News

What is the Martinick Technique™?

- Thursday.June 28. 2018

Many people with an interest in hair transplantation ask what the Martinick Technique™ is and how it came about.   

Driven by a desire to give hair loss patients a natural looking healthy hair transplant, Dr Jennifer Martinick began a journey of almost two decades of observation, research and surgical refinement to develop the acclaimed, Martinick Technique™.

Having witnessed some very obvious and undignified looking’ hair transplants when she entered the field over 25 years ago, Dr Martinick pledged ‘to do better for her patients.’

Her goal was to develop a natural looking hairline, an appearance of density – as opposed to the see through look associated with hair transplants – and optimum survival of the precious donor grafts for lasting, permanent healthy hair.

Mindful that donor grafts are an irreplaceable and limited resource, she developed a meticulously planned system to ensure her surgical support team is accomplished for the delicate handling and critical survival of the grafts.

This system ensures the donor grafts can be replanted into the patient’s balding area within eight hours to maximise their survival and healthy growth.

A snapshot of the ongoing refinement that has taken place over almost two decades highlights ongoing international debate about graft harvesting between 1999 and 2006.

Throughout this debate, Dr Martinick consistently argued that the most natural looking hair transplants are created by the recipient design and placement of the hair follicles.

Carefully crafted prior to surgery, the recipient design must ensure the patient’s donor follicles are replanted in a manner that replicates nature.

In 2008, Dr Martinick was advised to trademark the Martinick Technique™ and the Two Touch Technique ™ – techniques which prescribe how surgical technicians can efficiently and effectively transplant large numbers of grafts and complete surgery inside eight hours.

Both the Martinick Technique™ and the Two Touch Technique ™ rely on the careful execution and deep understanding of the following 10 factors:

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Conceptualisation – an in depth study of the relationship hairs have to each other in nature.

Science/biology – an observation and understanding of how individual hairs behave on the scalp.

Time management – a prescribed eight hour system for completing hair restoration surgery. Grafts will start to die if this condition is not met.

Staff training in the Two Touch Technique™^. –  Taking four years to develop, a series of power point presentations and videos have been developed to support ongoing supervised staff training. It takes two years to fully train technicians.

Management of resources – Clinic resources and scheduling must be managed to ensure that technicians are exposed to at least four procedures a week to hone their skills.  This is only possible in clinics which practice full-time hair restoration surgery.

Surgery  –  modifying techniques to minimize injury to skin and hairs.

Minimal trauma –  My research in 2000-01 on transected/injured follicles demonstrated these follicles have as little as nine per cent chance of surviving compared with a 98 per cent survival rate of undamaged follicles.  Other researchers have had similar results.

This highlights concerns about the widespread use of Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) offered to patients. This blind harvesting method always leads to inferior growth.

Maths  – Critical decisions based on mathematical planning need to be made before and during a procedure.

Artistry – Close observation of a patient’s hair characteristics and replicating these unique features in the recipient area are crucial to patient satisfaction.

Instrumentation – This must be modified for extra refined surgical work and creating increased hair density.

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

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