| The most important difference between Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and the strip method
is the technique used for extracting the follicular units. With FUE, a
specialized punch with less than 1mm diameter is used to extract the
hair from the scalp. The main advantage of this technique is that
follicular units are extracted directly form the scalp rather than in
larger groups, which obviates the utilization of scalpel and stitching.  |
Follicular Unit Hair Transplants (FUT) or 'The Strip Technique'
What is Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation?
Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) is a hair restoration procedure
where hair is transplanted exclusively in its naturally occurring
groups of 1-4 hairs. These groups, or follicular units, are obtained
through the microscopic dissection of tissue taken from a single donor
strip or extracted directly from the donor area (Follicular unit extraction).
Because Follicular Unit Hair Transplants mimic the way hair grows in
nature, the results, in expert hands, will look completely natural and
be indistinguishable from one’s original hair.
Another advantage of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation is the
ability to place these tiny grafts into very small recipient sites. The
small sites cause minimal damage to the skin and allow the surgeon to
safely transplant thousands of grafts in a single session and to
complete the hair restoration as quickly as possible. The tiny
needle-sized recipient sites heal in just a few days without leaving
any marks.
Follicular Unit Transplantation was conceived by Dr. Bernstein and
first described in the 1995 landmark publication “Follicular
Transplantation.” The paper stressed the importance of using large
sessions of follicular unit grafts to maximize the aesthetic outcome of
the hair transplant surgery and of using very small recipient wounds to
facilitate healing. It laid the foundation for Follicular Unit
Transplantation by explaining why these naturally occurring units
should be kept intact. It detailed the way to assess the patient’s
donor supply and, most importantly, described how to distribute
follicular unit grafts according to a long-term plan.
Follicular Unit Transplantation was a major advance over the mini-micrografting hair transplant procedure that preceded it. In mini-micrografting, the graft sizes were arbitrarily determined by the doctor who cut the donor tissue into different size pieces (this technique was also called grafts "cut to size."). Minigrafts, which might contain up to 12 hairs, were bulky and could produce a tufted appearance. They also could result in a dimpling of the underlying skin. Micrografts, on the other hand, were frequently damaged during the removal process or were too fragile to survive.
In Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation, special stereo-microscopes enable meticulous graft dissection, so that the integrity of follicular units can be preserved. This process also enables the careful removal of the non-hair bearing scalp around the units. This process insures that all of the growth elements of the hair follicle remain intact and that the grafts are kept as small as possible.Trichophytic Closure
In the upper ledge trychophyic closure, the hair from the upper wound edge points down and grows into the scar.
In the lower ledge trychophyic closure, the hair in the lower wound edge grows through the overlapping upper edge.
| HAIR TRANSPLANTS – RESULTS | |
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| Before | After two sessions totaling 3,522 grafts |
