Follicular Unit Hair Transplant

It is a common knowledge that baldness occurs in degrees and is a gradual phenomenon. Since it is not possible to convey the extent of baldness in words, a classification system was developed by Dr. Norwood. This is the most commonly used sytem today, although other more complicated systems are also available. Broadly speaking, Norwood classification attempts to divide baldness in seven stages with stage I  being normal adult hairline and stage VII being total possible baldness. Although, there are many flaws in this system, it still gives a basic idea regarding the extent of baldness in an individual. Stage I Essentially normal adult male hairline (not to be confused with 'juvenile hairline'). Temporal recessions are well defined   with frontal hairline in normal position. No miniaturisation in crown region. Stage II The frontal hairline shows slight recession(< 2 cm), with more pronounced recession in  temporal area. The "A" vari...

As I discussed in my last blog, the scalp hair is arranged in distinct anatomical and physiologic units called Follicular units. The knowledge of existence of follicular units have revolutionised the field of hair transplant, so that modern day transplant looks absolutely natural. These are the advantages of Follicular architecture that we use in modern hair transplant; Maximizing  growth The follicular unit is a family. some have only one member while some have more. These members (hairs) of a follicular unit share vital support system. If we remove hair from them, then neither of them grow well. This results in sub optimal growth and inferior result.  Natural Appearance Since Follicular unit is a natural phenomenon, transplant done using follicular units looks natural and easily mixes with existing hair. The unnatural clumpy appearance of mini and micrografting is avoided. Since the follicular units are small in size an even density can be provided, mimicking t...