The first records of the demand for "additional hair" extends clear back when
Julius Caesar ruled. However, in 1939, the first published methods for hair
transplant (also called grafting) was achieved by a Japanese Dermatologist,
Dr. Okuda. Unfortunately, much of the hair transplant history was not credited
to him since World War II crumbled the Western Hemisphere.
The actual
process of the remedy for a balding head surfaced in 1952 in New York City.
Dr. Normal Orentreich submitted the first proposal for a hair transplant
operation. His first few drafts about hair transplant were actually rejected
by the medical community. However, during the latter months of 1952, he
performed the first hair transplant for male baldness. This operation worked
under the principle that transplanted hair will continue to grow normally and
will even exhibit the same characteristics it had where it originally grew.
He says it\'s just like cutting a stem and planting it on other soil. As
long as the soil is healthy, the plant will grow fine. This principle is also
known as "Donor Dominance". The first surgery proved this principle. His paper
finally caused a major medical breakthrough and was published in 1959.
Unfortunately, the ensuing hair transplant surgeries did not show
attractive cosmetic results. For several years, hair transplants used 4-mm
hair grafts, about the size of a pencil. Needless to say, these are large
grafts and looked unnatural. Moreover, patients complained about having
limited styling options for their hair. However, during that time, it was the
only option for having hair again. Innovation didn\'t happen until the 1970s.
During the 1970s, large grafts were termed "plugs". However, there were
studies about the possibility of smaller grafts. In 1984, mini-grafting was
finally perfected. Mini-grafting was performed using strips of donor tissue,
meaning, the bald-resistant hair is actually stripped off from the back of the
head and trimmed to fit the desired hair display.
