What Are the Different Procedural Aspects of Hair Transplantation?
May 27, 2015
Many people are under the impression that FUE or FUT are the names of the overall hair transplant technique, this is not true. There are two procedural aspects to hair transplantation. One is the harvesting of the grafts from the donor area and the other is the design, distribution and placement of the units into the recipient area. These are two different aspects. FUT and FUE only refer to the harvesting technique from the donor area and have nothing to do with the recipient area aspect of transplantation. The recipient areas technique is based mostly on the surgical, experience and artistic skills of the physician.
Basically, in Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), the hair for relocation is obtained by surgically excising a strip of hair bearing skin from the donor region of the scalp. The skin edges of this wound are then sutured closed. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a revival of the old punch technique obtaining donor hair with a small circular cutting instrument. These punches are used to harvest follicular units one at a time from the donor area. Each harvest or extraction creates a small circular scar. The difference is with the strip you get a continuous linear scar, whereas with punches you get discontinuous, round circular scars. You get a better Yield with FUT technique because one can see the follicles when excising the strip whereas in FUE it's a blind extraction from the skin. Due to the blind extraction, there may be damage to the hair follicle and also collateral damage to the surrounding hairs. Therefore, it is likely that when hair is transplanted to the recipient area in case of FUE technique some of the hairs be damaged and therefore either not growin or grow thinner. Also if the hair is not harvested from any where but the safe donor zone, the chances are those hair will be lost in the near future and are not permanent. These pros and cons should be discussed in detail before making a decision as to which harvesting technique is best for the patient before the procedure. On the other hand for the recipient area design and technique, a good specialized hair transplant doctor should know how to distribute the units, where to place the hair line, which needles to use, how to angle the needles, and the orientation of the incisions in the recipient area. These are just a few things to consider when making the incisions in the recipient area. So it is very important to chose an experienced doctor both for harvesting of the grafts and also for design and placement of grafts to the recipient area and discuss the options in detail to make sure it meets your concerns and expectations.
If you are suffering from hair loss or hair thinning you can contact us at (949) 219-0027 to schedule for a free consultation or visit our website at www.MeshkinMedical.com.