One of the most common reactions of theToronto Hair Transplant Surgeons’sextremely satisfied customers after their highly successful surgeries is that ‘they don’t know why they waited so long’.
A recurring reason why many clients wait so long is that there is still a lack of awareness around advanced, modern hair transplantation techniques. Many people still associate hair transplant surgery with ‘the hair plug’.
The Hair Plug
The Hair Plug became a common term in the 1970s when it was the only surgical option available. In fact, it was way back in 1952 when the hair plug was born with Dr. Norman Orentreich performing the first successful hair transplant in New York City, to the disbelief of the medical community.
The technique used grafts from the back or side of the scalp where there is resistance to balding, also known as the ‘donor site’. However, despite successfully getting the hair to grow, the early technique’s didn’t always yield the most cosmetic of results. There was still a long way to go before today’s highly natural look such as the one you see routinely created by Dr. Robert Jones and his skilled team.
Mini-Micro Grafting – The First Steps In Improvement
It was in 1984 when a new technique came into practice. Instead of using larger grafts of donor tissue, smaller grafts were used in the center of the scalp with even smaller micro-grafts of 1-2 hairs placed around them to create a more natural look. This mini-micro grafting gradually saw the ‘hair plug’ consigned to the surgeries of the past.
FUE and FUT – The Next Leap Forward
Yet still, the term ‘hair plug’ lingers in public consciousness as a viable procedure when, fast forwarding to today, the modern techniques are infinitely more precise and highly more effective in creating natural looking hair that every client dreams of.
Today’s advanced surgery choices are between Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). With these techniques, only follicular units are used as transplants.
What Are Follicular Units?
A common misconception is that hairs grow out of the scalp separately. Whilst that does account for 20-30% of hairs, the rest grow from follicular units. These units are comprised of hairs that grow very close to each other, between 2 to 5 hairs, and sometimes even out of the same exit point.
In Follicular Unit Transplantation, these follicular units are obtained from the donor strip and go on to become the donor graft.
Follicular Unit Extraction is an even more intricate technique where the follicular unit is not removed in a strip but is instead extracted individually.
So, Don’t Hesitate Any Longer!
The technique of hair transplants has come a long way in 60 years since the humble hair plug of the ’70s.
Today’s surgeries are a choice between FUT and FUE and result in grafts indistinguishable from naturally occurring hair.
If you would like to know more about the procedure’s offered at the Toronto Hair Transplant Surgeons please get in touch with our highly skilled and innovative team. There’s no reason to give into balding when today’s science has gifted us with an easy and proven effective alternative.
