What did men do about their hair loss before hair transplant surgery? For centuries, men have been in search of a solution to their hair loss problems. Wigs, toupees, and more recently the dreaded hair plugs have graced men's heads with unfortunate results. Modern technology has made tremendous breakthroughs regarding hair loss, in the last decade or so, from topical solutions (like Rogaine or Propecia) that halt hair loss to the more permanent solution of hair transplant surgery. But for those who are sick of daily medication, and do not want to wear a hair system, hair transplant surgery maybe the answer they've been hoping for.



At the very mention of, most people immediately think of unnatural-looking surgery of the past where plugs of hair were inserted into the scalp, making it look, well, polka-dotted and awful. It was a terrible solution primarily because the groupings of 15-25 hairs doctors implanted in the scalp did not mimic what occurs naturally on the scalp. Naturally, hair grows in groupings of 2-4 strands, no more. And there is a direction in which these strands of hair grow that determines how the hair falls once it grows out. One new hair transplant technique takes that into consideration. When surgeons developed new methods using micro-tools, they were finally able to harvest hair follicles in small enough groupings to make what is called follicular hair transplant surgery look natural.

According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (), understanding what made our hair fall out turned the tide in follicular hair transplant surgery. Doctors discovered that hair taken from the back of the head tended to be immune to the same process of weakening and falling out that the hair on the top of head was.

So how does follicular hair transplant surgery work? Robert Collins can tell you. The forty-year-old has gone through the process. ?I was skeptical at first, worried it might look fake or unnatural,? Robert said. ?But I asked to see the my surgeon had and I felt more confident. Also, a friend of mine who suffered from hair loss had done the procedure the year before and I wanted my hair to look as good as his.?

Robert made an appointment with a surgeon who specialized in follicular hair transplant surgery and did the preliminary work-up which included studying his scalp to make sure he had enough hair in his donor hair area to donate. On the day of the surgery, with light sedation and topical anesthesia, the hair transplant surgeon incised an eliptical-shaped piece of scalp from the back of Robert's head?the place where the hair follicles are not generally subject to falling out permanently. While he was closing that wound (which would be completely covered by his hair) technicians got busy separating small sections of skin and hair. With 1-4 vellus hairs in each group carefully sectioned, along with oil glands, a band of collagen and a small muscle, each section had all the requirements to regrow in the scalp. Then, the surgeon delicately replaced these follicular hair transplant sections, paying close attention to the direction the hairs were growing. When he'd finished the hair transplant surgeon dressed his scalp with a bandage that allowed for breathe-ability.

In the ten days it took for his scalp to heal, all of the external hairs the hair transplant surgeon had positioned in Robert's scalp fell out due to the stress of the surgery. That was perfectly normal and did not affect the follicular roots settling into place there. Robert was able to go back to his normal life again, looking just as he had before. But within three months, hair began to sprout in the places where the surgeon had placed them during the hair transplant surgery. After a year, he had a full head of hair again. This all happened so gradually that no one really noticed the change, except that Robert had hair now. And this hair would not fall out as his old hair had.

?I don't regret doing the hair transplant surgery it for a minute,? Robert says now. ?Not only do I look like myself again, I feel like myself. I've got my confidence back.?

Hair transplant surgery remains at the top end financially of hair loss solutions. It is not cheap. But considering the long term necessity of using hair systems that need maintenance, or topical hair therapy medications that can never be stopped once started, or the even more unpleasant prospect of being bald for the rest of one's life, the cost of hair transplant surgery is not so bad. Most patients are able to spread the cost of the surgery into affordable payments. But most importantly, find a surgeon who is an expert in hair transplant surgery with a great reputation to help restore your hair and your confidence.