What Are Hair Plugs

Laser Comb Info


Hair plugs is an older term that was used in the 1950’s and 60’ to describe hair grafts and hair implants. The name really was appropriate then because transplanting hair into a bald spot on a man’s head often times resulted in a look reminiscent of a cheap dolls head. Just like the doll, it looked like someone had taken a clump of hair and plugged it into the scalp. Imagine a guy with ten to twenty tufts of hair pointing every which way and you will see what I mean.

Hair plugs for men have come a long way in the last forty years. Micro-surgical techniques have now made it possible for a cosmetic surgeon to implant groups of between one to three hair follicles instead of being forced to deal with a clump of 15 or 20. Hairs usually grow in these follicular groupings of one to three and thus the result is very natural looking. Manipulating individual follicles also allows for a much better coverage of the balding area or bald spot. The surgeon can now insert each follicle into the scalp at the desired angel in order to match the surrounding natural hairs. No longer are the implants just growing in all directions like with the old hair plugs procedure. Now the growing hairs fit in perfectly.

Surprising enough the hair plugs cost has not really changed much in relative terms even though the results are much better. New techniques of removing follicles from the donor area and then inserting them into micro-incisions has made the procedure much less time consuming. It is not uncommon for a hair implantation procedure with a thousand individual grafts to be done in one day in the doctor’s office or clinic.

Don’t let the name hair plugs fool you. Modern hair transplantation techniques can give you back the head of hair you need and deserve. Look into this hair loss treatment today.

Laser Comb Published Clinical Trial Explained

Laser Comb Info


HairMax LaserComb(R) Laser Phototherapy Device in the Treatment of Male Androgenetic Alopecia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham Device-Controlled, Multicentre Trial

The company that makes the laser comb is using the results of their study as proof that the laser comb does work and that you should buy it.   Just the name of the study is confusing.  The intent of this article is to parse out the language and tell you what this study really means.

Phototherapy, or light therapy, uses artificial wavelengths of light to treat conditions.  Laser is a loosely defined part of the light spectrum.  So laser phototherapy means that a certain range of light wavelengths (near the infrared wavelength) are used.  The field of photobiology is extensive so I am not going to go into the details of the science.  However, typically laser phototherapy is used to stimulate the growth of cells.  Essentially it takes in the energy from the light and that energy stimulates cell growth.

Androgenetic Alopecia is the scientific name for male pattern baldness.  This is the most common type of baldness in men.  Typically it involves a receding hairline into the classic “m” shape as well as a bald spot on the crown of the head.

Controlling for external factors is a huge part of whether a clinical trial can be trusted or not.  For instance, if you put people on a strict calorie diet, exercise a lot, and take a diet pill.  If the participants lost weight, there is no way you could no exactly what was responsible for the weight loss.  There for, you would have a group that only dieted, only exercised, or took diet pills and also all possible combinations of the three.  Then you compare the weight loss for all control groups to see which factor seems to be responsible for the weight loss.  Other factors that may be controlled in a clinical trial are age, medical history etc.  It is important to control any factor that may be at all relevant to the study.  A randomized trial is when the study participants do not know if they are in the control group or receiving the actual treatment that is being studied.  This is important because for instance if you knew you were not actually being given the treatment you may behave or report finding differently than if you think you are being given the treatment.

A double-blind study is when neither the participants nor the scientists performing the study know if the participants are in the control group or not.  This way, they will treat everyone as if they are being given treatment and are more prone to collect data objectively.

Sham0device control means that the control group did not actually use a working laser comb, even though they thought they were.  Lastly, a multicentre trial is when a study is carried out at more than one medical center.  This means that a scientist’s opinions and findings cannot be affected by others.  When different scientists come to the same conclusion independently, the findings carry more weight.

Types of Baldness Laser Comb Can Treat

Laser Comb Info


The HairMax Laser Comb is designed to work for androgenetic alopecia – or male pattern baldness. This is the most common type of baldness in men, even though there could be other medical reasons why you are losing your hair.

Specifically, the laser comb should be used to treat those with male pattern baldness with Norwood Hamilton Classifications of IIa-V and Fitzpatrick Skin Types I to IV. So – what does this actually mean and how do you know if your hair loss and skin fall into those classifications?

First of all, there were two doctors, a Norwood and a Hamilton who are credited with contributing to the classification system. In the 1950’s, Hamilton defined certain patterns of baldness as frontal and frontotemporal (i.e. receding hairline) recession and vortex thinning (i.e. bald spot on your crown). Then in the 1970’s Norwood added on to this by creating a classification system of Hamilton’s patterns of hair loss based on severity.

laser-comb-nh-scale

Type I is basically a normal hairline, even though there may be a slighting receding hairline in the frontotemporal region. Type II is slight recession on the frontal temporal areas. This is where you can start to see the classic “m” shaped that defines male pattern baldness.

Type III is when there is the minimum amount of hair loss needed to be considered baldness. Type III classification consists of hair loss only in the vortex, or crown, region.

Types IV-VII consists of a receding hairline and a bald spot. The severity increases as the classification progresses until there is complete baldness and no hair in between the hairline and the crown (Type VII)

Basically, you can just look at your hair and decide how your hair loss is classified. As you can see, the laser comb is intended for people with moderate hair loss. The laser comb probably will not help you if you have minimal hair loss or severe hair loss.


Fitzpatrick skin type is a similar classification system to determine what type of skin you have. There are six categories ranging from pale skinned people to dark skinned people. It is not just how your skin looks that determines your classification but also how your skin reacts to sunlight. Answer the questions on this simple questionnaire to see what skin type you are.

People with higher Fitzpatrick classification tend to be darker skinned. They are darker skinned because they produce more melanin than lighter skinned people. It may seem counter-intuitive but it is recommended that people with Fitzpatrick skin types of V or VI do not use laser therapy because of this. They could produce enough melanin to have permanent scarring or discoloration.

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