Greetings,
In the most recent issue of the International Society Of Hair Restoration Surgery journal there is an extensive very interesting debate between those who advocate FUT over FUE and those who advocate FUE over FUT.
Many of the salient points discussed I have previously written about here in my blog. I will briefly review a few of the most important points here.
FUE Advantages- less invasive, diffuse dot scarring versus strip scarring with FUT which in most but not all cases allows the patient with FUE to cut the hair down to a #1 or #2 without showing any evidence of scarring, less discomfort post procedure
FUT Advantages- no need to shave the head to harvest the donor hair, ability to harvest more hair in a single day, more donor hair available to harvest throughout the patient’s life (start with FUT and convert to FUE after FUT is no longer possible thus maximizing the donor zone overall), less expensive than FUE
There are many subtleties to the advantages and disadvantages of both of these procedures.
What is most important is that your hair transplant surgeon is proficient in both procedures and offers both procedures to patients.
I prefer to educate my patients as to the benefits and drawbacks of both FUT and FUE and let them choose the procedure that suits them best. I enjoy performing both FUT and FUE and let patient’s know that if everything goes as planned they should have a great result no matter which method they choose.
All the best,
Marc Dauer, M.D.