Articles from The Insider

The Follicular Unit – The Dividing Line
Dr. Ferreira comments on the meaning of follicular unit

    As the medical director of Sure Hair International, I want to make sure that people understand what they get when they have a hair transplant with us. We are able to transplant hair with the latest hair transplant technology to achieve 100% natural ultra refined results. Let me explain.

 About fifteen years ago it was discovered that hair follicles actually grow inside a tube of skin inside your scalp. If you were to pull out one of your hairs right now, you would see a hair shaft with a root at the tip. When that hair is inside your scalp, the shaft and root are surrounded by a tube of skin. The hair follicle and the tube of skin is called a “follicular unit”. In the transplant world the follicular unit is also known as a “graft “. This discovery was very important because it meant that if you transplant the hair follicles with the follicular unit intact, you can achieve 100% natural results. No more      “pluggy” look, no more “doll’s head “ appearance. Just your hair as nature intended!

Sure hair International was one of the first clinics to offer exclusively follicular unit transplants. These hair transplants require an enormous amount of manpower and skill. Microscopes are used to dissect the hair follicles into their naturally occurring follicular units. Then, tiny slits less than 1mm big , are made in the scalp and the follicular units are gently placed into the slits by hand using jeweler’s forceps. Many hair transplants take 8-10 hours to achieve the excellent results which are possible in the right hands. Done properly your barber can’t even tell you had a hair transplant!

In nature, follicular units come with one hair, two hair or three hairs. I use all fine one hair grafts to create a perfectly natural hairline and then the two and three hair grafts are put behind the singles to add density. My preferred technique is the “stick and place“ method.  All patients considering a hair transplant should understand the follicular unit. It is the gold standard in hair transplantation and for most people the best choice when considering a hair transplant. It takes a lot of experience to achieve superb results but it is worth it. At my Sure Hair International location in Toronto, every transplant is performed using the ‘stick and place technique’.

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