What are the differences between strip FUT and FUE surgery?
FUE Transplantation
The major difference between the two is in the method of extracting or harvesting the donor hair. For the same number of healthy and intact grafts, though, the harvesting method should have no impact on the final look of the transplant if the graft quality is the same.
In FUE, the follicular unit grafts (not necessarily hairs) are individually extracted using 0.8-1.0mm ‘drill bits’. The procedure is carried out manually or mechanically using a variety of equipment.
Instead of a linear scar, there will be a large number of very small dot scars. While barely noticeable, FUE is not ‘scarless’.
FUE is more time consuming than Strip FUT, as it relies on spreading the extractions over a large area of the scalp, which significantly limits the number of grafts available to transplant in a session compared to the ‘strip’ method used in Strip FUT.
FUE is ideal for those patients who favour very short hairstyles, or the type of hair where you can see through to the scalp.
Strip FUT Transplantation
At the Farjo Hair Institute, we use Ultra-Refined Follicular Unit Transplantation – a technique regarded as the ultimate form of hair transplant surgery.
Using stereoscopic dissecting microscopes, it involves taking root hairs from a ‘donor’ area at the back or sides of the scalp (the permanent area) and relocating them to the bald or thinning areas at the top of the head.
Here it grows as normal on a permanent or, at least, a long-term basis.
A follicular unit ranges from 1 to 4 hairs, with the average being 2.2.
Keeping these units intact when transferring them to the recipient site results in a better survival rate for the hairs and a more natural-looking result.
At the hairline, individual hairs are positioned to avoid the appearance of a ‘pattern’ developing, and they follow the direction and angle of the natural growth of the hair in that area. The end result looks totally natural – only you and those you choose to tell need ever know.