There is a lot of talk about the need / not the need for microscopes in hair transplantation, but as I visited various groups performing transplants, only a few use the microscope. Is it really important?
We published an article about 7 years ago, (Dissecting Microscope versus Magnifying Loupes) which showed that using microscopes reduces waste, which means that more viable donor hair is available from every square inch of scalp that is harvested. The wastage is not a minor issue; those with white hair may find as much as 40% more hair can be obtained by using a microscope for dissection. The average person gets 20-25% more usable donor hair if a microscope is competently used in the dissection process. For those who are very bald, once hair is lost or damaged through inefficient dissection, that precious hair is never retrievable.