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Dr. Sheldon S. Kabaker

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Blog » FUT vs FUE – What is the difference?

FUT vs FUE – What is the difference?

by Dr. Kabaker

There is a lot of confusion going on the Internet as to whether FUE and FUT are different procedures. I read many questions regarding this and many people want to know about these and which is better.

FUT stands for follicular unit transplantation. That means transplanting hair by the lowest common denominator that is the follicular unit. Hair grows out of the scalp in 1, 2, 3 and a few 4 hair follicular units. The follicular unit can be harvested in many ways. The most efficient and time-tested method for harvesting follicular unit transplants is the strip harvesting. And if done wisely it creates a non-detectable scar even after two or three sessions. One has to realize that any scar into the scalp whether it is from hair transplantation or a facelift or a forehead lift would show if you were to shave your head. So, with FUT, the graft is harvested efficiently and accurately by skilled surgeons and the strip of scalp is dissected into follicular units by a staff of specifically trained technicians. To complete the operation, recipient sites have to be made, by the surgeon. The recipient sites have to be made within the proper hairline design, the proper angle, with proper depth and caliber for the follicular units that are being created. Then the grafts have to laboriously and gently place into the recipient sites by the surgeon and the assistants with regard and judgment for size, curl and direction.

FUE stands for follicular unit extraction. This means pulling (extracting) the follicular unit after making a small circular cut around it. This is just a small part of the hair transplant procedure. The rest of the follicular unit transplant work involving FUE is about the same as I just described.

FUE (follicular unit extraction) is just another method for harvesting the follicular unit grafts. It is nothing new as the original hair transplant reports from the 1930’s and 1940’s indicated that hairs were taken from a donor area with a small drill or punch. This is follicular unit extraction. There are many new modern tools for harvesting follicular units by this but they cannot possibly improve the result of a hair transplant other than the fact that you would not have a linear scar should you choose to shave your head. Most young men having hair transplantation end up having 3000 to 8000 grafts done in their lifetime. If this is harvested by the FUE method, I can almost guarantee you would not be able to shave your head and not look remarkable with a bunch of white dot scars. A great deal of the skill in hair transplantation is not harvesting the graft but in making the judgment that it takes to design the hairline space, the recipient sites and place the follicular unit grafts no matter how they are harvested. I welcome any questions that anyone has on this subject.

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