Going bald might be a worst nightmare for many. Fortunately, there are medical procedures which are capable in dealing with baldness. Hair transplant is a boon for people who have receding hairline or severe hair loss. During research you will often come across terms such as FUT and FUE hair transplant and wonder which will be the right choice for you. For this you will have to consult a hair transplant surgeon who will be able to advice you regarding the best hair transplant procedure. However, it is important to understand the difference between FUT and FUE hair transplant.
Hair transplantation is safest and result oriented way to get rid of baldness. As India is one the medical tourism destination, there are experienced doctors for hair transplant in Chennai, Ahemdabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Pune.
The two most common type of hair transplants are follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE). Each of these procedures have benefits as well as drawbacks and in reality the patient’s personal preference does not dictate which option to choose but rather it is the general circumstances which will determine the most practical option. In this article both the procedures are discussed in detail so that it can help you choose the right hair transplant method.
Follicular unit extraction (FUE)
As the name suggests, people probably have a good idea of what this transplant entails. This surgery involves utilizing the remaining hair on the patient head being extracted by using a small circular instrument. Till the surgeon deems necessary this process is repeated and it can take a couple of days to complete the procedure.
The extracted hair has to be harvested and then have to be grafted into the recipient area. The recipient area is the place where you have scanty hair or bald patch and it receives the rejuvenated hair and allows it to grow naturally.
Several hair transplant clinic claim that the main advantage of FUE treatment is that it doesn’t leave any scars, unfortunately it is not true as in the majority of the cases the patients are left with several small non pigmented dots which are found around the back of the head. But as the size of the scars is small, very few people will be able to detect them. The scars will not be visible unless the patient decides to shave his head completely.
Though there are disadvantages associated with FUE, there are many advantages also which has made several medical experts to conclude that it is the better treatment than FUT. The scarring left behind in FUE is nothing as compared to the scars which may be left behind in FUT surgery. Everybody who undergoes FUT surgery will be left with a large linear scar on their scalp, whereas the FUE patients have to deal with thousands of dimple-like tiny scars which can be hidden with the new growth of hair.
Likewise, the recovery time is comparatively much less in FUE than in FUT. This also equates to the pain threshold as the FUE patients claim that they are subjected to lesser amount of pain after the procedure.
Giving correct advice regarding hair transplant can be difficult for some medics due to conflict of interest in some cases. But the following people are advised to undergo FUE treatment:
- Young people – People in their 20s are recommended to undergo FUE as there is less scarring and also they have the option of having shorter hairstyle.
- People who had hair transplant surgery before – People who had hair transplant previously via FUT method are advised to undergo FUE surgery this time as they already have great amount of strip scarring and it would double with another FUT operation. With FUE, the procedure is less intrusive and the scars are also less noticeable.
Follicular unit transplantation (FUT)
In FUT, the hair is transplanted from the back of the head to the areas where there is less hair. This surgery is rather intrusive as the surgeon will cut a strip of tissue containing hair from the back of the scalp and dissect it into thousands of follicular units. These are then strategically grafted in the recipient area after the surgeon has created holes to place them. FUT is a very complicated procedure but there is a possibility of some fulfilling results.
All patients who undergo FUT surgery are bound to have a large strip like scar on their head, but this will not deter people who crave a head full of hair. People who like to style their hair short will have many aesthetic factors to consider.
Scarring is the principal problem associated with FUT. Nevertheless, the scars may be a deterrent for a lot of patients, while some may place more importance on the benefits of FUT while making their decision.
The main advantage of FUT surgery is the quality of the hair that is implanted. They are of much better standard than what is extracted and harvested with FUE. As the transplanted hair is from the ‘healthy’ area of the head, patients are most probably not going to face problems regarding their new hair in future. This is in contrast to FUE, where there have been cases where the replaced hair falls out again as they are taken from areas of poor quality.
In reality both FUE and FUT are very different forms of treatment. FUE is recommended for people who like short hairstyle whereas FUT is for people who want better quality hair even though they have to deal with scarring.