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The Story Behind The Snail Tracked Hairline Design

- Friday.February 12. 2021

Did you know that Dr Jennifer Martinick is noted for her studies on damaged or transected hairs and for devising the very natural looking Snail Tracked hairline?

Dr Martinick says, “Nature is a combination of organization and chaos. So, it is with scalp hair. The surgeon’s ability to mimic the patient’s angulation, direction, density, orientation and curl in each case has a direct outcome on the patient’s satisfaction with his procedure.”

Her mantra– “There are no straight lines in nature”.

December 2000, Hawaii. The actual poster of Dr Martinick’s Snail Tracked Hairline Design concept presented during the ISHRS Annual Meeting.

“My concept of an irregular hairline was first introduced in 1998 when I attended a meeting in Los Angeles back in the days when the hairlines outcome looked too bell shaped.

During the presentation, I took it upon myself to raise my hand so that I could suggest a better outcome. This was in the days before whiteboards, so I was presented with a pen and led over to a large sheet of white paper upon which I was to demonstrate my proposed hairline.

To say I was terrified of making a fool of myself in this erudite company is understated. At this time, I could only draw an irregular (shaky) line, explaining at the same time that the natural hairline is irregular. I went back to my seat, the lecture was over, and lunch was served.

I was outside sunning myself when Drs Rassman and Bernstein appeared as shadows in front of me. At this stage, I thought I was going to be scolded. Dr Bernstein put out his hand to me to shake saying that my concept of an irregular hairline was quite correct!

He then went on to ask me what did I call it? I had never thought to call it anything, so the only vision I could rapidly come up with was that of snails tracking all over our cement verandas when I was a child; so I quickly said, snail track hairline.” – Dr Jennifer Martinick

In 2003, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) awarded Dr Martinick the Platinum Follicle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scientific and Clinical Research in hair restoration. In 2001 she was also the recipient of the Hair Transplant Forum International Award Surgeon of the Month.

More recently, she has studied the importance of follicle orientation (coronal angled grafting) on the outcome in hair transplantation.

Her work is dedicated to minimising trauma during the hair transplant procedure, which has led her to devising a staff training system and techniques that encourage minimal handling of follicles.

Dr Martinick regularly presents scientific papers at national and international meetings, as well as demonstrating her techniques. She continues to research and develop techniques that can improve outcomes in hair restoration.

Her philosophy is to continuously strive for higher standards of excellence in hair restoration.

To learn more about how you can benefit from the latest techniques in hair restoration surgery, call 1800 689 939.