How Did Hair Transplant Begin?
The first hair transplant for treating baldness amongst males was performed by Dr. Norman Orentreich in New York in 1952; he used the term “donor dominance” to explain the founding principles of the hair transplant procedure. In other words, he explained that healthy hair collected from the sides and back of the head continue to grow as if they were in their original place. Donor dominance explains what causes the continuous growth of hairs that are taken from donor areas once they have been transplanted to bald areas of the scalp.
The 4mm large skin and hair grafts utilized by Dr. Orentreich made a natural result impossible. During the 1970’s large grafts were used in all hair transplant treatments. For years, large grafts represented the only surgical option; because of this, patients who wanted to restore their hair accepted results that were beyond non-optimal.
Mini and Micro Grafts
In the year 1984, the use of smaller grafts taken from the back of the head found along an extracted strip of scalp was introduced as an alternative to hair restoration. Doctors began using micro grafts to soften frontal hairline. Utilizing mini grafts along the middle of the head to treat areas that surround was titled as mini-micro grafting. Mini-micro grafting system defined the hair restoration industry for the next 20 years.
Follicular Unit Transplant
In 1994, during a visit to Dr. William Rassman in Los Angeles, Dr. Berstein became inspired about an idea that would go onto change the entire sector. This idea was to plant the grafts of what is known as follicular unit, which was composed of four natural hairs.
Follicular Unit Transplant was met with a high-level of doubt and faced challenges. Reviews that revealed satisfied patients on the internet lead to the acceptance of the treatment by unwilling doctors. In the year 2000, FUT hair transplant procedure became widespread and after a short period, became the gold standard of surgical hair restoration.
Follicular Unit Extraction
Afterwards, Dr. Orenwreich’s idea of removing graft from the back of the head surfaced. Since the doctors have been used to follicular unit based hair transplant; an Australian doctor began researching the idea of using a very small staple to directly remove units that form naturally from the donor area. When Berstein and Rassman began working on this idea in 2002 and when the term Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) was revealed, it was announced under the branch of what would be considered as a Minimally Invasive Surgery.
In FUE, the cut is performed in a circular motion, starting from the center of the follicular unit using a specific cutting tool. Once the cut is complete, the follicular unit is either pulled or removed from the head or it heals within a small hole. This procedure is repeated until a satisfactory amount of follicles are gained.
Like FUT, FUE is was also met with discomfort due to the limited surgical abilities of the surgeons and the staff; which caused a race in developing the most appropriate tool, since a special tool was necessary to pull the entire follicle units. Regardless of this hurdle, patients’ request for a technique that does not leave a mark on the skin began to grow. In 2005, FUE hair transplant gained importance with Harris’s machine and the concept of a sharp double-stage staple tool was introduced.
The popularity of FUE hair transplant grew imminently, despite the popularity of FUT. Both methods carry advantages and limitations depending on the status of the patients; for this reason, both practices were utilized by surgical team to provide their patients with the utmost satisfaction.
At Özel Zen Poliklinik, we offer hair transplant through various methods; please get in touch for more details.
