Hair Loss Restoration throughout History: We Have Come a Long Way!
Did you know that men have searched for effective hair loss restoration methods since before World War II? The modern man is not alone in his desire to have a head full of healthy hair. Although early methods helped injured patients regrow hair, doctors quickly saw the value of hair loss restoration and transplants for healthy men experiencing natural hair loss.
First Hair Loss Restoration Surgeries
A dermatologist in Japan performed ground-breaking research in surgical hair transplantation in 1939. He used a surgical punch technique of hair transplantation to help burn victims regrow hair. From healthy, hair-bearing skin, he extracted round sections and implanted them into burned areas of patients’ scalps. His patients grew hair from these once bald grafts.
Another Japanese dermatologist noted the first successes of hair transplant and refined earlier methods. In 1943, this second dermatologist used smaller grafts of healthy hair growth for transplantation. He focused on extracting only one to three hairs. Doctors still use methods like these, today.
Because of Japan’s role in World War II, these innovations did not translate into western medicine for almost a decade. In 1952, a dermatologist from New York named Dr. Norman Orentreich performed the first American hair transplant surgery. His patient suffered male pattern baldness. Through the successful procedure and resulting hair growth, Dr. Orentrieich became the father of American hair loss restoration.
In about 1959, Dr. Orentrieich published his research in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science. He wrote of “donor dominance,” specifying that hair from the patient’s scalp best suited for transplantation came from the back and sides of the head. He noted these areas resisted balding better than hair on the top, as part of what we now call male pattern baldness.
Dr. Orentriech was widely criticized for his work. But he pioneered hair transplant surgery in the United States and helped open up the medical field of hair regrowth and restoration. His technique did not look as good as current methods, in that he used the first Japanese doctor’s “punch grafting.” Modern doctors use methods more like the second Japanese technique of smaller grafts.
Perfecting Pioneering Methods of Hair Loss Restoration
Early hair transplant surgeries in the U.S. expanded on Dr. Orentriech’s methods. Although Dr. Orentriech effectively transplanted hair to grow on once bald areas, his methods proved crude. What followed were thousands of tragic patient results as doctors mimicked the early procedures. This led to a bad reputation for surgical hair transplantation for many years.
Only in recent years has this negative reputation started to fall away, given the vast improvements of today’s surgical methods.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, doctors worked to produce natural looking hair transplant results. In the mid-1990s, the first breakthroughs finally happened. Using follicular unit micro-grafting, follicular unit transplantation and follicular unit extraction, patients finally started seeing their own natural-looking hair regrowth.
Thanks to these hair surgery pioneers and hair replacement innovators, today’s patients enjoy natural-looking results of their own real, healthy hair growth. You can also enjoy undetectable restoration of your hairline, through methods used at AZ Hair Restoration.
Great Looking Results by Dr. Arthur Zacco
At AZ Hair Restoration, Dr. Arthur Zacco uses modern methods of hair replacement. You do not have to worry about looking like you have “hair plugs,” thanks to a variety of techniques.
Dr. Zacco works with you to find the right methods of hair replacement or regrowth for your precise type of hair loss and your overall treatment goals. This treatment starts with a free consultation, in which you learn about available procedures and how they can work for you.
Services available through Dr. Zacco include:
Follicular unit transplant (FUT)
Follicular unit extraction (FUE)
Multi follicular unit (MFU)
Strip hair transplant
Hairline grafts
Dr. Zacco remains committed to using the right methods for individual patients’ needs. This commitment carries over to providing convenient patient consultation, such as through in-person visits his office locations in Apex or Raleigh, NC, or by means of Skype or Facetime.
