplant surgery is as much an art as it is a science. Re-distributing hair on a person's head can be compared to painting a portrait. The surgeon's goal is to create a natural looking result that's consistent with the hair supply, the patient's specific hair characteristics, and just as important, the patient's goals.

The hair transplant surgeon must have excellent surgical skills, proficiency in state-of-the-art hair transplantation techniques, and a thorough understanding of human facial anatomy. The surgeon must also know hair physiology and understand medical conditions that affect the scalp.

Every hair transplant surgeon must be aware of, and critically evaluate all new developments in the field.

It is critically important for the surgeon to evaluate and study each patient thoroughly and tailor every procedure to the patient's unique characteristics and needs.

History of Hair Transplantation

Even though transplantation of hair-bearing skin from either animals or humans has actually been done since the early 1800's, successful modern hair transplantation wasn't developed until the 20th century. In 1939, Dr. Okuda, a Japanese dermatologist first described the punch technique of hair transplantation when, working on severe burn patients, he transplanted round grafts of skin containing hair follicles from permanent hair-bearing areas into round openings in scarred areas of scalp. The grafts continued to produce hair in their new locations. In 1943, another Japanese dermatologist, Dr. Tamura, used 1-3 hair micrografts to restore female pubic hair. These very small micrografts were obtained from one elliptical incision in the donor area. His techniques were similar precursors to those used today. Although the works of both physicians were published in Japanese medical journals, because of World War II, their pioneering procedures were unknown to the Western World at the time.

Hair transplantation was rediscovered by Dr. Norman Orentreich in New York City in 1952, where he performed the first hair transplant for male pattern baldness. After several years of rejection by a skeptical medical community, in 1959 Dr. Orentreich published his work in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science, this began the "modern" era of hair transplantation. Unfortunately, Orentreich's work paralleled the "punch" technique of Okuda, rather than the "micrograft" technique of Tamura and so, by the 1960's, hair transplant surgery in the United States was off and running, but in the wrong direction.

For Additional Hair Transplant Information Visit Hair Transplant Medical or Hair Loss Patient Guide