What Are Hair Plugs And Are They Used
Hair plugs is another name for hair implants or hair transplants which are used to deal with the effects of male pattern baldness. Originally, when the procedure was performed back in the 1950’s, the term hair plug was fairly accurate. But now, with new micro-surgical techniques which have been developed, that is no longer the case.
When a man is affected by male pattern baldness, also called androgenic alopecia, his hair follicles (hair roots) in certain areas of the scalp are rendered useless. The only way to get hair growing here again is to replace these follicles with ones which are healthy and growing. Originally this was done be removing a round plug of scalp with ten to twelve hairs from the back of the head where there is usually no hair loss, and then sewing this plug into an incision in the bald spot. This did not look very natural as the group of hair would stickup in every which direction. It looked like artificial hair that is plugged into a cheap doll’s head. Besides that, the patient would need to wear a bandage on his head because of all the cutting and sewing. It was really not a good experience all the way around.
Now, with the improvement in surgical techniques, it is possible to do hair restoration without any cutting at all. A specially designed medical instrument is used to remove the entire hair follicle and its surrounding support structures and then insert the follicle into the bald area with precision. The hair restoration surgeon will insert the follicle in such a way that the new hair’s growth will match the directional growth of the surrounding hair.
This new procedure has replaced hair plugs for men as a method of re-growing hair and you should look into it if you are in need of some hair in that bald spot or your receding hair line.