Advanced Hair Replacement Surgery for Men and Women
Modern hair replacement surgery is a great deal different and far more advanced than it was even as little as 20 years ago. Hair replacement surgery has always been the technique of moving individual follicles from one part of the body to bald or balding parts of the scalp. But as more research has been conducted the actual methods for transplantation have improved so that more strands can be yielded and better regrowth rates can be achieved.
Modern techniques enable both men and women to achieve:
- A natural hair line
- Painless procedures
- A permanent solution
- Trusted results
The National Hair Institute (NHI) is a reputable organisation who has set the foundation for hair loss treatment. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, you can trust the NHI for a modern, permanent solution.
Hair Replacement Surgery- The Options from NHI
At the NHI, we employ the two most advanced hair replacement surgery methods of Follicular Unit Grafting (FUG) and Follicular Unit Extraction(FUE).
FUG- Natural Clusters
FUG has been around since the 1980s and utilises the linear extraction method, in which a single region of from the safe donor area is removed, dissected into grafts and before being transplanted to the balding parts of the scalp.
FUE- Individual Grafts
FUE is a more recent and refined technique, in which individual follicular units are extracted under a powerful microscope. These units are then implanted one at a time into tiny incisions. While FUE has several advantages over FUG such as a shorter healing time and no linear scarring, it also has some disadvantages patients need to consider:
- It is almost twice as expensive to achieve the same result with FUE as it is with FUG.
- The absolute yield from the donor area is not as great as with FUG.
- Graft survival rate not as high as with FUG, due to the transection of grafts as they are extracted from the scalp.
- Those with curly or fine strands are generally not good candidates for FUE.
- Due to the labour intensive nature of the procedure multiple sessions may be required.
Hair replacement surgery dates back to the 1800s, and modern techniques began in 1930s Japan. They were not intended to necessarily treat baldness, and it was not until the late 1950s that specialists in the USA began to experiment with hair replacement surgery as a treatment for baldness.
A New York dermatologist named Norman Orentreich began experimenting with grafting parts of the scalp for patients with baldness. Previously it was believed transplants would not grow at the recipient site, but Dr Orentreich proved that such grafts were donor dominant and would last just as they would have at their original home.
The theory of donor dominance was later advanced to define the parameters of what is known as the ‘safe donor zone’. As transplants will only grow in its new site for as long as it would have in its original one, these parameters continue to service as the foundation for follicle harvesting.
For several decades specialists in hair replacement surgery experimented with transplanting smaller and smaller grafts, with limited degrees of success. Often the technology of the day would only allow for grafts of a size which would lead to a pluggy appearance along the hairline. Then in the late 1980s the industry began to employ stereo microscopes to dissect a donor strip into very small micrografts.
Since then hair replacement surgery has continued to evolve to become more refined and minimally invasive. Smaller incisions at the recipient site mean over 50 grafts can be placed per square centimetre. More attention is also now being devoted to the angle and orientation of grafts so that strands lay more naturally across the head. The adoption of the lateral slit technique early in the last decade has enabled transplanted follicles to look more natural than ever.
For more information about hair replacement surgery techniques, call the NHI today on 03 9699 7733 or submit an online enquiry form.
