Types of Hair Implants
Posted by admin on December 9th, 2009
Get hair growing in your bald spot. The fact is, due to the causes of balding in men, the chances of rubbing something into your scalp and miraculously seeing hair start to grow is about zero. 95% of all men who suffer from hair loss have a genetic condition known as Androgenetic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). The results of this condition are that the hair follicles, the part that grows the hair, are rendered useless by a substance called DHT. This DHT bonds with receptors on the follicle and causes it to slowly stop functioning.
Once enough of this substance has attached itself to the hair follicles they can no longer produce hair shaft material and the hair itself turns thin and whispy and eventually falls out. Although there are two FDA approved drugs, Finasteride and Minoxidil, that will help a little with this condition, once the follicle stops operating it is usually never going to produce hair again.
The only proven technique for getting hair to grow on a bald spot is to utilize hair implants in a hair transplantation procedure. A cosmetic surgeon performs this treatment which involves removing growing hair follicles from an area that still has good hair growth, usually the posterior, and inserting them into the bald area. If you are interested in this method of getting you hair back then you need to be aware of the different types of hair implants also called hair grafts.
The largest implant is known as the strip graft. This is comprised of a slice of scalp with about 30 hairs. It is removed from the donor area and then placed in an incision in the patient’s scalp at the balding area. This graft type is very noticeable because the hairs are in a straight line. The next type is also noticeable. The plug graft is a round section of scalp with about 12 hairs. When these are inserted into the scalp they tend to look like the hair on a cheap dolls head, tufts of hair growing every which way.
The mini-graft is usually comprised of about four follicles in a group. These are almost unnoticeable when inserted by a surgeon. Close inspection of the scalp can give away the fact that you had implants though. The best and most natural looking is the micro-graft. This techniques involves dealing with individual follicles or small groups of two or three growing in a natural cluster. The surgeon can insert these small grafts in such a way as the match the growth direction of surrounding hairs giving you a look that is as good as your natural hair.
Once you have lost the hair in a spot on your head the only real solution is to have a hair implants procedure performed by a qualified surgeon.