What is a hair follicle, and how is it used in transplant?

A transplant works because hair is made from a follicle, which is the like the seed in a garden, that may extracted and replanted in the same patent. Sorry, we can’t take someone else’s hair or follicles. The follicle contains the stem cells that grow hair. In both men and women, there is commonly an excess of hair follicles in the lower back of the head, which we term the donor site. We can harvest (extract) these donor follicles and place them in a new location to enrich an area that is thinning without causing the donor site to look thin. In fact, we can take up to half the hairs from a given area before the area appears thin. The follicle, or fundamental unit of hair growth, may have one, two, three, or four hairs.

The single hairs are placed in the hairline. The follicles with 2, 3, and 4 hairs are placed for density. Each patient has a different donor hair and different recipient needs. If you are interested in learning more, we encourage you to explore our website.