How Hair Transplants have Evolved over the years

Will you believe it, if we tell you that the first hair transplant surgery was performed in 1939, by a Japanese dermatologist. 

This surgery has grown to be popular over the years, and it is now socially acceptable. 

Top celebrities like Wayne Rooney, John Travolta, Elton John and Mel Gibson have all embraced this surgery as they have publicly admitted its goodness.

As technology has been evolving, so did the hair transplant surgery. 

In the years past, the hair transplant surgery was only tied to one technique known as the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). But today, clinics use different techniques to combat the problem of hair loss.

But if you want to see how the hair transplant surgery has improved over the years, look at the success rate. Fortunately, we have done the research for you: in the early 2000s, the success rate used to be at 60%, in 2010 it was around 80%, and now it is around 98%.

That’s quite an improvement right? 

ALSO READ: Hair Transplant: 10 Questions to Ask at Your First Consultation

When compared to over-the-counter hair restoration products, Hair Transplant surgeries are more successful in combating hair loss. With hair transplants, you can expect to see results in three to four months post-surgery as 10 to 80% of transplanted hair begins to grow.

Continue reading if you want to learn how hair transplant has evolved over the years. 

How a Hair Transplant Is Now Performed 

Because technology has been unfolding over the years, hair transplants are now being performed different from how they were done in the 1940s. Today if you visit a hair transplant clinic, expect your surgeon to follow the steps below: 

Preparation for the hair transplant

Just like in any other surgery, before the procedure commences, the first step is to prepare and make sure that the patient is ready and in a comfortable state. While on this stage, surgeons also make sure that the hair follicles from the back of the head are removed and relocated to the balding areas.

Donor area trimmed

The hair in the donor area – an area with sufficient hair – is then trimmed.

Donor area prepared for surgery

When the surgeon is done trimming the hair on the donor area, the patient is then given local anesthesia. This is done so that the patient won’t feel any sort of pain or discomfort during the procedure.

The tissue in the donor area is removed and the donor area sutured

Once the anesthesia has kicked in, your surgeon will then remove the tissue in the donor area and prepared to be transplanted in the bald area. The donor area is then sutured.

Comb hair to cover the sutured donor area

The surgeon’s assistant will then carefully comb the remaining hair in the donor area –the hair is combed in a particular way so as to cover the sutured parts of the donor area. These sutures are to be self-removed ten days post the surgery day.

Donor tissue trimmed into follicular unit grafts

The surgical technicians will then have to use microscopes to examine the donor tissues as they are dissected and prepared into follicular unit grafts.

Bald recipient area prepared

With the patient still under local anesthesia, the surgeon then moves on to prepare the balding area for the surgical process. Obviously, there is no trimming or hair removal that is done on the bald or recipient area.

Incisions made in the balding areas

Small tiny incisions are made in the recipient area and the Follicular Unit Grafts are carefully placed in these tiny incisions in an irregular pattern. This takes a couple of hours to complete.

Grafts placed according to their densities

When placing the hair grafts, surgeons make sure that they are placed according to their densities. In front of the hairline, the smallest grafts are placed. The grafts that are a bit denser are placed behind the hairline.

Immediately after the Hair Transplant Surgery

As soon as the surgical process is over, those small tiny incisions that now have short hair grafts will be visible just for a couple of days.

Closing of the Hair Transplant Surgery

Within seven days, the redness in the operated area vanishes, and those small tiny incisions would have healed.

Over to you...

Even though the success rate of a hair transplant is high, you have to make sure that the doctor performing the transplant is qualified. If you are not sure about where to go and have the surgery, you can contact FlyMedi for assistance.