What Is Choi?

June 19, 2006

Choi is the name of the Surgeon who pioneered the Choi implanter a method of transplanting hairs.

First used in 1990 by Yung Chul Choi it was a method which was streaks ahead of other hair transplantation techniques which were producing dubious paddy field/dolls hair looking results.
First used in Korea, it was introduced to Europe and Western surgeons during the 1990s and has been perfected by many of the top surgeons.

Before the surgeon uses the choi, he has to harvest the hairs.
Hair is harvested from a donor area at the back of the head sometimes in a strip (like in my example) but for smaller sessions, in an ellipse.

The skin and hair are removed and the donor area is stitched up (leaving a small hair-line scar in the future)

The hair which is removed is then dissected? into manageable chunks

Each chunk is then dissected further into grafts this process is very time consuming and can take hours to complete.

It is normally still taking place whilst the surgeon is implanting the first hairs and throughout the first part of the surgery.

Once the hairs are harvested, the surgeon marks out the area which will receive the hairs.

He then continues to make pinprick holes where he believes the new hairs should go using angles to follow existing hair growth and artistic flare.
Single hairs are normally transplanted at the hairline and multiple haired grafts are used to thicken up thinning areas or for bald areas away from the hairline.

The Choi implanted is loaded:

Looking a little like a syringe, the Choi has a hollow needle which holds the graft and once in the head, the hair is literally injected into a pre-made pinprick.

This is continued until all the grafts have been used up.

This method produces a superb natural look and although very time consuming and requiring a team of nurses is one of the best methods available.

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