Could FUE be for you?
FUE is a harvesting technique where the individual grafts are punched or ‘drilled’ out from a shaved area of the donor scalp.
Although scars are still produced, they are usually very subtle dots scattered over a large area making it possible to conceal even with a cropped hair cut. It is ideal where the patient needs or favours a shorter hairstyle, such as a No.1 or No.2 cut or any hair charactertistics that make the scalp easily visible – but we would recommend a personal consultation to ensure that it is the right treatment for you.
Your step-by-step FUE treatment
While no two FUE procedures are ever exactly identical, they do follow the same essential steps from start to finish.
Here’s an insight into what you can expect upon entering a Farjo Hair Institute clinic.
- Having discussed your hair loss and the treatment options available to you at your consultation with one of our experts, you decide on FUE and book an appointment for your treatment
- Currently, we are able to safely transfer up to 2,500 follicular unit grafts in a single session that will last most of the day. It may be possible to carry out two such sessions on consecutive days in order to achieve higher numbers
- If the treatment involves a significant number of grafts, the entire back and sides of the scalp will need to be shaved on the day
- On the morning of your surgery, your hair transplant surgeon discusses the plan with you one last time, and draws the area that will receive the hairs on your scalp.
- You will be given a mild sedative and local anaesthetic in both the donor and recipient areas.
- The discomfort you feel for a few minutes when being given the anaesthetic (similar to what you feel when undergoing dental work) is the only sore sensation you feel throughout your treatment.
- Once the anaesthetic has taken effect, the procedure begins with the extraction of the follicular unit grafts – this is done manually or mechanically using 0.8mm – 1.0mm ‘drill bits’ and a variety of other equipment. This step is performed by a qualified doctor assisted by a surgical technician.
- Eventually, instead of a linear donor scar, this will leave a large number of very small dot scars.
- For the recipient area, your designated hair transplant surgeon will make all the sites that will receive the hair grafts using tiny needles or blades. This step determines the aesthetic outcome controlling hairline design, hair distribution, direction, angles and orientation.
- Once each session of graft harvesting is done, our team of highly trained and supervised technicians and nurses will insert the grafts into the pre-made sites created by the surgeon as described above.
- The grafts are blended in amongst the thinning or balding areas in such a way as to match all the natural growing characteristics of your original hair
- We prefer to densely pack at a rate of 35-50 grafts, or 80-110 hairs, per square centimetre per operation – in our experience, this represents the optimum number for a maximum hair survival rate of 85-90%
- This means that one operation adds on average 25-30% of the original hair density
- The entire procedure is very clean and, when complete, no bandages or dressings are required in most cases.
- Due to the nature of the technique, there may be a higher rate of hair transection and, therefore, potential wastage.
- FUE grafts can also be more vulnerable due to the fact that there tends to be less protective tissue around the roots – extra care is necessary when you leave the clinic to ensure graft survival.
- Within half an hour of the treatment ending, you can be on your way home – although we highly recommend you do NOT drive, so we advise that you make arrangements to get home by taxi or public transport or get picked up by a friend or family member.
- With the expertise we can offer at every stage of the procedure, we can produce results that are virtually undetectable – even under the closest scrutiny.