Gorpy

I am sure Pat would not mind me disclosing that his hair is actually very white but he dyes his hair. This leads me into mentioning another reason why we use DFU's. In patients with very white or grey hair it is very difficult to see the hair bulbs. Hair transplant doctors have tried various methods of dying the follicles to make them stand out and these methods help a little but it is still difficult to see the bulbs. Thus the chance of transecting a bulb of even cutting and unseen bulb out of the FU is possible. When we cut a DFU we know we are not cutting any of the hair bulbs between the two FU's. Even the best hair transplant technicians most likely will cut off bulbs in white hair patients. We believe by using DFU's we avoid some of that problem It may only mean saving 50 hair follicles, but every hair follicle counts.


Secondly, we do use DFU's in patients with darker hair. Pat's hair color is a dark brown and his texture is not fine, but not thick. DFU's can be used in patients like Pat if used correctly. Pat has already had a number of hair transplant surgeries and we know all the hair in his central core is transplanted hair. Thus we have a good base to put the DFU's between By placing DFU's between the transplanted hair we can get the desity effect I spoke about earlier without any unnaturalness. There are cases we even use DFU's in dark hair patients. It depends on the individual case. But in general we use them on patients who have fine light colored hair with little contrast between the hair and the skin.

You may be a candidate for DFU's and I am sure Dr. Keen will be glad to discuss the pros and cons of DFU's in your case with you.

Dr. Paul

Bill

You are correct that only a portion of the hairs should be DFU's. As I already mentioned, 10% to 20% of the hairs are used to make DFU's. The actual number depends on the size of the case, the donor density, etc. I have used from 150 to 400 DFU's in different cases. It just depends on the case. In most cases I don't even know exactly how many DFU's I will use until the strip is taken out. I will then save a portion of the strip for DFU's. When the cutting starts the technicians can give me an estimate of the number of FU's I will get from the strip and the percentage of 1,2,3,and ,,4 FU's the stirp will yield. Based on this information I then decide on if I will use DFU's and how many.

Then density and distance we place the DFU's vary from patient to patient. I have never actually measured how many mm is between each DFU that I place. I would say on the average I place about 10 DFU's/sqcm. What is important is that the DFU's are not transplanted alone, but with FU's around them. Depending on how many FU's I plan to place around each DFU and if I plan to use 2, 3 or 4 hair FU's around the DFU also determines how far apart I will place the DFU's.

I hope this answers your questions and sorry I can not give you a more exact answer. And I understand your concern about a pluggy look but I can't give you any more exact answers then the ones above. What I can say is that the proof of a good result using DFU's is in the pudding. We will follow Reversethecurse's progress and see how his transplant looks. And as I said DFU's are not for everyone. Many patients ask the exact same questions you ask, and if in the end they are still concerned about a pluggy look with DFU's I will only use FU's in their transplants. Either way the patients will end up with excellent results. There are some cases I believe that DFU's are so superior I will insist on using them. For example a man with very white hair, a good, dense donor, and a large central core to cover. But in many cases the difference between a surgery with or without DFU's is not big enough to make me be insistent on using one method or the other, even if I believe the DFU's would give a better illusion of density.

Dr. Paul

What I can say is that the proof of a good result using DFU's is in the pudding. Dr. Paul,

I think it's funny that you used that phrase especially when talking to me, because I've been posting that all over the forums these last several months...it's sort of been my catch phrase if you will. So either you used it on me purposely knowing that I'd "get it" or great minds think alike . Of course, therefore, I agree with you...it is the results that will speak for themselves

Thank you for all the explanations...I am definitely more educated as a result of your posts and I trust that other patients or perspective patients reading have gotten something out of it as well.

Bill

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.