A minimally invasive surgical hair restoration procedure known as follicular unit extraction can treat androgenic alopecia, alopecia areata, the restoration of facial hair, scarring alopecia, and body hair transplant. Recent improvements in instrument technology have made this procedure competitive with strip harvesting in terms of grafting effectiveness. With FUE, you may get natural results and mix in with your current hair instead of the outdated “hair plugs” appearance of other hair restoration treatments.
Reduced Risk of Complications
Follicular unit extraction, or FUE for short, is a surgical hair restoration treatment that transfers individual hair follicles from one part of your scalp to an area suffering from thinning or balding. It is a minimally-invasive treatment that requires a period of recovery. Still, it is effective in restoring fullness to the head and can be used to create a new, natural-looking hairline. This procedure has a much lower risk of complications than the traditional strip excision method. Traditionally, a strip of skin is removed from the donor area using a scalpel and then dissected under a microscope to extract each hair follicle. With an FUE hair transplant, the surgeon will make circular punch holes to remove each follicular unit, and these scars are so small that they can be hidden in the surrounding hair. These small punches are also more accurate than a traditional scalpel, which can result in less damage to the follicles being extracted. It reduces the potential for a complication known as transection, which occurs when the follicle is cut and damaged by removing it from the donor site. Today, surgeons use advanced systems to improve accuracy and reduce the risk of transection, making FUE an even more streamlined and comfortable option for many patients.
Natural Appearance
During a follicular unit extraction hair transplant, they extract healthy follicles from the back and sides of your head (the donor area). Then, carefully transplant these follicles to the areas where they are needed. It helps restore volume to thinning or balding areas, creates a thicker appearance, and even improves your hairline. When performed by a highly trained surgeon, the results of this procedure are very natural in appearance. Follicular units are extracted and implanted to mimic how your hair grows naturally, so no one will know you had a hair restoration treatment.
In addition, follicular unit extraction does not leave linear scars on the scalp. It can be a major advantage over other procedures, especially if you want to wear your hair short in the future.
The main disadvantage of follicular unit extraction is that the procedure takes longer than other techniques. However, with experience and careful technique, a surgeon can minimize the transection rate during the extraction process, leading to a better final result for the patient.
Less Downtime
The additional advantage of follicular unit extraction over standard follicular unit transplantation (FUT) is that it is a less invasive hair transplanting procedure. FUT can leave a linear scar that is visible and distracting. Conversely, FUE involves removing individual follicular hair units from your scalp using a series of small punctures. The resulting spots are much smaller and less noticeable.
This hair restoration technique uses 0.8-1 mm punches to extract the follicular units from your scalp, requiring a great deal of skill to perform correctly. In one session, this technique can achieve more than 1,000 follicular units in skilled hands. However, the transection rate can be high, so you must repeat the procedure to get the desired results. Some tools allow the surgeon to score the skin around each follicular unit with the short side of the punch and then remove it with the dull side. It minimizes the damage caused to your surrounding skin and ensures that more follicular units will be intact after being removed from the scalp.
Faster Healing Time
FUE is a scalp transplant procedure in which hair follicles are taken from the back of your head and placed in areas where your hair is thinner or missing. It has become more popular than the traditional follicular unit transplantation (FUT) method, which can lead to a “hair plug” look and leaves a large scar behind. FUE does not leave a noticeable scar and requires less recovery time after surgery. Unlike FUT, which uses a scalpel to remove a strip of tissue with many intact follicular units, the FUE technique harvests each follicular unit individually. This results in smaller polka-dot scars at the sites of extraction. It means the follicles will heal much faster and more likely to survive.
Additionally, it is easier to tell where a graft has been inserted in the skin since the scarring is much smaller. Follicular unit extraction also results in more hair growth. It is because your new hair will grow in the same direction as your natural hair. It makes it very easy to blend your transplanted hair with the rest of your body’s natural hair pattern. Follicular unit extraction is a minor procedure that is performed under local anesthesia. It makes the process much more comfortable for you. While the anesthetic stings slightly, it is far less painful than the needles used in traditional hair restoration treatments.
