FUE Vs FUT Hair Transplant: Which Procedure Is Ideal For You

Dermatology Clinic, Skin Cancer Treatment

Hair loss affects both men and women, generally around the age of 30 to 40 years old. Androgenic alopecia is often the most common cause of hair loss, but this condition can also be the result of hormonal changes, heredity, certain medical conditions, medication, age, stress or poor nutrition.

Depending on the cause of hair loss, there are various symptoms you may experience:

Gradual thinning of hair at the top of the head – in men, hair often recedes at the hairline on the forehead while women will typically experience a broadening of the part in their hair
Sudden loosening of hair – this can occur when combing or washing your hair, even with gentle tugging
Circular/patchy bald spots – which may appear on the scalp, eyebrows or beard

The average person loses 50 to 100 hairs a day, which doesn’t amount to a noticeable difference as new hair is growing in at the same time. However, hair loss will start to be a cause for concern when new hair doesn’t replace the hair that has fallen out.

Supplements, specialty shampoos and leave-in products might not provide the dramatic improvement you’re looking for – this is because when you start to lose hair in certain areas, the follicles of those individuals hairs have become dormant and stopped producing hair entirely.

Surgical hair restoration

To help boost hair growth, hair transplants involve moving hair to a bald area of the head, which is carried out by a dermatological surgeon. This helps to add more hair to an area on your head that may be balding or thinning, which will continue to grow as per normal.

Hair transplant isn’t a new thing – while it has existed since 1939, surgeons began to use advanced hair transplant techniques and technologies in 1995 to produce natural-looking results when transplanting individual hair follicles, also known as follicular units.

There are two methods of hair transplantation that are used by hair transplant clinics today to help tackle severe hair loss:

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)
Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

The main difference between both techniques is how the hair follicles are extracted.

FUT hair transplant

This method of hair transplant surgery involves taking a strip of hair-bearing skin from the donor site of the scalp, which is usually from the back and the sides of the head. Dimensions of the donor strip depends on the patient’s scalp laxity, which limits the risk of scarring as it involves suturing once the hair strip is removed.

Placed under high-powered microscopes, the strip of skin will then be separated into small groups of tissues, referred to as hair grafts. These follicular units are kept in a chilled tissue storage solution before they are transplanted into the thinning parts of your scalp in a pattern that looks natural.

FUE hair transplant

Unlike FUT which involves the removal of a strip of tissue, FUE hair transplant harvests individual hair follicles from a donor site before inserting them into small incisions made in the recipient areas. Each follicle contains one to four hairs.

The surgeon will make tiny incisions in your scalp using a sharp cylindrical punch and a pair of fine forceps to isolate the grafts and place them strategically to create a natural-looking transplant. Done on an outpatient basis, the procedure may be repeated a few times over the patient’s lifetime.

Comparing between FUT and FUE

Both FUT and FUE hair transplants offer different benefits and have varying costs. As each method involves different procedures, this will also affect the results that patients can expect to achieve.

In general, the differences can be highlighted below:

FUT	FUE
Hair shaving is not required, and longer hairstyles can be used to cover the linear scar which runs across the back of the head	Individual follicular units are taken, which leaves behind only tiny dot scars that are barely noticeable
Suitable for patients who require a large number of grafts in one session, with higher maximum follicular unit graft yield over a patient’s lifetime	Suitable for younger patients who require a small number of grafts in the hairline, or those with insufficient scalp donor hair as grafts can be taken from other body parts
The price of treatment is less expensive compared to FUE	The number of hair extracted and transplanted will determine how much your FUE hair transplant costs
Shorter surgery time, usually depending on the size of the donor area and the number of grafts required for transplantation	Longer surgery time, which can take up to 8-10 hours, and requires the highest amount of skill and patience
Healing time: 2 weeks for donor area and 2 weeks for recipient area	Healing time: approximately few days to 1 week for donor area and between 10-14 days for recipient area

Which hair transplant technique is right for you?

In both methods of hair transplant, patients are required to have enough hair on their head to use as grafts. The procedures also work best as androgenetic alopecia treatments for men and women who suffer from pattern hair loss.

With that said, there are specific criteria to determine whether you are a suitable candidate for each technique.

For FUT surgery:

Have adequate scalp laxity to facilitate a low-tension strip harvest.
Patients who don’t mind sporting a longer hairstyle to hide a linear scar

For FUE surgery:

Those who wish to enhance their beard, sideburn or eyebrow as this usually requires a smaller number of grafts.
Are prone to scarring, especially Asians
Require a quicker recovery process

Hair transplants are generally not recommended to those under the age of 25, as hair loss patterns are still unpredictable in younger people, and those who have an underlying illness that causes hair loss such as thyroid disease.

Ultimately, the extent of hair loss, type of scarring expected, amount and quality of the donor hair, size of the thinning area as well as the lifestyle of the patient will have to be taken into consideration to decide what is the best option.

Fix your hair loss problems

Most importantly, choosing the right surgeon is a key factor in determining the success of your hair transplant. This is especially crucial because an experienced and skilled hair transplant surgeon will be able to ensure the quality of selected hair grafts and optimise their survivability – to increase the chances of having a successful outcome, with success rates of hair transplants reaching as high as 95-98%.

At Angeline Yong Dermatology, we offer hair restoration surgery techniques including FUE and FUT procedures that are fully customised to the needs and preferences of every patient. As a dermatologist and dermatological surgeon who specialises in the management of both medical hair disorders and hair transplantation surgery, Dr Angeline Yong has the experience to diagnose and treat various hair disorders.

Dr Yong has served a decade of public service at the National Skin Centre, and was the founding consultant and lead of the hair transplant service before opening her own private practice. Today, she champions healthy skin and hair for everyone at her dermatology clinic, offering an array of cosmetic, surgical and medical services which include laser procedures and skin cancer treatments.

Reference
1. Khanna M. (2008). Hair transplantation surgery. Indian journal of plastic surgery : official publication of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, 41(Suppl), S56–S63.
2. Yetman, D. (2020, June 30). FUT Hair Transplant Procedure: Benefits, Side Effects, How it Works. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health/fut-hair-transplant
3. Jewell, T. (2019, January 03). Does Hair Transplant Work? Effectiveness, Side Effects, and Photos. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health/does-hair-transplant-work

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FUE Vs FUT Hair Transplant: Which Procedure Is Ideal For You