Once you are decided to go for a hair transplant procedure, your hair growth specialist may have to explain to you in detail the two different hair transplant procedures, the FUT and FUE. During a free hair transplant consultation, he should also go further and give reasons as to why he chose one of them. You should be 100% convinced before you proceed with the hair implantation.
FUE or follicular unit excision is the more modern of the two surgical procedures. It involves excision of individual follicular units and transplanted in the area where there is hair loss. In contrast, FUT or follicular unit transplant is the removal of a strip of donor skin where hair follicles are extracted before transplanted in areas where the hair is needed. Both are surgical procedures to restore hair and should be performed by licensed doctors. They are effective and have very high success rates.
To know more about these two procedures, here are the pros and cons of each hair transplant procedure.
FUE
Considered as the more advanced procedure, the follicular unit excision procedure or FUT can be done manually or by using a motorized surgical tool. If hair loss is not in its advanced stage, there may be no problem with locating the donor sites. It becomes a problem when there are a few patches of donor sites left.
One advantage of FUE is that you will not have any noticeable linear scars on your scalp. Because this procedure extracts hair follicles individually, there will only be minute dots left on your scalp. These dots can hardly be noticed and may disappear as time goes by. FUE may give you more natural-looking hair, and it may not be evident that you have gone through a hair transplant. You can also wear a short haircut.
But there are limitations to this procedure, too. You can undergo if you have minimal hair loss. This means you should have donor sites where the surgeon can extract hair follicles.
FUT
FUT or follicular unit transplant is also called strip surgery. It involves removing a strip of the donor site and transferred to the area where there is profound hair loss after being divided into tiny grafts that may comprise four hair follicles.
This less expensive procedure assures that there is a much higher yield making maximum hair fullness a possibility. You may also have to go bald during the surgery, unlike when you are undergoing an FUE procedure. You can also spend less time in the surgery room. The disadvantage of a FUT procedure is the noticeable linear scars, which may not allow you to have a short haircut.
Pain? Whether you choose FUT or FUE, both procedures require only local anesthesia, and you will feel virtually no pain.