Hair Transplant Surgery FUE VS FUT – Follicular Homicide?

Medical hair transplants have been around for about 60 years now. They started out by using punch grafts which, in most cases, resulted in what is commonly referred to as hair plugs or the dolls head look. Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) has been around now for about 20 years and is considered the gold standard in the industry. gone are the plugs. However, there is a new technology called follicular unit extraction (FUE). This new procedure is a smaller but mirror image of the old plug technique. and people are paying more for it.

FUE is a form of hair transplantation which is being sold to people suffering from hair loss as the surgery that leaves no scar. that is not true. Anytime a surgeon cuts into the human body with a scalpel, there will be a scar. This is a fact. The only issue that comes to discussion here what the scar will look like. The truth is the patient will be left with a large number of off white and/or red polka dotted scars. these scars will be spread throughout the entire donor area. The donor area is where the surgeon removes the hair follicles that are genetically programmed to never fall out. an FUT surgery will create a fine linear scar from the back of one ear to another in that same donor area. The scar will be extremely thin and fine if done properly by an experienced hair restoration surgeon. However, there are a small number of hair doctors out there using scare tactics. They are showing patients very badly botched examples of the linear scar. This creates an opportunity for the scared patient to agree to another style hair transplant, (FUE). and the cost is extremely higher. at this point the patient, who is already traumatized from the hair loss, is open to anything that works and leaves no botched scar. The patient does not know that there are other issues that make the FUE procedure more difficult to perform. The only thing on the mind of the patient is a wide unsightly scar they do not want.

The FUE procedure is even more labor intensive than the FUT. The procedure sometimes takes days, not hours, to complete. The claim is there is less pain. The truth is there is not much pain in either procedure since local anesthesia is used. other than the very first injection, the patient feels no discomfort. This is another scare tactic doctors will use. Patients are always asking if it is painful. They will make sure to insist there is less pain in the FUE procedure. Again, this is simply not true. one important issue to be addressed with the FUE procedure is follicular homicide. This is a term used when hair follicles are destroyed. They can be destroyed as simply as an inexperienced tech team member cutting them in half. or, in this case, the doctor transecting the follicle before even removing it from the donor area. you see the instrument which cuts in the scalp and removes the follicle cannot determine the angle or bend in the follicle inside the head. you would have to be superman with x ray vision for that. that is why this form of hair surgery is very dangerous to the patient. there are going to be many cases of follicular homicide. The sad part is there is only so much donor in the back of anyone's head. However, this is not much of a focus during the pre op consultation. Again all the focus is on horrible pictures of badly performed FUT surgeries.

There are a few reasons why one would opt for an extremely expensive FUE technique. If a patient has had multiple previous hair surgeries and is left with bad scars it can work to fill hair into the scar areas. The thought here is there is not enough elasticity left in the donor area to extract another linear scar. so the FUE method would be used to help cover these scars up. However, this would be a very small procedure. Probably 300 hair grafts at most. Another reason someone may opt for a FUE is their desire to shave the head and not have a linear scar. I actually don't get this one. why would you pay to have hair moved around your head and then shave it off? I thought the whole idea was to be able to style and wear your hair according to fashion. If you are going to wear the bald look, then why get a hair transplant. also, if your FUT surgery is done properly, the scar line will be so thin it will not take much hair to cover it up anyway. you should be able to use a number 2 blade and cut the hair extremely low.

The actual cost for the FUE can be quite high. A few procedures and you are looking at $35 - $50000. I have heard stories of that number being closer to $100,000. All because people are willing to pay for something they think is new and better. The fact is they are paying for the very old hair plug surgery all over again. However, they are paying a whole lot more for it please make sure to do your research. If you take the time to investigate properly you will choose the right doctor and get the right result. you will maximize your donor and experience minimal scarring and minimal discomfort.

Hair Transplant Surgery FUE VS FUT - Follicular Homicide?