FUT Hair Transplant or FUE Hair Transplant?
Thick and natural-looking hair is the end goal for you and every hair transplant surgeon, especially for Dr. Armani. There are a variety of hair transplant procedures to help you achieve the natural look and feel and each type has its pros and unfortunately, cons.
The two main techniques used in the field are Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) & Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), and the main difference is how the follicle is extracted. Read on to learn more about FUT & FUE and to help determine if either procedure is right for you.
FUT
One of the main advantages of FUT vs. FUE is that follicular units in FUT are harvested from a higher density donor zone. This optimizes the number of high quality grafts from the permanent zone. Higher quality grafts mean:
- May grow better than lower quality grafts
- A higher number of grafts since hair is harvested from mid-permanent zone
- No need to shave the donor area
With FUT, you don’t usually have to worry about additional scarring in future hair transplants. The first scar is normally removed in the next procedure, unlike FUE, where the number of grafts removed will result in an equal number of tiny round scars. This increases the second time around and every time after.
FUE
With FUE, hair is extracted without an incision meaning no linear incision is made on the back of the head. No incision means a number of things:
- Relative discomfort following surgery is decreased
- Less scarring Useful for those with a greater risk of donor scarring such as younger/muscular, athletic patients
- Hairstyle can be worn at any length usually without signs of incision of scarring
- Quicker medical recovery time allowing return active to lifestyle relatively quickly
Like FUT however, FUE patients may experience swelling of the forehead where hair grafts were transplanted. This can last several days following a procedure. For some patients a combination of FUE and FUT procedures may work best!
FUT vs FUE * Comparison Chart
| FUT | FUE | |
| Donor Area & Scarring | Will leave a narrow linear scar on the back of the head | micro-scars that look like little dots and usually not visible to the naked eye |
| Survival Rate of Grafts | Extracted grafts are more robust and may survive better | Extracted grafts may be thinner with a slightly lower survival rate |
| Number of Grafts & Density | Up to 4,000 grafts harvested in one session | Up to 2,000 grafts harvested in one session |
| Healing | Slower recovery Swelling in transplantation area No need to shave the donor area Requires suture removal | Faster recovery Swelling in transplantation area Requires the donor area to be shaved No suture removal |
| Cost | FUE is usually a bit more expensive than FUT |
* Results may vary
If you have any questions or are thinking about a hair transplant procedure, contact Armani Medical today! There is no such thing as too many questions and we want you to come into your next consultation or procedure armed with as much knowledge as possible about hair transplantation in the Dallas/DFW metroplex.