Hair Restoration Then and Now

Hair restoration began in the 1950’s with the discovery of the concept donor dominance.  This concept explained that when the follicles were removed, they would still live and be used as replacement where hair was needed.  In the 1960’s and 1970’s, this concept was used to begin surgical procedures, replacing hair follicles using grafts.  However, these procedures looked unnatural because the grafts contained 15-25 hairs. 

The 1980’s brought a lot of change in the hair restoration field.  The hair transplantation procedure improved to minigrafting, where the grafts contained 5-8 hairs, producing a less obvious look, but still appeared unnatural.  While the hair transplantation surgery was making improvements, Rogaine was also discovered to treat hair loss by accident.  This topical medication was the first treatment in the form of a medication to work to promote new hair growth. 

In the 1990’s the second drug to treat hair loss, Propecia, came about also by accident.  Propecia was very popular because it was a convenient, pill form medication used to treat hair loss.  This was a huge leap in the hair restoration field. 

Today, hair transplantation has evolved so much that the outcome appears to be as perfect as natural-growing hair.  Micrografting techniques are used by replacing as few as one to four hair follicles at a time.  This produces an entirely natural appearance, and certainly a huge improvement from the 1960’s.