A hair transplant is the only immediate and effective solution for hair thinning. For someone experiencing hair loss and its mental and physical effects, hair transplant is a blessing.

However, the becoming of hair transplantation has not been abrupt and easy. It is a work in progress and is developed through time. The issue of baldness has been affecting a lot of people across history. And it’s only 200 years ago that we have been able to do something about hair loss through a hair transplant.

In 1822, German medical school students and Professor Unger discovered what can be done with baldness. It was through a successful hair removal from one point on a scalp and transplantation into another location.

By the end of the nineteenth century, they were using several methods, including grafts and hair-bearing skin flaps, to treat traumatic alopecia. Travelling salesmen also promoted drugs that could regrow hair, but they were ineffective.

Hair transplantation really made it to the scene with the foundation of modern medicine in the 1930s. Dr Okuda from Japan created a grafting technique that used round sections of hair-bearing skin, gained from a punch technique. He dedicated his work on helping burn victims regrow hair. However, since then, they have also been of help to baldness or hair thinning of different causes.

Dr Okada’s invention led to Dr Tamura’s research that birthed the initial FUE into existence. But Dr Tamura’s work focused on restoring women’s hair, like pubic hair.

First Hair Transplant Surgery for Male Pattern Baldness

Dr Norman Orentreich completed the first hair transplant surgery for male pattern baldness in 1952 in New York City. However, it gave the patient an unnatural result and caused a lot of negative feedback. But it was through this mistake that Orentreich discovered that the back and sides of men’s hair were not receptive to balding. 

A breakthrough of Follicular Unit Hair Extraction (FUE)

The discovery of Orentreich led to the breakthrough of FUE in the 1990s. But it was not until Bernstein and Rassman used the idea to work on and introduce the follicular unit extraction (FUE). It was published in their 2002 medical publication, Follicular Unit Extraction: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Hair Transplantation.

From then on, a lot of hair transplantation methods popped up. However, FUE is still one of the most popular and widely preferred. It works by removing individual follicles through a microsurgical extraction instrument and with local anaesthesia. It gives natural-looking results, with no visible scarring.

Now, there’s no need to wonder to whom you owe the invention of hair transplantation. The significant people mentioned above deserve credit and applause. However, the credit is also due to the skilled surgeons who perform hair transplants today. And if not for the ever-evolving technology and practice, we would not have the great results for hair transplants that we now enjoy.

Here at Gold City Hair, we only offer the best and highest-quality hair transplant techniques. We would assess you on which technique suits you best because we only want what’s best for your hair.