Follicular Units: The Building Blocks of Modern Hair Tranplantation

Building Blocks of Modern Hair Tranplants

The figure on the right shows that hair follicles normally emerge from the scalp in groups of one, two or three hairs.  These groupings of hairs are called "follicular units".

Hair transplant surgery nowadays relies on the use of these "follicular units". 

In individuals with genetic hair loss, hairs from the back of the scalp can be removed and processed into "follicular units" and then inserted into the front or middle of the scalp.

The second photos shows some freshly prepared "follicular units" from a patient undergoing a hair transplant. "Follicular units" containing single hairs are normally placed into the frontal hairline and "follicular units" containing two or three hairs are normally placed behind this area.  This strategy of placing follicular units mimics what we see in the normal scalp and when placed at precise angles and directions - allows a hair transplant to look natural.