This is an essential step. With the aid of a special pen, Dr Cahuzac designs the hairline together with the patient to make sure both parties agree on precisely what is to be done. Thus, the patient knows exactly what to expect from the procedure.

The donor area is shaved to 1 mm. This will not be visible afterwards as the hair above will cover the affected area.

A variety of instruments are used to cut minute incisions in the recipient area. This is a major step in the procedure, very precise and requiring a great degree of care .

The assistants cut the strip that has been removed into micrografts or follicular units. Each graft contains one to three hairs and these are kept cold and moist in a saline solution.

This is done by the assistants using very small forceps and magnifying lenses. The grafts are individually placed into the pre-cut incisions and will stay in place once fitted. This part of the procedure lasts between one and two hours, depending on the number of grafts.