When is Follicular Unit Extraction the Best Hair Transplant Option?

This question, from a member of the Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums, was answered by recommended hair restoration physician Dr. William Lindsey:

I was wondering when it is best to go the FUE route? Is it based on the size of the session or the number of sessions you may have left? What is the criteria for making this decision? Some hair transplant doctors I talk to almost insist on FUE but a lot of them seem really against it.

Follicular unit extraction (FUE) is perfect for folks who want a crew cut in their donor region, have a strong risk of poor scarring or a family history of poor scarring and need limited amounts of hair now and in the future.

That being said, we have a couple of patients getting a series of FUE procedures for Norwood class 6 hair loss but they were informed that it will cost more and possibly offer less consistent hair growth than follicular unit transplantation (FUT) or strip.

One of these patients originally asked for a strip procedure of 2500 grafts, but he called the office and now wants to do FUE of around 1500 grafts and reassess later. We’ve gone through all of the pertinent issues and, if he experiences significantly more balding in the future, he may well choose to have a strip down the road and that is certainly an option.

An informed patient often makes the choice that is correct for them. It’s informing them that is key pre-op.

Dr. William Lindsey – McLean, VA

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David – aka TakingThePlunge
Assistant Publisher and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum

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