An unfortunate legacy from hair transplantation from the 1960’s through the 1990’s was the “pluggy cornrow” effect of ten to twenty hair grafts. For many patients who underwent this surgery, instead of achieving a restoration of a natural hairline, the transplant created a new cosmetic problem. Fortunately, over the past several years, techniques have been developed that can substantially improve and often eliminate the unnatural appearance of large pluggy grafts.
Options include adding a large number of one to four hair follicular groupings between the large plugs. This has the effects of softening the harsh appearance of the plugs while further increasing the density. Other options include surgically removing unwanted plugs that were inappropriately placed too low in the hairline or in the back of the head as well.
Non-invasive options include laser hair removal. Laser hair removal is highly effective in removing pigmented hair after 5-7 treatments. The advantage of laser hair removal is that it is non-invasive, out-patient procedure that does help soften the harsh appearance of large plugs by removing 50% to 75% of the hairs within the plugs .
In 2009 , our office published a peer reviewed paper describing the use a non-ablative laser to help also improve the cobblestoning, rough skin texture from large, “pluggy” grafts.
Non-ablative lasers are used to treat unwanted acne scars on the face and our office has now successfully applied the laser to help improve the scalp texture from large plugs .
In order to see which option, or combination of options, works best a consultation in our office is recommended.
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