The idea of hair transplant dates back to the 19th century, when the first it was proposed by the German surgeon Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach. In practice, the Japanese Doctor Okuda was the first to use this idea.

Hair loss – when does the problem start?

The average number of hair follicles on the scalp is about 110,000. If someone loses more than 100 hairs a day, this is real hair loss. Hair loss affects over 40% of men over 35 and approx. 8-9% of women. Androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) is responsible for over 95% of hair loss in men. Hair loss is observed in more than 70% of men over 65. Men use minoxidil or finasteride as drug therapy.

There will be those who in the fight against baldness use hair irradiation with specialized devices, cosmetics, massagers, etc. None of the above will be as effective as hair transplant.

Hair transplant history

Idea of ​​a transplant hair dates back to the 19th century, when it was first proposed by the German surgeon Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach. Japanese Doctor Okuda used this method in practice and in 1939 he described a graft for reconstruction of eyebrows and burned parts of the face.

In 1959, he was the first to conduct hair transplantation for the correction of androgenetic alopecia in men an American dermatologist Norman Orentreich. He is the creator of the theory that transplanted hair in the recipient site retains its characteristics from the donor organ, called “donor dominant”. It was not until the beginning of the 21st century that a Korean doctor challenged this theory, pointing out that the recipient area has an effect on transplanted hair. Originally, hair transplants gave a very unnatural look. In 1981, the first micro transplantation was performed by the Finnish surgeon Rolf Nordstorm, which influenced the aesthetic end results of such a procedure. During this period, the Brazilian surgeon Carlos O. Ubel was the first to transplant more than 1,000 hair follicles.

The standard nowadays is transplanting over 2000 hair follicles in one session.

Hair transplant methods

Nowadays we use micro devices, that allow you to perform surgeries or hair transplant in a less invasive way. Using a Google search, we can come across a lot of information about FUT or FUE hair transplant, which is much older than the less invasive Micro FUE. The FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) method is to cut out a strip of skin from the back of the head, then the skin is sutured, leaving a large scar. The extracted part of the scalp is divided into hair follicles, which are implanted in the recipient area. During such a procedure, usually 1500 to 2000 hair follicles are transplanted, which is not enough for advanced level of baldness. The FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) method was born in the early 1990s. As the name suggests, consists in a single extraction of each transplanted hair follicle from the occipital part< /strong>. There is no need to cut a strip of skin, leaving a scar in the donor area, and during such a procedure it is possible to collect up to 5000 hair follicles.