Can you believe that the concept of hair transplantation has been in existence and been evolving since the late 1930s? Dr.Okuda, a Japanese dermatologist by profession, outlined a technique of hair transplantation using grafts, similar to the way hair transplants are performed today. His proposal was published in a medical journal. His method involved the use of hair transplant grafts to replace lost hair in balding areas. However, the method he devised could not really take off so well because of the impact of world war II. Since then hair transplantation has been continuously evolving, with plenty of surgeons, physicians and scientists contributing to different methods and techniques in the field.
The breakthrough in the hair transplantation field came with Dr.Norman Orentreich’s hair transplant surgery performed in New York city, which was the first of its kind for male pattern baldness. He named his principle as ‘Donor Dominance’ and the principle established the truth that hair follicles could be obtained from the balding resistant donor areas of the scalp and be implanted into the balding areas of the scalp, and that the implanted follicles would continue to grow for the patient’s lifetime.
So when did the mass popularity of hair transplants begin? The 60s and 70s.
The 60s and 70s saw the immense popularity of hair transplantation. However in the early days, larger hair grafts were used for the transplants. The large graft technique became outdated owing to the fact that the patients in a lot of cases did not have enough donor hair to complete the entire number of sessions of the hair transplants.
Hair restoration in the 80s…
The 80s where when hair restoration significantly evolved, to become more improved and sophisticated. The larger grafts were replaced with smaller and mini or micro grafts. This helped with improvement of hair fullness and density and a much more refined hairline in the front.
Gold Standard of Hair Restoration – The FUE Technique in the 90s
Undeniably, the 90s saw the most refine surgical transplant procedure, the FUE (Follicular unit hair transplantation).Dr. Robert Bernstein proposed the concept of creating hair restoration using FUE technique. To this day, the FUE technique has been evolving and getting more refined and is widely accepted as the gold standard or hair restoration. The FUE is a powerful hair restoration technique wherein patients can hope to achieve an increase in hair density even after a single surgical session.
Schedule your first consultation with Dr.Jones to have any questions answered about the FUE technique and to assess if the procedure is right for you. Get in touch with us today!
