Hair Plugs

For many decades hair plugs have been one of the major techniques used in the full-size hair transplants.  When the words “hair transplant” are mentioned, many people often still visualize the “pluggy” dolls-hair effect which resulted from the single procedure of punch graft hair transplants. These punch grafts are otherwise called “hair plugs” by those who are not directly involved in the hair restoration business.  And for many years, especially in the 1980s, was the leading method of hair transplant surgery. 

Hair plugs enjoy a very good history of success and many hundreds of thousands of men have benefited from completing a series of full-size hair transplant sessions performed by skilled and artistic surgeons. It is a testament to these surgeons’ skills that very rarely can a hair plug be detected, and that of course, is the whole point of the procedure. 

Over the course of  hair plugs history many patients failed to complete the required surgeries and were left with incomplete transplants, and it is because of this that hair plugs often received a bad reputation. However, the full-sized graft patients who completed the entire series of procedures and who were fortunate to have competent surgeons, simply look like they have a full head of hair.

The procedure was discovered by a Japanese dermatologist who first successfully performed hair transplantation surgery in the 1930s. Then in the 1950s an American dermatologist experimented with hair restoration using punch grafts, and this became the standard method for hair transplantation. It is often necessary to perform several procedures before the complete series of hair plugs is complete, and after a period of several months to a year a full coverage of hair is achieved. 

The hair plug procedure very often enjoyed the highest patient satisfaction rating of any elective cosmetic surgical procedure. However, there were on occasions some significant problems with full size graft hair transplant procedures. Perhaps the most common was the under construction look that followed surgery, as the hair plugs or grafts were very visible and often accompanied by bloodied bandages and visible sutures. These problems could often be disguised by wearing hats or combing over the offensive patch until the affected area healed, and the new grafts took hold and the hair began to grow.

However, once all the procedures were completed and the haling process over, it was nearly always impossible to know that hair plugs or grafts had taken place, and the patient had a head full of thick natural hair.