Learn Latest Trends in Hair Transplant at IICSAM

Hair transplantation refers to a type of surgery in which hair is moved from one area of the body to another. The two primary forms of modern hair transplant surgery available are the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). It’s important to understand the differences between FUE and FUT hair transplant methods to advise the best treatment plan to a patient.

What’s The Difference – FUE and FUT

For hair transplant, it is essential that the surgeon takes the donor hair only from a safe region. Removal of hair from the donor area in the scalp is performed by two surgical techniques – the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). In the FUT method of hair removal, the surgeon removes a thin strip of hair from the donor area. In the FUE hair transplant, each of the hair grafts is removed separately from the donor area using a punch tool. Although the method of hair removal differs in these two methods, the hair grafts are transplanted in the same way. In many clinics, FUE is the preferred choice instead of FUT. The reason being, a smaller team, is required to perform FUE hair transplant. In the case of the FUT procedure, an acceptable standard of surgery needs to be performed, and a skilled surgeon is required to perform the operation so that there is no risk involved.

Advantages And Disadvantages – FUE Vs FUT

In most of the FUE hair transplant cases, the entire scalp of the patient has to be shaved before performing the procedure. On the contrary, the FUT procedure involves trimming only the strip of hair that needs to be removed, allowing patients to get back to their normal lives much more early, without making others notice of a hair transplant.

Due to taking every second hair graft from the safe donor area in the FUE technique, the yield of graft hairs is lower. This often forces surgeons to take recourse to outside areas to remove hair, which means, the patient finds thinning and loss of hair with ageing.

In the FUE procedure, if hairs are removed from outside of the donor area, there are chances of circular scars occurring in the outside donor region, and over time, the scars start becoming noticeable. And due to the lower accuracy of the punch tool than that performed by a technician with a microscope, the survival rate of grafts is lower in an FUE hair transplant.

The patient undergoing a FUT hair transplant has a stitch on the treated area, which requires the patient to return after a week to get it removed. However, no such stitches are necessary for the FUE hair transplant.

Scarring – FUT and FUE Hair Transplants

It should be noted that both FUE and FUT hair transplants procedures leave scars, even if performed by the most skilled hair transplant surgeons. In the case of FUT linear scar, a linear scar results whereas the FUE procedures leaves multiple circular scars across a wider area. Any person who prefers to wear short hair will find the FUE hair transplant the better choice as the resultant scars from the procedure is likely to be less noticeable because the scars are spread out widely on the scalp.

Which One is Preferable – FUE OR FUT

If a patient decides to have a second or third hair transplant, later on, the FUT procedure allows the surgeon to remove the previous linear scar from the first technique, thus leaving with only a single scar on the patient. This is not the case with an FUE procedure as the surgeon is required to create a new scar area.

Under normal circumstances, FUT technique is the preferred choice for larger hair transplants due to impressive results. The FUE technique is opted for smaller hair transplants as well as eyebrows and scars transplants.

At IICSAM, we offer both Hands-on FUE and FUT Hair Transplant Training courses for the practising doctors who would like to add the knowledge and skills gained to their existing practices and help them to assess the individual needs of the patient and advise on the right hair transplant technique for them.

If you are interested to know further, contact us on +91-9149112892.