The very first hair transplant surgery is believed to have occurred in Germany in 1822, performed by a medical student who transplanted hair from his own scalp to his forearm. His purpose in doing so was to specifically ascertain whether it would even be possible for transplanted hair follicles to form a permanent adhesion and begin to grow once again. In total, 6 hair follicles were transplanted. Of those 6 follicles, 4 were not successful for various reasons including infection, however; 2 of the transplanted hairs held on and actually did begin to grow. Although the medical student continued to experiment with hair transplantation methods and procedures there was no real growth or belief in the feasibility of this process until the early 20th century.
Although it was not widely known around the world at the time, the Japanese began experimenting with hair transplantation procedures as early as 1930. For almost two decades, a number of successful hair transplantation surgeries were conducted in Japan primarily for the purpose of transferring patches of skin and hair from healthy sites on the body and transplanting them to other areas that were either damaged or disfigured due to the effects of war or other injuries. These methods were published widely in medical journals, however, due to the escalating tensions between Western countries and Japan during the 1930s and impact of the Japanese-U.S. relations following World War II, it would take several more years before a surgeon in the United States would begin to publish the possibilities of hair transplantation surgery. Even then, the extensive history of Japanese experimentation and progress in this field would not be known until the mid-1970s.
In 1952, an American dermatologist, Norman Orentreich, began publishing articles describing how the procedure could be accomplished. Dr. Orentreich referred to the theory behind this procedure as donor dominance. In his articles, Dr. Orentreich explained that when a hair follicle is transplanted from one location to another it is able to grow and fully functional because it maintains its original traits and does not succumb to any damage present in the new location. It is believed that Dr. Orentreich may have been the first person to develop the idea of using this process for the purpose of replacing hair that is lost due to the effects of balding.
Fifty+ years later, these methods are known as follicular transplants and are the basis for many successful hair transplant procedures. Hair transplant surgery is very commonplace and many persons undergo this procedure on a daily basis. Since hair transplants first began to be used as a way to fight the effects of hair loss, the procedure has developed greatly and today physicians have been able to perfect the surgical procedures used.
While the first hair transplant surgeries were deemed to be a modern miracle by those suffering from hair loss and balding; the newly introduced procedures were not without their problems. When the procedures were first introduced, doctors tended to take much larger grafts from the donor site. During the early days of hair transplant surgery, it was quite common for one session to involve the transplant of up to 300 grafts per session. Depending on the type and size of the graft this could have represented up to over 1,000 hairs in a single session. In the very first surgeries performed by Dr. Oreintreich, 4mm punch grafts were utilized. These first grafts were known as plugs, a term that is still used today.
While the first hair transplant surgeries were deemed to be a modern miracle by those suffering from hair loss and balding; the newly introduced procedures were not without their problems. When the procedures were first introduced, doctors tended to take much larger grafts from the donor site. During the early days of hair transplant surgery, it was quite common for one session to involve the transplant of up to 300 grafts per session. Depending on the type and size of the graft this could have represented up to over 1,000 hairs in a single session. In the very first surgeries performed by Dr. Oreintreich, 4mm punch grafts were utilized. These first grafts were known as plugs, a term that is still used today.
Furthermore, most early hair transplant surgeries could not be completed in a single session. As many as five or more surgical procedures might be required to finish the job. Given the fact that patients really need to wait several months in between surgeries, this meant that the process could last for a number of years. In that length of time, any number of things could happen that could prevent the patient from returning to finish the remaining sessions. If the patient was unable to have the remaining hair transplant sessions, he would more than likely endure the rest of his life with very tell-tell signs that he had work done.
Unfortunately, in far too many cases the results of the surgery yielded results that looked worse than the patient’s original appearance prior to the procedure. Another significant problem with the early hair transplant procedures is that they would commonly leave open gaps between the transplants, mostly because they were placed in straight rows. Because of this, the hair was not able to grow in a manner that would cover the scars resulting from the surgery. Additionally, the earliest hair transplant procedures were not developed enough yet to be able to be implemented on female patients. Overall, the early hair transplant procedures were tenuous at best.
Surprisingly, despite these problems, hair transplant surgeries continued to thrive throughout the Sixties and Seventies. As hair transplant procedures entered the early Eighties, however; more and more people began to desire better results. We were coming into an age when any number of things as possible, and so it seemed only natural that the process of hair transplantation surgery could be improved as well. About twenty-five years ago scientists discovered that hairs tend to grow in clumps. The clumps range in size from just two hairs growing together up to several growing together within the same cluster. This was an extremely important breakthrough in hair restoration procedures and the way surgeons began to handle surgeries for the purpose of restoring hair. Today this cluster or group of hair is known as follicular units.
It was also at this time that doctors began experimenting with using smaller grafts in the hopes of producing better results. The smaller grafts that were created in the early Eighties, known as mini-grafts, are the basis on which today’s successful hair transplant procedures were formed.
Mini-grafts are still commonly used today, although there are actually five different types of grafts used by surgeons in today’s hair transplant procedures. Anyone considering hair transplant surgery should question their physician as to what type of graft they commonly use during their procedures.
Micro-grafts will contain only 1 to 2 hairs per individual graft.
Mini-grafts contain only 2 to 4 hairs per individual graft.
Slit grafts contain anywhere between 4 to 10 hairs per individual graft.
Punch grafts normally contain anywhere from 10 to 15 hairs within each graft.
Strip grafts contain anywhere between 30 to 40 hairs per individual graft.
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