Hair plugs is a colloquial word that is used to describe the hair transplantation procedure in which a patients own hair is transplanted from one area of the scalp to the bald spot. The name actually is derived from the appearance of the original implants back in the 1950’s. At that time, micro-surgical techniques had not been perfected so everything was done on a gross, macro scale. This meant fine manipulation of hair follicles was not possible.
The term hair plugs came from the fact that the hair restoration surgeon was forced to transplant round plugs of scalp which contained growing hair into the balding area instead of transplanting individual hair follicles like is done today. This gave a result that looked like tufts of hair sticking up in every direction. Picture a cheap dolls head and you will know what this looked like. It appeared as though the scalp pieces with the hair were plugged into the skin of the scalp.
Today the term hair plugs surgery has mostly been replaced with hair transplantation or hair implantation because the results are no longer “pluggy” looking. Instead, the surgeon can now manipulate individual hair follicular units by removing them directly from the scalp where hair growth is still good, and then inserting them into the balding area. A skilled hair restoration surgeon can provide a result that looks absolutely natural and will continue to grow for years to come.
One way he or she does this is by being very careful to match the directional growth of the hair surrounding the bald spot. Each individual hair implanted must be placed in such a way that it does not grow against the grain. That is, you do not want the implanted hair to be pointed in a different direction than the hairs beside it, you want them all to lay down evenly.
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