For sake of convenience, I shall summarize the evolution of hair transplants from the 1950s.
1. Plug grafting - 4 to 5mm hair root bearing plugs were excised from the permanent donor area at the back and sides of the scalp and transplanted to the bald scalp, where they sprouted hair.
2. Minigrafts - 4mm plugs were bisected into 2 to 4 pieces. These were called minigrafts. They were transplanted in front of the 4 mm plugs to reduce the visible pluggy effect.
3. Micrografts - The plugs (or strip in some cases), were dissected into 1 to 2mm pieces containing 1 to 4 hair. These were called micrografts
4. Open shotgum harvesting v/s strip excision - Somewhere between the 1970s to 1990s, the open shotgun harvesting was gradually abandoned and replaced with suturing close the extraction site. Gradually the extraction was done in form of a strip.
5. Follicular unit dissection - The grafts were dissected under microscopes in their naturally occurring groupings called follicular units.
6. Follicular unit extraction - Individual follicular units were extracted from the scalp donor area. This did away with the necessity of a suture closure. The extraction tools and sites gradually became smaller.
7. Body hair to scalp transplants gave valuable additional donor hair eventually reaching a stage where the most robust beard donor hair could be harvested and transplanted.
8. All along this time in past about 15 years the number of follicular units that could be transplanted increased. This led to larger transplant sessions giving better hairline designs.
The myths or missteps along the way I shall write down separately.
1. Plug grafting - 4 to 5mm hair root bearing plugs were excised from the permanent donor area at the back and sides of the scalp and transplanted to the bald scalp, where they sprouted hair.
2. Minigrafts - 4mm plugs were bisected into 2 to 4 pieces. These were called minigrafts. They were transplanted in front of the 4 mm plugs to reduce the visible pluggy effect.
3. Micrografts - The plugs (or strip in some cases), were dissected into 1 to 2mm pieces containing 1 to 4 hair. These were called micrografts
4. Open shotgum harvesting v/s strip excision - Somewhere between the 1970s to 1990s, the open shotgun harvesting was gradually abandoned and replaced with suturing close the extraction site. Gradually the extraction was done in form of a strip.
5. Follicular unit dissection - The grafts were dissected under microscopes in their naturally occurring groupings called follicular units.
6. Follicular unit extraction - Individual follicular units were extracted from the scalp donor area. This did away with the necessity of a suture closure. The extraction tools and sites gradually became smaller.
7. Body hair to scalp transplants gave valuable additional donor hair eventually reaching a stage where the most robust beard donor hair could be harvested and transplanted.
8. All along this time in past about 15 years the number of follicular units that could be transplanted increased. This led to larger transplant sessions giving better hairline designs.
The myths or missteps along the way I shall write down separately.
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