The field of medicine is one of constant progress and innovation. Experts and practitioners are always looking for new and improved ways to provide care and treatment for patients in the least invasive and traumatic fashion.

While life-saving surgeries and medicines can often be the headline grabbers when it comes to medicine, cosmetic treatments have come a long way and now represent an enormous sector in the industry. Cosmetic procedures are by no means vanity projects, they can be life-saving in ways you might not suspect, by improving a patient’s mental and emotional health and boosting their self-confidence. Hair transplants are perhaps one of the most common cosmetic procedures. What is the history behind them and where could they be heading in the future? Let’s find out.

The First Hair Transplant

The very first recorded instance of a hair transplant was back in 1897, when Turkish doctor Menahem Hodara successfully treated hair loss caused by the skin disease favus. He did this by removing hair from healthy parts of the scalp and implanting it into parts of the head affected by the condition.

Developments In Japan

More modern hair transplant techniques were developed in Japan in the 1930s. Here, surgeons successfully made use of grafts to rectify hair loss on the eyebrows or eyelashes. This was an important development in the field of hair transplant and, while it was not used to treat hair loss on the head at the time, would prove influential for the advancement of treatments in the future.

The First Hair Transplant For Baldness

The first hair transplant for male pattern baldness was carried out by Dr. Norman Orentreich in New York in 1952. This was an enormous step in the development of the procedure. Previously, it was believed that any hair transplanted to a balding site would eventually be lost through balding as well. However, Orentreich demonstrated that in fact the hair would remain in place and that the process could act as an effective treatment against hair loss.

The Rise Of FUT And FUE Techniques

Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit excision are two of the most widely used methods of carrying out a hair transplant today, with the latter used by modern hair clinics such as Treatment Rooms London.

Both of these techniques were developed and rose to prominence in the 1980s, with Brazilian doctor Carlos Uebel making use of several small grafts and American doctor William Rassman popularizing the idea of micro-grafts. Subsequently, Dr. B. L. Limmer developed a process of breaking down a strip of donor skin into smaller micro-grafts, making for a more accurate and effective hair transplant.

The Future Of Hair Transplants

There are a number of exciting new developments for hair transplants that will work to make the process more effective and successful. Researchers are studying and experimenting with the use of stem cells and cloning techniques which they hope will revolutionise hair transplant procedures.

Conclusion

Hair transplants have come a long way in their history and look set to improve even more in the future.