Society Journal

Hair replacement surgery or follicular transplantation has made many advances over the past 20 years and have helped to improve the lives of many men and women who suffer from male and female pattern baldness.

The key to hair replacement surgery is finding enough ‘donor hair’ in other parts of the scalp in order to populate the balding area with enough hair follicles to make the surgery worthwhile and even out the overall balance of hair throughout the scalp.  Since many women suffer from overall thinning of the hair or diffuse pattern baldness, this type of follicular transplantation surgery is not for them.

Hair replacement operations sometimes involve micro or mini grafting of the hair in which one or two strands are removed from a densely populated area of hair on the scalp, usually near the back of the head or the sides, and then placed in the balding area with a needle.  Some surgeons will also use bigger round ‘plugs’ of six to 10 strands of hairs at a time in addition to the shifting of eight to 11 hairs at the time.

Hair replacement cost has dramatically decreased in the past 20 years because the technology has advanced along with the times. There are basically two surgical programs for those suffering from male pattern baldness, hair transplantation and scalp reduction.  Both are surgical procedures that involve some degree of pain and discomfort but the results are better than the alternative which is covering it up with a toupee or hairpiece.

Prosthetic hair fibers – fake hair strands, which some surgeons use in follicular transplantation, has been banned by the FDA because implanting them into the hair follicles could have adverse reactions including but not limited to infections.  

Whether a person chooses hair replacement surgery in the form of hair transplantation or to purchase a hairpiece, their self-esteem and overall outlook on life will improve because what people see in the mirror has a lot to do with how they project themselves to the world.