Fixing Old Plugs
A "pluggy" appearance is probably the most easily recognized problem of the older procedures and, unfortunately, has come to literally be synonymous with hair transplants in many people's minds. The problem with plugs is that the density within the plugs is too high, and the density in the surrounding area is too low. When one tries to "fill-in" all the gaps, one simply runs out of hair.
Repair Story:
Dean, a 36 year old male, had several hair transplants in the 1980's when hair plugs were the order of the day. As a result, he had to wear a hair system for many years to cover up his unnatural hairline... until he discovered NHI.
Read Dean's Story - complete with before, during, and after photos. |
The "Pluggy Look" occurs when the contraction of large grafts causes the density of the grafts to increase and the space between the grafts to widen. This is shown diagrammatically below.
The following patient shows the cosmetic problems of the punch-graft technique which typically results in a "Pluggy Look."
The real problem can be seen from a top view. In spite of the fact that almost all of the person's donor supply has been used up, only a fraction of the scalp has actually been transplanted.
Because of its inherent inefficiencies, the more hair that has been transplanted with the old punch-graft technique, the more hair has been used up, and the less hair there is left to correct the problems it created. The photo of the donor area shows how much of the above patient's hair has already been used up with the punch-graft technique.
© 2008 New Hair Institute. www.newhair.com |
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