The History of Hair Transplants

Alopecia is a widespread phenomenon that affects people of all genders and enthnicities. While some forms of alopecia are temporary and will resolve over time with medication and/or dietary changes. Others, however, can be permanent and can only be resolved with hair surgery.

You might be surprised to learn that hair transplants are no new invention. On the contrary, the surgeries available today are the direct result of decades of research and refinement. In this article, we’ll be looking back in time at the medical breakthroughs that led directly to the FUE and DHI techniques used today.

Summary

1. Beginnings in Asia
2. The Origins of the Strip Technique
3. The New York Advancements of the FUT Method
4. Towards More Natural Hair Transplants in the 1980s
5. 1990s: the Beginnings of the FUE Transplant
6. Current State and Future of Hair Transplant
7. Conclusion

Beginnings in Asia

The history of hair transplantation dates back to 1930 in Japan. The dermatologist Dr. Masao Sasagawa is considered to be the first to attempt to transplant hair follicles into human skin. Sadly, Sasagawa passed away shortly after beginning his studies into hair transplantation.

Nine years later, another Japanese dermatologist, Dr. Shoji Okuda, described a new method of hair transplantation. Okuda used dermal punches, not unlike today’s FUE technique, to remove skin from the sides and back of a patient’s scalp, and then grafted the extracted follicles into the healed skin of burn victims. In his work, Okuda successfully transplanted grafts in the scalp, eyebrows and upper lips of his patients.

Okuda’s transplants used hair follicles that were two to four millimeters in diameter, much larger than those used today. As a result, the outcome of his treatments were primitive by comparison to what we have come to expect today, and often resulted in scarring. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the second world war delayed the further development of what would later become the punch technique.

The Origins of the Strip Technique

Luckily, the war didn’t delay progress in the field of hair transplantation for long. In 1943, a fellow Japanese dermatologist Dr. Hajime Tamura began work on a technique which involved taking a spindle-shaped strap of scalp and dissecting it into smaller grafts for implantation.

This technique is a clear forebear of the FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation), which was the primary method of hair transplant surgery in the latter part of the twentieth century. Though Tamura’s research was published in many Japanese medical journals, it went largely unnoticed by the Western world due to the war.

The New York Advancements of the FUT Method

Another milestone in the history of modern hair transplantation was achieved in the US in 1959. Dr. Norman Orentreich found that there were areas on the head that were spared by hereditary alopecia. As a rule, the remaining hair forms a crown located at the back of the head. These have the advantage of maintaining their longevity, unlike where the hair is already failing.

From this capillary ring Orentreich extracted the roots of the hair, which he then transplanted to the bald areas. The American doctor used a metal cylinder to take four-millimetre grafts from the donor area. He then transplanted these into the bald areas where they grew back rapidly.

Effect on the industry

These discoveries marked the beginning of the era of aesthetic hair transplant surgery. The same techniques are still practiced by doctors around the world and used by more and more patients.

The methods developed by Orentreich and Okuda became the norm for the next 30 years. There was no significant progress in the history of hair transplantation during this period.

Towards More Natural Hair Transplants in the 1980s

Until the 1980s hair grafted with the punch method was not highly popular. Newly placed hair often seemed very unnatural, usually called the “Barbie doll” effect. As a result, several physicians began using even smaller micrografts (one to four hair follicles).

This breakthrough in the history of hair transplantation made the procedure even more popular. Unfortunately for many patients, grafted hair still did not seem to give the natural results they craved for.

Dr. Carlos Oscar Uebel

The aforementioned Strip method was also re-examined in the 1980s by the Brazilian scientist Dr. Carlos Oscar Uebel. He used a contiguous band from the donor area instead of individual grafts. He did this with a scalpel with which he divided the band, and then reintegrated into the receiving areas.

The discovery of follicular units

The story of hair transplant continues thanks to Dr. Bob Limmer. He made a discovery – probably by chance- when looking at grafts under the microscope. He could see that the hair, by nature, does not grow individually but in small groups.

These follicular units consist of one to three – or in exceptional cases, four – hair follicles. This discovery proved that the use of those as grafts, gives a much more natural appearance to grafted hair than the techniques used so far.

1990s: the Beginnings of the FUE Transplant

In the 1990s, most hair transplant institutes replaced the “punch” method with that of the “strip”. At the same time, Australian doctors Dr. Angela Campbell and her brother Dr. Ray Woods discovered a new way to extract hair follicles.

They made this breakthrough by observing that cutting large bands of the scalp caused unnecessary pain to the patients.

The Current State and Future of Hair Transplants

The FUE hair surgery technique developed by Campbell and Woods has since been improved by the doctors Coen Gho (Holland), Robert Jones (Canada), and Dr. John Cole (USA) shortly after the turn of the millennium. They improved the process of their Australian colleagues by adapting it for mass use.

But the history of hair restoration continues to evolve. For example, scientists are currently working on how to perfect the tools for capillary surgery.

Robotic transplantation

The latest advances have also led to the development of Artas, a robot specialized in hair transplants. Also new advances in postoperative dermatology allows better treatment of the affected skin areas.

Instead of a scalpel, they used of thin needles and thus perfected the extraction of follicular units. This method, more comfortable for patients, is now known as the FUE hair transplant (Follicular Unit Extraction). It became popular in the early 2000s, and has become the technique of choice all around the world.

Conclusion

From the beginnings in Japan, to the many years of development that made hair implants become what they are today, over time, many doctors and scientists have been able to perfect the techniques currently used.

Especially the FUE method that has become the most reliable technique in use. It has also now been perfected with the technique known as DHI hair transplant.

Dr. Balwi, our head surgeon, is amongst the pioneers of this technique. He and his team have done more than 20,000 capillary surgery interventions with the FUE method, thus gaining great experience in the field.

Do you have more questions or are you suffering from hair loss issues? Then feel free to to contact our friendly team that will answer all your queries.

Furthermore they can also offer a free and non binding hair analysis. So don’t hesitate if you want to benefit from Dr. Balwi and Elithairtransplant’s expertise for a successful and affordable hair transplant in Turkey!