How does hair transplantation work?

Modern hair transplants have come a long way from the ‘plugs’ of the 1970s. Whether you use micrografting or Follicular Unit Extraction, the procedure for a hair transplant is pretty much the same.

The surgeon will numb your head. Then, in micrografting, the surgeon will cut out a strip of donor hair about half an inch wide. The donor hair comes from the back or sides of your scalp, wherever there is enough of your own hair to donate to the hairline or crown of your head. The surgeon’s assistants then use microscopes to find each follicular unit, a group of about 1-4 hairs which has its own gland and muscle cells, and cuts it out of the strip. In FUE, a strip is not taken out of your scalp; instead the surgeon removes each follicular unit individually from your scalp.

Once the follicular unit grafts are excised from your scalp, they are then placed as a unit into small pin-sized punctures in the balding regions of your head. Coagulation of the nicks holds the unit in place and heals over it. The hair has now been transplanted.

The follicles will start growing in about 3-6 months after the transplant just like they did when they were at the back or sides of your scalp, thus creating a truly natural look because the hairs are actually your own.

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