A hair-raising tale.

There are many remedies, potions, and promises for combating baldness, but little in the way of genuinely satisfying results. Even the "miracle" of hair transplantation offers only limited aesthetic appeal, with results often marked by scarring, a cobblestone texture to the scalp, and an artificial look.

Now, however, an innovative microsurgical technique offers men and women the promise of a natural looking head of hair with a minimal amount of discomfort. "Microsurgery enables the surgeon to minimize problems," indicates Carlos Oscar Uebel of the Plastic Surgery Clinic, Porto Alegre, Brazil. His work is based on the use of micro-graft and mini-graft hair transplantation. (The former is a section of one or two hair follicles or bulbs; the latter, a section of three or four bulbs.)

Using local anesthesia, the surgeon removes an elliptical flap of scalp, containing between 600 and 900 mini- and micro-grafts, from the upper neck region of the head. Roots harvested from this area exhibit a superior life span to those found in other portions of the scalp. After suturing the donor site, a microsurgical knife is used to cut the section of excised scalp into strips of approximately one or two millimeters in thickness. Each of these is separated into micro- and mini-grafts. Then, using a jeweler's forceps, the surgeon implants these grafts in tiny incisions made in the bald area of the head. "The entire procedure can be completed in two or three hours. There are no stitches involved in planting the grafts, and, in most cases, patients can return to work the next day," explains Uebel.

Following the operation, a...