Maximizing Hair Counts via Hair Transplant Surgery: FUT verses FUE

If you undergo an FUE hair transplant  procedure before FUT strip, is your total availability of grafts decreased? For example, if I had 6,000 grafts available via strip, and I undergo a 2,000 graft FUE surgery, would I still have the 4,000 left (via strip or FUE) if necessary?

Personally, if you’re going for maximum hair growth yield, I think it’s better to max out via follicular unit transplantation  (FUT)  via strip surgery followed by follicular unit extraction (FUE)  if necessary. However, there are varying arguments on this.

Those who advocate strip first then FUE argue the following:

• Consistency with FUT strip is usually higher
• FUE can damage the surrounding tissue and make surrounding follicles less viable for transplanting during a strip procedure. This could potentially impact hair growth yield
• Follicular unit transplantation via strip  is more cost effective
• Because the amount of hair that can be moved with strip surgery  usually exceeds FUE, those with higher degrees of hair loss can often meet their hair restoration goals with strip alone. Those who start with follicular unit extraction almost inevitably require  a strip procedure to meet their goals.

Those who advocate FUE first then strip would argue the following:

• FUE can be just as consistent as  FUT strip  under the right circumstances (debated)
• Doing FUT first may alter the direction of the surrounding hair follicles and make them more difficult to extract via FUE, increasing the risk of lower yield
• FUE costs are relatively low at some clinics

Ultimately, those who want to avoid a linear scar like the plague should consider FUE.   However, understand that FUE is not “scar free” and  produces a different kind of scarring.   Also, consider caring and ethical hair transplant surgeons who are realistic about what can be achieved with FUE rather than those who overhype its benefits while downplaying its limitations and risks.

I hope this helps.

Bill Seemiller
Managing Publisher
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