Hair Transplant Surgery Methods - A guide to Hair Transplant Surgery

Hair transplant surgery is a popular form of treatment for hair loss which results in healthy, natural looking hair. It is possible to end up with a full head of hair but this will be influenced by your genetics, balding pattern and the progression of this hair loss.

The more advanced the hair loss the less chance there is of achieving a full head of hair as there will not be enough donor hair to use for grafting.

It is important to remember that many people who undergo this procedure are happy with the results. Hair transplant surgery has been around for longer than we think, in fact since the 1950’s and has come a long way since then.

There is more than one method for transplanting hair which includes:

  • Follicular unit transplantation (FUT)
  • Follicular unit extraction (FUE)
  • Micrografts and Minigrafts
  • Scalp flap and scalp reduction
  • Direct hair transplantation
  • Hair ‘plugs’

Scalp flap and scalp reduction surgery tend to be viewed as outdated or having too many side effects. This means that the patient has to undergo corrective treatment which is not an ideal state of affairs.

Micro and minigrafts are techniques in which strips of skin containing hair follicles are removed from the donor area of the scalp and then inserted into the recipient (bald area) area of the scalp. A micrograft usually contains a couple of hairs and a minigraft around 3 to 4 hairs.

Hair ‘plugs’ are circular grafts containing follicles which were inserted into the scalp in a series of ‘corn rows’. This resulted in the patient having bunches of hair stuck on the top of their head in an unnatural looking manner. The hair looks bristly and in ‘clumps’ rather than an exact placement.

If you mention a hair transplant to someone then nine times out of ten they will think of this ‘corn row’ image. Many people still assume that a hair transplant will give them unnatural looking hair that resembles a doll’s hair or sticks up in frizzy bunches.

But hair transplant surgery has come a long way since then.

The technology has advanced to what is now considered to be the ‘gold standard’ of hair transplant surgery – follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE).

These techniques involve removing these naturally occurring units from the donor area and inserting these in the bald area of your scalp. What happens is that these follicles grow hair in the same way as they did in the donor area which results in natural looking hair. It is almost impossible to tell the difference between donor hair and hair which has grown in the recipient area using follicular unit transplantation.

If these are ‘state of the art’ procedures then what is ‘direct hair transplantation?’

Direct hair transplantation is a technique available at clinics run by the DHI Medical group in which individual hair follicles are removed from the donor area and are directly inserted into the recipient area of the scalp. They also promote their ‘no touch’ technique in which individual follicles are inserted into the recipient area using a special ‘pen’. This pen enables the surgeon to insert a follicle without having to use forceps or any other form of handling which reduces the risks of follicle damage or scarring.

For more details about the DHI Medical Group, visit our links page.

This guide contains information on the following transplant methods which are as follows:

  • Follicular unit transplantation (FUT)
  • Follicular unit extraction (FUE)
  • Micrografting
  • Direct hair implantation technique

Plus we have also provided a comparison between FUT and FUE as either of these methods has their supporters and detractors. This balanced comparison is designed to help you decide upon which method is right for you.

Hair Transplant Surgery Methods Guide Index:



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