Have you noticed that you have been losing more hair recently? Does your scalp already show through at some areas on your head? Have you already tried many solutions to the problem, but all in vain?
That’s when you turn to your last hope: getting a hair transplant. As much as you are excited about this decision, the uncertainty may also get the best of you. It can be really difficult to make sense of various hair transplantation methods. Do they all yield similar results? What are the differences between them? Which hair transplant method is best for me? These are just a few questions that have probably come across your mind.
Here we will present a summary of all hair transplantation methods and explain their differences, to help you with your decision.
FUT and FUE hair transplant methods explained
In fact, all hair transplantation methods fall into 2 main types.
The first one is the so-called FUT treatment, that stands for ‘follicular unit transplantation’. In this case, a strip of skin with hair is removed from the donor site and transferred to the bald recipient site.
The other type is known as Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) or single hair transplantation. Here the individual hairs with their follicles are taken from the donor site, processed in a nutrient solution and then transplanted into the recipient area.
Which hair transplant method is best: FUT vs. FUE
There are other more subtle differences between the two procedures. It is also important to distinguish between hair implantation and transplantation of the patient’s own hair. The former implies the insertion of artificial hair into the bald areas. The use of artificial hair is very popular in aesthetic medicine practice, especially when the natural hair is really thin and distributed over the whole head. This method is also favoured by men and women with long hair, who do not want to cut their hair before the operation.
In case of own hair transplantation, as the name suggests, the patient’s natural hair is taken from the areas with denser hair volume and transferred to the areas with scarce hair or no hair at all.
Are FUT and FUE similar?
Before we go deeper into detail with each hair transplant method, we would like to focus on the features that they have in common. First of all, they share the same goal, i.e. they serve for you to regain your full mane and your confidence!
Travelling to Turkey for a hair transplant is becoming more and more popular among the UK residents, as the prices are significantly lower, but the equipment and the professionalism of surgeons are at the top level. The surgery takes place in a special hair clinic, where the whole team specialises particularly in hair transplants. Before the procedure, you will be given local anaesthesia, so no need to fear pain. We at EstePearl Hair Clinic also offer an option of a painless anaesthetic injection, which is done without the invasion of a needle.
FUT hair transplant
FUT stands for Follicular Unit Transplantation. It is also known as strip harvesting, as it implies the removal of a thin strip of the scalp with hair. Usually, the surgeon takes the strip from the back of the head. The cut is normally done from one ear to the other. Then the surgical team extracts the individual hair units (grafts) from this removed patch of the scalp.
Meanwhile, the resulting wound is treated and sutured. Once all grafts have been removed, the surgeons populate the recipient area with them. The danger here is that the hair roots can get damaged and the hair may fall out again later.
Additionally, a patient will get a scar from the cut. No need to worry about it though, as it will be covered by your hair. However, in this procedure, there is a higher risk of having an infection compared to FUE.
FUT was the first hair transplant method to become widely performed. Now it is considered somewhat outdated, as more sophisticated and less invasive hair transplantation techniques have been developed. Despite that, the final results of FUT are pretty impressive.
FUE hair transplant
The Follicular Unit Extraction developed from the FUT method. Here your hair follicles are also extracted from the area, densely covered with hair. However, this is done without any skin removal. The surgical team takes out each hair follicle individually with the help of a fine hollow needle. The smallest micro-injuries are created, but these are not visible to the naked eye.
Hence, the risk of infection is much lower with FUE than with FUT. After the necessary number of grafts have been removed from the donor area, they are transferred individually to the recipient area. Approximately 4000 grafts can be transplanted per an FUE session. For many patients, this number is sufficient for them to regain the full head of hair. This hair transplantation method has now largely replaced FUT.
Which hair transplant method is best, FUT or FUE? When it comes to the patient’s safety and post-operational recovery, the latter is definitely a better option. FUE has a higher success rate and is the most popular procedure in the field of hair transplants now. We at Bio Hair Clinic exclusively practice the FUE method.
Sapphire FUE
The Sapphire FUE hair transplant method is an innovative advanced version of the conventional FUE. The main difference is that the extracted hair units are transplanted with a sapphire blade, not a steel one. With the help of the new V-shaped hollow needle tip, we manage to penetrate the scalp more precisely and gently. As a result, the patient gets significantly less secondary bleeding or scars.
The Sapphire FUE is the result of years of research for the benefit of patients. Our head physician Dr Ibrahim has personally worked on the improvement of this technique. With the help of this new approach, one can achieve up to 30% increase in hair thickness compared to older methods. Furthermore, the resulting wounds can heal 20% faster.
Which hair transplant methods do we practice at Bio Hair Clinic?
Due to our extensive experience with various hair transplant methods, we have continued to develop FUE to unfold the full potential of this approach and ensure the best results for our patients. Here are the different FUE variants that we practice:
Bio Grafts
After their removal from the donor area, the grafts (hairs with follicles) are placed outside the body for a while in a special organic nutrient solution.
This solution contains, among other things, biotin and is intended to stimulate the cell growth of the follicles. In this way, we increase the chance that the grafts properly naturalise in a new area, giving you full hair for a long time.
ICE grafts
This hair transplant method is also a type of FUE. So, the way the surgery itself is carried out is the same. The only difference here is how the grafts are treated before being transplanted.
In this case, the grafts are literally subjected to a cold shock by being put in a special solution and kept at a very cold temperature. This biotin-rich solution protects the individual hairs from any damage and stimulates cell growth. Low temperature helps to increase the lifespan and the vitality of hair follicles. Thus, ICE graft treatment has a higher success rate and gives more viable results in the long run.
Mega FUE
With the conventional FUE hair transplantation method, about 4000 grafts are removed and then inserted into the recipient area. But what if the bald areas need more hair for you to regain your full-hair look?
We have asked ourselves the same question and now offer a new procedure called ‘mega hair implant’. With this advanced hair transplantation method, we can remove and implant more than 5000 grafts in a single session.
This saves you from having to undergo the same procedure twice or more if you have many bald spots. Since the hair follicles are also removed with a hollow needle, you will have no scars after the surgery.
Conclusion: which hair transplant method is best for you?
The best hair transplantation method for you largely depends on what your current hair situation is.
All methods aim to give you the full head of hair and your confidence again. The old FUT approach implies that the surgeon takes a strip of donor skin and then extracts hair follicles from it.
In the FUE method, the hair follicles are extracted separately with a hollow needle. Therefore, FUE is a gentler and more effective variant, that leaves no scars and has a shorter recovery period.
For these reasons, we highly recommend opting for an FUE treatment. Now we only perform this method at our Bio Hair Clinic.
Additionally, we offer various FUE procedures to provide you with an even better result. Which hair transplant will work better for you? That is something you can find out by jumping to our free graft calculator or by contacting us.
