FUE hair transplants involve taking individual hair follicles from a different part of your body and moving them to where you have thin or balding areas. It is a less invasive technique than the previous punch graft methods that often resulted in a pluggy, unnatural appearance.
This method also avoids the linear scar that results from a strip removal of tissue in older FUT procedures. This makes it a popular option for patients with shorter hairstyles.
Natural Appearance
A follicular unit hair transplant is an ideal method to restore a full head of hair. Since scalp hair grows in small groups of 1 – 4 hairs, this technique replicates this natural pattern, unlike the older “plug” techniques. A procedure was performed to transplant skin and hair for cosmetic purposes.
The follicular unit technique also avoids the more extensive wounds created by the old mini-micrografting and plug transplant methods, which led to cosmetic problems such as dimpling and pigment changes in the surrounding scalp tissue, depressions or elevation of the grafts, and the appearance of a “toothbrush” effect when viewed from the side or rear. The follicular unit method leaves a skinny linear scar, usually less than 1mm in diameter, and will camouflage with your existing hair growth.
The doctors use manual follicular unit extraction rather than the automated machines some other surgeons use. It ensures the follicular units are correctly positioned and distributed for a natural hair restoration appearance.
Permanent Results
Follicular unit hair transplants will restore healthy, natural growth to thinning or bald areas of your scalp. These permanent results will be visible for the rest of your life.
This procedure redistributes your healthy hair from the back and sides of your head to the bald or thinning areas. This hair will grow for the rest of your life, giving you a thicker look. Unlike old punch graft techniques that created the ‘doll head’ or ‘corn crow’ effect, a follicular unit hair transplant will provide a more natural-looking result.
The surgeons are experts in both FUT and FUE hair transplantation methods. The FUT method removes a strip of hair-bearing tissue from an anesthetized area on your scalp. The FUE technique uses a small punch (0.8-1 mm in diameter) to extract intact follicular units from your donor site. This method will leave fine line linear scars on your scalp, but these should be undetectable when new hair grows. The FUE method can also harvest body hair as a donor source.
Minimal Downtime
Follicular unit transplants involve moving hair follicles from the back and sides of your scalp, where hair is permanent, to thinning or balding areas on the front, top, and crown of your head (recipient area). Today’s advanced techniques allow patients to restore a fuller head of natural-looking hair with minimal downtime.
Traditionally, traditional hair restoration methods involved removing hair strips from the back of your scalp, leaving large linear scars and stitches. This method was time-consuming and challenging to recover, but modern technology has made hair transplants more efficient and less invasive.
Hair grows naturally in groups of 1-4 hairs, called a follicular unit. These units contain sebaceous glands, nerves, and a small muscle. The procedure involves relocating these intact hair follicles to new openings in your scalp.
The FDA-cleared NeoGraft system automates the surgical removal, collection, and placement of individual hair follicles. It eliminates the need for doctors to remove a large strip of hair from the back of your scalp, reducing downtime and resulting in less noticeable scarring.
Minimal Complications
A hair transplant is a surgical procedure involving moving healthy hair follicles from the back of your scalp to the areas with thinning or no hair. This is the only way to restore your hairline’s natural appearance and achieve a full head of hair. However, complications can occur if the surgery is not performed correctly.
The surgeon will use a micro punch to extract individual follicular units from the donor area of your scalp and transplant them into bald or thinning areas. This technique creates minimal scars, which makes it difficult to see if your hair is short enough. However, if you have longer hair, the scars will be visible and may not be camouflaged well.
Complications from this type of surgery are rare. Still, they can include infections, bleeding, hematoma (blood collection outside your blood vessels), and suture breaks that open the incision back up. You can minimize these risks by following the instructions provided to you by your surgeon or medical team after the procedure. It includes taking prescribed medications and avoiding certain activities or exposures that can damage the follicles.
Fewer Side Effects
Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation is a minimally invasive procedure that will restore your natural hairline and reduce your balding by redistributing existing hair to the areas of your scalp that are losing or thinning. Unlike old punch-graft techniques, which often produce the “doll’s head” or “corn crow” effect, a correctly performed follicular unit transplant will look natural.
In addition, a follicular unit hair transplant does not result in the “donor zone effluvium” that can sometimes occur with traditional strip harvesting.