FUT Vs FUE
The Follicular Unit Transfer (FUT) technique is the traditional way of carrying out hair restoration surgery.
It involves making a cut along the back of the head (ear to ear) and removing a strip of hair bearing scalp. The wound is then closed, leaving a straight line scar at the back of the head, whilst the strip is then dissected under the microscope into individual hair follicles which are then implanted one by one at the top of the head or hairline. This has traditionally been considered the gold standard method of hair restoration. The biggest drawback from this technique is that it leaves a straight line scar at the back of the head and although it is covered by hair, it can still be quite off putting for many prospective patients.
The Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique is a newer method, with less visible scarring.
The FUE technique involves removing each follicular unit individually, using a small punches at the back of the head. Whilst this technique avoids the straight line scar, it is not entirely scarless – each punch heals leaving a small white dot of scar tissue, although generally speaking thousands of small white dots tend to be less conspicuous than a straight line scar and so men can wear there hair shorter at the back and sides without having to worry about the scar being visible.
When the FUE technique was first pioneered, it was limited by a number of problems. The first is that it was very slow, which meant it was only possible to transfer a small number of grafts in a day making it unsuitable for larger cases. The trauma of extracting the follicles individually was also bad for the grafts, meaning that the survival rate of the grafts was less than with the traditional strip technique. Thankfully however as time has gone on, the industry’s experience with the technique has improved and refinements in instrumentation mean that we can now safely transfer much higher numbers of grafts with graft survival rates almost as high as the strip technique, whilst avoiding the straight line scar. For this reason, FUE is now the preferred method of hair transplantation in our clinic although you if you would prefer the FUT technique, we can refer you to a reputable clinic to provide this for you.
